THE MARKHAM GROUP OF ARTISTS NEWSLETTER • MARCH 2021
MGA @ 40: TELL US WHAT YOU THINK!
The Markham Group of Artists is celebrating its 40th year! Over the years, MGA has contributed to the vibrant culture of the Markham and York Region communities through our art shows and sales, workshops, demonstrations, painting mosaics, and art talks. As we plan ahead for 2021 and beyond, there’s no better time for you to tell us what you are looking for in a community visual arts group. Please take a few minutes to complete this survey to let us know how we can serve you better. Completing this survey will give you a chance to win a $50 Tim Horton’s gift card. (If you have already completed the survey, please send us your email address so we can add you to the pool.) Thank you for your time. Reach out to us at markhamartists@gmail.com if you have any questions.
MGA Group Critique with Kim Lee Kho | Wednesday, March 3rd, 7–9 pm
Critiques are a time-honoured practice in art and all creative fields to gain perspective on your work, how you’re doing it, what seems especially interesting or strong about it, what possibilities there are to develop or improve it. In this critique, artist, educator and juror Kim-Lee Kho will provide her observations, insights and suggestions, including some context or references to contemporary art and art history as appropriate. Kim has provided a number of popular critique sessions in the past for Markham Group of Artists members and is looking forward to seeing your work.
Join us on March 10th for our monthly Members' Day meeting, followed by an informative presentation and interactive workshop on social media marketing.
Members' Day Meeting 6:30-7pm, Zoom
Social Media Demo 7-9pm, Zoom
MARCH CHALLENGE: "Inside Out" | Submission dates March 5th—28th
In Like a Lion, out like a Lamb. We have been in so long, now let’s get out; look out your window , go out your door, drive in your car, get out of your head! What you're looking forward to most? Any medium and style accepted. Sketch, paint, collage or scribble down your thoughts on the "Inside Out" Challenge. A submissions link will be distributed to all members on March 5th via email.
"I have a passion for joy and colour and feel truly blessed to share my work with you".
Manuela lives in Toronto, and she has been passionate about all aspects of art from a very young age. She is a self-taught artist and enjoys challenges, loving to discover. Manuela adores working with cold wax, oil, acrylic, alcohol ink, Japanese paper, loving to build images, rich layers, and experimenting continuously. She creates mixed media collages using a multitude of organic materials and different techniques. "I find myself deeply connected; the nature is very dynamic and profound, with incredible energy and vibration. I want the viewer to experience the intensity and the depth of a forest, landscape or a floral composition.
A member of Visual Art Mississauga, Markham Group of Artists, and an associate member of the Canadian Society of Artists, Manuela is very active on the global art scene due to international digital art galleries. MADS Milano presented one of her works during the Fashion Week, September 2020. Two of her landscapes have also been accepted in the SCA 2021 Open International Online Juried Exhibition.
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Tulips 3 , 12" x 12" mixed media collage Anemones Delight, 12" x 12" mixed media collage Bouquet (Roses) 3, 12" x 12" mixed media collage
I was told to stop wasting time drawing and do my math. In Grade 7, I won first prize for a tree I drew. The world didn’t change. One day I opened a book with an odd title Van Gogh. Elation! Art is everything. I dreamed of a loft in Paris.
Without instruction, figuring things out for myself, I drew, occasionally, constantly. Twenty years later I was admitted to Ryerson’s 4-yr. photography major on the strength of a pencil portrait. Starting before graduation, for the next thirty-five years I ran a creative communications company, drawing (by mouse or pencil) all part of a day's work.
Fifty-nine years after I picked up that book, I picked up a brush. In the studio, then en plein air, I evolved an impressionist style (not Vincent's after all). Recently, I’ve returned to my other true love, story telling and the theatre of life - the café. Written or painted. Sketching as much as painting. Furtive glances, joyful dances, living out loud alone in a crowd.
