Monthly Meetings
Join us the first Monday of each month at 150 Fox Valley Drive, Orange Park, FL
(From Kingsley Ave –>Turn in between Metro Diner and La Napolera)
Meetings start promptly at 6:30pm -8:30pm.
It’s advised to arrive 20-30 mins early to get checked in and to view all our tables.
October: Tom Sadler
DEMO Tom will demonstrate tips on plein air painting landscapes starting in acrylic using white and raw umber and finishing in oils using glazing and scumbling techniques.
BIO:
Tom Sadler has dedicated his efforts toward capturing the light, color, and mood of the Central Florida landscape. The intense light, combined with the natural beauty of the many lakes, rivers and parks of the area provide a never-ending source of inspiration. His paintings come to life as a celebration of this beauty found in nature, sometimes exuberant, at other times more subtle. Tom received his BFA at Auburn University and School of Visual Arts in New York and the University of Alabama in Huntsville. . Sadler feels a pressing desire and necessity to paint each day. He feels that the door is just opening to the world of revealing all that is possible for him through his artwork.
“Observing nature with the intention of creating a painting sparks a keener awareness and appreciation of the inherent beauty in all that we see. Discovering what most excites the eye and how to best communicate the essence of that to the viewer becomes a passion. At times the subject of the painting might be more about the manipulation of light than the physical subject. Other times the color or the atmosphere might become the most telling. To successfully communicate I feel that the canvas should in some sense “come to life” for myself and then hopefully the viewer.
November
DEMO: Corey Moortgat is a Jacksonville portrait artist who specializes in abstract, colorful portraiture. She loves to push the
boundaries with color and brushstrokes. Will she demonstrate her techniques in acrylics with bold colors and unique designs.
BIO:
Corey earned a BFA with a specialization in Painting in 1994, then went on to earn an MA in Art Therapy in 1996. In 2007, she wrote a book about using personal imagery in artwork, and has been featured in numerous trade magazines throughout the years. She’s worked as an art therapist, a custom framer, and a painting instructor, among other things.
Corey has explored a variety of art media throughout her life, from pencil to collage to photography, but began focusing exclusively on acrylic painting in 2016. Currently, she works as a painting mentor/instructor for an online art school, helping students achieve her colorful, expressive style, as well as doing commissions for clients around the world when possible. Her paintings have won local awards in several exhibitions.
She is married with three adolescent children and is enjoying this stage of her life when she can really focus on exploring her creative passions full-time.https://www.coreymoortgat.com/about-1
http://www.coreymoortgat.com/
Podcast: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I5sOpZwRGt0&t=1666s
December: Holiday Party
THIS MONTH WE HAVE NO OFFICIAL MEETING. WE HAVE A HOLIDAY PARTY. Bring your Artistic Original Design Ornament for our exchange.
January:
DEMO: Paul Ladnier will do an oil painting demo of a still life. Paul taught art at the University of North Florida for forty years. He received numerous awards and recognition for the quality of his teaching and dedication to his students, Deliberate drawing, brushstrokes and marks, impasto, scratches, splatters, drips and multiple layers are all part of this process. Paul has a studio at Cork and teaches classes.
BIO:
Paul Ladnier Paul has painted throughout the US, Central America,
the Caribbean, and Europe.
He will demonstrate his
approach and processes for
making a convincing painting.
February:
Jackii Molsick, FWS President 2023, will demonstrate her approach to watercolor and how she uses its unique properties to achieve unusual and award-winning results. Understand the unique properties of your pigments, and how you can push them to achieve new combinations and textures.
BIO:Art has always been a part of my soul. I am the daughter of an artist and the mother to one, and have done some form of art for as long as I can remember.
I spent 20 years as an Advertising Agency owner, and worked both on the creative and business side. It was not until I sold the agency and my children were grown that I could pursue my art full-time. Since that time, I have concentrated on working in watercolor for the past 25 years, and have studied with many modern-day masters in the medium. My work reflects a love of color and light, and my subjects depict things that interest me from my journey through life.
I am a signature member and Past President for the Florida Watercolor Society, and a past Board member for Central Florida Watercolor Society. In 2019, I was honored to be juried into membership with the Whiskey Painters of America, a national miniature watercolor painting society.
I am a Resident Artist of the Leesburg Art Center, located in downtown Leesburg, Florida.
www.jmolsick.com www.facebook.com/jackiimolsickfineart. 352-459-3585
March: Doug
DEMO: Doug will share how they
capture vibrant colors
and the play of light,
celebrating the subtle
intricacies of nature that a
camera can’t quite see.
