Pigments for today's artists / lecture

The Needham Art Association will be meeting at 7:00 p.m. on Tuesday, February 5 at the Needham Public Library. Artist and Needham Art Association Board member Keith McClelland will give a lecture-demonstration entitled "Pigments for Today's Artist." 

Anyone who starts to paint is quickly exposed to some head-scratching paint and color names. Keith is giving this demo because the names on the tubes do not provide the colors—the pigments within the tubes do that. Keith will describe and demonstrate some modern and venerable pigments. Using solid physical, chemical, and biological principles, he will unravel the relationships between pigments and their common names—emphasizing each pigment's color, mixing properties, and permanence. 

 Keith is a newly-retired software engineer. He has a BS in Chemistry from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and has taken a variety of Adult Education art classes in local towns. He has worked in various media, especially colored pencil and acrylic. In 2012 he painted an Adirondack chair, "The Charles River at Cutler Park," for the Needham Merchants Association's "A Chair to Remember." 

 The meeting and art demo will take place in the Community Room in the Needham Public Library at 1139 Highland Avenue. It is wheelchair accessible. The event is free and the public is invited to attend. The Needham Art Association enriches Needham by exhibiting over 500 paintings in town locations every year. It welcomes new members. Details of NAA events can be found on the NeedArts calendar at www.needarts.org 

Members of the Needham Art Association have ongoing art exhibits at the following Needham locations: Middlesex Savings Bank, Rino Salon D’Italia, Steven Palmer Center, Petite Beauty Salon, and the Travel Service Bureau.