Our Creative Exercises are designed to help you maintain creative focus and connect with our fellow members. All SDAC members are sent an art exercise via email blast. The exercises are designed so that all members — NO MATTER what skill level — can participate and enjoy. The exercise needs to be completed and an image sent to info@saugatuckdouglasartclub.org before the posted deadline.
Kat, SDAC Communications Director, will post the finished artworks in the following week's email blast so everyone can view the pieces. Please join us as we socially distance but artfully engage!
Kat, SDAC Communications Director, will post the finished artworks in the following week's email blast so everyone can view the pieces. Please join us as we socially distance but artfully engage!
Bonus Creative Exercise: Novels about artists we will explore in 2021
The book titles are arranged in chronological order starting in March, 2021.
MARCH – “I Always Loved You” by Robin Oliveira – Beautifully written with period details featuring Mary Cassatt and her complex relationship with Edgar Degas. Mary was famous for her paintings of intimate bonds between mother and child. Included are Berthe Morisot and Edouard Manet. Cassett was a dear friend of Abigail May Alcott, Louisa’s artistic sister and the basis for the Amy character in Little Women. Born 1926, Allegheny, Pa. died 1926. She went to Paris alone in 1866 to study and pursue her art. In 1877 her parents and sister Lydia joined her and they lived together in an apartment. In 1893 she was invited to show in Chicago by Bertha Palmer creating a large mural for the Women’s Building at the Chicago World’s Colombian Exhibition.
APRIL – “The Highwaymen: Florida’s African-American Artists" by Gary Monroe. Not a novel. There were 26 African American landscape artists in Florida in the Fort Pierce area. They sold their work door to door and along the highways from 1950s through 1980s. They used the same colors and their subject matter was very much the same. The style is very distinctive. They also painted in various stays in prison. You may want to explore them on the internet or see if the library has books on this culture.
MAY – “The Last Painting of Sara de Vos” by Dominic Smith is the story of a Dutch female artist who lost her young daughter and in grief she secretly begins painting a dark landscape of a girl watching ice skaters from the edge of the woods. Females were not to be artists and the approximately twenty of the Golden Age in the Netherlands had to sign men’s names to their work. The painting's inheritor in the 1950s Manhattan has a forgery painted. In 1631 Sara becomes the first woman to be admitted as a master painter to the Guild of St. Luke in Holland.
Other titles include “Girl in Hyacinth Blue” by Susan Vreeland, and “Girl with the Pearl Earring" by Tracy Chevalier. These titles are about Dutch Painters in the 1600s Netherlands. Two are about Johannes Vermeer who lived and worked in Delft in early 1600s.
JUNE – “Renoir’s Dancers: The Secret of Suzanne Valadon” by Catherine Hewitt. Suzanne Valadon (1865-1938) was a model for Renoir and other artists of the period including Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec. He was her lover for two years until she attempted suicide in 1888. She was an accomplished painter. See the painting entitled “Renoir’s Dancer” and you will see Suzanne. She was the first woman painter admitted to the Societe Nationale des Beau-Arts, also the mother of painter Maurice Utrillo. In the 1890s she befriended Edgar Degas who purchased her work and encouraged her she remained one of his closest friends until his death.
JULY – “Luncheon at the Boating Party” by Suzanne Vreeland.
Renoir’s Luncheon of the Boating Party painting includes 14 people around the outdoor table in the summer along the Seine. The story is about each one and how difficult it was to get them together to pose many times for the painting. They met on Sundays for two months. It is 1880 and Auguste Renior and the author paint their lives, loves, losses, and triumphs so vividly that “the painting literally comes alive.”(Boston Globe)
AUGUST – Now the top selling female artist in the world. Yayoi Kusama (born 1929) is a Japanese contemporary artist who works in sculpture and installation. She is active in painting, performance, film, fashion, fiction and other arts. Her work is based in conceptual art. She is obsessed with repetitions. In childhood she made drawings of pumpkins and her art today is based on that shape. There are approximately 25 books featuring her work and her hallucinations since childhood enhance her work. Reading about her on the internet will take you hours; there is so much. She is a marketing genius.
