Thursday, July 8, 2021

July 2021 Business Meeting

Members met via Zoom on Thursday, July 8, 2021.

Welcome and Guest Introductions

Linda Poche opened the meeting with a welcome.  Linda thanked members for being open to doing a Zoom meeting to avoid inclement weather due to Hurricane Elsa.

Creativity Exercise

Denice Celley led a drawing exercise of overlapping circles that helps with flexibility and movement of the hand. 

Chavis Update

  • Linda Poche toured the new building.   In August, CMMAG will meet in the Art Room at Chavis (505 Martin Luther King Jr Blvd, Raleigh, NC 27601), which is near the lobby and front desk.  We are to continue to use the parking lot we had used for the old building.  The entrance to the new building winds back, past the carousel. 
  • After construction of the new building, Chavis has a wishlist of items for the Art Room.  CMMAG voted to spend $150 to donate supplies to the Chavis kids art program.  

Upcoming Events/Outings

  • Zoom Open Studio Playtimes
    • Playdates or Open Studio times, which are free to all members, will continue through the summer on the Saturday before the business meetings at 10AM and a Sunday afternoon later in the month.  Wednesday sessions were put on hiatus until later in the year.  The upcoming dates include the following:
      • Saturday, July 10 at 10 am.  (This session was pushed back a week to avoid the holiday weekend.)
      • Sunday, July 25 at 1PM.  
  • Duke Gardens Outing
    • Marcia Streithorst has planned a trip to Duke Gardens to be inspired to sketch or paint.  It is free to enter the gardens, but there is a $2 parking fee.  This event was organized for Saturday, October 16 at 1PM.  
  • NC Museum of Art Sketching Outing
    • Katherine Stein is organizing a trip to NCMA on Saturday, September 11, from 10AM to 2PM.  If the weather cooperates, the group will focus on the sculpture garden.  If it is too hot or raining, the group can visit one of the buildings.  Entrance to the museum is free; however, since Covid you must get a ticket online to enter.  
      • Katherine will have a sign-up sheet at the August meeting so that she can arrange for tickets.

Social Media Update

Marcia Streithorst is the July Spotlight Member on the CMMAG website (blog.)  

Demo

Amy Roswick demonstrated a few ways to add metallic accents to your mixed media pieces including embossing powder and gilding flakes.  Linda Poche showcased how she uses metallic gel pens.  


Friday, July 2, 2021

Member Spotlight July 2021: Marcia Streithorst


Marcia Streithorst is a professional artist and teacher based in Raleigh.  Originally from Ohio, Marcia graduated with a BFA and before graduation landed a job at a publishing house. She has worked in the field of arts ever since, doing everything from managing designers at a Fortune 500 company to volunteering for non-profit art groups.  Marcia has been a member of CMMAG for 7 yrs.  She is the current Vice President of the CMMAG Board and has previously served as Secretary and a Member at Large.

After her family moved to North Carolina, Marcia started to take her personal art seriously and fell in love with the network of supporting artists in the area, the vibrant galleries and the welcoming arts community in Raleigh.  Marcia says she owes her pursuit of becoming a professional artist to her husband who truly believes everyone should, on some level, be passionate about what they do. 

It was in NC where she was first exposed to encaustic medium, and she has been captivated by its possibilities ever since.  Marcia uses encaustic to capture all the colors, fibers, textures, and music of life into beautiful surreal paintings.  She feels that she will always be an encaustic painter because she loves using a blow torch 😊 and never gets bored with the medium. The wax provides endless, exciting possibilities.  Marcia shares her passion for encaustic through her foray into teaching, where she sparks excitement in students for the ancient medium by showing them how to make it their own.

Marcia feels that she is very fortunate to have the opportunity to teach and show her work across the Triangle.  Her inspiration for painting is the drive to inspire that feeling of wonder and magic in others, and she is able to capture this in many layers of wax with its depth and texture.  Encaustic is water-resistant and touchable; Marcia parlays these characteristics into an experience for the viewer.

As Covid restrictions are being lifted, Marcia is slowly returning to teaching in-person encaustic classes with the City of Cary and at NC State’s Craft Center beginning as early as July 21st.  Her available classes are outlined on her website at mjsworks.com or on Facebook at MJS Works.  You can meet her in person at the Cary Lazy Daze event in August or view her work at Cary Gallery of Artists.  Below are some examples of her encaustic pieces.