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2019-2020 Meetings & Programs


2019-20 Program Summary
Scroll down for program details
Friday, September 20:
​Friday, October 18:
​Friday, November 15:
Friday, December 20:
Friday, January 17:
Friday, February 21:
Friday, March 20:
Friday, April 17:
Friday, May 15:
Bill Nelson, Illustrator and Figurative Artist
Kayla Diggs Brody, RVA Mural Tours
Sabrina Cordovana, Inspire Art Center; JRAL Holiday Craft Bazaar
Holiday Luncheon at the Westwood Club
Janet Visser & Bonnie Carter: Pastel Multimedia Demo
​Focus on Our Artists: 4 JRAL Artists Demo Their Mediums
CANCELLED Robyn Ryan, Acrylic Artist
CANCELLED National Gallery, Print Studio Gallery, Washington, DC
​CANCELLED Annual Artist Challenge, Christopher Wynn guest critique
NOTE:  Meetings are usually held at St. Matthews Episcopal Church, 1101 Forest Ave., Richmond, VA 23229, beginning at 11 AM and going to about 1 PM, unless otherwise specified.
Friday, Sept. 20, 2019

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Bill Nelson, Illustrator and Figurative Artist

Bill Nelson, the renowned illustrator, figurative artist, and sculptor, will show and discuss a sample of illustrations from his long career.  His illustrations have been featured on the covers of many magazines, including The New Yorker, Time, TV Guide, and Newsweek. He illustrated a series of U.S. Postage stamps, has been featured in the Norman Rockwell Museum, and has received over 900 awards and recognitions of various kinds.  In addition to his illustration career, Bill is an internationally recognized sculptor and ventriloquist figure maker, and is listed in “Who’s Who in America.”  Bill grew up in Richmond, graduated from John Marshall High School and RPI/VCU, and worked for the Richmond Times-Dispatch and the Richmond Mercury before starting out on a freelance career. You can find out more about Bill at his website at billnelsonstudios.com.

Bill Nelson and his illustrations wowed our members
Friday, Oct. 18, 2019
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Kayla Diggs Brody, Richmond Murals

​Kayla Diggs Brody, of Richmond Mural Tours, will present a video tour of Richmond's vibrant murals.  Richmond is home to over 100 murals and to the RVA Street Art Festival. Kayla will speak from 11-12, and afterwards, members will have an opportunity to visit some of Richmond's murals in some pre-designed tours.

After the presentation, members may carpool to several areas designed by Kayla to easily visit on foot. Her maps will note a GPS location where parking areas will be accessible. Bingo cards will be provided in order to locate items or designs on various murals in each featured location.  Each carpool can visit one or as many locations as they want, or you may want to visit the locations on your own.  Kayla is offering a free family and or friends RVA mural tour as the prize for whoever finds the most items or designs on the murals located in the 5 featured areas. You will need to bring your mural bingo card to the November meeting in order to win the prize. You will be amazed to see how many murals are in our midst: 
  • Jackson Ward (intersection of First and Marshall) 5 to 8 murals
  • VCU/Carver (intersection of Harrison and Grace) 10 to 12 murals
  • The Canal Walk – 10 murals
  • Scott’s Addition (6 block radius, near the Veil and Studio 23) 6 to 10 murals
  • Carytown (Cary and Main between Belmont and Sheppard Streets) 8 to 12 murals

Find out more about Richmond Mural Tours at their website richmondmuraltours.com.

Members and their guests
had a great time on the
​Richmond Mural tour!
Friday, Nov. 15, 2019
Sabrina Cordovana, Inspire Art Center
JRAL Holiday Craft Bazaar
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Sabrina Cordovana, founder of the Inspire Art Center, will present an overview of the center, which is "dedicated to fostering the arts through classes, exhibitions, activities, and community outreach".  Sabrina is an accomplished artist in fused glass, as well as painting and photography. Find out more at inspireartcenter.com.

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Back by popular demand, JRAL will hold our fourth annual JRAL Holiday Craft Bazaar.  Our craft bazaar benefits both our talented member artists/crafters and our members looking for holiday gifts.  If members would like to sell their crafts to members and guests at our November 15th meeting, reserve your table by emailing Gigi Vranian at vraniangigi@comcast.net, or by signing up at our September meeting.  All proceeds are for member crafters to keep.  Purchasers should bring cash or checks.

Friday, Dec. 20, 2019
​12:00 pm, Westwood Club
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Holiday Luncheon at the Westwood Club

Members and guests are invited to JRAL's annual Holiday Luncheon, to be held again at the Westwood Club on Friday, Dec. 20 at 12:00 pm. The cost of $33 includes tax and gratuity, and the menu will include two entrees, soup, salad, sides and desserts.  Members can signup at our Sept. 20th or Nov. 15th meeting, or contact Gigi Vranian at vraniangigi@comcast.net.  Checks payable to James River Art League should be given or mailed to our treasurer, Elizabeth Hood, by Dec. 13th.  Sorry, no refunds can be made after Dec. 16th if you find you cannot attend.​

In the spirit of holiday giving, members are asked to bring a new art supply (unwrapped) to the luncheon, which will be donated to the George Wythe High School art program.  Their wish list includes p
re-cut mats (sizes ranging from 8x10 to 18x24), Metallic paints and canvases, watercolor paper (18x24), sharpies (black & colors), silkscreen ink (primary and secondary colors), drawing paper, mat board (any color, cut or uncut), and small canvases.




