Wet Paint is offering you more than a week of headliners, Sunday, April 28th through Monday, May 6th. The International Art Materials Trade Show and Convention takes place in Minneapolis this year bringing all these artists into our community. An opportunity like this rarely occurs so you need to make room on your calendar to visit Wet Paint a number of times.
Sunday, April 28th from 2-4pm
Scott Gellatly, an accomplished landscape painter and an active plein air painter, is also Product Manager for Gamblin Artists Colors. Scott will present a 90 minute talk, “Understanding Contemporary Oil Painting Materials.” He will cover topics such as oil and alkyd paints, painting mediums and varnishes, pigments, painting techniques and studio safety. Wet Paint has stocked Gamblin products since the beginning of their production. We like to support American made art supplies. Like us, Gamblin Artists Colors is committed to artists from product development to staffing. Over the years Robert Gamblin and I have had many conversations. One was comparing Gamblin’s oil to some other paint brands. Robert always says his paint is ready for painters to use right out of the tube unlike stiffer paints that need considerable manipulation before they can be applied to a canvas. Robert Gamblin still remains active in the company but paints as much as possible. Scott has learned the art of oil paint from Robert and has taken over his “on the road” responsibilities. We feel quite honored to have Scott visit Wet Paint. See his work at www.scottgellatly.com
Monday, April 29th from 5:30-7:30pm
We have certain customers who are so excited about Patti Brady coming to Wet Paint, they can hardly wait. Artist and author of “Rethinking Acrylic,” Patti is also the Director of the Working Artist Program for Golden Artist Colors. Her knowledge of pushing acrylics over the limits, in any direction imaginable, is astounding. You want acrylics to do what? Patti has an answer and probably a sample in her bag of paint swatches. Patti will give a short presentation followed by all the interaction our audience wants. Come see the new products Golden is introducing in 2013. Golden is a company Wet Paint really believes in. Besides innovative products that meet the needs of artists, they are committed to making sure artists know how to use the products effectively and safely. Her work can be seen on her website www.pattibrady.com
Tuesday, April 30th from 3:30-5pm
Antistatik, AKA, Stephane Helbert, represents Molotow, and we couldn’t be more pleased to welcome him to Wet Paint from France. Stephane has been part of the Graffuturism art movement and has murals and exhibits throughout Europe. We saw the Molotow marker line last year at the art materials trade show and were so impressed with their covering power. At Wet Paint, acrylic paint markers are one of our fastest growing product categories. Like spray paint, we didn’t realize how many different types of artists would be interested in this product. The applications are numerous. The results are immediate and possibly more spontaneous. They work in a sketchbook as well as on canvas. Acrylic paint markers work in combination with spray paint, traditional acrylic tube paint and anything else you can imagine. And Stephane incorporates many media in his own paintings. Come try Molotow paint markers and see some other products coming soon from Germany. See Antistatik’s work here.
Wednesday, May 1st from 5:30-7:30pm
Marie Browning is a new friend of Wet Paint. She is a design consultant to the U.S. Company that imports Tombow products from Japan. Marie has embraced the art of Zentangle along with her Tombow markers and pencils. Her recent book is “Time to Tangle with Colors.” For those unfamiliar with this movement, Zentangle offers an opportunity for opening your creativity through a multi-patterned drawing design. I can attest to the Zen part of the process. I personally find it relaxing and rewarding at the same time. Tombow brush markers are a standard in the world of water based brush markers. They seem to find a place within various creativity practices such as calligraphy, rubber stamping, journaling and more. What you really want to experience is Tombow’s Irojiten colored pencils. Not just another colored pencil line, they are a beautiful range of colors that Tombow presents in striking color family sets. At first they may seem hard and dry but the pencils actually release their colors in a very controlled manner. They are superb for color layering. I haven’t found any color combinations that don’t blend effectively. Check out Marie’s blog.
