The days are shorter, the nights are cooler, and the snowbirds are heading back to Florida! Many artists are starting to paint outdoors again, and art lovers are heading out to festivals and shows. Here at NBAL, we have begun our monthly meetings with interesting demos, the Artist of the Month competition, 50/50 raffles, and friendly camaraderie. Anyone with an interest in art is welcome to join us on the third Wednesday of the month beginning at 6 pm (except in December, when it's the second Wednesday, and June/July/August when we break for the summer).

Diane DeShong Cannon will give a demo of her watercolor techniques at the November meeting. Our December meeting is our Holiday Party, details coming soon! In January we welcome Alex Stankiewicz, who paints in oil and acrylic. February will be a Powertex sculpturing demo from Regine Dossche. In March, Diane Winrich will show us how she does beading and creates jewelry. In April we will have Julia Simonello, who makes zany and fun portraits. We are working on scheduling May, and will post as soon as we have an artist secured.

Artist of the Month Themes through May are:

November -- The Sky is the Limit

December -- Holiday Fun

January -- Abstract/Celebration

February -- Feathered Friends

March -- Spring Flowers

April -- Water Works

May -- Tropicality

All pieces need to be ready to hang, with no unfinished edges unless that is part of the image (such as a tapestry or mixed media piece). The winning artwork remains on display at the art league building until the next meeting.

We have added a new open studio time to our schedule. There is also a watercolor class coming in January. The board has scheduled several interesting workshops for this winter, one for abstract portraits and one for traditional portraits. The most recent schedule can be found under the Youth and Adult Classes tab up top. Please contact the specific instructor to sign up or to ask questions, as they know all the details for their class.