News from our President
LRA Speakers Series: Using Social Media to Market your Art
Meet the Members: Rudy Guernica
WhiteBoard: Call for Art and … much more!
LRA Solo Exhibition – Meet the artists on March 6th
Well, the Holiday Season is now part of what are hopefully, collective good memories for all of us and the New Year is in full swing. As we fly into 2015, LRA shows no signs of being deflated, even slightly.
It appears that 2015 is off to a very good start. We have a wide variety of excellent venues, workshops and opportunities for members for the coming year. There is some additional information elsewhere in this issue on some of those opportunities that you should find worthwhile.
Just to highlight a few of the projects and volunteers for the coming year, and taking another step forward, Rudy Guernica wrote a great LRA article, which was published in the RESTON magazine for their “Spring Edition,” that was mailed to almost all Reston residents in late January. We are also in the process of awarding several scholarships to Fairfax County students that should be finalized in the next month or so. Thanks to Karen Hutchison, we have added two new venues that should have a positive impact on opportunities to showcase members’ work. Genny Moore is managing a special Founders Day Exhibition and publication of a related book in April. Due to Charlene Fuhrman-Schulz’s efforts, we have been invited back to another major exhibition at the Ernst Cultural Center in Annandale coming this autumn. Jeff Burton has gotten the Reston Photographic Society (RPS) back on track with informative workshops and meetings. We have such much to be thankful for to these and our group of amazing volunteers.
“Weather you think you can or think you can’t, you’re right.” I think of what Henry Ford said with that great bit of advice for those who see decisions as success or failure and therefore “hold back” for fear of failure. LRA relies on members to step forward and get involved with various projects. That’s the reason we have accomplished so much in the past few years. In the past year, despite of all our successes, we turned down a few opportunities when we didn’t have a volunteer to manage a new venue or project. I can tell you from personal experience that volunteering for LRA opens other doors, rewards and opportunities when you least expect it. Some members might not feel that they have the confidence to get out and take on a new task or project, but we have many current volunteers who can assist you with new projects. Step up, make a difference and get involved!!!
Jim Schlett
LRA President
Top Picture: Old Rag Summit. Acrylic on Yupo paper. 51″x24″
I was born in Santiago, Cuba and raised in Westminster, Maryland. My family did not have an artistic vocation but art was something I was always doing since young and I faced considerable resistance to a fine art education as I matured. After starting my undergraduate studies at Johns Hopkins University I received a BFA from MICA in Baltimore and an MFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. In 1980 I made the required artist move to New York City where I worked as a graphic artist and Art Director pioneering the use of Computer Graphics applications for art, publications and business presentations. After getting married I was offered the opportunity to come to DC to start local operations for what was then only the second LPTV station in the country. I became Producer then General Manager for various stations including the Univision television affiliate in Washington DC where I was responsible for launching the first Spanish language newscast in the nation’s capital. I have since retired from broadcasting to rededicate myself to art and painting. We have called Reston home since 1988 and I am a member of the League of Reston Artists.
Nature and still life is the theme and inspiration for the art of this exhibit. My family and I like to hike local trails where photos from excursions often serve as sketches for artwork. My art is about seeing nature through individual shapes and showing a transparency of process that make apparent brushstrokes and movements executed during the creation of the piece. My intent is that the viewer appreciate each visual element in the painting as much as the method of its composition. My art is most successful when it is defined by simplicity of Form and integrity of Color. My painting strives to follow the tradition of impressionism and modernism that validate nature as source and the personal touch of the artist’s hand. I hope you find my art cerebral and contemplative in nature.
Thank you for your interest in my paintings and visiting the exhibit. Please visit my website www.GuernicaGallery.com where I publish an Art Blog and post additions to my portfolio. Rudy Guernica will exhibit at the USGS National Center Art Hall from February 2 to 27, 2015. The US Geological Survey is located at 12201 Sunrise Valley Drive in Reston and is open Monday through Friday 8:00am to 5:00pm.
