Tuesday, October 12, 2010

October 16th Meeting Details

Just another reminder about the meeting. And a couple of agenda updates (in Red).

Date: October 16, 2010
Place: Kennedy Heights Art Center
             6546 Montgomery Rd.
            Cincinnati, OH

Time: 11:00AM

Most of this meeting will be devoted to the plans for the November Gallery Show and Sale. This will be the last chance that we have as a group to look-over the facility and decide how we need to proceed.


Agenda:    

 1. Treasurer's Rep
 2. Group Show
      - Sign-up for Show (no charge this year)
         If you cannot attend this meeting but want to be part of the Nov. Show,                                                                       please send me an email
       - Postcards & Bookmarks
       - Door Prize, Raffle (see below), Group Challenge, People's Choice Award
      - Food
      - Set-up Schedule


3. Winterfaire 2010 - sign-up

                
4. 2011 Shows - which ones do we want to continue doing?
   - Indiana Quilt Show
   - June Sharronville Show
   - Late Summer Sharronville Show
   - Winterfaire

 5. AFIC - evening M&T madness

 6. December Meeting - Holiday Party

 7. New Banner for Shows - Robbie Porter

  8. Show & Tell





Raffle -
Cindee Moyer gave us a pattern to raffle for our group. We thought it would be a nice idea to make-up a gift basket of the pattern and some of the supplies needed to raffle off at the Annual Show. The doll is "Wilda, the Web Designer". If you would like to donate any of the supplies from the list, please bring them to the meeting. I will supply a basket for the raffle gift.






Hope to see the members there.  Visitors are welcome too.

Wednesday, September 29, 2010

Wow! What fun.



Wow!  What a fun time had by all at the joint meeting of the Gilded Lilies of Columbus and the RiverCity Figurative Artists' Guild of Cincinnati.  The project of the day was to create a little hand puppet designed by Dot Llewelyn called a Hot Cootie Monster.  Here you can see the big table full of all sorts of stuff to create from.  Dot guided us on the few steps needed to create a fun little creature.  Mine is shown at the bottom of the post.  Our sisters from the north treated us with a sumptuous feast and such warmth and friendship.  One of our newest members was in attendance too.  Cassandra Graham from the Waynesville area was there with her new dolls.  She is a relatively new doll maker.  Cassandra is known for her awesome beaded art pieces that you wear.  Jewelery, but these are truly art wear.

Also, we were delighted to meet Troy Ohio native Kevin Buntin who is a well known fantasy art doll maker. His work is amazing and very detailed.  He may even be enticed to be a member of our humble guild.  Kevin is such a warm and fun guy.  He brought one of his large sculptures to share and show with the group.  It is shown later in the post.  All in all it was a fun day  Thank you Lilies for a grand time.  I wish there were more of us from Cincy, but at least those of us there had a great time.



Dolls by members of the Gilded Lilies.  You can see my pumpkin scarecrow peeking out from behind.




Sorry, I don't remember who made all the dolls, as it was such a whirlwind kind of day.  My memory is shaky these days.  But, a cool mad hatter doll by a Gilded Lily member.




Another Lily members' doll based on the color yellow for a color challenge.




Kevin's' valley strider figure.  Really cool how he made the little village that sits on the giants shoulders.



A cool witch doctor doll made by a Lily attending Adele Scorintino's class at the Doll Gathering event.




Cassandra's dolls she made while and after attending a workshop given by Kevin Buntin.  Yes, she is now hooked on making dolls.



Lastly we have my humble "Hot Cootie Monster"  I made during the workshop.  See what fun we had?  Don't you wish you could have been there?  I thought so, next time you can join us.  It will be hosted by the Cincinnati guild next year.  Next up for us is our annual show and sale at the Kennedy Heights art center in November.  Stay tuned for that folks.  Until we post again have an awesome creative time.

Saturday, September 11, 2010

September Joint Meeting with the Gilded Lilies

For the members of Rivercity who are interested in going to Columbus for the joint meeting with the Lilies the information is listed below.  You will need to arrange your own transportation or get other members to car pool. Here is what Dot has to say about the meeting.


