Celebrating our Blog

10,000 Hits and Counting!
Well, our blog is officially a year old, and we have reached over 10,000 hits! Interest really picked up during our A Drawing a Day event, and many of you contributed to that wonderful experience. Thank you so much!

Let's have 4 special events a year, to keep things lively. We have already started with the Remembering Summer online exhibition and A Drawing a Day - October and March are perfect for these activities. Do you have ideas on activities, events or exhibits you'd like to see here? Let me know. Go to rmsbartists@gmail.com and tell me your thoughts. We'll work out a calendar to accommodate your ideas.

Some thoughts: think about activities or projects that would work well for exploration over at least 2 weeks, 4 weeks preferred; consider projects devoted to a single medium, a single species, or a single 'problem', such as exploring perspective or watercolor secrets. And please include a commitment to participate yourself!

Peonies, colored pencil on paper, Saundra Dowling -

did you know that peonies need ants to help them bloom?

Spring is springing up in a multitude of exhibitions and exhibition opportunities…

Take a look:
Past:  Prairie to Plains 3-day event in Colorado Springs was a success, with 9 artists exhibiting works for sale during this conference.
Present:
A Beautiful Planet –
This exhibition at Republic Plaza features the artwork of Colorado artists, including the faculty of the Denver Botanic Gardens Botanical Art and Illustration program. Artworks representing the natural world are presented in two- and three-dimensional forms.

Brighton Armory:
Our exhibit features 10 artists and 30 paintings. Don’t miss it! Check out the events listing to the right for location and time information, and see out invitation, designed by Dorothy DePaulo, below.

Future:

The Lafayette’s Cottage Garden and Coops Tour is slated for June 2-June 30^th, 2012. The entry form for RMSBA member participation is now in calls for entries. Make sure you get your application in. Go to www.rmsbacallsforentries.blogspot.com.

RARE II is rockin’ out now!

There’s good news for RARE II! As a result of the RMSBA meeting on March 25th with Susan Panjabi of the Colorado National Heritage Program and the ever-changing environment of plant classifications, our RARE II plant list has been expanded. Check out the latest (and larger) list of available plants (as of 3/29/12), as well as the list of taken plants, in the new and improved RARE II information connection at right (www.rmsbartistsrareiiplantlist.blogspot.com/).

Susan Panjabi of Colorado National Heritage program addresses the March RMSBA meeting.

Another terrific slide presented by Susan

Julie Ann Terry and Dorothy DePaulo examine a RARE II painting

Remember, you need to confirm your plant choices. Send your choices to  rare2014@1.com to confirm your choices and to ensure no one else has already taken a plant you may be interested in. And yes, we are firmly committed to the plants we have already chosen, as we have already shared this information with the CNHP.
Thanks much for your current and/or future participation in Rare II!

A Drawing A Day Wrap-up:

Our month-long adventure in drawing drew 12 artists, and featured 31 images by our members. In addition, there were weekly ‘challenges’ that defined drawing methods and/or materials, with encouragement for members to give ‘em a try. We had over a thousand hits during March, drawing a large number of non-member viewers.
Here’s an entry from Carol Till that wasn’t posted in March due to data entry limitations (read: The blogmeister was swamped with work!):

Cottonwoods through the Evans Street bridge windows- graphite, by Carol Till

Carol tells us: Here's a sketch I did during down time at a temporary job I have at DU bookstore. Proof that you can fit drawing time in anywhere! Didn't have an eraser. I think this will develop into an interesting etching.

RMSBA Brochure is Available:
We’ve got a new brochure! This triple-fold item features artwork depicting native plants, created by our members. The text describes the genre, and provides information on member benefits, ASBA member benefits, and directions for obtaining applications for membership from this blog site. It’s a great way to introduce our organization to artists and others. When you teach or exhibit, you may want to keep a handful with you to pass out.

Outside Cover of Tri-Fold New RMSBA Brochure, features artwork of Jan Boyd-Haring, Constance Sayas, Annie Reiser, Dorothy DePaulo and Heidi Snyder.

Inside of Tri-Fold New RMSBA Brochure, features artwork of Marjorie Leggitt and Libby Kyer

Obtain the brochure from Sharon Garrett by emailing her at: sharonzgarrett@comcast.net. In your email, please let Sharon know how many you’d like to have, as well as delivery method: you may pick them up, or ask to have them mailed to you. Please order at least three weeks in advance of the date you need the brochures, so we can provide them to you in a timely fashion.

New, Useful Links:
Take a look at www.swcoloradowildflowers.com. Al Schneider runs the website and has taken most of the pictures. He took Dorothy DePaulo to see the plants that she’s doing for RARE II. He's extremely helpful and supportive of RMSBA, and would love to hear from other artists that want to illustrate Colorado Wildflowers. Right now, Al is building a smart phone app for identifying Colorado wildflowers!
Image: website home page

Colored pencil artists will want to take a look at the new updated Colored Pencil Society of America Colorado Chapter website at www.cpsadc220.com. You’ll find support and camaraderie with this group of dedicated colored pencil artists. 

Calls for Entries...

...Can always be found in the column at right. The call for the Lafayette Cottage event has been added.

Arizona Sonora Desert Museum Seeks New Arts Programs Director
Susan Fisher, current director of the ASDM art programs, is retiring this month, meaning we’ll get to see her more often in Denver, and hope to see her artworks popping up all over the region. ASDM is seeing a new director, and their recruitment letter is now in Documents of Use www.rmsbabulletinpostings.blogspot.com.  Take a look. It will be a challenge to follow in Susan’s capable steps, but what a neat challenge it will be.

Minutes Posted:
Check out Documents of Use to find the Member Meeting Minutes from March. Wow. Hard to find that kind of alliteration opportunity in blogging!

Workshops:

Heidi Snyder and Dorothy DePaulo are presenting a class on An Introduction to Colored Pencil. See listing in Workshops.