WhiteBoard: Call for Artists & More…
Art Show Opportunities with LRA click the link: http://www.leagueofrestonartists.org/shows
Follow the successful exhibition IMAGIST our artists will express their creativity once again through words and images, and a new book will document their talent
For the Founder’s Day exhibit, which is held in April every year, Artists will write a paragraph describing their process or thoughts or other insights about their work. Artists will also provide a photo of their piece by the first week of March so that we can self-publish a book for this exhibit.
Artists are challenged to find the heart of Reston. Where is the Heart of Reston, and what is so special about this little place surrounded by trees and water? We ask our Artists to speak up and paint their vision of the town that has been listed as one of 100 best place to live in the US, the town where they live, and that has changed so much in these last ten years.
New Location PenderFed Realty
The League of Reston Artists was offered a new opportunity to be a Community Partner Group of the Northwest Federal Credit Union (NWFCU). NORTHWEST is a not for profit organization that offers benefits that a credit union membership provides, such as lower rates on loans and fewer fees on banking services. Individuals that open an account at NORTHWEST, are requested to select one of their Community Partner groups to make a nominal donation. When LRA is selected as the Community Partner Group, their nominal donation goes directly to the LRA account to support our organization. The flagship branch is located at Spring Street and Herndon Parkway. NORTHWEST will be sponsoring an exhibit in the near future at this location. An announcement regarding the exhibit will be made later. LRA is appreciative of the opportunity with NORTHWEST and their generosity to support the arts and LRA.
The LRA now has an association with PenFed Realty located at their new location on Metro Center Drive in Reston. PenFed Realty reached out to show their support of the arts and selected LRA to exhibit their member’s art pieces in their new modern office location. This was a fast paced opportunity to exhibit there this month. But an exhibit was quickly arranged and a wine and cheese reception will be hosted by PenFed
Don Allen Photography – Solo Exhibit at Reston Corner One
Maggie Garten Paintings – Solo Exhibit at Reston Corner Two
The Annual Meeting is scheduled for the first Saturday, March 7 at the Lake Anne Community Center from 9-11 a.m.
March Solo Exhibitions:
Antonella Manganelli & Neivelle R. Johnston
The two exhibition will held a commune opening reception on Friday March 6th from 6 pm to 9pm. Walk between the two locations to meet the artists
Be prepared for a Fun Fun evening event!
The Impermanence of Peace
Our Souls are United
Antonella Manganelli
Our souls are united in the perpetual search of peace, a peace often abused in its profound meaning and betrayed in the name of war. We use the word PEACE in a politically correct statement, to clear our conscience and deliver war in the name of peace … Then our souls are united in the grief, loss, pain, tears. Our souls are again united in chasing peace, hope, faith, and love. A perpetual circle that never ends, century after century, we repeat ourselves, and our souls remain united.
I used the language of flowers to create a mirror image between peace and war, a parallel reality representing our human duality. The flowers deliver hope that never dies, remembrance, compassion that recognizes the value of our united souls.
I wish peace through flowers, plants, earth and water, our silent companions that generate life. Despite all the abuse we inflict on them, they persistently whisper a message of peace and life, in the hope of breaking the circle of hatred, and reaching a common understanding that war is a crime against our souls.
www.antomanganelli.artistwebsites.com
Reston Center I
Main Lobby 12001 Sunrise Valley Dr. Reston, Va 20191
March 1- 31, 2015 – Monday to Friday 8.30am to 4.30pm
A Walk on a Pastel Path
Neiville R. Johnston
A walk on this particular path is a view into the creative process. Observe the way in which concept, color and essence become mechanized as to form not just the art, but the affect it has on the viewer. This is the very important attribute of human development. These works are designed to make one think. A
quiet contemplation of this art can sublimate the discordant harmonies that daily life seems to so easily insinuate into our reality. This process of transmutation is so subtle as to go on all but unnoticed. Take some time on the journey that is this show.
Reston Center II
Main Floor Lobby 12005 Sunrise Valley Drive, Reston
March 1- 31, 2015 – Monday to Friday 8.30am to 4.30pm
L.R.A. artists presented in April 2014 a compelling reflection of the relationship between poems and paintings in an exhibit that unites these two art forms as one creative embrace:
IMAGIST: A great book from this exhibition is now available for sale
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!
