Many of you may remember Smithville’s first annual music festival at Riverbend Park last year. 

It was an all-day festival with several varieties of music and musicians, including Jimmy Vaughn, Hannibal Lokumbe and the Watts Brothers Band. This event, under the giant oaks on the Colorado River, was such a success that Smithville has no choice but to do it again this year.

An addition to the 2010 festival will be the inclusion of the First Saturday Arts Festival at the Gazebo downtown, which has always been sponsored by the LPAA.

This year, the artists will be moving to the park and I predict a great day for them, the musicians and the public attending the event on Nov. 6.

There will be only a dozen spaces for artists, all under cover. The fee for a space for this one-time event is $75. It will be a long day: 10 a.m. to 10 p.m., but there will be great music in the air the whole time.

Three to five thousand people are expected to attend, so this is a real opportunity for artists to show and sell.

For more information or applications call P.K. Scott at (512) 633-9972. You can also get more information at the website at www.LostPinesArtisansAlliance.org or email SmithvilleFirstSat@LostPinesArtisansAlliance.org.

Group Show for LPAA

The LPAA is hosting a group show at the Mary Nichols Arts Center, 301 Burleson in Smithville, for the months of September and October. 

The reception will be on Friday, Sept. 10 from 5-8 p.m. or whenever everyone gets tired. Come by to see the work and meet the artists while enjoying refreshments.

New artsy Cowgirl

There’s a new cowgirl in town. Portrait artist Karen Raidy has recently moved to Bastrop County from Santa Barbara, Calif., and she already loves it here. 

Well, what’s not to love?  She’s another naturalized citizen of our great state. 

I’ve seen some small prints of her work and I’m very impressed with her talent as a portrait artist.

 

 

 

I’m impressed with her enthusiasm too as she has jumped right in and joined the BFAG, the LPAA and is meeting and talking with other artists every chance she gets.

Karen will soon be teaching a four-week session titled “How to Draw People” at the Mary Nichols Arts Center in Smithville. She has studied with master teachers nationwide, spending two years in the Chicago atelier, School of Representational Art.

Her passion is to pass on her education to others.

Karen tells us, “If you’ve been afraid to do figure drawing, this is the class for you.”  It’s taught with the beginner in mind and will cover proportion, construction, movement and gesture as well as the figure in perspective and in a long pose.

The classes will be on Mondays, 7-9 p.m. Sept. 27, Oct 4, 18 and 25. The cost is $85 plus supplies and will help to support the LPAA.

Contact her at (512) 635-7521 or email petsketch@charter.net. 

Visit her website at www.karenraidyportraits.vpweb.com/