SEPTEMBER – “Strapless” by Deborah Davis is the amazing story of the portrait of Madame X by John Singer Sargent. She was a young socialite by the name of Virginie Amelle Avegno Gautreau and the portrait was created 1883-1884. The scandal resulting from the presentation at the Paris Salon in 1884 amounted to a temporary setback for his career in France. She is posing in a black satin dress with jeweled straps that reveals and hides at the same time.
OCTOBER – “Marriage of Opposites” by Alice Hoffman is the story of Jacob Abraham Camille Pissarro, born 1830 on the island of St. Thomas. His mother was from a French-Jewish family from St. Thomas. The father, Portuguese Jewish, was a merchant who came to the island from France to deal with the hardware store. His father sent him to boarding school in France at age 12. Pissarro is considered the father of the French Impressionism. An incredibly intense and excellent book, “Depths of Glory” by Irving Stone would be a read for someone focused on France and the Impressionist.
NOVEMBER AND DECEMBER SURPRISE! You might enjoy “Lust for Life” by Irving Stone.
MARCH – “I Always Loved You” by Robin Oliveira – Beautifully written with period details featuring Mary Cassatt and her complex relationship with Edgar Degas. Mary was famous for her paintings of intimate bonds between mother and child. Included are Berthe Morisot and Edouard Manet. Cassett was a dear friend of Abigail May Alcott, Louisa’s artistic sister and the basis for the Amy character in Little Women. Born 1926, Allegheny, Pa. died 1926. She went to Paris alone in 1866 to study and pursue her art. In 1877 her parents and sister Lydia joined her and they lived together in an apartment. In 1893 she was invited to show in Chicago by Bertha Palmer creating a large mural for the Women’s Building at the Chicago World’s Colombian Exhibition.
APRIL – “The Highwaymen: Florida’s African-American Artists" by Gary Monroe. Not a novel. There were 26 African American landscape artists in Florida in the Fort Pierce area. They sold their work door to door and along the highways from 1950s through 1980s. They used the same colors and their subject matter was very much the same. The style is very distinctive. They also painted in various stays in prison. You may want to explore them on the internet or see if the library has books on this culture.
MAY – “The Last Painting of Sara de Vos” by Dominic Smith is the story of a Dutch female artist who lost her young daughter and in grief she secretly begins painting a dark landscape of a girl watching ice skaters from the edge of the woods. Females were not to be artists and the approximately twenty of the Golden Age in the Netherlands had to sign men’s names to their work. The painting's inheritor in the 1950s Manhattan has a forgery painted. In 1631 Sara becomes the first woman to be admitted as a master painter to the Guild of St. Luke in Holland.
Other titles include “Girl in Hyacinth Blue” by Susan Vreeland, and “Girl with the Pearl Earring" by Tracy Chevalier. These titles are about Dutch Painters in the 1600s Netherlands. Two are about Johannes Vermeer who lived and worked in Delft in early 1600s.
JUNE – “Renoir’s Dancers: The Secret of Suzanne Valadon” by Catherine Hewitt. Suzanne Valadon (1865-1938) was a model for Renoir and other artists of the period including Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec. He was her lover for two years until she attempted suicide in 1888. She was an accomplished painter. See the painting entitled “Renoir’s Dancer” and you will see Suzanne. She was the first woman painter admitted to the Societe Nationale des Beau-Arts, also the mother of painter Maurice Utrillo. In the 1890s she befriended Edgar Degas who purchased her work and encouraged her she remained one of his closest friends until his death.
JULY – “Luncheon at the Boating Party” by Suzanne Vreeland.
Renoir’s Luncheon of the Boating Party painting includes 14 people around the outdoor table in the summer along the Seine. The story is about each one and how difficult it was to get them together to pose many times for the painting. They met on Sundays for two months. It is 1880 and Auguste Renior and the author paint their lives, loves, losses, and triumphs so vividly that “the painting literally comes alive.”(Boston Globe)
AUGUST – Now the top selling female artist in the world. Yayoi Kusama (born 1929) is a Japanese contemporary artist who works in sculpture and installation. She is active in painting, performance, film, fashion, fiction and other arts. Her work is based in conceptual art. She is obsessed with repetitions. In childhood she made drawings of pumpkins and her art today is based on that shape. There are approximately 25 books featuring her work and her hallucinations since childhood enhance her work. Reading about her on the internet will take you hours; there is so much. She is a marketing genius.
