Repair of a Broken Pottery Owl

By Janet Dodrill

I repaired a broken pottery owl figure for a friend.

1) Glued large broken pottery pieces (I used Elmer’s brand).

2) Built-up gap with self-drying clay (I used Crayola brand).

3) Repaired cracks in self-drying clay with glue.

4) Filled hairline cracks with glue.

5) Painted with acrylics.

6) Kept company with the pottery while on my kitchen table over a couple weeks and named her Hoot (full name, Giva Hoot).

7) Gave to friend and made them happy.

That’s my pottery repair!

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Repair of a Broken Pottery Vase

By Janet Dodrill

I repaired a broken pottery vase for a friend.

1) Glued large broken pottery pieces (I used Elmer’s brand).

2) Built-up gap with self-drying clay (I used Crayola brand).

3) Repaired cracks in self-drying clay with water and additional self-drying clay.

4) Filled hairline cracks with glue.

5) Painted with acrylics, adding texture with toothbrush paint spatter.

6) Clear coated top rim to match existing sheen (I used Liquitex brand satin medium).

7) Kept company with the pottery while on my kitchen table over several weeks and named him Tippy.

8) Gave to friend and made them happy.

That’s my pottery repair!

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Call of the Wild Juried Art Exhibit, 2021

By Janet Dodrill

My art piece, Elephants, was accepted into the juried art exhibit, Call of the Wild, displayed virtually at San Fernando Valley Arts & Cultural Center Sfvacc.org/call-of-the-wild offered through SCORE (Southern California Open Regional Exhibitions).

The online exhibit was juried by Carla, Laureen Bollinger, watercolor artist.

Flora and fauna in nature was the theme of the exhibit, and it can be viewed beyond the show dates, May 1 – May 31, 2021, at (Gallery 1) Sfvacc.org/call-of-the-wild and (Gallery 2) Sfvacc.org/call-of-the-wild#gallery2. The awards reception video is also available at Sfvacc.org/call-of-the-wild#video.

Elephants, watercolor and ink, 5 1/2″ x 8 1/2″, 2021, by Janet Dodrill.

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Artist Spotlight, Janet Dodrill, at 2B Or Not 2B Collective

By Janet Dodrill

Life drawing has saved my life over the past year. I am thoroughly amazed at the professionalism and creativity of the artists, models and coordinators.

Since 2017, I have explored urban sketching, Plein air, life drawing, and portrait painting groups, and love oil painting on canvas from long poses.

In March 2020, starting online sessions when time (luckily, working from home as a graphic designer and web designer through the pandemic), I’ve gained a sense of community, sketching from shorter poses on a smaller paper size due to limited space!

Materials include watercolor, ink, pencil/graphite, watercolor pencil, marker, charcoal, gouache, and acrylic, prepped watercolor paper trying techniques, mixed media paper in tones and weights, and iPad for 1-5 minute poses and transitional movement.

A favorite is animal life drawing from live sessions with handlers, professional video footage or stills, and even from webcams!

2BOrNot2B Collective has done an amazing job. I also look forward to drawing from their incredible replays.

See the original post on Instagram at 2B Or Not 2B Collective @2BOrNot2BCollective https://www.instagram.com/p/CNaPWbrngHe/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link.

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Janet Dodrill during the Peninsula Art Academy Plein Air Competition, Fall 2020.

The Wandering Sketchers, Zoom sketch session, 2020. Drawing by Janet Dodrill.

Tomika, model, at Drawn to the Valley, Valley Art Center, open portrait studio. Oil painting by Janet Dodrill.

Urban Sketchers Cleveland sketch event at Heinen’s downtown, 2020. Watercolor study by Janet Dodrill.

Portraits of Frontline Covid-19 Healthcare Workers, Doctors and Nurses

By Janet Dodrill

About three years ago I joined a Friday night portrait sketch group, The Pretentious Cleveland Portrait Artists. The website is at www.literarycafeartists.com and the weekly model sessions can be found at the blog link. The group (formerly known as The Pretentious Tremont Artists of the Literary Cafe) was founded in 2005 by Tim Herron and Brian Pierce, who wanted to practice portrait drawing and drew bar patrons late every Friday night at the Literary Cafe in Tremont, Ohio. Over that past 15 years the group has grown. It is unique that it pays the model for their time with the finished portraits! Though the original meeting location has changed, the group has still been open to all for both drawing and public viewing while the artists work. 

