Saturday, August 10, 2013
Monday, July 15, 2013
AFRICAN WILDLIFE WORKSHOP WITH GUY COMBES
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| Guy Combes Workshop July 2013 |
All these students signed up for next years workshop..so I think that is a ringing endorsement. We are planing workshop #2 so if you are interested, just let me know before the rush...780419-2055.
Sunday, March 31, 2013
EXCELLENCE IN ARTS TEACHING, MAYOR'S GALA
Awards Night
Quite a while ago some of Hidden Talent Artists
submitted my name for the Excellence in Arts Teaching award to be presented at
the Mayors Gala this spring. Pearl Der organized the entry and Wendy Pfeifer
and Sylvie Fergusson wrote letters of recommendation. To say the least. I was
humbled and excited that my students would honor me with this nomination.
Truly, the nomination was the reward!!
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| Wendy, Laura, Michelle and Joan. | Missing: Jeannette, Barb and Jeanne |
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| Pearl, Donna, Sandy, Marla, Laura |
On March 19 some of the Hidden Talent Artists and myself
were all gussied up and had a pre award celebration at The Cajun House- What a
fun and supportive group! I vamoosed early to attend the Mayor’s Private Champagne
reception with my biggest fan, my husband Ed. We met other nominees and
dignitaries and talked to past winners of the arts awards. I had very stiff competition- Joan Bilau, Vocal Instructor and Darrell Marko, Dance Instructor.
We later met up with the Hidden Talent Artists at the
Reception and I saw many faces I haven’t seen in a long time…so wonderful to be
able to gather the St. Albert arts community in one place!
Our evening was one of entertainment! And it was
exceptional! There was a dance theater co production, a one act play, Jazz Trio, Ballroom dancing and the rock band Tupelo Honey. All of them with strong ties to our community.
I was very relieved
that we didn’t have to wait long- the Excellence in Arts Teaching was the
second award of the evening, so after that we could all relax…Much to our surprise and delight… I WON!!! Many many thanks to all of you for your support
and friendship!! I was beyond thankful for such recognition!
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| My Excellence In Arts Teaching Award |
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| Thanks Jeanne!! |
The Art of Hanging Art
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| Laura Watmough explaining how to hang art in your home. |
The lovely Susan Jones and
gifted Photographer April from the St. Albert Gazette come by the studio
to interview me on how to hang art work. I have many gallery shows a year and my
husband Ed hangs art in my clients homes, so I was happy to help out.
Here is the article:
Gallery hanging:
Now, homes are very different than galleries. There are
times that I have to hang Hidden Talent Art SALOON STYLE- which means art from
top to bottom on a wall. This method was used extensively in the French Academy
of Art in order to exhibit all the art that was submitted for awards. This can still be
seen in some museums ( Louve) and
private art collections.
The ideal situation would be that each artwork would have
enough space around it to separate it from the others and show it off to its
best advantage. In retail galleries, wall space is expensive and artworks from
a popular artist would have the most prominent position.
When I hang student shows I try to have a theme or a
dominant color- ex. animal art in a grouping or a bit of red in each area of
the gallery. This helps with the “visual flow” and leads the viewer through the
gallery on a hopefully very pleasant visual experience.
HIDDEN TALENT ARTISTS IN THE NEWPAPER!!
St. Albert Gazette Article
March 2013
Orchids mean prizes for St. Albert art school
The students at Hidden Talent Fine Art School are strangers neither to flowers nor to winning. At Edmonton’s annual orchid show, the representatives from St. Albert took home 14 ribbons, including four first places, in eight categories.
Instructor Laura Watmough is always thrilled to see her students excel in their lessons. To have them do well in competitions such as this is simply icing on the cake.
“We’re getting a lot more participation and we’re getting a lot more attention,” she said, explaining why more and more of her students are being recognized at the show. The overall quality of the group’s efforts is excellent, she said.
She added that it’s a natural fit for her to use orchids as teaching tools because they lend themselves to great art for numerous reasons.
“You can be very simple to very complex. They’re very easy to separate into petals … and there’s a huge variety from minuscule to very large so you can do an awful lot with your colour.”
Watmough isn’t surprised to see first-timers, even some of her youngest students, see such strong results so early on in their artistic careers.
“I think what happens is they start to discover the process of painting,” she said. “Once they get that, they get very excited and they can tackle any subject. The world of art opens to them.”
Hidden Talent’s students accounted for two first places, one second, and four thirds in the children’s categories, while the adults brought home two firsts and five seconds.
March 2013
 |
| Hidden Talent Orchid Art Show Ribbon Winners! |
Orchids mean prizes for St. Albert art school
The students at Hidden Talent Fine Art School are strangers neither to flowers nor to winning. At Edmonton’s annual orchid show, the representatives from St. Albert took home 14 ribbons, including four first places, in eight categories.