The joint meeting for the Rivercity & the Guilded Lilies will be on
September 25th at the Westland Library in Columbus Ohio.  Westland
Library is at 4749 W. Broad St.  Columbus Ohio 43228.
http://www.spl.lib.oh.us/splloc.cfm?branchid=920

We will be gathering there at 10 am with our general meeting
beginning around 10:30 am.  We will be having a buffet style lunch
there at the library & have a mini class in the afternoon.  The class
will be called "Hot Cootie Monsters" which is a sort of Softie/Ugli
monster type of doll.  I, Dot Lewallen, will be teaching this class.
The only thing your members need to bring is a sewing kit consisting
of needles, thread, pins.  We will furnish all other items for the
class.

I hope we can have a nice showing this year.  See ya there.

Wednesday, July 28, 2010

August 2010 Workshop with Cindee Moyer

This is a reminder that we will not be holding a meeting during August 2010. Instead, the amazing Cindee Moyer has graciously created an original pattern/doll for her workshop with our guild. This is the second doll made by Cindee for our workshop.  Please see the blog below for the originally created piece.

Weighing the Possibilities. 

Face detail for Weighing the Possibilities #1!

May - July 2010 Guild Updates

May, June and July Guild Update is finally underway! I will report our activities backwards so that the most current is at the top of the blog/newsletter. Please note that items in red ink will not appear in the blog. Thank you.

Unless otherwise noted, our meetings now start at 11 AM at the Kennedy Heights Art Center (KHAC) in their second floor conference room.

Stephen Rausch's display at the Sharonville 6/2010 show.
New ODACA Member
Congratulations to RCFA Board Member, Stephen Rausch, on becoming an ODACA Artist. Stephen reports that
"The ODACA members are all great and very friendly. They all gave me a very warm and enthusiastic reception...my newest piece, The Venetian Maskmaker, was purchased by the Quinlan Museum in Santa Barbara, CA...it was a very rewarding weekend." 
Again, we congratulate Stephen on this awesome achievement!
July Meeting 
Welcome back Cody! We were happy to see his smiling face after his health trials of the last couple of months. Unfortunately, we have two more health concerns. Carla and Deb, you are both in our thoughts and prayers.
Education Committee Report  Cindee Moyer Workshop,"Weighing the Possibilities" (scheduled for Saturday August 21st and Sunday August 22nd) is in the final planning stages. As of July 17 Deb reported 28 total registration. There is an imbalance in the number of student scheduled, so several members have volunteered to move their class dates to Sunday to even out the class sizes. Five RCFA members are planning on attending both class days – one to learn and the other to work the event.

We are all excited to meet Cindee. Everything Deb has told us about her contact with this talented lady shows her to be quite a wonderful person. To see more of Cindee’s work, please check her dolls out on the web: http://www.cmoyer.etsy.com/ and cmoyer.com/index.html. Thanks to Deb for all her hard work in planning this event.

Please keep your eyes open for future emails from Deb regarding further class information.

August 07, 2010 02:00 PM Freedom Center Collage Quilt Class:  Please join RFCA member, Carole Staples, an award-winning textile and fiber artist showcased in the Textural Rhythms exhibition, and learn collage quilting techniques and gain invaluable one-on-one guidance from a master quiltmaker and artist. Cost of the workshop is $20. All materials are included in the cost of the workshop, which should last about an hour and a half. Seating is very limited, so reservations are required. First 10 reservations accepted.        513-333-7705.

Other Education Events:  Carole Staples is checking into the fabric dying event with local fiber artist. This is an outdoor class and Carole is trying to get it on the books for September/October.  We are also checking into a class with a polymer clay artist. So far we have received one suggested name from Cody Goodin.

Elizabeth Marten dolls/Robbie Porter quilt.
November 2010 Gallery Show 
Postcards - Deb Wallace unveiled the postcards designed by member (and graphic artist), Anne Huddleston. It is amazing - and received high praise from everyone present. I wish we had a version of the postcard right now that could be shown here. So far we do not. As soon as it is available, it will be added to the site. Guild Challenge - The guild challenge this year is a "self-portrait" doll. This can be how you see yourself in reality...or who you would like to be...or who you are in your little imaginary world. Cody Goodin announced that Plaza Art has agreed to award a gift certificate to the "Viewers Choice Award" winning artist this year. We thank Plaza Art for this generous offer!

Door Prize - Patrons returning their postcard will be eligible for a door prize drawing. If they do not wish to give up their post card, they must complete an address form at the show to be eligible to enter the drawing.

Publicity Committee - at this point the "wheels seem to have fallen off" the committee's forward motion. We need VOLUNTEERS for this committee. Please contact the Board and/or Deb regarding your ability/willingness to help.