SEPTEMBER – “Strapless” by Deborah Davis is the amazing story of the portrait of Madame X by John Singer Sargent. She was a young socialite by the name of Virginie Amelle Avegno Gautreau and the portrait was created 1883-1884. The scandal resulting from the presentation at the Paris Salon in 1884 amounted to a temporary setback for his career in France. She is posing in a black satin dress with jeweled straps that reveals and hides at the same time.
OCTOBER – “Marriage of Opposites” by Alice Hoffman is the story of Jacob Abraham Camille Pissarro, born 1830 on the island of St. Thomas. His mother was from a French-Jewish family from St. Thomas. The father, Portuguese Jewish, was a merchant who came to the island from France to deal with the hardware store. His father sent him to boarding school in France at age 12. Pissarro is considered the father of the French Impressionism. An incredibly intense and excellent book, “Depths of Glory” by Irving Stone would be a read for someone focused on France and the Impressionist.
NOVEMBER AND DECEMBER SURPRISE! You might enjoy “Lust for Life” by Irving Stone.
Exercise 12: February–Celebrating Black History
In 1915, it was declared that February would be Black History Month, a time to celebrate all African American achievements. While there are so many amazing people to celebrate, we would like to focus on Faith Ringgold, a true inspiration to artists.
Faith was born in 1930 in Harlem, NYC. She is still living in NYC to this day creating art and sharing her knowledge of the subject. She is a painter, quilter, civil rights activist, feminist, textile artist and the author of 14 different children’s books. From 1987 to 2002, Faith was a professor at the University of California and taught art of many forms.
She is known famously for her innovative quilting of narratives that communicate her political beliefs. Her quilts are often comprised of fabrics and paint and are known to tell stories.
Some of Faith’s most well known quotes:
“The great enemy of creativity is fear.”
“You can’t sit around and wait for somebody to say who we are, you need to write it and paint it and do it.”
“Anyone can fly. All you need is somewhere to go that you can’t get to any other way. The next thing you know, you’re flying among the stars.”
To learn more about Faith and her incredibly inspiring life, please visit her website at https://www.faithringgold.com/.
This month, we are asking you to create art inspired by some of Faith’s beautiful work. Feel free to incorporate anything else related to the month of February, too. Think Valentine’s Day, hearts, amethyst, etc.!
Faith was born in 1930 in Harlem, NYC. She is still living in NYC to this day creating art and sharing her knowledge of the subject. She is a painter, quilter, civil rights activist, feminist, textile artist and the author of 14 different children’s books. From 1987 to 2002, Faith was a professor at the University of California and taught art of many forms.
She is known famously for her innovative quilting of narratives that communicate her political beliefs. Her quilts are often comprised of fabrics and paint and are known to tell stories.
Some of Faith’s most well known quotes:
“The great enemy of creativity is fear.”
“You can’t sit around and wait for somebody to say who we are, you need to write it and paint it and do it.”
“Anyone can fly. All you need is somewhere to go that you can’t get to any other way. The next thing you know, you’re flying among the stars.”
To learn more about Faith and her incredibly inspiring life, please visit her website at https://www.faithringgold.com/.
This month, we are asking you to create art inspired by some of Faith’s beautiful work. Feel free to incorporate anything else related to the month of February, too. Think Valentine’s Day, hearts, amethyst, etc.!
Please email your creative response back to info@saugatuckdouglasartclub.org by MONDAY, Feb. 22nd!
Exercise 11: January–A Fresh Start With a Look Back
January was named after the Roman god Janus. He was known as the protector of gates and doorways which symbolize beginnings and ends.
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow wrote:
“Janus am I; oldest of potentates;
Forward I look, and backward, and below
I count, as god of avenues and gates,
The years that through my portals come and go.”
As you contemplate an art piece for the January Challenge, consider an idea of the following events in January. Of course, you can think of your own as well!
January 1, 1892 - Ellis Island becomes a gateway for immigrants into America.
1906 - Campbells soup was trademarked, January is National Soup Month!
Jan. 13, 1930 - First ever Mickey Mouse cartoon appeared in magazines.
