Artist Demos are presented after our regular meetings. See our home page for dates and venue. We bring in notable artists to share their skills and enthusiasm. Our demos are free and open to anyone.
Upcoming Demo
There will be no artist demo in June.
Recent Demos
April, 2024. Todd from Sierra Printing was on hand with a presentation of different projects that you might want to consider for your art practice. Todd has produced cards, greeting cards, canvas paper wraps, images on cloth bags . . . let your imagination run wild!
March 18, 2024. Connie Cassinetto gave a presentation information on a three-week trip she took on a 230-foot expedition icebreaker ship, in November-December 2023, to photographwildlife in the Falkland Islands and Antarctic Peninsula. The presentation included some trip background information and a slideshow of the animals and landscape scenes she photographed while there. Connie is a member of the Sonora Photography Club. See her work in the Aloft Gallery.
The internet will take you to many examples, both funny and disconcerting.
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February 18, 2024 We had a great turnout for a game of f "Exquisite corpse". This artistic exercise, made popular by the French Surrealists, calls for each collaborator to add to a composition in sequence, without seeing previous contributions. Many thanks to our hardworking and imaginative program chairs, Marilyn Zimmer and Jamie Shower, who will be providing all necessary materials for this exercise.
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Multimedia work by Carlie Vogt
January 15, 2024. Our first presenter for 2024 was Carlie Voigt, a Sonora native who has been an artist since childhood and has experimented with many different mediums. Her current passion and the subject of her demo is multimedia projects on wood, using wood burning and bright color to bring out natural textures and dimensions. Carlie demonstrated how adding an image on paper to the work on wood can enhance the project in a very modern way.
Charis Hernandez and her demo sketch
November 20, 2023. Our presenter for November was portrait artist Charis Hernandez. Her fascinating sketching demo was about that tricky feature, the eyes, which are critical in creating a likeness. Charis describes herself as a self-taught artist currently focussed on oil painting and sketching. She says, "Faces in particular are beautiful in all forms because each hair, line, color is the make up of who that person is. In my art my goal is to capture the person and who they are."
""African Sunrise", mixed media, by Marilyn Zinner
October 2023: Our demo chairs, Marilyn Zimmer and Jamie Showers, offered a hands-on still life workshop. Three different tables with a still life on each were be lit to provide those all important shadows. Marilyn and Steve privided a wide assortment of art materials. People just pulled up a chair to their chosen subject and sat and drew. It was totally fun. Many thanks to our presenters for their generous donation of supplies!
"Family Farm", 2022, by Judie Cain
For our September 18, 2023 demo, Judie Cain offered critiques to a large group of artists.who arrived with work in hand. Judie is an experienced teacher whose thoughtful and constructive critiques, based on the fundamentals of artistic composition, are always popular.
Primarily an oil painter, Judie strives to capture the light and mood of the moment using brush and/or palette knife. Her colorful paintings are uplifting and inspiring. She is an award winning artist who has been represented in galleries in Washington, Oregon, New Mexico and California, including Murphys, Sonora, Copperopolis and Carmel.
Primarily an oil painter, Judie strives to capture the light and mood of the moment using brush and/or palette knife. Her colorful paintings are uplifting and inspiring. She is an award winning artist who has been represented in galleries in Washington, Oregon, New Mexico and California, including Murphys, Sonora, Copperopolis and Carmel.
Cheyenne Radanovich
June 2023. Cheyenne Radanovich is a native to Tuolumne County with a deep love for the mountains and natural landscape it offers. She graduated college with an associate degree in photography as well as elementary teaching. Her company, Wildbud , located on Washington Street in downtown Sonora, thrives on natural organic designs created with local flowers. Cheyenne's engaging and instructive demo drew an enthusiastic audience. Turns out everybody loves flowers!
Monday, May 15, 2023. Sonora-based landscape painter Charles Waldman is widely known for his colorful, direct, impressionistic style. Tuolumne County scenes often provide his inspiration. A good crowd attended Chuck's lively presentation, which covered tips for painting outdoors with slow-drying acrylics and insights into the artist;s approach to composition and color.
Collage by Stacy Lindsay
Monday, April 17, 2023: Our demo artist this month was Stacy Lindsey. This was a hands on demo! Stacy gave a brief description of color theory and discussed color harmonies, and show a series of images meant to inspire. Participants went on to make tiny collages using a chosen color harmony!
Rana Ford and her painting gear
Our March 20 demo was something different! Some of MLAA's active group of Plein Air painters were on hand with their outdoor gear to share their insights and demonstrate their techniques. A lot of people like the idea of painting outdoors but aren't sure where to begin. To inspire them, we had many examples of plein air work on hand and half a dozen participants narrated their own plein air experiences and discussed their preferences for equipment, media and subject matter. We're hoping some members will be inspired to join us when the weather warms up and we head outdoors!
February 20, 2023. Starting off a new year of art demos, Joy Willow was our February presenter. Joy is a Foothill-based painter, poet and musician. You can see her striking nature-inspired abstracts on her website and in the Aloft. Here's what Joy said about her presentation: "I will share the exciting, un-planned experience of process painting: adding and subtracting elements, staying loose and layered with spontaneity as the guide. Organic fields of texture along with gestural mark making get things started; then its “just" about letting go and being spontaneous." MLAA members love a hands-on demo and Joy's presentation enticed us to sit with our eyes closed making marks on paper, then watching Joy herself demonstrate how she starts a painting.
