Author Archives: sharongilesart

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About sharongilesart

A former medical librarian and online researcher, I have always been interested in art. There's two major parts to my life: the artistic side and the techie side. ​ My artistic training includes basic courses in college and local classes with with prominent artists: Cecy Turner, Naomi Brotherton, Maureen Brouillette, etc, Plus numerous workshops with local and nationally-known artists. ​ My art interests include water media, collage, mixed media, marbling and printmaking (usually with a gelli plate.) I've also experimented with oils, encaustics, and pastels. I've taught classes and workshops in my major interests. ​ I've been awarded Signature Status from the Society of Watercolor Artists, Southwestern Watercolor Society, and the Texas & Neighbors Regional Art Exhibition. My artwork has also won numerous awards in local competitions. ​ My artwork has been on exhibit in such venues as the Trinity Arts Guild Gallery, Fort Worth Central Library, UNT Health Science Center Atrium Gallery, Jaycee Park Center for the Arts, the Grapevine Convention and Visitors Center Gallery, Irving Arts Center, the Eisemann Center Gallery, and many others. ​ As a librarian, I was fortunate to be immersed in information technology from the beginning of the digital age. I worked primarily as a database searcher for libraries in the University of Texas System: Southwestern Medical Center and UT Arlington. When the internet age dawned, I taught basic HTML to help people create web pages.Then over time, I replaced coding wth more sophisticated front ends for programming (like Wordpress). ​ I'm currently the webmaster (along with Nancy Friedel) for ArtNewsDFW.com, a visual arts resource for the North Texas area. The website is devoted to news of art events hosted by nonprofit visual art groups in the North Texas area plus news about local artists. Find out about exhibits, meetings, art instruction, art festivals, and opportunities for artists. You can also subscribe to daily or weekly email newsletters for free. We also have a Facebook page, a Facebook group and a Twitter feed (@artnewsdfw). I am the longtime webmaster for the Irving Art Association. I have also provided web support for the Society of Watercolor Artists in Fort Worth, the Southwestern Watercolor Society in Dallas and Texas Visual Art Association (TVAA) in Dallas.

January Free Classes in Acrylic Printmaking

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Free Basic Classes in Acrylic Printmaking with a Gelli Plate

January 5, 12 & 26, 2017 7-9 pm (Thursday evenings) at the Jaycee Park Center for the Arts, Irving TX.  Register Now!

Learn printmaking without a press:  Explore this fascinating new tool to create prints or the start for a painting…

And put the fun back into your art! If you’re perfectionistic or have a fear of making a wrong mark or ruining a piece of art paper, gelli printing will definitely remove it. You will make lots of art! And it will be messy, but fun.

Basic supplies will be provided. (Acrylic paint, paper, brayer, water container, spray bottle, Gelli Plate, stencils, masks, paper towels and other tools.) (Sorry, you don’t get to keep the supplies, just the results.) If you have a gel or gelli plate and brayer, please bring those. If you wish to bring additional supplies, you can. (Stencils, masks, mark-making tools, paper and your favorite colors of acrylics in any brand.) Bring an apron or wear grunge clothes.

For information on Gelli Arts Plates, see http://www.gelliarts.com/ or for Gel Press Plates, see http://www.gelpress.com/. You can also make your own — see my article at http://sharongiles.artdfw.com/making-your-own-gelatinglycerin-plate/. Plus there are many videos on gelli printing on YouTube.

Recent Florals and Negative Painting

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I’ve been working on my negative painting skills again – in fact I recently led some Open Art sessions on doing so. So I though I’d gather the paintings together here. All these are florals or leaves or forest paintings (“Flora”).

Definition:  “Negative painting, is an intriguing, alternative approach in which the subject is established by painting around the object rather than by painting the object itself. Most painters work in the positive, typically adding one shape on top of another. If, on the other hand, you carve out your shapes, you are taking a subtractive approach: constructing in the negative. So when images such as leaves, trees, flowers or rocks appear in negative paintings they have been created by painting the spaces around and between simple, distinctive shapes (symbols) that represent these things.” — Linda Kemp

You might want to look at the last article I did on negative painting:  NEGATIVE PAINTING FLORAL TRANSFORMATION

"Leaf Tapestry" watercolor by Sharon Giles

“Leaf Tapestry” watercolor by Sharon Giles

"Forest's Embrace" watercolor by Sharon Giles

“Forest’s Embrace” watercolor by Sharon Giles

"Red Field Daisies" before gouache background added

“Red Field Daisies” before gouache background added

"Ref Field Daisies" watercolor / gouache by Sharon Giles

“Ref Field Daisies” watercolor / gouache by Sharon Giles

"Blue Flower Exercie" watercolor by Sharon Giles

“Blue Flower Exercie” watercolor by Sharon Giles

This last painting is a candidate for more negative painting using gouache to add warm accents.