Author Archives: JR

Joseph’s Letter to Pre-Schoolers on Becoming an Artist

Posted on by

A teacher from a pre-school class of 4&5 year olds in California yesterday asked Joseph to make a statement offering these young people advice on becoming an artist.
Here is Joseph’s letter to them.
__________

Hi friends, fellow and sister artists,

From your teacher, Cheryl Perrin, I hear you are going to be studying ART and the work of some artists.
Isn’t that wonderful?
Isn’t that fun?

I hope you will enjoy yourselves , and enjoy the magic of making pictures.
Do you like magic? I bet you do.
It’s like being a magician to make pictures.
It’s MAGIC because you start with an empty page, and your brush or crayon or pencil becomes the magic wand
and you create with your magic wand, out of what seems like “NOTHING”,
and before you know it, there’s a picture in front of you, and you made it.
Without you it would never be.
Just think of that.
AND the best part is that the picture that you make is like nothing else in this world.
It never existed before you made it,
and no-one else in the whole world could have done the same picture as you did.
Isn’t that great?

The pictures you make are so special.You are so special.
There’s no one like you, and there’s no other picture like yours.

The most important thing about enjoying yourself while you paint is to be yourself.
But you know that already, don’t you?
Continue to have fun.

Love from me to each of you,
Joseph

State of the Art 2011: National Biennial Watercolor Invitational

Posted on by

Curated by Chalen Phillips
Sponsored by the Friends of Martha Seif

February 14 through March 29, 2011
Reception Thursday, February 17, 6-8 p.m.
Gallery Talk by Chalen Phillips at 7 p.m.
Music by Parkland College Guitar Ensemble

Additional Exhibit Lecture by Jamie Kruidenier and Don Lake
Wednesday, March 2 at 3 p.m. in the Gallery

Participating Artists from the Springfield Art Museum Collection include:
Kent Addison, Mary L. Aro, Nell Blaine, Charles Burchfield, Chen Chi, Robert Cottingham, John Steuart Curry, Adolf Dehn,
Elsie Bates Freund, Donald Holden, Gregory Litinksy, John Marin, Don Nice, Philip Pearlstein, David Plank, and Joseph Raffael.

Chalen Phillips is Curator of Collections at the Springfield Art Museum in Springfield, Missouri. Mr. Phillips has served as a juror for the Watercolor U.S.A. 2009 and the Prints U.S.A. 2009 competitions and is a member of the Watercolor Honor Society.

In his curatorial essay, Phillips states that his background in art history strongly influenced the selections he has made from Springfield’s enormous collection.
“I am not an artist; I simply admire the way art tells a story or reflects a certain period in time. This is my passion,” he said.
“I strive to understand how history was shaped by the raging whirlwind of events made evident in the artistry of the times. With that in mind,
I chose artists who depicted a period of time from the past such as the documenting of a disastrous flood, the death of a bee, or a simple moment of peace.”

Parkland Art Gallery’s spring hours are
Monday through Friday from 10 a.m. – 3 p.m.
Monday through Thursday from 6 p.m. – 8 p.m.
Saturday from 12 p.m. – 2 p.m.