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Our demo artist for November, 2022, was Heine Hartwig, an old friend and supporter of the MLAA , noted for his colorful, compelling landscapes in a realistic, but loose, style. He completed the painting above entirely in the demo session, with special insights into his methods. Always a great presentation and well attended!
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Image, Connie Cassinetto, 2022
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The Mother Lode Art Association demonstration artist for October, 2022 was Connie Cassinetto, an award-winning photographer and member of MLAA, Sonora Photo Club and American Photographic Artists. Connie is an Adobe Certified Expert and instructor in Adobe Lightroom and has written articles for Nikonian.org. Connie has been concentrating on wildlife photography and recently returned from a camera safari to Eastern Africa. She shared captivating photographs of wildlife, plus insights into her techniques and details about her equipment, with a large group of attendees.
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Mixed media piece by Marilyn Zinner
September 19, 2022. Marilyn Zimmer, our September presenter, states that becoming and being an avid re-cycler and re-purposer brought her to the mixed media world of art. Marilyn earned a Master’s Degree in Arts and Consciousness at John F Kennedy University where she previously completed her Bachelor’s Degree in Liberal Arts. She followed this with post masters work in Art Therapy at the University of California, Berkeley. Among her various experiences in the arts, she has served as the art director for a Boys and Girls Club in San Francisco, taught art for women at a half way house in Oakland, and worked with art students for a charter school in Modesto. Her hands-on event drew 20 participants who shared a wide range of materials to make mixed media pieces. We sure did have fun; many thanks to Marilyn for this great presentation!
June 20, 2022. Jeannie Vodden was our presenter at the June meeting. Watercolor, especially in pure staining transparent hues, is Jeannie's medium of choice. Her method is to use a glazing process, applying layer upon layer, changing color and letting it mix on the paper. Jeannie demonstrated a very limited palette, starting with only three colors,. For our presentation, Jeannie painted several bluebirds on a wire, in various positions, in a horizontal format.
Judie's subject was a handsome hen
May 16, 2022. Judie Cain, our May presenter, is an award winning, widely exhibited artist. Her workshops focus on the basics of oil painting and color. Her presentations are always engaging and informative! The focus for the demo was the process of painting: the breaking down of the subject into basic shapes and values, composition. The subject reflected Judie's strong interest in our food supplies, family and our return to our ability to take responsibility for ourselves, through organic farming and supporting new life.
By Stephanie Rose Long
April 18, 2022. Stephanie Rose Long Working primarily in soft pastel, Stephanie’s interest lies in western art, depicting the people, animals and landscapes of the ranching and horse world. She says, "I am enamored with all things western, and love to add a bold use of color to grab the eye, while also representing the intimate details which otherwise might be overlooked," Stephanie's work can be seen at www.wildrosewesternart.com and Wild Rose Western Art on Facebook.
Iris, watercolor, by Carolyn MacPherson
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 Carolyn MacPherson
March 21, 2022. Carolyn MacPherson, a versatile artist who lived and worked for many years in the Mother Lode, is now based in Washington, where she paints and teaches. Carolyn returns once a year or so and we look forward to her entertaining and informative demos. This year her topic was "Color Mingling", a watercolor technique in which wet-into-wet colors merge to create dynamic blends, achieving an intense, highly saturated effect.
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Judie Cain
January, 2022. Judie Cain is an award winning artist, represented in galleries in Washington, Oregon, New Mexico and California, including Murphys, Sonora, Copperopolis and Carmel. Judie has taught her workshops, “Basic Nuts & Bolts of Oil Painting” and “Color Demystified” in the western states as well as other local venues, and her presentation in January again focussed on the basics. Starting with a still life setup, Judie addressed composition and color through multiple sketches.
Michael Severin and his work
November, 2021. Michael Severin is a noted Mother Lode landscape artist and lifetime member, and current Vice President, of the MLAA. This month, members both old and new brought their work for a critique by Michael, who brought good humored and practical technical commentary, focused on color, value and composition, to art ranging from watercolor landscapes in a realistic style through varying levels of impressionism and fauvism to abstract collage. You can find out more about Michael and his art at his website, www.michaelseverin.com .
Jack Forkner
October, 2021. Jack Forkner is a retired Air Force pilot who began developing and printing black and white images in 1970 while stationed in Japan. Photography became his lifetime hobby and he has always loved to master something new. Over the years he specialized in aerial photography from a remote controlled aircraft and, later, from a drone which he built himself. Later, he moved on to astro photography using a telescope. Recently he has explored macro photography, capturing unexpected images of tiny subjects, and on the effects of drops of liquid into water. Jack illustrated his talk with some gorgeous and original photographs. His audience, both photographers and fine artists, found his enthusiasm and creativity inspirational.
"Zebras of the Serengeti"' by Andrea Morris
September 2021. Andrea Morris is a member of the Aloft and the MLAA. . In this demo, Andrea focused on the thorny issue of backgrounds.Through a series of pre-painted canvases and onsite painting, she showed us her process to build an integrated, finished work in which the colorful, loosely painted background supports the .finely detailed, realistically painted subject. .
