Tuesday by Tuesday

Six by Six: Tuesday by Tuesday
Watercolors from the Central Valley

Marie Bickford/Peggy Jelmini/Elaine Lynn/Robin Gay McCline/Ara F. Normart/Milli Pepper

When:  Tues., June 10 – Sun., August 17, 2008
Where: Lobby and Concourse Gallery
Panel Discussion:  Fri., June 13, 2:00 pm, Bonner Auditorium

Two Watercolor Demonstrations with Robin Gay McCline and Peggy Jelmini:
    Friday, June 27, 9:00 pm in the FAM Lobby (Art Under the Stars)
    Friday, July 18, 9:00 pm in the FAM Lobby (Art Under the Stars)
 

Watercolor painting isn’t for everyone. A medium of color rather than line, it is better suited to capturing light, atmosphere and mood, than rendering form and detail. It requires patience and cannot be controlled in the way that oil paint can. Like jazz improvisation, it cannot be undone. The watercolorist must learn to expect the unexpected and respond quickly and decisively; know when to add another stroke and when to stop. Above all, the artist needs many years of experience to become intimately familiar with the nuances of water, pigment and paper.
                                        --- Joel Pickford from California Light

The informal gatherings that became recognized as The Tuesday Group first took shape in the late 1950s and early 1960s resulting from the watercolor workshops of Fresno artist Rollin Pickford. His primary role as the force that shaped the character that Central San Joaquin Valley watercolorists would assume remains unchallenged even though he credits Lanson Crawford and Tom Valiant with changing the way he approached his career as an artist – “Lanson Crawford taught me how to see, and Tom Valiant taught me what to do with what I saw.” Other factors that determined the “look” of the artists of The Tuesday Group were the geographic and cultural isolation from both Southern and Northern California, as well as the pronounced seasonal change that created dramatic changes in light, weather and color. The Valley’s flat topography, unbroken by anything but the distant mountain ranges to the east and west, also accounts for what sets the Fresno watercolorist’s artwork apart from artists who work beyond the boundaries of the Central Valley.

During the 1950s, when Rollin Pickford’s innovative painting companions included both Robin Gay McCline and Ara F. “Corky” Normart, watercolor painting was practiced prolifically and experimentally with a wide variety of mixed media that included acrylic, casin, crayon, white and black sumi’e ink sticks, collage and India ink. The three painters, each approaching their work in different ways, were preoccupied with and focused on the geometric abstraction of the landscape. When Pickford stopped teaching his Tuesday workshops, two of his former students, Adelia Shellenberger and Nancy Arnold, continued painting every Tuesday on their own – soon they were joined in their Tuesday painting forays by Caroline Harris, Mabel Miller, Marie Bickford, Betty Bonner, Peggy Jelmini, Sue and Gay McCline, Corky Normart, Mildred Pepper and Marjorie Russell among others. Over the years other watercolor enthusiasts joined the weekly outings - even now The Tuesday Group continues to paint each Tuesday en plein air with all the joie d’ vivre that was Rollin Pickford’s legacy and gift to Central California and the world beyond.

Along with one of Rollin Pickford’s watercolors from his personal collection, the Fresno Art Museum’s summer watercolor exhibition, Six by Six: Tuesday by Tuesday, includes the individual styles of six of these artists who continue their special comradeship established over forty years ago. Marie Bickford, Peggy Jelmini, Elaine Lynn, Robin Gay McCline, Corky Normart and Milli Pepper continue to honor their craft by their light- filled and color-drenched works. Focused on the geometric pattern of Valley vineyards and orchards, the cold rushing water of the High Sierra’s lakes and rivers, the intense color of sunrise and sunset, the orchard’s springtime blossoms, summer’s blinding heat, autumn’s lush foliage, and the density of tulle fog that winter brings – these elemental forces have shaped the work of Valley watercolor artists. All have lived upon the Valley floor, looked to the Sierra mountain ranges and escaped to the Central Coast for respite from summer sun – these experiences have been the inspirational source of their artwork and have shaped the discipline that defines their work.