An evening with artist Mira M White

This last Monday, the El Cerrito Art Association had its first meeting for the new year. We hosted guest artist Mira White demonstrated her painting technique to a pact crowd, revealing the many stages her paintings undergoing.

ECCA membership and guest

Mira M White

Her painting process is more meditative and intuitive then predictable, as she states “I have to be able to take a journey with my work.” Her work evolves over time, sometimes as much as four year before a painting is considered complete.

Influenced by Eastern philosophy, Mira has developed a number of visual symbols, which are found in many of her paintings that build on a very personal mythology. After a trip to Europe a few years back, she was captivated by the many clusters of small villages and their houses, that it also has become part of her visual symbolism.

          

In addition to the symbol of homes, there are ladders, square and triangles, which establish a personal the language, reflecting her mythology, all of which is transformed and accomplished through the many layers a painting goes through. There  are as many as fifteen to twenty or more layers, in which Mira combines numerous medium technique. Each layer a subtle expression of her thoughts.

          

Her primary medium is combining watercolor and pastels, including acrylic, oil sticks and graphite powder, and possible offset with collage material. Apart from using multiple mediums to layer her work, Mira also employs various techniques with which she applies her medium and always searching for different methods with which to work. 

Mira answering a members question

Currently she has been expanding her visual expressions by experimenting with encaustic painting, exploring her visual mythology by translating it in a new medium.

For further information and classes you can visit her website.

Thank you for your visit

and comment . . .

Egmont

Guest David Savellano and the ECAA

El Cerrito Art Association attending members

Last month I attend El Cerrito Art Association’s first meeting of the year, which featured guest speaker David Savellano, it was also my first exposure to the ECAA group. The large room was filled to capacity and a large number of the audience brought along their sketchbook and paints to follow along.

ECAA Director, Charlotte Britton 

David Savellano demonstrated travel sketching techniques and pointing out that one does not need much in materials, because what is more important is to capture the random moments in nature or anywhere else one chooses or the inspiration leads one.

David favors urban settings that requires adaptability and above all great speed. This means that one must focus on the essentials and know what to eliminate since everything at best is temporary. By focusing on the important elements of a scene, ones art work reflects the energy of spontaneity in this particular art form of expression.

• Other points of David’s presentation focused on composition and keeping people and environmental objects in relative measurement

• When drawing people to create an outline and then cross hatch in the shadow areas and nothing more

• To gather photo and magazine clippings of people for reference when ones sketch is incomplete

• Limiting ones materials to a small folding metal palette with professional quality tubes paints; a #8 round synthetic and medium size squirrel quill mop brush; and a Moleskine Watercolour Notebook 8x5” inch; a small bottle for water

David with a finished demonstration sketch

David Savellano lives in the Bay Area and is a native Californian, he has earned signature membership in the National Watercolor Society (NWS) and the California Watercolor Association (CWA).

During the brief break, ECAA members look over David’s watercolours and notebooks

I regards to my last post, the painting in progress, “White on White” has been completed and I will share with you the various stages of progress very soon. Not wanting to lose the momentum with which I seem to have started the year, this Saturday I pulled a canvas that has been patiently waiting around since 2008 to receive due attention and giving its first coat of paint.

Thank you for your visit and comment

Egmont