Addison festival demonstrates art techniques

Wielding a hair dryer on an extension cord, Elke Simmons of Addison stood behind a watercolor artist and waited for her cue to switch on the device and aim it — not at anyone's hair, but at a painting.

That chance never came, as artist Thomas Trausch took the hair dryer from Simmons and demonstrated the proper way to use the beauty tool to quickly dry a watercolor piece.

Trausch's watercolor demonstration was one of six sessions Saturday at the sixth annual Mid-Winter Festival of Artists hosted by the Addison Art League and Dillman's Creative Arts Foundation of Lac du Flambeau, Wis.

The free event allowed artists to learn techniques from other artists and learn about Dillman's — a northern Wisconsin resort that offers two- to five-day workshops in a variety of art styles, said Sue Robertson, who runs Dillman's Creative Arts Foundation with her husband.

“We're always looking for ways we can help art leagues in the awareness of workshops of learning,” Robertson said.

The event's art instruction usually reaches between 100 and 150 people, said Annette Leiber, founder of the Addison Art League and the event's coordinator.

Several of the 25 people who observed Trausch's watercolor painting demonstration said they found it informative.

“If there's anything I've learned from Tom, it's ‘out with the rules,'” said Jan Dunteman, an Addison Art League member who previously has taken workshops at Trausch's Woodstock gallery.

Simmons — who held the hair dryer — stood behind Trausch as he taught about color value and design by painting a chair. While dipping his brush first in a variety of colors, then in a coffee can filled with water and then dabbing it on a sponge, he explained the importance of adjusting to the painting as it forms.

“A lot of painting is reactive painting, reacting to what's in front of me,” Trausch said. “All I'm doing is drawing with paint.”