Here we are it's April 2012 and the new store is going so well we have little time to blog. But we will work at it a bit more we promise. We are excited by the Antiques and the Arts in the store. We are also excited by the funky and the fun up-cycled products as well as the Vintage Wedding Dresses we have for sale.

Call To Artists - Mosaic Mural Project - Karats Of Fun

In cooperation with the Spokane County Interstate Fair
Gallery of THUM is calling all artists to enter for selection into the Mosaic Mural Project to get a chance to be a part of Spokane County Interstate Fair history!
This project will select just 64 artist from all across the Inland Northwest to create an original themed artwork. All works will come together to create a mural honoring the Fair's 60th Anniversary. Entry is free, and proceeds of the ensuing mural sale will go to the Spokane County Interstate Fair Fine Art Commission to provide a professional art hanging system in the bay the Fine Arts are presented each year. The goal is to have professional hanging ability so the Spokane Interstate Fair can invite professional artists to showcase their art during the open days of the annual event. A way to call attention to the many professional artists in Spokane and the Inland Northwest.

Please email us at artdirector@thumstores.com or call (509) 413-1489


http://www.thumstores.com

Color Theory Class: Artist, Instructor: Betty Bradley, FSPA

Color Theory Class: Artist, Instructor: Betty Bradley, FSPA


Where: Gallery of THUM 2910 North Monroe, Spokane WA 99205 – Limited seating (509) 413-1489
Please reserve your space by reservation

$120.00 - 6 weeks 3:30pm to 5:00pm - 9 hours total
May 19th, May 26, June 2, June 9, June 16, June 23
Color Wheel Primary, Secondary, Tertiary
Complementary colors
Characteristics of Color Hue, Value, Intensity, Temperature
Mixing Colors - How Colors Affect Each Other - Colors that Work Together
This course is a study of color, how it is viewed and used in art. This is a ‘hands’ on course.
Ages 16 to Adult

Supplies: Local stores with quality art supplies are:
Spokane Art Supply (be sure to inquire about their discounts)
Michael’s
To purchase supplies at wholesale prices, you may call the following for current catalogs:
Artist’s Connection l-800-851-9333 www.artistconnect.com
ASW Art Supply Warehouse 1-800-999-6778 www.aswexpress.com
Cheap Joe’s Art Stuff 1-800-257-0874 www.cheapjoe’s.com
The Jerry’s Catalog 1-800-U-ARTIST www.jerryscatalog.com

RECOMMENDED PAINTS: There are several good , professional brands of watercolor paints available today, such as Winsor-Newton, Maimeriblu, Daniel Smith, Graham and DaVinci. PLEASE DO NOT PURCHASE STUDENT GRADE PAINTS, such as WN Cotman or Grumbacher. The results can be disappointing.

Pick a brand and choose:
A sample set (if available) OR
2 different reds, 2 different blues, 2 different yellows and Burnt Sienna (total 7 different colors)

BRUSHES: Robert Simmons and Winsor-Newton are two good brands of brushes. Others can also be very good. Buy watercolor brushes that are very soft and come to a fine point.
For the beginner’s class, I recommend:
1 flat brush - 3/4” or 1”
2 round brushes - #2 rigger; #8 round or #10 round

PAPER:
Winsor-Newton, 100%rag, 260 or 300 lb., cold-pressed, 22”x30” OR
Arches, 100% rag, 300 lb., cold-pressed, 22” x 30”
One sheet is sufficient for this class.

OTHER SUPPLIES: Painting palette, paper towels, white plastic eraser, drawing pencils, natural sponge, water container, white drawing paper, scrap paper for testing colors (i.e. junk mail, etc.), and a spray bottle.


http://thumstores.com/index.php?option=com_redevent&view=details&id=20%3Acolor-theory-class-with-betty-bradley&xref=322&Itemid=125

Cecile Charles Art First Friday April 1

Nectar Tasting Room
120 N Stevens
Spokane WA 99201



Exciting new mixed media artworks by artist Cecile G. Charles, down at Nectar Tasting Room for First Friday, April 1 2011, artworks will be up throughout the month of April. Although currently a Spokanite, Cecile has sold artworks all over the United States, Canada and most recently a couple found their way into the reception area of a very familiar national company (whoo hoo!)
Plus the fantastic Kathleen Cavender will be playing jazz starting at 6:00pm see this event notice:
http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=109676835780596
This is the place to be Friday Night!

cecilecharlesart.com

Wine -Art – Galleries

Makes you want to W A G
This is a very random blog about just that, a W-A-G-e
*There is nothing finer that a great glass of wine, the smell, the color the taste. Something with aromas of tart red fruit, toasted oak and spicebox with fine cocoa, cedar and savory grilled herbs, beet greens and forest floor undertones.

*Can one find something finer than a painting with colors of tart red fruit, toast colored oak trees, spick colored flowers, earth the color of cocoa, fine cedar shavings along the forest floor mixed with the beet green of ferns and the undertone painted in ocher for hidden lights.

*Or even among the trees cedar and oak, we find surprises in this gallery. Filled with tart red cherry, cocoa and spicy images of art from foreign places nestled in corners with soft lights to bring out undertones in the various styles of art. We slowly sip our wine and see the same swirling in a wine glass, as we peruse about the place.

