Welcome to the Art Guild's Archives!

Laura Walton began in the literary arts. After several years writing and teaching poetry, she returned to her early love of the visual arts. Her recent paintings have used surface texture as a foundational element, as she has moved from twenty years of representational painting into abstract expressionism. As both a visual artist and a poet, she is very interested in boundaries; finding, bending and breaking them, and then creating new ones to start the process over again.

She works in two main styles: mixed media/assemblage, and a more traditional easel approach. Her textural works and assemblage projects reflect her love of the additive process. She considers this style of her work to fall somewhere near the term "NeoConstructionist".

Her easel style is fulfilling in another way. She has been influenced by painters who rely on strong line and value, especially the German painters Paul Klee and Kandinsky. She feels that she achieves a level of subtlety with oils and acrylics that she can't with her textural work.

In addition to working almost full-time in her small studio, she also teaches poetry workshops in Waco, Dallas, and elsewhere. We can expect Laura to bring a fresh viewpoint that may encourage us to try new approaches. Some of her works are reproduced here. You can see others, including her poetry, at www.waltonstudio.com.

Join us at 1:30 p.m. for refreshments and conversation. The meeting begins at 2, and the demonstration shortly thereafter. Once again, we will meet at the Waco Charter school, 615 N. 25th Street, Waco.

Laura Walton introduced herself and gave a history of her development as an artist. She moved from painting and sketching representational works to expressionism, using oils and mixed media, to constructed paintings emphasizing value and line, and finally moving to large 3-D works using found materials in her family's barns and sheds. The terms "assemblage" and "combine" are often used to describe the genre. She is particularly interested in texture and form. Shape and composition are more important to her than color, so she paints all the parts of her compositions white. She uses one or a combination of oil, acrylic, gesso, and Krylon (matte). To assemble her works she employs woodworking tools and skills she learned while apprenticed to a carriage-maker who did restoration work.

Each piece drives her technique, and she lets the work evolve, rather than coming to it with a preconceived design. She has always been intrigued by ruins and broken items that have lost their original meanings or purposes. Taking her ideas from the materials she adds her own meaning to the assemblage. She coats the work with thin plaster, with wood glue added to lessen brittleness. Her formula is approximately 1 part plaster, 1 part water, and about 1/20 part wood glue. She uses her visual sense to create, and after assembling the parts, she analyzes the work, making changes if needed. She is taking a welding class so she can use metal as a base for her work. She likes to use dark red or deep green cloth as background for photos.

Today she began with a base consisting of a chair seat on which was an upright shutter and a block of wood. She screwed on a tall board and a section of a blown-out tire. She added drapery around the chair and up the tall board with a length of burlap, and added a round light fixture facing up toward the tire. She was planning to experiment with dipping the fabric in thin concrete instead of plaster to give it more strength. She then added chicken wire on the side opposite the drapery for balance and contrasting texture.

Laura seemed pleased, if a bit surprised ,at our ready acceptance and participation in her creative process. It was a very interesting demonstration, for which we thank Laura. Thanks also go to Violet Piper, Frank Letzler, Bettye Schwartz, and Rose Jacobson for providing refreshments, and to Ellen Foster who provided door prizes of a book and two pairs of tickets to "Over the River and Through the Woods," the Civic Theater play where we are exhibiting. Special thanks also to all those who brough paintings for Show and Tell, samples of which are below. We voted on which of these should be on the postcard for the February reception at the Carleen Bright Arboretum. The winner was Violet Piper's "Launch Your Dreams."

Show and Tell

             

 Pat Blackwell            Nancy Cagle             Ellen Foster           Bill Franklin

              

 Judy Franklin             Linda Green           Rose Jacobson      Martha McKinney

         

Gloria Meadows   Christine Niekamp     Violet Piper

Bring your art between 9 and 10 a.m. on Tuesday, Feb 20.  Each artist may submit up to three works, of which we expect to have at least one work selected for display.  The theme will be "Dream Destinations."  While this was suggested with honeymoons and vacations in mind, it is broad enough to include anything you might dream about doing. There are no size limits for hanging art.  Three dimensional works will be considered for display if enclosed in tamper-proof cases.

There will be an opening reception, Sunday, Feb 25, 1-3 p.m.  Please pick up any unselected works at that time or soon thereafter.

The exhibit will end on Mar 26.  Please pick up your art between 9 and 10 a.m.  If you cannot do so, make arrangements for someone else to do so, or you will be charged a fine of $5 per item.  Check the exhibit rules on the exhibitions page.

We have 29 works by 14 artists hanging at the Arboretum.  They appear below, starting at the entrance and moving around to the right.  Spaces between them, such as doors and windows have been removed in the photos. 

The reception on Sunday was nice, although lightly attended.  The exhibit is to be removed between 9 and 10 a.m. Monday, March 26.  Please either pick your works up at that time or arrange for someone else to do so for you.  There is a $5 per work fine for failing to do so.