January 13, 1969 - Beatles US Album ‘Yellow Submarine’ was released.
Jan. 16, 1984 - Jim Henson’s copyright claim on “Kermit, the Muppet” was renewed.
New Years - Twelfth Night - Epiphany - Martin Luther King Day - Benjamin Franklin’s birthday - Inauguration Day
It’s almost time to begin to imagine your spring time gardens!
Take inspiration from the birthstone gem of January, the red garnet.
Use the birth month flower, the carnation, to create a beautiful wintertime bouquet.
Create, explore, take pictures, make delicious January-inspired treats.
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow wrote:
“Janus am I; oldest of potentates;
Forward I look, and backward, and below
I count, as god of avenues and gates,
The years that through my portals come and go.”
As you contemplate an art piece for the January Challenge, consider an idea of the following events in January. Of course, you can think of your own as well!
January 1, 1892 - Ellis Island becomes a gateway for immigrants into America.
1906 - Campbells soup was trademarked, January is National Soup Month!
Jan. 13, 1930 - First ever Mickey Mouse cartoon appeared in magazines.
January 13, 1969 - Beatles US Album ‘Yellow Submarine’ was released.
Jan. 16, 1984 - Jim Henson’s copyright claim on “Kermit, the Muppet” was renewed.
New Years - Twelfth Night - Epiphany - Martin Luther King Day - Benjamin Franklin’s birthday - Inauguration Day
It’s almost time to begin to imagine your spring time gardens!
Take inspiration from the birthstone gem of January, the red garnet.
Use the birth month flower, the carnation, to create a beautiful wintertime bouquet.
Create, explore, take pictures, make delicious January-inspired treats.
Here are the results:
Exercise 10: Chickadee and Holly
Christmas time lends itself to creating a poem. Or maybe writing a short story from your childhood during the season.
Paint a scene with beautiful crisp, white snow!
Twinkle lights, music, trees, family vacation time.
Use your favorite boots, coats, hats and scarves as inspiration.
Take time to study the birds seen in the winter time. Reflect and create art with birds as your subject. Chickadees, red cardinals in the snow, bright holly berries against the green holly.
Make gifts for friends and family.
Plan a holiday themed art event with your children, grandchildren, etc.
Paint a scene with beautiful crisp, white snow!
Twinkle lights, music, trees, family vacation time.
Use your favorite boots, coats, hats and scarves as inspiration.
Take time to study the birds seen in the winter time. Reflect and create art with birds as your subject. Chickadees, red cardinals in the snow, bright holly berries against the green holly.
Make gifts for friends and family.
Plan a holiday themed art event with your children, grandchildren, etc.
Here are the results:
Exercise 9: Warm Light Reflect
The warmth of citrine, a gift of the sun
It’s the last month of fall.
It’s a somber month, it signals the start of winter and preparing for snow and cold here in Michigan.
November has abundance of history for us to observe, as well.
End of WW1 - Nov. 11, 1918 - Veterans Day
Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address
Opening of the Erie Canal - Opening of the Suez Canal
The Holland Tunnel
The game of "Monopoly" released on Nov. 5, 1935
Mark Twain and Georgia O'Keefe share Nov. as a birthday month.
T H A N K S G I V I N G
AND NATIONAL MEN MAKE DINNER DAY! (1ST THURSDAY OF NOVEMBER)
Please let something mentioned here (or something new!) inspire you to create a piece of art representing the beautiful month of November, Make a pumpkin pie and complete a painting of it, Clean out garage for winter and craft with your findings. Go up north and view the colors while you can. Enjoy the November light and be aware of how it changes each day.
It’s the last month of fall.
It’s a somber month, it signals the start of winter and preparing for snow and cold here in Michigan.
November has abundance of history for us to observe, as well.
End of WW1 - Nov. 11, 1918 - Veterans Day
Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address
Opening of the Erie Canal - Opening of the Suez Canal
The Holland Tunnel
The game of "Monopoly" released on Nov. 5, 1935
Mark Twain and Georgia O'Keefe share Nov. as a birthday month.
