Jim Shlett Photograph
News from our President
Meet the Members:
Cristina Abbate Jacobson
Melanie Zucker Stanley
WhiteBoard: Call for Art and … much more!
LRA Exhibitions Pictures
“Believe you can, and you are halfway there” -Theodore Roosevelt
Hello and Greetings,
I hope our newsletter finds you well and in a creative mindset.
I believe these words of President Roosevelt can have a great deal of meaning for most folks today and the exceptionally creative spirit of our artists. Making contact with your inner voice and creative spirit is what sets our members apart. Over the past year, as we have hung numerous exhibitions, I continued to be impressed by the depth and quality of members who showcase their art. Check out your counterparts’ artistic efforts and see how you might expand your own work. Turning your artistic dreams into reality is a never-ending process, engages the mind and generates new innovative work. And of course, it feels great when you have completed work and are ready to showcase it. For those members who rarely exhibition their work, don’t be afraid to step forward and entered the exhibitions we have planned. That is a great benefit that you should take advantage of.
We have had a very exciting first half of 2014, and in July alone, we had two new solo exhibitions by Don Douglas, and John Kaminsky, a new show at Parkridge 5, and a photography exhibition at USGS followed by a new painters’ show on August 1. LRA has a lot going on in the coming months, and the additional exhibitions can be found on the LRA web site. Be sure to look for the call for painters and photographers for our new venue for LRA work at the Ernst Center in Annadale, which should be one of our biggest exhibitions of the year.
Have a great summer.
Jim Schlett
LRA President
Two artists, divided by their artistic style, but united by the same inspirational font:
Freedom, Experience, Life, and Dreams.
Their art vibrantly pulses with pure emotions and love.
Cristina Abbate Jocobson and Melanie Zucker Stanley present their Solo Exhibitions Show in Cassidy Turley Center:
Open Concept and “Art as Life”
Cristina Abbate Jacobson
Open Concept
Freedom, Feelings, connection, reciprocity, interaction, magic, explosion, dreams, and roots are some of the words related to this open concept.
When I paint, I don’t like to follow the rules.
Freedom is my favorite word when I am expressing myself.
I swim inside, and I put out there all the inspiration and feelings.
Connection, reciprocity, interaction, and magic is all that occurs between the artist, the work of art and the spectator.
And here are some of my dreams and roots …
Melanie Zucker Stanley
Art as Life
Life is all about experiences, loved ones, and the colorful world around us. This includes the experiences we touch and those beyond our grasp that still make an impact.
When I paint, I paint what I live and love from life, natural surroundings, and all the experiences that fill my senses. I paint the compositions of my life through color, texture, and light; always sharing what I love through my brush strokes, ink splashes, paper dying, and splatters of all shapes and forms. When light and color radiate through my art, I feel I have created a happy place on canvas or paper. The textures from papers and layering of paint help me build a feeling of joy and sincerity in my work.
Colors that make my heart sing fill my studio and beckon me to paint something new when the morning dawn lights on my heart. Horses and the outdoors are my passion, and I share these with my wonderful husband, children, family, art students, and friends.
WhiteBoard: Call for Artists & More…
Art Show Opportunities with LRA click the link: http://www.leagueofrestonartists.org/shows
Paintings and Photography, Mixed Media and 2-D
LRA NEW LOCATION SPACE. The exhibition area includes two floors of space that can hold approximately 80 pieces of work. Space has great lighting and a hanging system in place. This building has a great deal of traffic almost seven days a week, with numerous performing arts events that are held in a theater adjacent to the gallery space. In 2013, they estimated that over 110,000 patrons visited the arts center.
The show will be presented on September 6th and run through October 25th. Deadline for register by the website is September 2nd. Awards will be presented by Trudi C. Van Dyke, our judge during the reception on October 4 between 1:30-3:30 Don’t miss this show register today space is limited:
https://sites.google.com/site/restonarts/shows/2014sep-ernst-center
We will have an exciting twist this year. Artists will be invited to provide poetry to add a dimension to their work and deepen the viewer’s understanding of their vision. The last time we did this, we had a wonderful response from viewers. While this will be optional and details will be provided closer to the exhibit, we wanted to give you time to ponder and research your choices now. If you need help finding sources for poetry, contact Antonella at antomanganelli@aol.com.
IMAGIST:
The evocative power of words through poetry has inspired artists through the Centuries. They have been able to interpret and transform the rhythm and melody of poetic verse in many striking images. Poets have fired the imagination of the artists; artists have interwoven shapes and colors to give life to the words, all blended to create a wonderful marriage between poetry and visual art.
LRA invites its artists to reflect on the relationship between these two forms of art, proposing a show that unites both in one creative embrace. We suggest to our artists to draw inspiration from words, in any form, poems, letters, thoughts, lyrics … and to transform these into images. Each artist will present if he likes, the source of inspiration in a short paragraph that will be affixed next to the painting.
Some suggested links for poets and poetry:
http://poetryfundation.org/ http://www.poemhunter.com/ http://www.poetrysoup.com/
JoAnne Rose Gallery in Lake Anne Plaza is a charming location with great foot traffic.