*Yet one more time…tart red cherry oak toasts brightly from campfires, colored flames toasting; tasting: cedar and savory as grilling herbs wildly burn. Having been pulled from growth in the forest floor while painting quietly to set the stage, they crinkle, pop and disappear as does the wanderlust. Undertones of fine wine and about my easel as I emote upon the scene, onward to the gallery for finished again a piece.
I have waged an experience and I am sedate.

Random Blog out there you art. Cecile G. Charles

Gallery of THUM has regular events for the public that are free. We also have regular hours: Monday Wednesday, Thursday Fridays and Saturdays. 11:00am to 6:00pm Saturdays until 5:00pm

http://www.thumstores.com/

''l'art pour l'art'' or as the American says: Art For Art's Sake

…or as I say ‘What?’ To pretty much anything when I am totally immersed in the act of painting and at that moment I do not care if the piece sells or not.

Back in the 70’s I was happily painting away in California, selling copious amounts of artworks for the sheer joy of earning a living. My artworks though well received at the time, share little space in the one where my finest memories are stored. For years I painted for other people, trained in classical oil painting I moved from that to the basic color abstract as fast as I could because they were ‘In’ at the time and I could sell them sometimes 5 or 6 a week. And they could be painted very quickly too. Being young and rather silly (I think this now, I am sure I did not think this then,), I painted under names like Pearl Grey, May Pearl, June Eail, and a few others, even now I paint under several names for some of them stuck, and like any pseudonym if it catches on you have to continue to paint under that name because artists make a living painting and if the work is selling, then there you are. So, I have made a name or two of myself painting abstracts.

There are several types of abstract.

First there is the free flowing slaps of paints couched with an attitude that just a few strokes in the right color palette and someone will rush to collect it for it matches their front room colors. This artwork type has very little thought or even emotion involved it is simply the act of painting for sale. A few colors, some classical balance so the canvas has form and wah-la a painted product is born.
Pretty much anyone with a bit of creativity can produce an abstract and the splashes of color can be very pleasing to the eye but are they the stuff of professional collections? Occasionally a piece accidentally forms from this type of artists efforts and ends up being collected but in most cases after a while it is obvious what the artist is producing has no more to it than a few colors tossed towards the canvas and smatterings of repetition.

It takes a professional eye to tell the difference between one of these paintings and the second type of abstract, the deliberate application of color formed from emotion, training, thought, purpose and desire to create a specific illusion of voice. Both attract buyers but only the second type truly expresses an artist’s move from training to producing artworks for sale and then on to an expression of the soul, the''l'art pour l'art''.

Cecile G. Charles

http://www.thumstores.com

Here at the Gallery of THUM we come across all types of abstracts. As an abstract artist myself, and after seeing hundreds of different types of abstract works I feel comfortable saying I can tell the difference between the two. If you like collectable abstract art, don’t hesitate to give us a call we will find just the right piece for you.

The First Artist To Make An Abstract Painting Was….

….Probably Wassily Wassilyevich Kandinsky in Munich about 1910.

I say probably because this artist became recognized very quickly for his bright loose colors and the free forms on the canvas. Most likely there were other artists that came before but as an artistic movement Mr. Kandinsky is the first artist recognized as such as a practicing abstract artist. Quite often there are hundreds of other artists meeting that point in time where they practice emotive painting without traditional imagery, but as in all things one must be in the right place at the right time to get the acknowledgment. And I use him as an example because after 40 years of studying other artists’ art, I believe I have earned to right to say I have an informed opinion. I can also say I think his work does stand out in a crowd and in part this is why he became famous. An artist of this sort is always an innovator and in his case during the time where he began to paint in the manner he is now most noted for no one else was painting in this was and getting the same public attention.

Over the years I have viewed thousands of artists. First it was at the museums for my mother had the sense to nurture the creative spark in my soul. There at the many museums and art galleries we traveled far and wide to traverse. I saw hundreds of artworks at a time, each one causing an impact on my psyche. From the traditional and glowing forms from the old masters to the contemporary and wildly free works by the likes of Mr. Kandinsky, each formed my own eye for my artworks and for my opinion of what is a great artwork. Your opinion will be different for your experiences have formed your eye in a different way.

I believe that the first time we see an artwork, when we are very small children and we suddenly see an artwork as something other than that picture hanging on the wall; that first piece affects our future taste in art. For some that first piece is so ugly that they will never choose an artwork in that style, for others that first piece was the glue that cemented a preference in their soul.

This happened to me, I walked into a museum in San Francisco and saw a few artworks by Kandinsky and my preference for abstracts was born. This was at 9 years old. They stood out as conversations directly from the artist and I could hear them speak in the room. As I was just starting out my journey as an artist I told myself I would have to get to here where the art is conversation in color and form without the strictures of a confined style. This then is where abstracts are really born in the sole. Mr. Kandinsky got it right.


Read more on Mr Kandinsky: http://wiki.answers.com/Q/Where_did_abstract_art_originate#ixzz1CFx30jAx

Check out more of Cecile's abstract art at http://www.thumstores.com Cecile is an artist and owner of Gallery of THUM art gallery in Spokane WA