Make and Take projects in progress!

Sharonville Show Wrap-Up
We did a brisk business with the Make and Take table. Several of the showing artists had successful sales. I was impressed by how relaxed everyone seemed to be as we started tearing down the booth. I think that says much about the success of the show itself. Thanks to Stephen for his hard work and kind words/thanks for the help of our members. Nicely done!

Robbie Porter and Marlene Jensch, Sharonville Quilt Show, June, 2010.
Kennedy Heights Art Center (KHAC)
This is a reminder for members to sign up and VOLUNTEER to work in the KHAC gift shop as soon as possible. Thanks to Sharon, Deb and Katie for working during the month of July. Please remember, we agreed to volunteer in the gift shop once a month in order to have the use of the conference room for meetings and also for the privilege of using this lovely facility as our gallery space for our annual shows. Also, please let the Board know when you are scheduled to work in the gift shop.


Herb Farm joint meeting - log cabin meeting room!
Joint Meeting with the Indy Doll Club

We had a very successful joint meeting with the Indy group again at the Steam Cliff Herb Farm. The challenge doll this year, issued by Robbie Porter last year was to make a doll based inspired by an “herb”. Please check out our blog to view these amazing items.


The Indy Doll Club issued next year’s challenge which is to make a doll based on an American Astrological sign (as opposed to the Chinese signs). There were no other rules in place…so please interpret this challenge as you wish.
Herb challenge:  Rosemary and Thyme
Herb challenge:  Lilly of the Valley
Herb challenge doll by Elizabeth Marten.
Show and Tell - found by E. Marten while on vacation in Louisianna.

Herb challenge dolls by Kathy Garnar.


Tuesday, April 13, 2010

April Meeting, Rising Sun Show and May Joint Meeting With Indy

Well, it has been a few months since the last post.  Our club has undergone some major changes.  We are now a guild which was announced earlier.  Now we have become a member of the Kennedy Heights Art Center which will allow us some great advantages and opportunities.  This will be our new home for most meetings and also our annual November show will be held there this year. There is a great deal of excitement about the direction the guild is going.

Now on to the business at hand.  Here is the information for our next meeting.

Time, once again, for the monthly meeting.

Date: April 17, 2010
Place: Kennedy Heights Art Center
             6546 Montgomery Rd.
            Cincinnati, OH

Time: 10:00AM

Agenda:       1. Old Business
                                 Guest Teacher - we need to finalize the date and how we want to proceed with                                         this.

                   2. Treasurer's Report

                   3.
May meeting with the Indy Group - Sign-up and reservations ( I will be sending a                                     separate e-mail with the details)
               
                   4. Report on Rising Sun Quiltfest

                    5. Cincinnati Quilt Expo in June

                   6. Show & Tell

                    Lunch Break

                   7. Creative Session - Katie Storer will be demmonstrating and teaching beading techniques. Bring your own supplies (needles, beads, thread, etc) or we will have a supply of materials available.


Rising Sun Quiltfest Show

This year was the guilds first time showing in the Rising Sun Indiana Quiltfest show held at the Grand Victoria Casino.  It was an interesting venue to say the least.  I for one loved the buffet.  THe club at least made their booth fee and a little more.  So, it was worth giving it a go.  We shall evaluate our experience and see if it warrants a return next year. Below are some picture provided by guild member Robbie Porter.  Whom by the way won 1st and 2nd place for her art quilts.  Way to go Robbie!



Robbie Porters work


Judy Witts dolls


Dolls by Liz Marten


Dolls by Cody Goodin


dolls by Stephen Rausch


For guild members here is the information regarding our May joint meeting with the Indy doll club.

This is our year to host. Next year Indy will host and they will choose the Challenge for 2011
This years challenge is a doll inspired by an herb.
You can sign-up at the April Meeting or send an email to Judy  (    ) to make your reservation. Cost $17.30/person.

The Attached file has all the info.


Bring a gift bag if you want. This is optional.
We do a pin exchange-bring a pin/get a pin-this is optional.
Bring Show and Tell dolls.
Usually people just get a carpool together and go as a group.