BIO:
“Rendezvous at Ice Plant” with Doug Johnson
WHEN: March 2, 2026
WHERE: 150 Fox Valley Dr
Orange Park, FL
DEMO ONLY: NO Workshop at this time
Douglas W. Johnson, M.D.
Born at the West Point Military Academy, Doug traveled the world as an “Air Force brat” during his youth and developed a true Kaleidoscope Life, melding passions for nature, medicine, aviation, and art.
After receiving his B.S from Virginia Tech and M.D. from the Medical College of Virginia, he studied Internal Medicine in San Antonio and
Radiation Oncology at Stanford. As an active-duty and reserve U.S. Air Force Colonel, Doug served a 24-year military career as a cancer specialist, flight surgeon, nuclear safety consultant, and hospital administrator. In the civilian world, Dr. Johnson helped develop and lead a renowned cancer treatment program and highly-respected cancer research effort, publishing scores of articles in academic journals.
In addition to his time in a military cockpit, Doug is a rated skydiver and commercial pilot with over 3000 hours of flight time in 70 aircraft types, and has built his own award-winning aircraft.
As an oil and acrylic artist for over 50 years, he has enjoyed recreating his thoughts and impressions of a 3-dimensional world onto a 2-dimensional canvas.
Doug’s art tries to meld the beauty of nature with that created by the human hand, be it architecture or machinery. His work has been recognized with numerous awards, and his pieces are represented in private collections in all corners of the USA as well as London and Paris.
Creativity lies at the heart of what drives Dr. Johnson: “My world revolves around thinking in three or four dimensions, whether it involves creating complex treatments to target cancer, winging safely through the skies as a pilot, or to laying down feelings and memories on canvas.”
Since retiring from his medical practice in 2019, Doug and his wife Sue divide their time between their home and studio in Northeast Florida and his cockpit, winging their way around our beautiful country on the hunt for new adventures.
April: Calligraphy
DEMO: Betty will present Calligraphy as an
art form from its historical perspective, emphasizing the tools used and the development of letter forms. She hopes to offer insight into making good lettering, and plans a hands-on activity to practice what was learned.
BIO:Betty McKee is an Atlanta-born artist, coming to the Jacksonville area with her husband’s Naval service. Her interest in art emerged from a desire to illustrate Clay County churches and historical sites in pen and ink. She accompanied these drawings with hand-lettering. Seeking to learn better letterforms and to encourage others to put Scripture on the walls of their homes, she studied calligraphy and began a cottage industry called The Inkspot.
She attended two international calligraphic
conferences, was engaged in a year-long study with Reggie Ezell, and studied with noted calligraphers at local workshops as well as studies in related arts. She was a founding member of the Calligrapher’s
Calligraphy Guild in Jacksonville.
Betty taught calligraphy for a number of years at JoAnn’s stores, developing an 8-week program of study for adults. She also taught calligraphy at several of art festivals at local public schools in Clay and Duval Counties. While a member of the Calligrapher’s Guild, she created, designed and implemented a teaching program in calligraphy for the elementary students for the Clay and Duval Picture Lady Programs. The teaching program, called Project Calligraphy, was presented and adopted by larger state calligraphy organization with the intent for a broader application. Speedball used this project as a prototype for launching a national approach to teaching calligraphy called Elegant Writing:
Calligraphy in the Classroom.
Betty’s services have been employed by such major corporations and places as Lockheed, GMAC, NAS, Jacksonville, Wendy’s, and JoAnn’s Etc., and such civic organizations as the Jacksonville Historical Society, St. Augustine Junior League and churches. Betty’s calligraphic works have been
exhibited locally and regionally at galleries and museums, and are displayed in many homes. Her greatest pleasure has been in creating a repertoire of seasonal Christian processional banners for her church.
The Art of Calligraphy as an art form has an advantage over other visual arts in that it
communicates precisely what the artist wishes to express in language. And the
calligrapher must be true to the text, that is, faithful to the author. Thus, a presentation is only an embellishment of what the author is believed to be saying.
—Betty McKee
May:
This is our Scholarship Month where talented student artists Show their work and receive scholarships during our meeting.
Summer(June & July)
We have NO official meetings during the summer. We create a Summer project each year that can be completed and returned at our First Meeting of the New year in September 2026. 2026 Summer Project is TBA at this point.