Art Sampler Class Set for March 6
Calling all beginning or exploring artists! The SaddleBrooke Fine Arts Guild is pleased to announce another opportunity to take part in its next Art Sampler class on Wednesday, March 6, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. in the Topaz Room in the Arts & Crafts Center at MountainView Country Club. The class time includes one hour for lunch on your own.
Art Sampler classes are offered several times a year, and there’s always a waiting list! That’s because it’s so much fun to experiment with a variety of mediums and artistic effects. Best of all, you’ll receive personalized help from experienced artists who are standing by every step of the way.
Join us, especially if you think you don’t have any artistic talent. This is a comfortable, relaxed, and fun environment with no pressure to perform. This class is uniquely designed for those who think they can’t become an artist. It’s also a great way for practicing artists to explore other mediums without investing in new supplies. And you’ll take home a variety of completed projects to share with friends and family.
To register and pay for the class, visit the Event Calendar on the Guild’s website www.saddlebrookefinearts.org. The fee is just $25 per person, which includes all supplies. If you have any questions, contact Karen Brungardt at [email protected].
Join Us for February 21 Art Salon Discussion
Alexander Von Humboldt (photo by Dona Ferry)
Connie Kotke
The Art Salon, hosted by the SaddleBrooke Fine Arts Guild, is a place where like-minded artists come together in a friendly environment to bond, network, and learn from one another. Meetings are held the third Wednesday of each month from 10:30 a.m. to noon in the Topaz Room at the Arts & Crafts Center adjacent to the MountainView Country Club. All SaddleBrooke residents are invited to join, whether or not they’re a member of the Guild. Refreshments are provided, no reservations are needed, and there is no charge.
The next Art Salon is Wednesday, Feb. 21. The topic is “Alexander Von Humboldt: Renaissance Man,” and the facilitator is Dona Ferry. Dona will lead a discussion about what constitutes a “Renaissance Man”—someone who embodies intellectual advances in art, science, sociology, philosophy, architecture, politics, and more. You’ll specifically explore the history of Von Humboldt who lived in 19th century Germany. He was a polymath, a botanical geographer, a naturalist, an explorer, and so much more. He even developed the concept of human-induced climate change. Last, but not least, he was an artist. He supported artists and was a founder of the Smithsonian Art Museum.
SaddleBrooke resident Dona Ferry is an artist, a longtime member of the Guild, and a co-coordinator of the Art Salon program.
Membership in the SaddleBrooke Fine Arts Guild is only $25 per year and includes monthly meetings, open studio, non-critique sessions, Art Salon discussions, opportunities to exhibit and sell your work, and so much more. Guild members also enjoy a discount on class fees. Visit www.saddlebrookefinearts.org for details.
United Cerebral Palsy Donation
Karen Brungardt, president of SaddleBrooke Fine Arts Guild, presents a donation of $1,800 to Rhonda Murray, chief operating officer for United Cerebral Palsy of Southern Arizona.
The SaddleBrooke Fine Arts Guild (SBFAG) is a nonprofit organization that provides educational, skill-building, and social opportunities for Guild members and SaddleBrooke residents alike. One popular activity is our Art & Wine Events where friends and neighbors join in to paint a completed work of art while enjoying a sack supper and wine or water.
Proceeds of $1,800 from the Nov. 28, 2023, Art & Wine were donated to United Cerebral Palsy of Southern Arizona (UCPSA) at the Guild’s January meeting. Rhonda Murray, UCPSA’s chief operating officer, and a SaddleBrooke resident, accepted the check from SBFAG President Karen Brungardt. After the presentation, Ms. Murray exclaimed, “I am blown away by how much was raised that night. As I mentioned, I’ve been a SaddleBrooke resident for five years now, and I am so grateful to live in such a generous community!”
UCPSA services make a meaningful difference in the lives of more than 1,500 individuals in Southern Arizona and Yuma County. At the core of its mission are home- and community-based services like in-home personal care and meal preparation, teaching daily life activities to foster greater independence, parent programs, and personalized employment support. UCPSA is one of Arizona’s oldest and most trusted nonprofit human service organizations.
The next Art & Wine Event is set for Tuesday, April 30. Register online at www.saddlebrookefinearts.org. Membership is only $25 per year and includes many benefits and activities. Guild members also enjoy a discount on class fees. SaddleBrooke residents are welcome to attend regular meetings in the Activity Center in SaddleBrooke One at 4 p.m. on the first Tuesday of each month from September through May.