JRAL Members had a great time
​at our 2019 Holiday Luncheon!
Friday, Jan. 17, 2020
Janet Visser and Bonnie Carter:  Pastel Multimedia Demo

Janet Visser and Bonnie Kidd Carter will discuss and demonstrate their unique process for preparing their surfaces for pastel work.  Bonnie Kidd Carter has been experimenting with the use of watercolor and inks on multimedia board and has discovered a unique way to inspire her pastel work.  Janet Visser combines pastel with gold leaf in her pastel and mixed media paintings.

You can find out more about Janet Visser at j-p-visser.pixels.com. 
Friday, Feb. 21, 2020
Focus on Our Artists:  Four JRAL Artists Demo their Mediums

JRAL member artists will demo and share tips and knowledge for four mediums, as members rotate in small groups to allow more participation and hands-on interaction.  The presenting artists are:
  • Sally Booth:  Painting with a palette knife; supplies will be available to try this technique.
  • Thomas Bradshaw:  Oil painting using an Anders Zorn palette, Thomas' limited palette, examples of color theory and the importance of color temperature
  • Harvey Hinson:  Acrylic painting techniques for skies and water, wet palette management and usage of acrylic mediums.  Members will work together on a painting.
  • Dalhia Cavazos:  Texture with watercolor, using gauze, salt, splattering, bubble wrap and a water bottle. Supplies will be available to try techniques.  



Members having fun
​and creating art 
​at the 2/1/20 Paint-in!
Friday, March 20, 2020

​IMPORTANT NOTE:
MEETING CANCELLED


Due to concerns related to the COVID-19 coronavirus situation, this meeting has been cancelled. 
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CANCELLED - Robyn Ryan, Acrylic Artist 

Robyn Ryan is a painter and sculptor who creates artwork expressing relationships between living things and the emotions they emanate. Horses and wildlife are favorite subjects, but all living things; human, plant, and animal, offer endless possibilities to express this theme.  Robyn’s paintings express these relationships and emotions by exploring both “looser” realistic representations as well as less-objective abstractions employing a range of water-based media.  Her refined and realistic bronze sculptures focus on celebrating the energy and “presence” of her subjects, often captured in candid moments.  Robyn enjoys focusing on conveying the idea, impression, or “essence” the subject represents to her vs. simply describing the subject.

Robyn’s artwork is characterized by her use of color, texture, and physical dimensionality.  Robyn creates her art in a variety of water and mixed media as well as sculpture.  Exploration and incorporation of new techniques and materials continue to enlarge her artistic vocabulary.  She is drawn to the tactile aspects of her media; the flow of the pigment and water, the building of physical textures, and creating three dimensional pieces. Most recently, Robyn has incorporated use of surrealistic elements as well as using her subject choices and compositions as visual metaphors.  You can find our more about Robyn at her website at 
robynryanart.com.  

 

Friday, April 17, 2020

​IMPORTANT NOTE:
TRIP CANCELLED


Due to concerns related to the COVID-19 coronavirus situation, this bus trip has been cancelled. 
CANCELLED - National Gallery-Print Studio Gallery, Washington, DC

JRAL is on the road in April to the National Gallery of Art Print Study Room in Washington, D.C.,  where we will have the opportunity to view works of art up close and personal behind the scenes.  The art work will be displayed on a table and we will be able to view the pieces in a more intimate way than in the gallery.  The National Gallery of Art has thousands of works in their storerooms.  We will be viewing works on paper.  Our host in the Print Study Room will discuss processes of drawing, printmaking, art history, artists biographies and answer any of our questions.

Because of the room size, there will be two sessions to accommodate JRAL.  The morning session will be 10:00-11:30 and the afternoon session will be 1:30-3:00, which will give you time to browse through the galleries at your leisure.  There are lunch options in both the NGA and the Air and Space Museum.  Lunch will be on you own.  The bus will depart from Crossroads Art Gallery Parking lot at 7:30 a.m. and will return to Crossroads at approximately 6:30 p.m.
  The cost is $45 per person, and open only to members at this time; registration may open up to guests at a later date.  Drinks and snacks will be available on the bus.
Friday, May 15, 2020
​IMPORTANT NOTE:
MEETING CANCELLED


Although our member meeting is cancelled due to COVID-19, we will hold our annual art challenge online!  More to come...
Virtual (Online) Annual Artist Challenge:  A Picture is Worth A Thousand Words

The theme for our 2020 artist challenge is "A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words."  Express your favorite words from an inspirational quote, a poem or song in your work of art.  For more information, click here.  Christopher Wynn will be our guest critiquer.
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