Instructor Laura Watmough is always thrilled to see her students excel in their lessons. To have them do well in competitions such as this is simply icing on the cake.
“We’re getting a lot more participation and we’re getting a lot more attention,” she said, explaining why more and more of her students are being recognized at the show. The overall quality of the group’s efforts is excellent, she said.
She added that it’s a natural fit for her to use orchids as teaching tools because they lend themselves to great art for numerous reasons.
“You can be very simple to very complex. They’re very easy to separate into petals … and there’s a huge variety from minuscule to very large so you can do an awful lot with your colour.”
Watmough isn’t surprised to see first-timers, even some of her youngest students, see such strong results so early on in their artistic careers.
“I think what happens is they start to discover the process of painting,” she said. “Once they get that, they get very excited and they can tackle any subject. The world of art opens to them.”
Hidden Talent’s students accounted for two first places, one second, and four thirds in the children’s categories, while the adults brought home two firsts and five seconds.
ORCHID ART SHOW WINNERS!
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| Hannah and Cole- Orchid Art Show winners! |
This year was the first time Jr. Davincis ( ages 6-12)
entered the Orchid Art Show which is held in Edmonton . How wonderful that we
had ribbon winners in the youth category!
Rose W2nd, Hannah B 1st Cole B 3rd
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| Sydney's wonderful watercolor |
Ava 3rd, Sydney V 3rd
Jenna 3rd.
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| More winners! |
Special mention to Bernadette Neumann and her son FRANK who were double winners. Frank took
first and mom took 2 seconds. There is a lot of talent in this family!
Hidden Talent artist a wee bit older (!) also brought home
more ribbons for spectacular artwork.
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| Michelle's winning art! |
First place winners were Michelle Sawatsky and Joan Rever(
Black and white entry!). Multi winner Yoon Joo Kim received second on three of
her entries this year. Yoon Joo is an avid orchid grower and Michelle has joined the Orchid Society
and helps the rest of us identify and pronounce the names of the orchids.
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| Joan took first with a beautiful black and white Orchid |
We hope these artists have inspired more to submit their
artwork next year. Current information says the Orchid Show will be held in
early April, 2014. Enough time to get a few painting ready??
Wednesday, January 30, 2013
THE POWER OF ART
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| Life is a work of art. |
Art has given me the means to meditate and still be productive ( you know, when time either stands still of flies by so fast that you lose track of it. This adds years to my life)).
Art has been a driving force to keep myself educated, current and innovative.
Art allows me to pursue my dreams....owning my own business, traveling and exploring, meeting new people.
And now art and some very good friends have seen to it that I have been nominated for the Excellence in Art Teaching award presented at the Mayor Gala in mid March!
First of all, my deepest thanks to my friends who made this happen- Wendy Pfeifer, Sylvie Fergusson and of course, that wonderful Pearl Der! They nominated me and sent letters of support along with a detailed resume, life story and reason for nomination. I am truly humbled and honored!!
As part of the process, I had to tell Pearl how I came to be an art teacher and the long and very windy road that entailed!!! Reexamining your life is a weird thing. I had forgotten many things, even important ones, so it was interesting to revisit my artistic past! I'm not exactly sure when I took the path less traveled and decided that sharing the wonders of art was as important as producing it. What I do know is it was without a doubt the right path and it has made my life richer and fuller than I ever imagined.
So, to all Hidden Talent alumni and present students/ friends/artists THANK YOU!!!!!
Friday, January 25, 2013
GRATITUDE IS AN ATTUTUDE
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| Granddaughters! |
This year there has been a rash of car accidents- Jeanne, Terese, Michelle, Janet and (Sylvie/Brock) (Lisa/ Chris) and a few more. The good news is all are ok and Brock and Chris are recuperating, not fast, but getting better everyday.
Cancer has made an appearance this year, (students, friends and loved ones as well). Quality time takes on a whole new meaning and gets priority. The idea that we are fragile is hard to face, but it makes the bonds between us stronger. Health is everything! Focus is important! Family and friends are our strength! Gratitude is acknowledging we are only human and are thankful for the many blessing in our lives.
Now let's go and live our 'best life' in 2013!
Wednesday, January 23, 2013
St. Albert Gazette Article
Local artist takes teaching to the television airwaves
Laura Watmough's one-minute lessons coming soon to CTV2
By: Scott Hayes | Posted: Wednesday, Dec 19, 2012 06:00 am
Laura Watmough has taught many, many
students the painting techniques of the old masters through Hidden
Talent, her Campbell Business Park art school.
Her classroom is about to expand electronically into the living rooms of thousands of Albertans.
Watmough spent a day last week with a CTV2 film crew shooting several one-minute connectors, educational commercials that run between longer programs. There are several categories of connectors, according to former St. Albertan Dean Hooke, the writer-producer in charge of the project.
