The Dogwood Diary
DOGWOOD DECORATIVE ARTISTS GUILD Jan./Feb. 2010

President’s Message
My Two Cents Worth…..by Nancy Waldbrook

Happy New Year! Wow, 2010 - I can hardly believe it. I never do ‘resolutions’ but I do have a couple of general goals and one is to take more time to do what I enjoy doing. That is very easy to say but hard sometimes to put aside what I think are my responsibilities in favor doing things just for my own enjoyment. But it all comes down to choices. I could spend the better part of each day doing housework….or I could take a few hours and paint whatever my heart desires- enjoying every moment. Which, do you think, would enrich my life more? We are so lucky to have that choice.
Did you get to a regional meeting (or two?) They were a lot of fun. I had someone ask me if we could do more regional meeting through the year! Thanks so much to the hosts of the meetings and to those who helped and participated.
Retreat is again the focus of our spring. The idea behind a ‘retreat’ is to put aside the mundane and focus entirely on our enjoyment. What could be better than a weekend of good company, lovely location, great food, and of course fun and learning. I believe that those of us who attend retreat are able to go back to our lives after the weekend as happier people with renewed energy. So if you haven’t already, give it a try.
The DDAG executive and committees are all working towards offering you great painting experiences in the next year. I would like to see a focus on sharing. We all have different knowledge and talents that we could share with the rest of the group by means of demos, teaching, or even just bringing in your show and tell. That way we can all learn from each other! The other side of this would be the sharing of the workload. If you appreciate the work others are doing for the benefit of the guild, offer to help out. I believe that the more you participate the greater your enrichment. On this note…..I would like to thank everyone for their hard work…and for being great people. It’s a pleasure to work and play with you.

2009 Executive
Past President Donna Duvall
President Nancy Waldbrook
1st Vice Judi Robinson
2nd Vice Gail Annetts
Treasurer Maureen Telfer
Secretary Mary Ellen Bullock
Standing Committees
Workshops Rae Pawlowski
Retreat Anne Gapper
Coffee Joyce McGuinness Nancy Waldbrook
Secret Pal Shannon Francis Joanne Bailey
Historian/Editor Ina Winterburn
Sunshine Robyn Mahlman
Library Pat Verheyden
Seminars Donna Duvall
Membership Charlene Snider
Web Site Anne Gapper

BIRTHDAYS
February March
Emilia Kirkwood 4 Beata Korabek 1
Judi Robinson 13 Karen Armstrong 5
Christa Reuter 13 Sherry Turner 5
Violet Smith 14 Doris Patko 5
Judy King 21 Sandy Bridle 9
Charlene Snider 23 Rae Pawlowski 22
Carolyn Findlay 25 Anne Gapper 24
Eileen Wilson 26
ADVERTISING
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MONTHLY MEETING HIGHLIGHTS
February meeting:
Gail Annets has arranged for Mark Pytlos to do a presentation for us at the
February meeting. Mark has been with us before (some of you might remember
the meeting in the lobby!) and some of you have taken classes with him but I
understand that his style is now more working in acrylics than pencils so it will be
interesting to see how his art has progressed/diverged/grown
.
March meeting: March 16th. Mary Ellen Bullock will be doing a demonstration
on framing.

Mark Pytlos
Mark was born in Poland in 1959. Since his childhood he was always drawing and painting and developing his unique style. Natural beauty surroundings and exposure to various wildlife in his teen years shaped his interesting subject matter. With his extraordinary artistic talent Mark transferred the beauty he saw to the canvas. He traveled extensively throughout Europe producing and promoting his work which has found its way into many private and corporate collections. In 1989 he decided to move to Canada in order to be even closer to the beauty of nature from which he draws his inspiration for his paintings. This talented British Columbia artist is one of a few painters who follows footsteps of his favorite wildlife masters: Robert Bateman and Carl Brenders, and yet has developed his own way of capturing the majestic beauty of nature.


Seminar Report
Donna Duvall
Glennis Moore seminar in October
Until I can confirm our room I can’t give a definite cost but I am expecting it to be approximately $170.00. This beautiful project has been sold out twice in Vegas and is on its third booking this year. I am basing my numbers on 20 signups. Stay tuned!

February’s Guild Workshop is February 13th, a pen and ink with Rae Pawlowski.
Since Easter is soon coming the featured design will be a cute Bunny plate. However, if you wish, you may choose any one of Rae's many Mary Owen's patterns. All supplies are included except surface and pen. Contact Rae at least a week ahead as often surfaces must be prepared and photocopying done. raes@shaw.ca
Retreat
This is a reminder that Retreat is coming up on April 23- 25 at Loon Lake. Retreat information will be forwarded to you in the very near future, along with information on the new blog that Anne Gapper is working on (www.ddag2010.blogspot.com.). We will again be doing 3 prepayments of $100 each for Retreat that can be made at the February meeting so bring those Cheque books along! (See separate post for pictures of retreat projects)


Cranberry Butter Tart Squares
Judi Robinson
Base: ½ cup quick cooking oats
1 cup all purpose flour ½ tsp baking powder
2 Tbsp packed brown sugar ¼ tsp salt
1/2 cup chilled butter, cubed 1 tsp vanilla extract
½ cup chopped pecans (or walnuts)
Filling: 1 cup dried cranberries
2 large eggs, beaten
1 ½ cups brown sugar
Base: In medium bowl, combine flour and sugar. Cut in butter until mixture is crumbly. Press mixture on to bottom of 9 inch square baking pan. Bake at 350 F for 15 minutes.
Filling: In medium bowl, whisk together eggs and sugar until blended. Add oats, baking powder, salt, vanilla, nuts and cranberries: stir until combined
Pour filling over hot base and bake for another 20 to 25 minutes. Cool in pan on rack. Makes 20 bars.
I doubled it all (a little less brown sugar) and did it in a 9 x 13 pan. I also grease the pan. Not the easiest to cut cleanly but worth it.