T H A N K S G I V I N G
AND NATIONAL MEN MAKE DINNER DAY! (1ST THURSDAY OF NOVEMBER)
Please let something mentioned here (or something new!) inspire you to create a piece of art representing the beautiful month of November, Make a pumpkin pie and complete a painting of it, Clean out garage for winter and craft with your findings. Go up north and view the colors while you can. Enjoy the November light and be aware of how it changes each day.
Here are the results!
Exercise 8: My favorite color is October
|
Fall colors and the emotions with rich warm tones.
Joy and happy orange - Red - Yellow - Light Brown - Dark Brown - Gold - Burgundy - Purple - Violet - Olive Green - Dusty Pink - Gray - Black Perfect Temperatures - Foliage changes - Crispness in the air making us feel energized Candy corn, costumes, hot apple cider, football. Pumpkins and pumpkin pie with whipped cream. Gourds, corn shucks. 
"Winter is an etching, spring a watercolor, summer an oil painting and autumn a mosaic of them all." |
Suggestions are endless for a project related to these colors!
Take a walk through town or the lakeshore. Be sure to crunch the leaves beneath your feet and take a camera, sketchbook, or whatever your heart desires. |
Here are the results:
Exercise 7: Trees - Life, Growth, Peace.
“The creation of a thousand forests is in one acorn.” - Ralph Waldo Emerson
Love the trees until their leaves fall off, then encourage them to try again next year. Survival, clean air, filtered water, shade, food and breathing. Give us hope and insight. Courage to persevere. Trees teach us to stay rooted while soaring to great heights.
“What we are doing to the forests of the world is but a mirror reflection of what we are doing to ourselves and to one another.” - Chris Maser
- Challenge your art project perhaps using one of these quotes for inspiration.
- Go climb a tree... (oh yeah, sure...)
- Go sit under your favorite tree and take art materials with you.
- Read a book—it’s made of paper, which is made from trees.
“You know me, I think there ought to be a big ole tree right there." - Bob Ross
AND…lets give him (or her) a friend. Everybody needs a friend.
If Bob Ross is not in your world, look him up and see what he means about his “Happy Trees”
If Bob Ross is not in your world, look him up and see what he means about his “Happy Trees”
Here are the results:
Exercise 6: A Day at the Beach
|
A DAY AT THE BEACH RESTORES THE SOUL
It’s Summer and we enjoy time for the beach, a boat ride, a swim in a pool, a small lake or our BIG LAKE. Create something that pleases your soul, particularly at the beach. Think about your favorite beach towel, honor it, design one that’s more mindful. Think about your favorite sunglasses, umbrella, cooler. Think lemonade, think picnic tables Write a beach story, writing is art. Look up beach towels, beaches, sunglasses on Google for inspiration. Go to the beach and sketch or paint a watercolor. Take a swim. |
|
The sixth round of SDAC creative exercises, "A Day at the Beach" is complete. Here are the results:
Exercise 5: Save a Chair for You
|
Choose a chair to inspire you. Think about how the design of it is influenced by comfort, design, how we sit, lounge and wait.
Ideas for the challenge: - DRAW YOUR FAVORITE CHAIR - USE FABRIC TO CREATE A COLLAGE OF CHAIRS OR CHAIR - BUILD A CHAIR OUT OF WOOD, TOOTH PICKS, ETC. - PAINT AN UPHOLSTERED CHAIR. - MAKE A DIORAMA - WEAVE SOMETHING - PAINT ON AN OLD CHAIR - WRITE A STORY ABOUT YOUR FAVORITE RESTING PLACE |
Henry David Thoreau had three chairs in his cabin. 
“Everything I have ever written has been |
The fifth round of SDAC creative exercises, "Save a Chair for You" is complete.
