PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE
Hello Fellow Artists!
We have come to our last newsletter for 2025 which means I will need to remember to start writing “2026” very soon, which could be a challenge for me these days! I hope you all had a tasty Thanksgiving and that preparations are underway for Christmas, and speaking of Christmas, our holiday party will be on Saturday, December 13, from 3:00–5:00 pm, at the gallery. Our meal will be catered and be sure to bring a $15 present if you want to participate in our gift exchange. We always have a lot of fun with delicious food and Warren playing Santa Claus, so give your RSVP to Debbie Cosenza by Saturday, December 6.
There will be no meeting in January so we can all stay indoors and hibernate, and we’ll meet again on February 3, 2026, (see, I did it!) at 7:00 pm with Pam Hartford as our demo artist.
This month I would like to thank Paula Whittington for keeping the outside of our gallery looking beautiful. She worked with Carol Collett in planting flowers, keeping them watered and fertilized, and adding her bird nest sculpture to one of the planters. She has also worked diligently at clearing out the dead plants, power washing the picnic area, brick walls, and pavement, and using her leaf blower to remove all the twigs, leaves and peanut shells that accumulate. Thank you, Paula, for all your hard work!
I would also like to thank Roger Browning and his son for purchasing and installing our new TV for the gallery. I know it was an all-day project and not easy, so thanks to the two of you!!!!
I wish everyone a very blessed Christmas and New Years and as always, keep creating!
Linda Brandenburg, President
HOLIDAY PARTY
Please join us for our annual Christmas Party on December 13 from 3:00–5:00 pm. FAA will cater the food but you MUST make a reservation for yourself and your guest with our greeter, Debbie Cosenza, by Saturday, December 6. If you would like to participate in the gift exchange, please bring a wrapped item, $15 value. We hope to see you there!
FAA GALLERY FEATURED ARTIST OF THE MONTH
FAA member Francis Trick will be exhibiting his artwork at the Fairborn Art Association Gallery during the month of December 2025.
Artist Statement:
I am new to the art world as an exhibitor. I have dabbled with art all my life and have a Concentration (more than a minor but not quite a degree) along with my degree in Marketing from the University of Dayton. I have worked all my life in retail and the last 26.5 years of that work career with The Home Depot. In July I will have been retired for 2 years, and in July of 2024 I rediscovered my passion for creating beautiful things. I am an Acrylic Fluid/Liquid artist and also do leaf impressions and some multimedia work using modeling paste or a hot glue gun. I am also available for commission work and have done two fairly large pieces to that end.
There are many techniques to my art form and I am hoping to display several of them here. There are also many types of acrylic paints, i.e., metallics, transparent, semi-transparent, semi-opaque, opaque, iridescent and interference paints to name a few. There are also many techniques to be learned and some of them can be combined: ring pour, dirty pour, open cup, flip cup, transfer, double dip, Dutch Pour and The Bloom and my personal favorite, The Hide-N-Reveal……just to name a few that I use.
Color. Color is what creates my pieces and how they play with the light. Some pieces require a dark background in order for the mica powders in the paint to react with the light, others require a light background. Interference/Iridescent paints work best on a dark background while color shift paints work best on a light background. I am obsessed with the way these paints play with the light.
I have pieces all over Ohio and am a member of this Association, Tipp City Area Council of the Arts, The Miamisburg Art Gallery, The Springfield Museum of Art where I have a piece in their members show, The Dayton Society of Artists where I took first place in their peace accords show. I have 4 pieces in The Middletown Juried show and have just been honored to do a solo show in Salem, Ohio (June of 2026).
Please enjoy the show….
Francis (Frank) Trick
MEMBER NEWS
Our Thursday Paint-In members were able to watch the live broadcast in the gallery as our very own Warren Brown was inducted into the Ohio Veterans Hall of Fame Class of 2025 in a ceremony held on November 6 at The Ohio State University. This recognition honors outstanding achievement and service to others following honorable service in the military. Congratulations, Warren, and thank you for your service in all its forms! The video of this event can be seen at the following link:
https://ohiochannel.org/video/ohio-veterans-hall-of-fame-induction-ceremony-11-6-2025
Pat Higgins and Brendan Higgins had a show at the Kettering Lathrem Center for the month of November. Pat Higgins had a photograph selected in the Evendale, Ohio Photo Contest. The selected photos were reproduced on posterboard and are on display outside at their city swimming pool on Reading Road.
Tessa Kalman exhibited a solo show in October at the London Arts Center, London, Ohio, and sold 9 pieces. She exhibited a solo show in November at the Beavercreek Community Library, and won First Place at the Western Ohio Watercolor Society Fall Show with her piece “Bringing in the Beans.”
FAA members who also won awards at the WOWS Fall Show were:
Second Place – Paula Whittington for “Sunlit Pumpkins”
Third Place – Eileen Thomson for “Our Gang”
Honorable Mention – Audrey McGowin for “Pumpkin Interrupted”
Honorable Mention – Shirlee Bauer for “In the Mist of Colors
Honorable Mention – Carol Collett for “The Last Harrah”
CALL FOR ENTRIES – 36TH ANNUAL WORKS ON PAPER
Rosewood Arts Center’s 36th Annual Works on Paper juried exhibition will be held on January 20 through February 28, 2026. Artists living within a 40-mile radius of Dayton, Ohio, may submit original works in any media (2-D or 3-D) on or of paper, completed within the last four years and not exceeding 40 inches in width. Entries can be dropped off at the Gallery, 2655 Olson Drive, Kettering, Ohio, on January 3, 2026, from 1:00–3:00 pm or January 5, 2026, from 12:00–8:00 pm, along with the entry fee and completed entry form. For more information, visit: https://www.playkettering.org/artist-entry-information/
CALL FOR ARTISTS – CONTEMPORARY DAYTON
The Contemporary Dayton is inviting artists to donate original postcard-sized artworks (measuring 4 x 6 inches) for its new fundraising exhibition and sale to support their mission of advancing equity, diversity and access. “In Small Measure” will take place February 13–14, 2026. Submission deadlines: February 1, 2026 (Postmark) and February 4, 2026 (In-person drop-off). For more information, visit their website at: https://codayton.org/events/calls-for-entry/
FAA EVENTS 2025
December 1–31 Art exhibit by member Francis Trick
December 13 3:00 pm–5:00 pm Holiday Party
FAA EVENTS 2026
February 3 7:00 pm–8:30 pm Watercolor with pastel demo by guest artist Pam Hartford
March 3 7:00 pm–8:30 pm Watercolor painting in steps by guest artist Marcia Hartsock
April 7 7:00 pm–8:30 pm Watercolor demo with guest artist Andrea Walker
May 3 1:00 pm–4:00 pm Members’ Fine Art Show
May 5 7:00 pm–8:30 pm Demo/Workshop artist TBD
May 10 1:00 pm–4:00 pm Members’ Fine Art Show
May 17 1:00 pm–4:00 pm Members’ Fine Art Show
June 2 6:30 pm–8:30 pm Social
August 15–16 Fairborn Sweet Corn Festival (Community Park)
September 1 7:00 pm–8:30 pm Oil painting demo with guest artist Marybeth Karaus
October 6 7:00 pm–8:30 pm Demo/Workshop artist TBD
November 3 7:00 pm–8:30 pm Oil/acrylic/mixed media demo with guest artist Dr. Hyacinth Paul
December 1 Holiday Party (Date subject to change)
SUBMISSION DEADLINE FOR NEXT NEWSLETTER
The deadline for submitting articles to be included in the February 2026 newsletter is Monday, January 19, 2026. Please call or email the article to the Corresponding Secretary, April Coppess.