What Happened at the May 6 Meeting?

D’Arcy opened the meeting at 7:15, welcoming the crowd of members and new people. He introduced Karen Burns, who was given two great rounds of applause by everyone. Karen is the reason we were at Cornwall Square and she told us that they had received "a ton" of good responses from the public about our exhibition and Calendar Show. (Photo to the left shows D'Arcy speaking to our hero, Karen, after the show.)

Cornwall Square has been very generous to Focus Art members - giving us this venue free of charge, advertising in the papers free of charge, advertising on the radio free of charge and advertising on their billboard outside free of charge. They provided the chairs and tables for the General Meeting, free of charge, and they’ve done everything to make Focus Art's stay there a fantastic experience. Focus Art and it’s members cannot thank Cornwall Square enough.

Many thanks to Tim Horton’s of the Square for supplying us with coffee and timbits at no charge for the meeting.

The expected closing will be on Saturday (May 9) instead of Sunday, as Sunday is Mother’s Day. So, all artwork must be picked up on Saturday, May 9, 2009 before 5:30. D’Arcy says that anything left afterwards becomes his and he will not apologize for taking it home. ;-)

It was also discussed briefly that during upcoming school holidays, when kids are running around - such as March Break, etc, we could create some workshops at the Square in which would involve children making art with us. There is good potential for other exercises.

Certificates were handed out to the artists of the Twelve Chosen Calendar Paintings as each artist stood and presented their artwork to the group - and also posed for a photograph to be taken by Adele, who was the official photographer of the event. (Even though D’Arcy assured Deb that she wouldn’t have to do this beforehand when questioned about the "standing and presenting" part of his email notice. But she *did* survive the ordeal.) Brunhilde and Jane were absent.

Sales of the calendars will be in September and will be held at Cornwall Square.

Bernie Carriere gave an excellent talk on photography. Bernie is a fairly new member and teaches both philosophy and photography at the Cornwall Public Library. Call the Library in August if you’re interested in attending the classes in September. Currently, they are being held free of charge.

Bernie explained many of the basic guidelines in photography. Breaking the rules makes a great photograph but you have to know the rules to break. Another thought Bernie shared was that what you have in your head is more important that what’s in your hands. He also explained lenses, telephotos vs. zooms, and cleaning them, as well as the three most important accessories you can buy for your camera - tripod, polarizing filter and a lens shade. Many thanks to Bernie for the very interesting talk! If you’d like to learn more about using your camera, take Bernie’s classes in September!

The 50 / 50 draw was won by Micheline Tanguay, who took home $36.00.

After the meeting, Bonnie Baker of Seaway Custom Framing provided quite a few brushes, mats and markers for everyone to take as samples. Thanks very much, Bonnie! Bonnie is also a new member to Focus Art. (Seaway Custom Frames is located at 14705 County Rd. 2, Ingleside. If you'd like Bonnie's telephone number, contact me.)

Next meeting will be held as usual at the Centre Charles-Emile Claude on Chevrier.

Below are several shots of the winners receiving their certificates and presenting their paintings to the group.

See you soon,

Deb