Banana One Egg Cake and 2 egg Meringue
Grease and flour 2-8” rounds or one 13 x 9 pan. I only grease the 13 x 9
Preheat oven to 350 degrees
Cream together: 1/3 cup shortening
¾ cup milk
1 cup mashed banana (about 3 large and I don’t measure)
1 tsp vanilla
1 egg
Stir together and add to first mixture: 2 cups flour
1 cup sugar
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
Our into prepared pans and bake for 30 minutes for layers and 40 minutes for 13 x 9 While cake is baking make meringue
Beat 2 egg whites until stiff, fold in a scant 1 cup brown sugar and ½ to ¾ cup chopped walnuts or pecans. Spread on top of cake for last 10 to 15 minutes of baking. This meringue is good on other things like spice cake too.
 
Regional Meeting Month
Leona Taylor hosted one of the regional meetings which are always a fun time. Good Food, Good Friends, Lots of Laughs. Leona had arranged for Karen Cattell to join us and Karen brought along her portfolio and some of her incredible artwork, not to mention a wonderful dessert. It was interesting to hear how Karen is trying to move her art forward and how she goes about deciding on prices and if she is willing to sell her originals or go into prints instead. Her ‘ladies’ series are amazing and she admits that she gets a lot of her hat ideas form books on the royal family. Who else wears those incredible hats on every occasion and can we ever even consider seeing the Queen without one, let along the Queen Mum. Several of us left with pieces
of Karen’s colourful work.                

We all participated in a small gift exchange, the kind where you can steal presents back and forth, and imagine how funny it was when the first three gifts opened were all the same. Reed scent diffusers, the only difference being the scent and the shape of the bottles. What a coincidence that was. I don’t think I have ever seen a choice of gift decided on smell before. A good evening had by all, a glass of wine, good food, presents, art, great company and lots of laughs. Thanks Leona.

Regional Meeting at Rae’s…………….Nancy Waldbrook
This year I got to attend Rae’s regional meeting. I left straight after work and headed to the new bridge with eager anticipation. Rae’s directions were great and it was quite easy to find her place, even in the dark. I believe there were 11 of us who shared some good food, much laughter and maybe a little wine while Maureen taught us how to do a lovely beaded bracelet. Poor Maureen had her work cut out for her as we ended up being very ‘needy’ students but we all got it completed I think.

Those of us who were staying the night (sleepover!) got their beds made up and those who had to return home said their goodbyes. (There was a little incident of keys locked in a car….won’t mention any names!) We were all quite tired and hit the sack by midnight, slept great and got up to share a scrumptious breakfast complete with pumpkin waffles and fruit salad, blueberry scones, and lots of other goodies. For a bunch of happy ladies it was time to pack up and return to real life. I’m sure Rae spent the day recuperating. Thank you Rae!

Dogwood Decorative Artist Guild Membership (New and Renewal)
Have you renewed your DDAG membership for 2010?
You don't want to miss out on
Retreat ....workshops....and seminar with Glennice Moore

PHOTOGRAPHY TO SHARE
Should you find a photograph in the newsletter that you wish to own a print of and you do not have the equipment and/or knowledge to print, please e-mail me at inawinterburn@shaw.ca and I will provide one for you.

Editor's Note I would like to share the following
RISK
To laugh is to risk appearing the fool
To weep is to risk appearing sentimental
To reach out to others is to risk involvement
To expose feelings is to risk exposing your true self
To place your ideas, your dreams before a crowd is to
risk their loss
To love is to risk not being loved in return
To live is to risk dying
To hope is to risk despair
To try is to risk failure
But risks must be taken,
because the greatest hazard in life is to do nothing.
The person, who risks nothing,
does nothing, has nothing, and is nothing.
They may avoid suffering and sorrow, but they cannot
learn, feel, change, grow, love, live.
Chained by their attitudes, they are a slave,
they forfeited their freedom.
Only the person who risks can be free.
In the spirit of the present…

What do the Olympic rings signify?
According to most accounts, the rings were adopted by Baron Pierre de Coubertin (founder of the modern Olympic Movement) in 1913 after he saw a similar design on an artifact from ancient Greece. The five rings represent the five major regions of the world: Africa, the Americas, Asia, Europe, and Oceania. Every national flag in the world includes at least one of the five colors, which are (from left to right) blue, yellow, black, green, and red. The Olympic Flag made its debut at the 1920 Olympic Games in Antwerp, Belgium. At the end of each Olympic Games, the mayor of that host-city presents the flag to the mayor of the next host-city. It then rests at the town hall of the next host-city for four years until the Opening Ceremony of their Olympic Games.

Thank you all for your excellent submissions to the Dogwood Diary. I encourage you to
continue to do so. Have a fun and productive 2010!