“We do a whole bunch of different styles of connectors. We do career connectors, campus connectors, learning connectors, which is what Laura’s doing,” Hooke said.
Watmough was approached to offer the art lessons after the provincial cable-only educational channel started inquiring about people who could offer brief tutorials about painting. The channel used to be known as Access before it was bought out by the national network. Much of its original purpose, however, remains the same.
“They have a mandate to do educational segments. They approached the Alberta Society of Artists, who approached me,” she said. “They asked if I would be willing to do that. Because I teach on an ongoing basis, I said sure. Teaching is what I do.”
Watmough wrote her own scripts, which were then vetted by well-known arts-focused elementary teacher Andrea Daly. Watmough hosted Hooke and cameraman Bruce Wiggins from the network. They filmed the segments on various aspects of learning to paint, including temperatures of light, negative space, creating depth and seeing in black and white.
“For every one of the five segments I had props or examples and I had to demonstrate some of the different concepts through art. The whole thing was to try and have a broad audience for this, so not just elementary school and not just retirees but to give a general education to as many people as we could.”
She was impressed by the production team’s smooth work ethic.
“They ran like a well-oiled machine and they included me as part of their team. It is amazing how many times you have to say the same thing over and over again.”
All of this should be old hat since it wasn’t her first time on television.
“I think I had one little segment way, way back,” she said, referring to a newscast that interviewed some local painters who had moved their studio space into Grandin Park Plaza.
“That was exciting back then but this was pretty intense,” Watmough said.
“The setup was quite elaborate. They had lots of equipment there. It was terrifying!”
Watmough’s connectors will likely start being broadcast in the first few weeks of the new year, Hooke said. They will also be available for viewing online at http://connectedtoeducation.ca/connectors.
“It’s wonderful to get art out to the community and just show them that anyone can be an artist. It’s all about learning to see through an artist’s eyes,” Watmough said, ending with what she called her tagline.
“Learning to see like an artist is the first step to becoming an artist. Start your artistic journey today.”
Her classroom is about to expand electronically into the living rooms of thousands of Albertans.
Watmough spent a day last week with a CTV2 film crew shooting several one-minute connectors, educational commercials that run between longer programs. There are several categories of connectors, according to former St. Albertan Dean Hooke, the writer-producer in charge of the project.
“We do a whole bunch of different styles of connectors. We do career connectors, campus connectors, learning connectors, which is what Laura’s doing,” Hooke said.
Watmough was approached to offer the art lessons after the provincial cable-only educational channel started inquiring about people who could offer brief tutorials about painting. The channel used to be known as Access before it was bought out by the national network. Much of its original purpose, however, remains the same.
“They have a mandate to do educational segments. They approached the Alberta Society of Artists, who approached me,” she said. “They asked if I would be willing to do that. Because I teach on an ongoing basis, I said sure. Teaching is what I do.”
Watmough wrote her own scripts, which were then vetted by well-known arts-focused elementary teacher Andrea Daly. Watmough hosted Hooke and cameraman Bruce Wiggins from the network. They filmed the segments on various aspects of learning to paint, including temperatures of light, negative space, creating depth and seeing in black and white.
“For every one of the five segments I had props or examples and I had to demonstrate some of the different concepts through art. The whole thing was to try and have a broad audience for this, so not just elementary school and not just retirees but to give a general education to as many people as we could.”
She was impressed by the production team’s smooth work ethic.
“They ran like a well-oiled machine and they included me as part of their team. It is amazing how many times you have to say the same thing over and over again.”
All of this should be old hat since it wasn’t her first time on television.
“I think I had one little segment way, way back,” she said, referring to a newscast that interviewed some local painters who had moved their studio space into Grandin Park Plaza.
“That was exciting back then but this was pretty intense,” Watmough said.
“The setup was quite elaborate. They had lots of equipment there. It was terrifying!”
Watmough’s connectors will likely start being broadcast in the first few weeks of the new year, Hooke said. They will also be available for viewing online at http://connectedtoeducation.ca/connectors.
“It’s wonderful to get art out to the community and just show them that anyone can be an artist. It’s all about learning to see through an artist’s eyes,” Watmough said, ending with what she called her tagline.
“Learning to see like an artist is the first step to becoming an artist. Start your artistic journey today.”
Tuesday, December 04, 2012
I'M IN A GALLERY!!!!!!
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| Linda's perfect palette cookies!!! |
This year we have a full roster of great volunteers whom I would like to thank in advance. It gets crazy busy and sometimes they sneak away before I can properly thank them. They are the decorators, greeters, refreshment ladies and sales people in the new art store. (THINK ARTISTS CHRISTMAS GIFTS!)This awesome 20th Annual Student Art Show would never happen without them!
Sat Dec 8, Sun Dec 9 from 1:00-4:00 at #107, 25 Chisholm Ave, St. Albert. 780-419-2055 We will also be taking registration for the Winter 2013 Session. See you there!
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