Art will be blooming in April with the North Penn Arts Alliance.

This April there will be no shortage of art blooming in the North Penn Area with the North Penn Arts Alliance. Starting on April 1^st, we will participate in the First Friday event in Lansdale. Join us as we display members artwork in the first outdoor First Friday of the 2011 season.

On April 6^th, the NPAA will hold their monthly meeting at 521 W. Main St, Lansdale (Univest Insurance Building) at 7 p.m.. Presenting that night will be traveling NPAA correspondent Mike Darr, who will discuss his book, then NPAA member and artist Christine Webb who works in “Fiber and Fabric” will display and discuss Quilting. We will also have our Artist Trading Card trade off with the theme of “April Showers.”

Then join us on April 16^th at North Penn High School as we help at the International Spring Festival and help them celebrate their 20^th anniversary. This annual community event helps raise funding for the Lansdale library. The festival runs from 11 a.m. until 5 p.m. and admission is free. The North Penn Arts Alliance will be displaying artwork and demonstrating art during the day.

And if that is not enough we will hold our “17^th Annual Spring Members’ Exhibit” at the Elm Terrace Gardens from April 28^th to April 30^th. This is a juried show for all NPAA members, new and old. This year the show will be juried by watercolorist Jim McFarlane. Jim McFarlane is a signature member and current president of the American Watercolor Society (AWS), a signature member of and past president of the Philadelphia Water Color Society (PWCS), and a signature member of the Pennsylvania Watercolor Society (PWS). He teaches watercolor painting at the Woodmere Art Museum, the Greater Norristown Art League and the Doylestown Art League. He conducts workshops nationally and is a featured speaker on watercolor painting and art history. He has been a finalist in the Artist Magazine Annual National Art Competition and has authored several articles on watercolor painting. Most recently his work was featured in the Spring 2011 issue of American Artist Watercolor magazine. Jim has also been honored with the PWCS Crest Medallion for “Consistent Excellence.” Not only will members’ artworks be on display, but our students from the “Just for Kid’s” Art programs will also have their works on display.

Art has always been around, it is used as a form of communication, it helps people relax and express themselves. A painting or drawing can tell a story, enhance beauty or alert us of the beauty all around us. Art exercises the mind as one views the piece; the viewer is interpreting what the artist is saying or trying to see how the artists came to the conclusion of the finished piece. At the same time the artist is composing, defining, and problem solving, with a line, brushstroke, placement of articles in a mixed media,  a chisel or knife cut in stone or wood, even in molding, stretching, or forming, clay, glass or a precious metal. Art is an expression or a conversation that takes place between you and the artist. Each of us will see, hear, or feel something different because we are as unique as the art that we look upon or create.

Support the Arts in the North Penn Community, the North Penn Arts Alliance and Artists of all ages by visiting our displays and shows. Support the Arts by purchasing an original piece of art or donate to the North Penn Arts Alliance so their mission to offer artists and art enthusiasts' opportunities to create, learn, network, and grow in a supportive environment can continue. What better environment than that of the North Penn Community?

 

Photograph Courtesy of Bob Koenig