High Sierra Topix

Quick shout out - 17th Manzanar Art Workshop

http://apcfinearts.com/apc-news/2017-manzanar-workshop/

Starts this Thursday - May 18 - 22. Founded by Henry Fukuhara (1913 to 2010). This year over 100 artists will come together... watercolors and inks...5 hand-picked sites somewhere in the eastern Sierra. This year’s title: “Henry and Friends: A Legacy of Giving Back”.

Henry Fukuhara was a Japanese-American water-colorist, florist, and teacher. He is renown primarily for his art, but later in life, his annual painting workshops, held at the Manzanar Relocation Camp. He and countless other Japanese Americans were interned there during World War II.

5 days of painting, classes, and demonstrations - a celebration - plein air. Jeep is almost packed - looks like great weather too. Should be a hoot!

Any art you'd care to share?

In case you missed it, (or have never been to a plein air art class), maybe a brief recap of the festivities.
First some background...Henry Fukuhara, an artist of Japanese descent, spent more than a few war years interned at Manzanar, near Lone Pine. In 1988, he started an annual summer artist workshop, inviting artists, visiting various local areas, watercolor painting...paying homage to his fateful past.

He had his own painting style. His mantra -
"Be an entertainer, not a reporter. Be organized. Simplify. Use color wisely.
Create a Large Shape that is a Good Shape." At the end, still actively painting and teaching, he progressively lost his sight...died last year. This year his friends continued his legacy with the workshop. Thursday morning found 80 of us out at Keeler...a ghost town, checking in, T-shirts given out, and info packet received. "Pick a spot...Paint." I did a pen and ink ...hot and breezy. At 3:00 each day, there was a critique of all work done (must be matted), held at the Western Museum theater back in Lone Pine. Famous invited artists (two demonstrations shown below - done each day with "office hours" in the parking lot)- each gave honest evaluations of technique, composition, suggestions...all shown on a 60' TV screen...humbling but educational.
Camped up at Tuttle Creek - half way up to the Portal - above Owens Lake. Friday at 7:30, AM. Class met out in the Alabama Hills...Plein air again. "Don't make the rocks look like Potatoes!" Saturday at Manzanar but just too hot to paint... so, after the demo, took the day off and visited the Portal...waterfall there was banging.
Did another painting Sunday, "Henry style"...fierce colors, a large good shape, simple. On the way back to Mammoth, stopped off at the little gear shop in Lone Pine. Nice little shop and the manager there, Niko - aka Silky Smooth - (a member here at HST) - recognized me... was fun and a good meeting...a great trip. mark

Sounds like a fun event, Mark. Made even cooler by the fact you even ran into a member! Appreciate the background, too.

A very nice report, Mark!!