The meetings of the Guild are held the 3rd Tuesday of the month at 7:00 PM. The meetings are typically held live in Boyer Gallery of The Hill School Center for the Arts (Click Here for a map to this location).

Meeting are held in September, October, November, March, April and May. There are no meetings during the months of January, February, July and August.

The meetings are free and open to anyone interested in art.

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June 5th, 2023

IPhone Photography & Editing – Mia Curran

This will be a hybrid Zoom/in-person presentation at the Berks Photographic Society. Check out the calendar at https://berksphotographic.org/ to learn more.

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June 9 to June 18, 2023

Art on The Hill Art Show

In collaboration with The Hill School

The Pottstown Area Artists Guild holds its annual open, juried art show, Art on The Hill. Outstanding local artists from Western Montgomery, Eastern Berks and Northern Chester counties are invited to submit works to display and to be judged in this show. The public is invited to join us on Sunday, June 11th from 3 to 6 PM in the Boyer Gallery of The Hill School at 760 Beech Street in Pottstown to see these works and recognize the artists. Over $ 1000 in prizes are being awarded for the best works in several categories. Registration for the Opening Reception will be available June 1st at https://paag.info/meeting-times/.

The show will be open weekdays from 10 AM to 3 PM and weekends from Noon to 4 PM. Come see this great art!

More information about entering this show is available by clicking Here.

Please register to attend the Opening Reception at https://www.picktime.com/PAAGmeeting. Select the Boyer Gallery location. Then click on the Art Exhibitions event, and chose the June 11th session. Then complete the registration form. Thank you for helping us plan for the number of people attending this talk.

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June 17, 2023

A Visit to the Weaving Studio of Anne Mitchell Reid

Spring City Mill Studios, 20E Bridge Street, Spring City PA 19475 from 12:30 PM to 1:30 PM

You will see plenty of work on the walls her work space, loom, and yarn collection. She will be showing the tapestry techniques she uses and how she mounts and frames her work. There may be other studios open that day so you can explore the rest of the restored Knitting Mill, now home to 20 artists and photographers.

Anne Mitchell Reid is an artist working in fiber and pastel. She uses the same traditional techniques used in medieval tapestries, but incorporating geometric patterns and textures suggested by the yarns themselves. She also works in pastel, frequently using that medium to inspire her weaving. Sea, sky and landscape are favorite subjects. In recent work she has been “painting” using mohair, and brushing it up to mimic brush strokes, and to let the viewer “experience” the mist and the skies.

She was born in Glasgow, Scotland, did undergraduate and postgraduate work at the Scottish College of Textiles and at the College of Art of Edinburgh University. She has been a weaver for over forty years, and my work has sold in galleries and fine craft and museum shops on both sides of the Atlantic. For ten years she ran her own design and craft business in the remote Highlands of Scotland. In 1989 we returned to the USA, and I now work from the Spring City Mill Studios in Northern Chester County.

Please register to attend this studio visit at https://www.picktime.com/PAAGmeeting. Select the Spring City Mills Studios location. Then click on the Studio Visits event, and chose the June 17th session. Then complete the registration form. Thank you for helping us plan for the number of people attending this talk.

September 19, 2023

Ari Ott – Intro to 2D Digital Illustration

Digital art is a word that encompasses a collection of mediums, rather than a single style or software. Still, just like the many forms of traditional art, all of the mediums that fall under the umbrella of digital art have their own individual strengths and weaknesses. The only question is the same one that follows all artists throughout their lives: “What do I want to draw today?”

I have been creating digitally-produced art for the majority of my artist career. I love its style and utility – I often use it to enhance the vibrant colors and bold shapes I put in my illustrations. From practical graphic designs to fantastical storytelling pieces, creating digitally-produced art is a unique experience. While many pieces are made using a computer and stylus, many successful digital artists prefer to draw with their fingers on a household screen tablet, or even a smartphone. As long as you have access to a screen, you can try it out!

I will be bringing in a few different pieces of equipment that I have used to create art in order to show how they work. However, in the main demonstration, I will be drawing with my usual illustration setup: a laptop, graphics tablet, and stylus. I will demonstrate the different brushes I use for my professional illustrations, and create a sample drawing to describe my artistic process. Starting with a sketch, I will be laying down line art over top, filling in colors, adding details with a variety of brushes, and then finishing with a few color adjustments. While I will be working in Clip Studio Paint, my preferred art software, I will also be discussing plenty of alternative art software, both paid- and free-to-download, that anyone can use.

I am a working artist, who creates comics, illustrations, and fine art. Pulling much inspiration from the natural world, I focus on using bright colors and dynamic angles to convey mood, style and emotion. Above all, I have an abiding passion for telling stories through visual images. Currently I specialize in digital illustration and oil painting, and take commissions for both mediums.

Having studied illustration and animation at both Rhode Island School of Design and Maryland Institute College of Art, I am currently based near Pottstown.

View more of my work on my website, https://ottistry.com/.

October 17, 2023

Kathy Bohn – “Fire Writing”, a Demonstration of Pyrography

“My life has been dedicated to creating artwork that speaks to the heart. I’ve studied and created with many different art products from oil to pastel, and enjoy exploring all the possibilities to provide my clients with their vision.”

For 20 years I’ve been meeting and greeting people in many different venues. My favorite place to be is out in public, demonstrating my art skills and speaking to people about their personal visions for artwork they would like in their homes or to give as gifts.

Starting at age 12, I spent many hours working from National Geographic magazines, using pencil and paper to increase my skill at creating faces and emotions on people and animals. I’ve settled in a few places in the United States, opened studios and moved into homes, always delighting in the newness of each place and loving the exploration of their art styles and the people of the area.

During my time in studio, I’ve met other artists who shared their journeys and tips and skills. I’ve participated in live drawing sessions to help increase my knowledge of the human form and worked with students through the creation of still life setups and the creation of artwork based on their vision.

I LOVE when people say to me “Can you….draw a few wolves in the moonlight?” and allow me to create that vision for them.

From the woods and trails of Pennsylvania to the lakes and mountains of Washington state, the urban life of Los Angeles and Sacramento, California, the sands and balloons of Albuquerque, and the markets around the streets of Santa Fe, I traveled to Montana and spent eight years studying the Native American traditions and the rancher’s prairie lives while teaching their children about some of our great Artistic masters. I discovered gourd carving and wood burning (pyrography) in Montana and reveled in the joys of being part of a small rural art community, making very dear friends along every pathway.

I’ve worked with many different mediums, touching base with master artists in the craft when I have questions and PLAYING which is the most important part of being an artist. I love to allow creativity to have its way and to teach me through my progression and digression about what each medium has to offer. I’m excited to share my explorations with you and look forward to meeting you at my next demonstration.