I think I’ll be here, at the cafe, for a long, long time sorting out how to paint the world in a way that works for me…
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TOP LEFT: Portrait of Jacques Brel, 10" x 1", graphite CENTRE: Gossips, 24" x 24", acrylic BOTTOM: Branscombe Beach, 24" x 24", acrylic
Enthusiastic upcoming artist that paints contemporary acrylic abstracts Nedda Riva Zaharelos is an Italian born Canadian that is presently living in the Greater Toronto Area.
Her love and study for art and design started at a young age in her native city of Milan and continued in Toronto graduating in Sculpture Installation at the Ontario College of Art and Design in 1998. Recently her new passion has been for painting. She is a self taught painter with an interest in people, culture and abstraction. Her main objective and interests are always about shape and forms with the challenge of creating the illusion of depth and space.
Nedda was a professional member of the Association of Registered Interior Designers of Ontario since 1973 and is presently an ARIDO Life Member. She is also a member of several Artist Collectives; this connection has created the opportunity for her to be juried into several group exhibitions.
Her pursuit for beauty, design, composition and structure is still very present in all of her artworks.
Upcoming Curated Art Exhibition: 4 Art’s Sake : 4 Artists, 4 Perspectives Cherie Daly, Susan Friedman, Patricia Taylor, Nedda Zaharelos April 1 to 11, 2021 @LeslieGroveGallery, 1158 Queen St.
_______________________________ TOP RIGHT: A State of Complexity 30"x30" CENTRE: Papyrus Dream 16"x 20" BOTTOM: Metamorphosis 36" x 52"
CALL FOR ENTRY: MGA Artists’ Choice Spring Art Show
Let’s celebrate the coming of Spring by sharing our favourite paintings with the world! All members of the Markham Group of Artists are invited to submit up to 3 paintings of their choice to the first MGA show of 2021. The Artists’ Choice Show will be exhibited on our website’s online gallery on March 15 - April 30, 2021. All paintings will also be posted on MGA’s Instagram and Facebook sites. Painting sales will be the responsibility of the artist and MGA will not take a percentage.
Online Entry is open: March 2 -12
The entry fee is $5 for each painting. You may submit up to 3 paintings. Entry fees are payable by credit card during the submission process.
You will need to have ready the following information: a) Title, b) Size (H x W), c) Media, d) Price or NFS (Not For Sale)
In the Description section, you may add anything you’d like to say about why your painting is a favourite. Please add your website and/or contact information so buyers can reach you if interested in your work.
Please size your image to a minimum 1500 pixels
Participant Guidelines:
1. Art previously exhibited in an MGA Juried show will not be accepted. 2. Only original artwork (that is, no copies of works by other visual artists, whether paintings, photographs, illustrations or classroom works which have been demonstrated on by instructors) may be submitted.
Submission forms will be sent out to all members in a separate email.
FURTHER LEARNING
Wabi-sabi Painting with Cold Wax with Serena Barton
Learn everything you need to know to create using cold wax in this beautiful book. Embrace unexpected turns, discover the beauty in simplicity and lose yourself in the process as you join Serena Barton on this creative and spiritual journey. Available through Amazon.
Online Oil Painting Art Classes at the McMichael
This six-week virtual studio program led by professional artist Judy Sherman is perfect for artists working to refine their oil painting technique in the subjects and styles of their choice. Sherman will use live demonstrations and individual mentorship to assist participants as they create. Students will learn how to use an artist’s perspective along with various tools to unlock their personal potential. Sherman will introduce and review topics including value, composition, colour, shape, form, lighting and more. Oil painting beginners and veterans alike will discover new skills and improve their technique under the guidance of a skilled visual artist.
Critiques are a time-honoured practice in art and all creative fields to gain perspective on your work, how you’re doing it, what seems especially interesting or strong about it, what possibilities there are to develop or improve it. In this critique, artist, educator and juror Kim-Lee Kho will provide her observations, insights and suggestions, including some context or references to contemporary art and art history as appropriate. Kim has provided a number of popular critique sessions in the past for Markham Group of Artists members and is looking forward to seeing your work. 