Since March 2020, because of the Covid-19 pandemic and stay at home orders, the group was able to move to an online streaming platform, thanks to the help of seasoned arts interviewer, Roger Miller, of Tues@7 on Facebook and YouTube, managing production for the first 12 weeks. This has enabled even a broader reach of artists to join in the weekly drawing session, beyond the Cleveland area. Artists then send in their portraits to give the model.

Around April of 2020, Tim Herron was interested in drawing portraits of doctors and nurses as a thank you for their service on the frontlines of battling the Coronavirus. Several artists around the world were making the news at the time involved in similar projects. Through his network of models, artists, and friends and their connections, he started receiving photographs and selfies of healthcare workers from different locations and hospital systems, including MetroHealth Hospital and the Cleveland Clinic. He opened up the project for any artists in his Friday group that wanted to participate.

Roxana Pozderca, Respiratory Therapist, MetroHealth Hospital, Cleveland, Ohio, by Janet Dodrill.

So far (as of March 23, 2021), 18 artists have participated in this “Doctors and Nurses in Covid 19 Times” project, creating 155 original portraits, which are showcased on the group’s website at www.literarycafeartists.com/doctors-and-nurses-in-covid-19-times. 

I personally have produced 28 portraits for the project to-date, and will continue to do more. It’s great practice and I enjoy being part of a group of artists working together. I have an individual webpage on the group’s site at www.literarycafeartists.com/janet-dodrill, where they can be viewed under my general portrait gallery. We are following along with the idea of giving the portraits to the models, in this case the doctors and nurses.

MetroHealth Hospital in Cleveland currently has an exhibit in their lobby, since last fall, of their portraits, which is visible to the public when they visit for their Covid vaccines. Linda Jackson at MetroHealth organized photos and exhibit. They also produced a video on the project, Local Artists Honor Frontline Health Care Workers.

As a result of posting some of my doctors and nurses portraits on instagram (@janetdodrill), I have been asked to tag these works for a curated North American exhibit using hashtag #portraitsforcovidheroes for inclusion in the project by Jules Smith @jules_smith_artist and @portratisforcovidheroes.

Thank you, to all healthcare workers helping to battle this virus in this pandemic and save lives. You are true heroes.

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Snippets of portraits of doctors and nurses on the frontlines by Janet Dodrill.

Snippets of portraits of doctors and nurses on the frontlines by Janet Dodrill.

Portraits of Covid frontline healthcare workers exhibit at MetroHealth Hospital, Cleveland, Ohio (photo by Roger Miller).

Portraits of Covid frontline healthcare workers exhibit at MetroHealth Hospital, Cleveland, Ohio (photo by Roger Miller).

Life Drawing Couples

By Janet Dodrill

Many of the sketch groups I participate in (on Zoom) feature two models in their sessions. Here is a sketch of a lovely couple for the month of February from one of those life drawing sessions.

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Figure life drawing of a couple by Janet Dodrill, 2020, watercolor, 5.5 x 8.5 inches.

Parrots Life Drawing

Another amazing life drawing session, and this time with a ‘Parrots’ theme with Macaws, Cockatoos and Parakeets with the special online event produced by The Henley on Thames School of Art and Oakley and Crew. Birds were shown flying, landing, sitting on perches, walking on the ground, and an unexpected trick at the session end, and was held on November 27, 2020.

Below are highlights of my drawings from the session.

There are more online animal life drawing sessions scheduled for December 2020, featuring Wild Mountain Gorillas, Draft Horses, and Reindeer at www.thehenleyschoolofart.com/online-classes. Artists are welcome to join!

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Birds of Prey Life Drawing

By Janet Dodrill

Incredible live drawing session with ‘Birds of Prey’ theme. Beautiful Owls (Dark Breasted Barn Owl, Little Owl, and Long-Eared Owl), Harris Hawk and Peregrine Falcon with event produced by The Henley on Thames School of Art and Feathers and Fur Falconry Centre (handler Sadie) via Zoom. Great lighting, camera work, and props, held on October 30, 2020.

Below are highlights of my drawings from the session.

There are more online animal life drawing sessions scheduled for November and December 2020, featuring Longhorn Cattle, Fjord Horse, Raccoons, Kinkajou, and Coati, Parrots, and Wild Mountain Gorillas at https://www.thehenleyschoolofart.com/online-classes. Artists are welcome to join!

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Global Online Life Drawing Groups Fulfill While #StayAtHome

By Janet Dodrill

Because of Covid-19, it has been safer to stay at home. As an artist, the art life drawing groups that I once attended have not met since early March, 2020. A couple of the groups have moved to Zoom or Facebook Live. I have found dozens of additional art groups online, both out of state and out of the country. I have been fortunate enough to stay busy with these drawing sessions, while meeting people, and fulfilling the sense of community that I seek in addition to improving my drawing skills. The life models have their own remote cameras and setups at their homes or studios, and these sessions have brought people together from all over the world.

I am especially impressed with the talent, professionalism, athleticism, and creativity of the models. Additionally, the organizations have been offering theme-inspired live drawing sessions on Zoom. In the past couple weeks I participated in a Picasso’s Vollard Suite inspired session featuring models Andrew Crayford @andrewcrayford1 and Annie Mae @amlifemodel both of London, a two-day live performance by Juliano Hollivard @julianohollivard of Brazil with constant movement by the model with lighting, music, poetry, video, props and masks, and most recently a session in the style of Matisse, the Odalisques, with model Valentina Rock @valentinarocklondon. Another group simply draws each other’s portraits. Most of them I discovered on Instagram, and there are many more yet to be discovered.

Some of my favorite (online) life drawing groups during the pandemic, on Instagram:

Adrian Dutton Life Drawing, London @adriandutton_life_drawing (Zoom)
https://www.adriandutton.com

The Renaissance Workshop, London @therenaissanceworkshop (Zoom)
https://therenaissanceworkshop.com/product-category/life-drawing

2 B Or Not 2 B Collective @2bornot2bcollective, London (Zoom)
https://linktr.ee/2bornot2bcollective

London Drawing, London @londondrawing (Zoom)
https://londondrawing.com

Life Drawing Barcelona, Spain @lifedrawingbarcelona (Zoom)
https://linktr.ee/lifedrawingbarcelona

Amanda Achen @theartache, California (Zoom)
https://linktr.ee/amandaachen

On Facebook:

Murray Hill Life Drawing, Cleveland, Ohio (Zoom)
https://www.facebook.com/groups/65156305856

The Pretentious Cleveland Portrait Artists, Cleveland, Ohio (Facebook Livestream)
https://www.facebook.com/groups/347696515301192

Website:

Shoal of Art Meetup, London (Zoom)
https://www.meetup.com/London-Shoal-of-Art-Meetup

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Matisse, the Odalisques, theme with model Valentina Rock, by the collaboration of Adrian Dutton Life Drawing and Madhouse Studios, watercolor and ink by Janet Dodrill.

An ink drawing by Janet Dodrill of Juliano Hollivard’s Day Two, The Sacred, performance life drawing session through The Renaissance Workshop.

Hugo Max Schmitz, Newly-Discovered Artwork

By Janet Dodrill

Hugo Max Schmitz, photograph, early 1900s (recently-discovered).

On a recent trip out of town to visit my cousins, some items were discovered in my uncle’s possession. Unseen artwork by Hugo Max Schmitz, my great-grandfather, all of which I had not seen before. In a couple of the works, there are similarities to his previously-known work. He was an artist and a co-founder of Cleveland wall covering firm, Schmitz-Horning Company (1905-1964). The stunning painting comparisons are below.

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Watercolor portrait of young girl by artist Hugo Max Schmitz.

Possible study for watercolor portrait of young girl by artist Hugo Max Schmitz, oil or gouache, early 1900s (recently discovered).

Self-portrait by artist Hugo Max Schmitz, oil, 1898.

Self-portrait study by artist Hugo Max Schmitz, oil, early 1900s (recently discovered).