Thursday, May 2nd from 5:30-7:30pm
If all this color is too much to handle, Kathi Hanson from General Pencil has the perfect antidote – graphite and charcoal drawing techniques. She has some new mixed media applications that may surprise you. Kathi will show you all the possibilities with their new Sketch & Draw Kits that would be great for summer travels. General Pencil still produces wood encased graphite pencils in the U.S., and they love to share their pencil making process with their fans. And General Pencil is a family operated company too. I have always appreciated how they incorporate artists’ drawings into their packaging. All in all, General Pencil is the kind of company we at Wet Paint believe in and believe our customers believe in too. Visit her website www.kathihanson.com
Friday, May 3rd from 5:30-7:30pm
We couldn’t be happier to have Denise Lapointe and David Carruthers from Papeterie Saint-Armand visit Wet Paint to talk about papermaking. Their operation is right at the apex between handmade processes and machine driven mills. I have visited their studio twice and I am amazed at their operation. The first visit the cab driver didn’t want to take me there – it is outside of lovely Montreal in a relatively abandoned warehouse district. Last fall, the area looked like it is ready for revitalization. Denise and David are passionate about papermaking in general and specifically about their own mill. They are proud of their equipment and their black rags for making black paper. Denise is fiery and David is circumspect. And they have stories about the history of papermaking in Canada, about making paper for the restoration of the home of Edith Wharton, about spec’ing paper jobs for rock and roll bands. They are as beautiful as their papers. See their website www.st-armand.com
Saturday, May 4th from 10-12:30pm
Robert Paschal and Iwata are both synonymous with airbrush. Robert’s books on airbrush techniques are best sellers. He is a respected airbrush artist known worldwide. Iwata is the most well-known and respected name in airbrush equipment. Take advantage of Bob being here and bombard him with your questions and Bob will help you overcome your fears of airbrushing. We see a new interest in this tool as many artists look for new venues after starting their art making with aerosol paint. An airbrush gives you control where even the widest range of spray nozzles can’t. Joined by Brooke Cedros from Iwata Airbrush, we are giving you the opportunity to test drive the best with the best. For more info on Robert, click here.
Sunday, May 5th from 2-4pm
In 2008 Daniel Smith Watercolors became available to retailers like Wet Paint. We jumped at the opportunity to stock the watercolor most often requested by our customers. We have been completely happy with this decision and are delighted to introduce our customers to Katherine Taylor from Daniel Smith. Katherine has worked with us from day one to ensure they could work with Wet Paint and our sometimes unique demands upon our suppliers. We have been quite surprised with their constant introduction of new colors. And the colors they come up with do the most amazing things. Serpentine, Shadow Violet, Moonglow. Colors that almost do the painting for you. Join Katherine to experience the hundreds of additional colors available through mixing in the Daniel Smith Watercolor line. See all their colors at www.danielsmith.com
Also Sunday, May 5th from 12-4pm
Two years ago I met Don Colley at a workshop. When he showed me his journals, old ledgers from secondhand stores, filled with his drawings created with Faber Castell pens and pencils, I knew these were special. Besides having a tactile quality of well used books, Don truly captures his subjects. I came back to Wet Paint and said we had to have Don Colley come to Wet Paint with his sketchbooks.
We looked at his website and there was a drawing he had done of Darin Rinne, our General Manager, just months before at the art materials convention in Phoenix. Don had drawn him from the back, across the patio, and without knowing his subject, he had captured Darin to a T. If you need a personal coach to motivate you to get moving with your sketchbook, Don is your answer. Don will share his strategies of sketching a subject in public when you don’t know if you have your model for 60 seconds or 60 minutes. Take this opportunity to get out and urban sketch the Grand Avenue neighborhood with a true master. See more of Don’s sketches here
Monday, May 6th from 5:30-7:30pm
Carl Judson is my own private cowboy. He saw the traditional European pochade box and made a bullet proof one to address the real needs of the plein air painter. Carl, an engineer turned painter turned product designer, has created and sourced an entire palette of products, the Guerrilla Painter line, to make outdoor painting a painless process with no loose ends trailing behind you from your vehicle to your painting site. Come see Carl at Wet Paint and he will help solve your personal dilemmas of onsite painting. Be amazed as Carl explains why he moved the latch on a box or how to fight glare off the brush ferrule. See Carl’s lovely paintings of the American landscape. And watch him drive off into the sunset in his pick-em-up truck. Check out Carl’s paintings at www.carljudson.com
We got Don Colley packed up and shipped out on the AMTRAK this morning and we are already changing gears at Wet Paint. We’ve got a 2fer this Thursday evening. We truly believe the weather is taking a turn toward warmth and Josh Cunningham and Carl Judson will be outside the store in full plein air regalia. Josh Cunningham is a favorite Wet Paint customer, a well-respected painter of our Minnesota landscape and cityscape and a truly generous artist. Josh will be working on a new painting and is ready and willing to talk shop about painting, materials and the specific issues of alla prima with any and all of you interested artists.
When I saw Carl Judson, founder of Guerrilla Painter, at the art materials show earlier this month, Carl said he could stop by Wet Paint on his road trip back to Colorado. We lucked out to get him to come through St Paul on the same day as Josh’s demo. So besides getting to talk with Josh about painting, you get to visit with Carl about the equipment he manufactures to make plein air painting more seamless and compact for the artist. The last time Carl came by we had a lively conversation about collapsible palettes. See a demonstration of all the bells and whistles of the Guerrilla Painter line of rugged pochade like boxes.