Register today for this show:
https://sites.google.com/site/restonarts/shows/2014-oct-artreston-at-lake-anne
Jim Schlett Solo Exhibition at the Unitarian Universalist Church.
About 25 photographs on display in their beautiful room that is used for service on Sunday. The show recently opened in July and will be there until August 17, 2014. Everyone is welcome to visit and the normal business hours: Monday – Friday from 9:00 a.m to 2:45 p.m
Offices closed for lunch from 12:45 – 1:15 p.m.
The Unitarian Universalist Church in Reston (UUCR) is located at, 1625 Wiehle Ave. Reston, VA 20190
Jim also had one of his photographs selected for the cover of the 2015 Gettysburg National battlefield calendar.
Artful August Juried Art Show – Call for Entries!
Village at Leesburg is proud to offer all level of local artists – adult and youth – an opportunity to participate in our 2nd Annual Juried Art Show with prizes. The public is invited to attend the FREE August 23 Art Festival. Artists from Virginia, Maryland, West Virginia and Washington DC are invited to submit applications for the Artful August Art Festival at Village at Leesburg on Saturday, August 23, 2014. Village at Leesburg is located along Route 7 at the Crosstrail Blvd./River Creek Parkway exit in Leesburg, Virginia. The street address is 1602 Village Market Boulevard SE, Leesburg, VA 20175.
Check the website for more info: www.villageatleesburg.com/artfulaugust
Signs of Summer exhibits work from painters and photographers of LRA and RPS, the two sister leagues that share their creativity and successfully organize shows and events.
This Exhibition can be seen at the Parkridge 5 location until October 11, 2014.
10780 Parkridge Blvd (Parkridge 5)
Reston, VA 20191
In the picture: Homeward West
Paint & Beyond Paintings
August 1st to August 29, 2014
US Geological Survey, National Gallery
12201 Sunrise Valley Drive Reston, VA 20191
The Paint & Beyond exhibit at USGS is up and looking wonderful. Many LRA new members on display and it brings new energy and more beautiful art!
The exhibition is held in the Art Hallway; visitors can enter through the Visitors’ Entrance, pass the Auditorium and turn left into the Art Hallway.
Open Monday through Friday, from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Parking is available in the Visitor’s Lot outside the Visitor’s Entrance.
In the picture: Marooned
Mixed Media by Karen Hutchison
Melanie Zucker Stanley & Cristina Abbate Jacobson
Melanie Zucker Stanley
“Art as Life”
Exhibition of Fine Art at Reston Center I Cassidy Turley
Main Floor Lobby
12001 Sunrise Valley Drive, Reston
August 1- 31, 2014 – Monday to Friday 8.30am to 4.30pm
Opening reception Friday, August 8th 4.33pm to 6.30pm
About Melanie Z Stanley: Artist and Author
Mrs. Stanley has a Bachelor’s degree in Art Education (Fine Arts), a Master of Arts in Special Education, endorsements in Social Studies, and a K-12 School Administration endorsement degree from UVA. She has over 40 years experience teaching children, teenagers, and adults and has loved encouraging the arts throughout her life. She worked as an assistant principal in Reston, VA and enjoyed sharing art experiences with all of her students while always supporting the arts in our schools. Mrs. Stanley has taught in both Maryland and Virginia, and in the last five years has taught fine arts (drawing, painting, collage, equestrian art, watercolor, art journaling, and mixed media) in a variety of gallery studios. She is a member of the Reston League of Artists and the Shenandoah Council for the Arts and loves teaching mixed media because it welcomes fresh, unique ideas while encouraging the artists to truly explore the possibilities with a variety of art materials/tools and techniques.
Mrs. Stanley, an award-winning artist, exhibits her work in galleries throughout Virginia. She is also an author and has written six children’s books that have been published and widely read. Mrs. Stanley enjoys writing and creating art…and inspiring others to find their artistic voice!
Cristina Abbate Jacobson
Open Concept
Exhibition of Fine Art at Reston Center II Cassidy Turley
Main Lobby
12005 Sunrise Valley Dr. Reston, Va 20191
August 1- 31, 2014 – Monday to Friday 8.30am to 4.30pm
About Cristina Abbate Jacobson: I was born in the city of Zarate Argentina along the banks of the Paraná River. As a Pisces, I had to express myself with all my romanticism, passion, and sensibility through the arts. Salvador Dali said: “Paint fantastic scenes in abandon deserts, is to create magic where there seems to be none; magic that makes us live passionately”. And that is how I feel when I am standing in front of an empty canvas, something magic happens. For many years I was looking for a theme that could represent me as an artist, but then I realized that because life is always in movement, I am changing all the time; so what I wanted to express also changed. Anything can happen, anything can inspire me. I invite you to see my work, and I hope you enjoy it as much as I enjoy doing it.
http://cristinaabbate.blogspot.com
ArtNight Reception in Parkridge
One of the many events organized by LRA during May to celebrate the exhibition Celebrate Spring. The LRA scholarship winners, public, and members of the Reston Chamber of Commerce joined this great evening of Art, with music, food, and fun to meet LRA artists.
join the league of the Reston Artists.
We are a fun, creative, and vibrant group of artists that welcome new members with happiness and joy. Become a member today!