Artists of the Month - December 2016

by Judie Apablaza

Small Town, Carol Hendrickson

Our first place blue ribbon winner was Carol Hendrickson. Her small watercolor was titled “Small Town” inspired from a photo that a friend gave Carol from a recent trip to France. She works exclusively in watercolor and prefers to work in a small format style. You will not see Carol work with a full or half sheet of watercolor paper!  We can imagine Carol’s gems fitting into any and all decors above a small floral display on the wall or resting on an entry table on a delicate easel.  

Our award winner enjoys vignettes with an abstract tone that give her work a magical or mysterious quality. She has a recognizable style and this painting was done in a lovely complement of only three or four primary colors. Carol enjoys the "free painting" group that meets on Mondays in the community room in Montrose. It  is a fluid group of eight to twelve artists who encourage one another much like the group of French Impressionist painters one hundred years ago.  
  
Carol’s background as a registered nurse has not gone by the wayside, for she continues to work on a part-time basis consulting with an agency that serves children with developmental disabilities. Even when she lived in Ohio, Carol took classes and workshops before coming to Southern California. She has enjoyed Fealing Lin class at the Brand Studio for at least six years, as well as Frank Eber's and Joseph Stoddard’s workshops. We are pleased to have Carol as part of our VHAA membership and look foreword to more exciting watercolor jewels  in the future. 

New England Colors, Pepe Apablaza

Pepe Apablaza’s photo titled, “New England Colors” won second place this month. The inspiration for this scene was the blazing Fall colors in Sudbury, Massachusetts.  Longfellow’s Wayside Inn has been in continual use for three hundred years. The setting for the photo was the picturesque grist mill just down the country lane from the Inn. We can picture Longfellow spending many an evening in a wingback chair  writing his poetry by the fireplace. The mill itself has been in operation since 1929, built under the direction of Henry Ford. Several posted signs made it evident that the grist mill and Inn are time-honored spots for plein air artists and photographers. 
  
The Fall colors are fleeting and only stay on the trees for a few weeks. By Thanksgiving the deep burgundy, cranberry, orange, rust and yellow leaves are being mowed and raked by homeowner and gardeners. The wild turkeys hunt through the fallen leaves looking for an occasional fallen apple or berry before that snow covers the ground for the Winter. 

Pepe has added photography to his long career as a commercial artist. Watercolor was a new challenging art form that he adopted in retirement and that serves him well for taking still life and landscape shots for possible watercolor paintings in the studio. We are very fortunate that Pepe brings his skills in photography to the VHAA meetings as well a helping set up the new camera for our monthly visiting demonstrators.