Joint Meeting with Indy

Date: May 15th 2010
Location: Stream Cliff Herb Farm
               The Meeting Room
Time: 12:30-3:30 PM

Stream Cliff Inn: 812-346-5859

Minimum 15 people required
No smoking or alcohol allowed

2 lunch options
  • Dill and Rosemary Chicken Salad served on a fresh baked croissant, Birdseed Pasta Salad, Pita Chips and Fresh Fruit
  • Pork BBQ served on fresh focaccia bread, Dill Slaw, Pita Chips and Fresh Fruit.

Both meals include Lemon Layer desert. Plus a drink of either Mint Iced Tea or Lemon Verbena Lemonade

Cost: $17.30/person. Includes lunch/desert/drink/tax/gratuity

A guaranteed headcount must be given 5 days before the event. This number may increase up to 24 hours prior to the function but may not decrease. We will be charged for the guaranteed number even if the group is less the day of the event.

Cancellation: Advance notification is required to cancel lunch order. Once the lunch order is placed there will be no refunds.

What to bring (all optional)
Challenge doll- this year the challenge is a doll inspired by an Herb
Gift bag
Pin doll exchange-bring one/get one
Show and Tell




That's it for this month.  Hope your April is awesome.

Tuesday, January 19, 2010

Newsletter for January 16, 2010

   Our membership is still going strong and growing as well. After more than ten years together, we decided some changes to our Bylaws were necessary to reflect our growth as artists.

Article I – Name
   The membership voted unanimously to change our name from the River City Dollmakers (RCDM) to The RiverCity Figurative Artists’ Guild (RCFA).

Article II – Mission Statement
   The membership voted unanimously to update our mission statement to more accurately reflect the growth in talent, knowledge and intent of the organization since its inception as a formal social group in 1998. The updated statement is shown in the Mission Statement section of this blog (right hand column).

Old Business
WinterFair 2009
   It came to our attention that one club member experienced an unexpected credit card administrative expense with regard to our WinterFair project. All present voted to reimburse this member for her out-of-pocket expenses on our behalf. The question of our overall proceeds from this event was made. Unfortunately, this information could only be estimated as we did not realize we were keeping track of our total sales. Liz suggested we use a sales tag format used by the group during our early years. This would allow a quick and easy way to tally the proceeds for the club and individual artists alike. Although a formal vote wasn’t taken, the idea seemed to be acceptable to all present.

Treasurer’s Report – Kathy
   Kathy gave a very detailed report starting with the October 2009 balance and ending with the balance as of today. She also requested approval for some new expenditures which were readily given. A more detailed report is being sent via the newsletter emailed out to all of you. Suffice it to say, the report was happily accepted and approved unanimously by the membership.
   Also, membership dues were due today in the amount of $20 per member. At least 11 members turned in their dues during the meeting and possibly more.

RiverCity Figurative Artists’ Guild Blog – Cody
   As indicated in the Treasurer’s Report, we purchased the www.RiverCityDollmakers.com website (and name) for this year. Cody has “pointed” the address from this WEBSITE to our RCDM BLOG. This means that even if you try to go to the RCDM website, you will magically be forwarded to the RCDM blog instead. Now here’s the catch. After the meeting this weekend, Cody tried to update our blog to include our new name (so for ease in typing, we will call it the new RCFA blog versus the old RCDM blog). Blogger.com has little critters living inside it that are designed to catch spammers trying to steal or damage the blogs of all their members. These critters took exception to the name change, thinking Cody may be up to no good (if they only knew…)! So right now we have two different blogs while Cody works with Blogger.com to straighten out the issue. Once this is fixed we will let you know and ask that you take a look at the RCFA blog so you know just how nice and user friendly it is.
   This new blog is free, so next year we will not have expenses as far as website charge. Also, this year you will note that we no longer ask members for a $5 fee to link or give a page to each member in the club. Linking in blogs is free…thus each of us using this service in the past has already saved $5!

Make & Take Project – Carole
   Carole presented three different make and take (M&T) samples for review. All three options were well received by the Guild members. One choice caught the attention and hearts of all present. The only change needed would be a new face stamp design since the sample face was designed by Carole for her personal artistic projects. All interested members are asked to design a face/faces to be used by the club for this and other Guild projects. Please turn in samples at the February meeting.
   Finally, a packaging sample was presented for the M&T project. Carole and Stephen discussed the need to professionally package our M&T items to increase sales and present them with a more professional look. It appears the expenses for supplies will be minimal so the group approved this idea. We even got a “maybe” out of Stephen when asked if he would consider teaching the M&T items at the show!
Planning for 2010
Meetings and Locations
   Beth noted that there is a possibility the room we have been using to meet at her establishment, the wonderful Crone Cottage, may no longer be available to us as she is negotiating to rent the space we meet in to a local artisan. We hope this means that she can negotiate for the new artist to cover the shop each third Saturday so that she can join us at whatever location we use in place of Crone. Katie noted that she was able to reserve the Newport Branch of the Campbell County Library, which is in the same general area as Crone Cottage. We will send an email notification each month as to our meeting place, depending on Crone’s availability and the size of the facility/tables and chairs needed for any classes we offer.

2010 Shows and Exhibits
   Rising Sun Quilt Fest, April 9, 10 & 11, 2010 http://www.risingsunquiltfest.com/
   Located in the Ballroom of the Grand Victoria Casino, the 2010 show and competition. 
   The competition has $3000 in cash prizes…entries must be in before March 1, 2010. Let
   Stephen know no later than the February 2010 meeting whether or not you plan on
   participating in this event. If you plan on showing dolls, you must also be willing to work
   the booth!

   *Sew, Quilt & Embroidery Expo, June 24-26, 2010 
   *Quilting, Stitches & Crafts Expo, Sept 9-11, 2010
    www.sharonville.org/scc/events.html
   *Both events are at the Sharonville Convention Center and bring in completely different
   crowds – at least they did in 2009! These were great events and our members had much
   success at these shows.

   RiverCity Figurative Artists’ Guild Annual Show, November 13-14, 2010
   Choices: 1) Same location/same room
                 2) Same Location/Both rooms
                 3) New Venue – same weekend
   Suggested New choices:
      Pendleton Gallery – on the Ohio side of the river – offers parking & easy access
      The Essex - $100/day, very large rooms, must bring own tables, etc.
      Kennedy Heights – nice place
      Cultural Art Center in Evendale on Reading Road
   Cody and Carole offered to check out the details of these venues for us and report at the February 2010 meeting.

Workshops
Professional Teacher – Debbie and Beth volunteered to work on contacting
suggested professional teachers and reporting back to the group in at the February meeting
Please see the email newsletter for details on the candidates.  We will announce publicly when someone is selected and agrees to come to town to teach our group.

Cloth Dying – all day event – Carole Staples took a class locally from a local artist that offered different fabric dying methods. Carole will check into the possibility of setting up an All day class for our group this summer (since it is an outdoor event) and will report back at the February meeting. We will publish details if and when this class is confirmed.

February 2010 MeetingKatie will teach beading techniques – 

March 2010 Meeting - Guild members will assemble Make & Take packets for the Rising Sun show.

April 2010 Meeting - To Be Announced

May 2010 Joint Meeting with the Indy Doll Club at Stream Cliff Farms - Deadline for reservations is the April 2010 meeting. Luncheon fees will be due at the April meeting – Judy W volunteered to coordinate reservations for both groups. Remember challenge dolls – a doll based on herbs – this challenge was issued by our own Robbie Porter, please check with her if you lost/didn’t receive the details of this challenge.

June 2010 – Doll Camp at Cody’s Studio – details to be announced at a later date

July 2010 Meeting To Be Announced

August 2010 Meeting Carla will teach an assemblage class – details to be announced closer to the date of the meeting.

Ohio State Fair – being coordinated by Robbie for the members living in Ohio.

September 2010 Joint Meeting with the Guilded Lillies – 4th weekend in September Robbie will coordinate details of this meeting.

Saturday, January 16, 2010

We Have a new NAME

Hello to all of you out there who are members of or have been of River City Dollmakers.  We have as of this meeting voted to change our name.  So, please make note that we are now called River City Figurative Artists' Guild - Exploring contemporary cloth and mixed media figures and art dolls.  The new board has a lot of great things in store for our humble group.  We want to take our art to the next level and help promote a variety of figurative art mediums and styles.  So stay tuned for more news and events as they happen.

Friday, January 8, 2010

FIrst Meeting of 2010

Just a quick note to remind the members that the next meeting is fast approaching.  We will be meeting at 10 am on Saturday January 16th at the Crone Cottage in Bellevue.  The club will decide on a new name and the upcoming year at a glance.  This is the first meeting with the new board members.  Also, reminder that club dues are due at this first meeting.  This year it will be just $20.  If for some reason the weather does not cooperate, the meeting will be cancelled.  Hopefully an email alert will be sent out and  a notice will go up here.

See you  at the meeting.