Wrap Up Winter with SaddleBrooke Art Classes
The SaddleBrooke Fine Arts Guild makes art fun! Our experienced instructors offer a wide variety of art classes right here in our community in the Topaz Room in the Arts & Crafts Center adjacent to MountainView Country Club. Put a wrap on winter by visiting the Guild’s website www.saddlebrookefinearts.org where you can register and pay online for these enjoyable classes and more:
Step-by-Step Acrylic: Koi, by Tracy Holmes. Tuesday, Feb. 20, from 9 a.m. to noon. Perfect for painters of all levels! Learn all the steps of creating an acrylic painting of this colorful fish and take home a finished 9×12-inch painting.
Intermediate Oil Painting with Water-Mixable Oils, by Karen Gille. Feb. 26 and 29 and March 4 and 7 from 1 to 4 p.m. Ideal for painters with fewer than five years of experience or those who attended Karen’s Beginning Oil Painting class. Get individual guidance to work on a painting of your choice.
Any Drawing Medium—Your Choice! by Laurie Brussel. Tuesdays, Feb. 27 through March 19, from 9 a.m. to noon. Choose any drawing medium. Work from a photo or set up a still life. Receive instructor guidance and feedback from fellow artists. Each week includes a lesson on drawing principles.
Create Your Own Papers for Collage, Etc., by Deb Kress. Wednesday, Feb. 28, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Create six different styles of papers using various tools and paints. Express your unique style and come away with pieces that can be used in collage or art projects.
Developing the Painting, Part 2, by Karen Brungardt. Thursdays, March 7 through April 4, from 9 a.m. to noon. Use different techniques each week to develop watercolor paintings. Good for beginners and up (Developing the Painting, Part 1, not required).
Membership in the SaddleBrooke Fine Arts Guild is only $25 per year and includes many benefits and activities. Guild members also enjoy a discount on class fees.
Member Spotlight on Fran Dorr
Artist Fran Dorr
Dawn Price with Fran Dorr
I recently met up with SaddleBrooke Fine Arts Guild member Fran Dorr at her lovely home and was lucky enough to view some of her artwork. It is clear that she is an eclectic and intuitive painter. She likes all media but is drawn to acrylics, watercolor, collage, and alcohol inks and uses them to recreate nature scenes, animals, birds, flowers, and sky.
Fran shared that she grew up in a creative, artistic atmosphere, with family members who were involved in the arts. Her father was a watercolor artist and art director, her aunt was a famous ballerina, and her sister danced as well, while her brother was a writer and musician. Her sister once scolded her for saying she wasn’t an artist, which she said was because she didn’t earn a degree in art school nor try to reproduce the exact details seen in photos. Her sister responded that if a person paints, they are an artist, whether it is as a hobby or a business. That was a “Wow!” moment for Dorr.
As a high school student, she was able to further her knowledge by taking some young-adult art classes at Rhode Island School of Design and then, when she was older, she added photography and graphic arts classes as a graduate assistant in the broadcasting department at a Michigan university. Two classes that changed her artistic clarity were basic courses in beginning design and basic principles of art, which she took years later at Eastern Michigan University.
Dorr moved to SaddleBrooke in 2004 and soon took her first good beginning watercolor class at the Guild where her skills blossomed. She has gone on to show her work in Tucson, Tubac, Northern Michigan, and Florida.
Sharing her perspective on art, Dorr said, “Some of the best art I have ever seen is that which was done by children under 5 years old. It is spontaneous and colorful. When a child turns five, adults and teachers start teaching children how they think a tree should look, what colors are appropriate for the tree, etc., so the child colors the trunk brown and the top of the tree green. From there on, the spontaneity is gone, and defined ways of depicting subjects are set. When someone says they don’t know how to draw or paint, to me, it is because, as children, they were damaged to believe that if they couldn’t replicate a photograph, they weren’t artistic. That is how I felt when I was young.”
Dorr states that she runs into many people in SaddleBrooke who are afraid to take classes because they feel they will embarrass themselves. “Residents here who were taking classes back in the early 2000s when I started taking classes have enhanced their skills exponentially; have been accepted in state, regional, and national art shows; and have won lots of awards! When you take beginning art classes, you are taught the rules that have been applied to art for centuries, and you develop new ways of seeing things. New students shouldn’t be intimidated by more experienced classmates who may be professional artists. It took them years to get to the level they are at. It’s a mental and physical odyssey.”
Fran enjoys volunteering at Art & Wine events and the Art Sampler classes.
To find out more about meeting times or class offerings for artists of all skill levels, check the website www.saddlebrookefinearts.org.