Here are the results:
Here are the results:
Exercise 4: Nature's Zoom Call
|
There is a subtle peace
that comes upon observing nature grandeur to observe around every corner There is the peace that comes from enveloping oneself in nature the peace that comes from being in the arms of Mother Nature is serene and calming There is a call for all of us to see the beauty in the everyday.” all natural things both live and move in natural peace that is their own." There is meditation when you think about nature and the environment time reflect on your place in the world how to connect with it. Understanding nature and the environment will continue to be an inspiration for artist never forget to use it for inspiration and guidance to express yourself Go take a walk Observe and explore your surroundings, looking for interesting textures, colors and other patterns in the natural environment. Document your walk by photographing anything that catches your eye. Zoom-in and focus on small details to take close-up shots of your findings. Upon returning home, review the photographs from your walk and select 1(or more) of your favorite images Using your choice of materials, photoshop, paint, printmaking, clay, glass pencils, collage recreate the photograph in a new vision. Let nature take you someplace you have never been before. |
|
The fourth round of SDAC creative exercises, "Nature's Zoom Call" is complete. Here are the results:
Exercise 3: Faded Memories.
|
Faded Memories
in our quarantined time we may have sorted through our old photos there is something about opening that box they can bring in a rush of emotions not all of which we’re prepared for when we have a look they can make us think of how good the past was. how today can never compare to those happy days the kind of hairstyles and clothes worn the places we were we see the past with rose-tinted glasses ignoring all that was not great about it we remember the people in them some might have gone from our lives forever old photographs remind us of the bond that we had how happy they made us sometimes the people in the photos weren’t good for us, even though we did not know that at the time how fresh the wounds seem old photos make us realize how far we’ve come they are a visual record of our growth select an old photo that speaks to you from an emotional or artful voice what made you pick this pic? how do you feel when you look at it? how does the composition, gestures, mood bring inspiration? using this photo create a drawing, textile, print or sculpture or another photo the photo should transform into a piece of art. distort the images photo copy several times play with multiple images. collage, paint, cut, sculpt, print take some chances and transform a memory into a piece of art captured memories seen from a different view |
|
The third round of SDAC creative exercises, "Faded Memories" is complete. Here are the results:
Exercise 2: A Room with a View.
|
Windows of Art
so, what is a window, really? an opening cut out of a building, yet the placement of a window, like an artist’s brushstrokes on a canvas, has special meaning. what is a window metaphorically? a spiritual entrance through which your soul can travel. if you choose to let it go, your soul can break the glass boundaries and travel into the world, soaking in imaginary sounds, smells, sights. it is a portal for your thoughts to roam freely. a window, however, creates boundaries, as your soul can only travel as far as your eyes can see. you watch life go by, failing to contribute any involvement. windows aren’t for proactive people; they are for those who watch rather than do. during this time of isolation, windows are especially significant. we are often found staring out from our homes into a world where we can’t engage. forced to stay home, our view of the world is limited to what we see through the glass. communities are finding small ways to reach out and connect through windows. many neighborhoods, hospitals, nursing homes are posting signs and pictures to show that while we may be isolated, we can still show support and love. people all over the world are interacting with their loved ones through windows, all to keep themselves and others safe during this trying time. you are invited to capture your room with a view. select a window where the scene that you observe is inspiring. using any materials that you find suitable, create a piece that speaks to your observations and your emotional responses to being quarantined. color, composition and mark-making can play a major role in your artwork. you might choose to create a photo to send your message. take some chances enjoy the process! |
|
The second round of SDAC creative exercises, "Mirror Mirror" is complete. Here are the results:
Exercise 1: Mirror Mirror on the Wall
|
We are all in our houses.
The place we call home, our abode, our shelter and our dwelling. During this time that may go on for a while, we look at our surroundings and ourselves in a very different manner than we did a few weeks ago. We have time, lots of time to do things we might not have done if this pandemic did not occur. We may catch ourselves looking in the mirror more often than before. Maybe even stop and stare for a while. Recognizing things or changes that we might not have noticed. We are taking a closer outer look at ourselves and hopefully also an inner look at ourselves. You are invited to take some time to look in the mirror and create a self-portrait. Use the examples below to inspire you. Try to use a material you have never used. Try to imitate an artist you admire. Try a new method of making art. None of these self portraits should be photographic. You can take a selfie instead. What they should be is an interpretation of how you see yourself during this time. Many might say…I can’t draw a face, I can’t draw myself. Yes, you can. Whatever you draw will be good. Judging yourself right now is useless. Looking at yourself and creating a drawing or painting or sculpture of how you feel right now is useful. Take the challenge. You will be glad you did. |
|
The first round of SDAC creative exercises, "Mirror Mirror" was completed April 4, 2020! Here are the results:
