Past Meetings
Here’s what we’ve been doing:
April 13, 2024 – Member Share
Are you working on anything interesting? Come and share your artwork with other MRAA members for advice and feedback!
March 9, 2024 – Julia Pfaff
Come and listen to renowned quilter Julia Pfaff deliver a lecture titled “My Art – My Craft” about the history and growth of her work.
Julia E. Pfaff is a recipient of a 2019-2020 Professional Artist Fellowship from the Virginian
Museum of Fine art and an Individual Artist’s Fellowship from the Virginia Commission for the Arts.
With an undergraduate degree in Art History from the University of Toronto and a Masters of Fine
Art degree from Virginia Commonwealth University she divides her time between being an educator
and studio artist. Pfaff has been quilting her entire live and has successfully turned a family tradition
into a contemporary art form. Her quilts have been exhibited extensively and can be found in
numerous national collections and publications.
February 10, 2024 – Diego Sanchez
Our February meeting will feature a talk by artist Diego Sanchez.
Diego was born in Bogota, Columbia, South America and arrived in the US in the summer of 1980. He Obtained an MFA from the Painting and Printmaking Department from VCU. Diego has been teaching art classes around Richmond, Virginia for 16 years and is currently at St. Catherine’s School. We will learn of Diego’s art journey of the past 35 years from figurative to non-representational.
Diego’s website is www.diegosanchez.com
This meeting will be at the Richmond Main Library, Activity Room, 101 E. Franklin St., Richmond, VA 23219.
Jan 13, 2024 – ROBIN CASPARI AND A FIELD TRIP!
Our January 13th meeting will be a field trip out to Running Mare Farm in Maidens, VA to visit the studio of award-winning artist, Robin Caspari. Robin is an oil painter who uses a combination of tradition and abstract techniques to create each piece. She will be demonstrating the use of dynamic symmetry.
December 9, 2023 – Holiday Party
We hope that you have had a safe, fulfilling, and creative 2023. Come celebrate the end of the year with MRAA! Enjoy conversation and refreshments with other MRAA members during this holiday season.
During the meeting we’ll be doing an art swap. For those interested in participating, bring a wrapped piece of your artwork to the meeting. It will be given away to another participant, and you’ll also go home with a piece of artwork from a fellow MRAA member! This is a fun tradition which allows us to connect with each other and our artwork.
Reminder: This is the final meeting of the 2023-2024 season that will be held at Crossroads Art Center. The remainder of the meetings will be held at the Richmond Main Library. Its address is 101 E Franklin St, Richmond, VA 23219.
November 11, 2023 – Member Share
What have you been working on? Share your artwork with other MRAA members at our November meeting!
October 14, 2023 – Minh Chau Truong, Bamboo and Pine in Asian Brush Painting
One of our own members, Minh Chau Truong, will do a presentation entitled, “Bamboo and Pine in Asian Brush Painting”. She will discuss how these two evergreens are represented in Asian Brush Painting (or sumi-e in Japanese). After her talk she will demonstrate bamboo painting.
September 9, 2023 – Monica Rao, Acrylic ink demo and talk
Monica Rao joins us for our first meeting of the MRAA year to tell us of her art journey and to demonstrate the use of inks in her works. Born and raised in Mumbai, India, Monica was involved in the visual arts (drawing and painting) from her earliest childhood years. Monica’s artistic journey has involved experimenting and exploring a variety of mediums such as acrylics, encaustics, pastels, alcohol inks, marbling inks, silk dyes, pen and ink, charcoal, pencil sketches and mixed media. Her process of discovery includes playing with each medium much like a child, and really connecting to it viscerally.
Monica’s website is graphoria.com
May 2023 – Cindy Paullin & Lauren Paullin, Ed.M. from Art for the Journey
Come learn about Art For The Journey, a local non-profit transforming lives through art and community. Art for the Journey is a mission-driven nonprofit organization dedicated to transforming lives through art and community. Their work began in 2014, when three Richmond artists connected over the healing power of art and sought to share that experience with others. Nearly ten years later, AFJ is committed to promoting wellbeing in marginalized and under-resourced communities through hands-on creative experiences. Through their artist-led programs, they serve incarcerated women, adults with dementia and Alzheimer’s disease, Veterans living with PTSD and combat-related trauma, children in urban and rural schools, the recovery community, and others throughout Central Virginia.
April 2023 – Member Share
Want to know what your fellow members have been up to? This lively sharing session always elicits great questions and discussions.
March 11, 2023 – Dan Bartges – Courage and Confidence
Back by popular demand, Dan will speak on “How to Strengthen Artistic Courage and Confidence.” As a full-time artist since 1996, Dan Bartges paints primarily in oils. His landscapes and still lives have been featured in national exhibitions and several publications. His work has been acquired by many private collectors and Fortune 500 companies including Media General, Markel, Owens & Minor, Lockheed Martin, Marriott, Bank One, and Ferguson. www. danbartges.com
February 11, 2023 – Andrew Bryant – Computer Generated Art
MRAA member, Andrew Bryant will discuss what generative art is and his
background. He then will walk participants through modifying a generative art example made using Scratch, a free programming language and online community where you can create your own interactive stories, games, and animations.
January 14, 2023 – Jill Poyerd – Video Discussion
Watch Brushstrokes (Part 1 of 3) – The Early Masters by Jill Poyerd on YouTube and discuss the video.
December 10, 2022 – Holiday party
Gift exchange and short program – our annual winter get-together!
November 12, 2022 – Member Share/ Drop Off for Annual Show
Member share and art drop off for the exhibiting members’ annual show at Crossroads.
October 8, 2022 – Jane Skafte – Natural Rhythms of Watercolor
Watercolor artist, Jane Skafte is fascinated by visual rhythms created by natural forms and their shadows, and makes carefully defined compositions while offering a closeup look into inner spaces. Jane lives on a farm in Fluvanna County and is a resident member of McGuffey Art Center in Charlottesville. She will present how she works from photographs as inspiration for watercolor and gouache landscapes and abstract designs, how she layers glazes, and does negative painting. She will show samples of her work and demonstrate her painting process.
September 10, 2022 – Dawn Flores – The Forest Project
Artist Dawn Flores will do a presentation on her Forest Project. Documenting 60 acres of urban forest that was clear-cut for development, this community-based conservation/art effort holds valuable lessons in collaborating with those who have oppositional views and the role of art in healing individual and communal grief. Artists created 100 works of art, in multiple media, and volunteers rescued 2000 plants and seeds. – www.dawnflores.com
June 11, 2022 
PAINT OUT ON CHURCH HILL focused on Libby Hill Park
Challenge your creativity. Develop your skills. Come and capture the height of summer in “plein air” – outdoors. Your inspiration? The scenic views of historic Richmond. The spot that inspired the name of our fair city, the view from Libby HIll Park, looking eastward down the river intrigued the first colonists: “the curve of the James River and steep slope on this side are very much like the features of … a royal village west of London called Richmond upon Thames.” And of course, there are numerous spots to paint within the St. John’s Church Historic District, including the landmark townhouses and narrow streets of this neighborhood.
May 14, 2022
VISIT TO VMFA: Whistler to Cassatt: American Painters in France
We’ll have our monthly meeting in May at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts. Gather at 10:30 near the member’s ticket booth with plans to tour the Whistler to Cassatt galleries. Most of us are members and can get tickets free, including one for you if you speak up and let someone know you need one. Together in groups of 3 or 4 we will rediscover some late 19th- and early 20th-century painters who left the United States as expatriates and returned to shape the course of American art. In Paris, they studied the “old master” works at the Louvre but then went beyond traditional practices to experiment with new ideas. Whistler to Cassatt: American Painters in France examines the new painting in the advent of modernism, as French avant-garde philosophies and styles melded with American individualism. The exhibition features paintings by James Abbott McNeill Whistler, Mary Cassatt, John Singer Sargent, Childe Hassam, Theodore Robinson, Henry Ossawa Tanner, Elizabeth Nourse, Cecilia Beaux, and many others.
After we tour the exhibits we will regroup in the Best cafe to share comments and get a coffee or lunch! (VMFA 200 N. Arther Ashe Boulevard, RVA)
APRIL 9, 2022 / DAN BARTGES
will be back by popular demand to speak on the topic: “Sail the 7 Cs to Better Painting.” Dan has been a full-time artist since 1996, and paints primarily in oils. His landscapes and still lifes have been featured in national exhibitions and several publications. His work has been acquired by private collectors and Fortune 500 companies including Media General, Markel, Lockheed Martin, Marriott, Bank One, and Ferguson. Dan holds a B. A. degree from Hampden-Sydney College, M. A. from the University of Richmond and has studied under several prominent artists at the Modlin School of Art (U. of Richmond) and the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts’ Studio School. He has lectured on color harmony in artwork at the Smithsonian’s American Art Museum, the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts and other venues. In addition, Dan is the author of three books, including Color Is Everything” (aka Color Harmony Made Easy).”
3/12/22 JANE MARTIN is a ceramic artist who creates very unique floral ceramic wall hangings, made entirely by hand in her Richmond studio. A brief stint as a pastry chef found her positioning sugary blossoms atop towering confections. It was no surprise, then, that when she discovered clay, she felt compelled to decorate her ceramic functional ware with flowers. Jane will share a few pieces of her work and discuss her process.
9/11/21 Artist Robin Caspari will demonstrate and discuss composition and the alla prima painting process. Robin is an oil painter living, working and teaching in Central Virginia. Over the years, she has enjoyed raising funds through her art sales for multiple charities such as Goochland Pet Lovers, The Cloud foundation, The Children’s Hospital, The Humane Society and The Corolla Wild Horse Fund to name a few. Her Paintings hang in prestigious private collections including Bayer Aspirin National Headquarters and Sweet Briar Colleges’ Presidential Suite. Some of her collectors also own works by artists such as Picasso and Degas. Robin has worked under the tutelage of many Masters including Scott Christensen, Derek Penix, Robert Johnson and Kevin Macpherson to develop a unique and informed style of painting that continues to evolve. She recently won Best in Show in the Plein Air Salon’s Animals and Birds division. Robin’s work has been included in many National shows and Galleries, and she is an active member of the National Impressionist Society.
May 8
Maymont in May! Paint-Out and Brunch
Our May meeting will be held on the gorgeous grounds of Maymont, a 100-acre Victorian estate and public park. This is a chance for you to capture the splendor of a bygone era in this verdant landscape of undulating hills– in whatever medium inspires you.
May 8, 10am Meeting – Free admission and continental brunch for all MRAA members.
Where to meet: Enter at the Historic Estate Entrance, off Hampton St. (on the right of the map below).
June 12
Paul Candido, The Classical Aesthetic – Zoom Meeting
From the Van Eyck brothers’ early fifteenth century breathtaking masterpiece, the Ghent altarpiece, up through to the exquisite late nineteenth century salon paintings of Adolphe-William Bouguereau, oil painting followed a relatively uniform pattern of study and execution. It was a time-consuming procedure (DaVinci reportedly took five years to complete the Mona Lisa) in which the artist, after years of apprenticeship and practice, was finally ready to begin meticulously planning and constructing his own laborious artworks. However, many elements of this style (grisaille underpainting, glazing, dry brush blending and scumbling) are strategies that when integrated into modern art techniques can add interest and beauty, as well as recreate the classical art aesthetic. Paul will present some of these classical techniques using modern materials in order to interest others to delve into this art form, or to simply develop a greater appreciation of the “Old Masters.”
10am-12pm – Zoom Meeting
Board Meetings: In season, monthly following the member’s meeting. As needed in the summer.