Choochokam Arts 2012

ChoochokamArts 2012 is Langley’s annual Festival of the Arts. This year it will be held on Saturday, July 7 and Sunday, July 8. 

Each year, Whidbey Island Fine Arts Studio (WIFAS) participates in the festival. This year, our booth will be in the US Bank parking lot. We encourage you to come on over to Whidbey Island and enjoy this wonderful art festival.

WIFAS will have artists painting and demonstrating all day long. This is all free. Local celebrities will be posing for the artists. We will also have Simon Kogan, nationally known sculptor demonstrating. He will be sculpting from the model both days. What a treat!

Below is a listing of some of what WIFAS will be featuring in our booth throughout the festival so you can plan your time accordingly.

Saturday July 7

Morning Schedule:

10:00 am

Jim Lamb, landscape painting

Anne Belov, printing

Simon Kogan, sculpture (on-going)

David Gray, painting the model (on-going)

Afternoon Painting & Drawing Schedule:

1:00 – 2:30 pm

Aaron Coberly with Patricia Duff as the model

Liana Bennett with Chris Adams as the model

3:00 – 4:30 pm

Henry Stinson with Paul Schell as the model

Ned Mueller with Pam Schell as the model

 Sunday, July 8

 Painting & Drawing Schedule

10:30 – 11:30 am

Tenaya Sims with Sue Frause as the model

Aaron Coberly with Bob Frause as the model

Noon – 1:00 pm

Ned Mueller with Elisabeth George as the model

In addition, Faye Castle, Gordy Edberg, Cary Jurriaans, Christobel Prost, Annette Hannah, Truman Castle and more will all be painting in some kind of capacity.

Stop by our booth and introduce yourself. We would love to meet you or get reacquainted.

Creating Landscapes that Speak

MichaelWorkman is a master landscape artist. His rural landscapes evoke strong emotions in those who experience their subtle, yet powerful silent wonder. Whidbey Island Fine Art Studio has the privilege of hosting a week-long Plein Air workshop taught by Michael this summer.

Considered one of the major American Contemporary Tonalist painters, Michael’s use of color, texture, and light are soft and harmonious and create a dreamy effect. Tonalism is defined as the use of color’s middle values versus stronger contrasts. It is a subtle, yet powerful technique.

Michael’s workshop will focus on deconstructing his paintings to show you how he achieves a balance between a realistic approach and an abstract interpretation. Early on in his career, Michael realized that in order to distinguish his landscapes he would have to go beneath the visible surface and mine the reach emotional layers that lay below. Michael’s goal in his workshops is to teach artists to tap their emotional response to a landscape and capture this in their own rendering of the scene.

Michael freely shares his insights and thoughts in his workshops. Some of his insightful thoughts include:

“If you can’t draw, it’s hard to be a good painter.”

“If you have nothing to say, it is not art.”

“Most of the painting problems are caused by bad drawing, value and color.”

 “What you leave out is more important than what you leave in.”

 Most importantly, Michael believes that, “To become an artist is a long hard climb up a steep mountain. You can only stop and rest for a while. You must always strive for excellence. Go deeper than you've ever gone before.”  This is exactly what Michael strives to help artists do in his workshops.

Don’t miss this great opportunity to study alongside one of the greatest landscape artists of our time. If you are unable to attend this workshop, Michael has a couple recommendations of books for those serious about improving their landscape paintings. The two books he recommends are:  Guide to Landscape Painting by John F. Carlson and Composition of Outdoor Painting by Edgar Payne.