Studio 55 Arts Guild
Contact email: studio55guild@gmail.com for more information and join us on Facebook here
Dear Studio 55 Members,
I hope this letter finds you well. I’m certain none of us could have envisioned the current events that have unfolded this summer. These are certainly trying times.
I choose daily to make a conscious effort to look for the positive in any situation and I’ve found ever so much to be thankful for. I’m currently at work on three commissions. I will however, be very glad when they are completed. My husband and I have become quite the cooks and my summer reading list has kept me entertained. I also walk at least five miles daily and take a lot of photos (see samples below). We are blessed to be surrounded by such beauty. I’m teaching drawing at Splatter Art Studio on Friday mornings. Class sizes are limited and masks are required, and I will slowly get back in my nursing homes. I’ve missed my students so!
Yesterday I went to the Springfield Art Museum to view Watercolor USA. It was wonderful as always. While there, I also viewed Framed: The Art of the Picture Frame. I found it fascinating. It’s very easy to maintain social distance, so check it out.
I’d like to send a big shout out to Mike Carlie for his incredible work on the Artists Palette. It’s an interesting and informative labor of love and I and the members of the board are so very, very grateful for all of his hard work. It’s designed to be eaten in bite sized portions of yummy goodness. Thank you Mike!
Now, we’d like to hear from YOU! What have you been up to? How are you spending your time? What are you currently working on? We’d really love to hear from you. Include pictures. Please send tostudio55guild@gmail.com
In the meantime, wear a mask and stay well. This too shall pass. Please send to studio55guild@gmail.com
Until we are together again...
Love to you all,
Tracy Bruton and
the board members of Studio 55
Art © Shae Johnson:
Charcoal on Gray Paper
White charcoal/pastel on black paper
To learn about local art events, please sign up for Springfield Regional Arts Council's Weekly arts calendar, please email Nicole Chilton, Director of Marketing & Development at Marketing@Springfieldarts.org or click here to access their website.
Charcoal on Gray Paper
The Studio 55 Arts Guild programs have been cancelled due to the Coronavirus disease (COVID-19), please be safe and you will be updated as to when we will be able to have meetings and programs.
Click here for classes being offered by members.
We are very grateful to Dr. Mike Carlie, a long-time member and past Board member, for emailing a periodic informative newsletter "The Artist’s Palette". If you are you or someone you know are not receiving this Newsletter, please contact Mike by clicking here. You do not need to be a member to receive this newsletter.
From Susie Sharpe, MD (Susie has been an internal medicine physician at Mercy since 1998)
The following is for the Studio 55 members on the COVID update as a fellow artist/physician.
There’s been a significant rise in the COVID cases in Greene County since I last wrote to you 2 months ago. The total COVID positive cases was 132 (on 5/22), then 262 (on 6/22), then 834 yesterday, 7/22. These seem to be related to re-opening on May 4th and subsequently, people’s relaxed attitude toward the pandemic.
Our COVID case curve is projected to follow a steep rise. Springfield City Council passed the mask mandate on July 13th. How well our community members comply with the masking and social distancing will be critical in determining our community’s pandemic future.
We currently have 434 active cases in Greene County, up from 62 last month. This means there is no safe place or safe person. I had a teenager patient who tested positive this week and I am having to test many patients daily nowadays.
Most of Studio 55 members are at risk for COVID complications if exposed, either due to age (50+) or having chronic conditions (high blood pressure, diabetes, obesity, etc.). We have some control over not contracting this virus. Here is what I and most physicians are recommending to our patients:
Always wear a mask around people in public
Always keep a minimum of 6 feet distance
Order groceries online and do curve side pick up if at all possible
Keep nails short and do frequent hand washing
Avoid touching your face
Pay only with credit card
Wipe cell phones, gas pump handle, steering wheel, wallet etc. after each use.
Coronavirus can survive on the metal or plastic surfaces up to 3+ days.
Coronavirus may last in droplets in the air for up to 3 hours
Carry hand sanitizers and antiseptic wipes at all times.
Limit in person gathering to minimum
Try to stay in your best physical shape, including keeping up with adequate Vitamin D intake (Vitamin D deficiency is extremely common and is associated with poor COVID outcome)
No smoking
Be aware of COVID symptoms. Most common symptoms are cough, fever, shortness of breath but other symptoms include the following. Most people present with some of these symptoms, not all of them.
Headache
Chills
Body ache
Sore throat
Nasal congestion/ drainage
Vomiting
Diarrhea
Loss of taste or smell
We are in this pandemic together. Everyone is responsible to everyone else. Together we can make a difference.
On the lighter side, here are some of my latest paintings done during the pandemic. Like you, I am going through a range of emotions as we try to cope with this challenging time. My effort to continue to find peace and beauty are reflected on my paintings.
For more information about Susie's art and story, please visit her website:here (https://www.susiesharpe.net)
Bluebird, done in Pastels
All Rights Reserved on this website © Studio 55 Arts Guild 2019
Welcome to our Website!
Studio 55's monthly programs are on the 2nd Wednesday of the month at 1:00 p.m. in The Gallery at National Avenue Christian Church, 1515 S. National Ave. Springfield, MO.
Visitors are welcome, and we encourage you to join us for only $30 per year to support our projects, speakers, and other expenses. ArtTalks are also held at the Springfield Art Museum several time each year and are sponsored by Friends of the Springfield Art Museum (FOSAM), The Springfield Art Museum, and Studio 55 Arts Guild and are free and open to the public.
From member Shae Johnson:
During this pandemic, I have been doing some drawing with charcoal, a blue jay piece with pastels (the fourth time I’ve used them), I’ve taken a Color Theory I class from Audrey Bottrell-Parks via Zoom, taking drawing class via Zoom, and been reading the book Drawing with the Right Side of the Brain along with other books. I listen to books while I draw.
I have also been gardening one-handedly. This past week, on Wednesday, I had my third wrist-hand surgery on my left hand because the ligament that controls the bending of one’s thumb disconnected. Hopefully that has been fixed, but I have at least 6 weeks of recuperation and therapy ahead of me.
For other organizations, I’ve been “attending meetings” via Zoom, wrote up a 7-page newsletter for Epsilon chapter of Delta Kappa Gamma, “attended” workshops and webinars on gardening and outdoor education.
I’ve been enjoying the three families of Baltimore Orioles and three families of Rose-breasted grosbeaks who have joined the cardinals, gold and house finches, downy woodpeckers, mourning doves, robins, wrens, tit mouse birds, flickers, chickadees, and thrushes.
To Access the Springfield Art Museum Website: click here