FRANKLIN — A local couple has raised about $17,000 for art teachers in Williamson and Davidson counties.

Ken and Gail McDaniel brought in the money through their fundraiser, The Chase-Away-the-Blahs party, so named to bring about cheer during the dreary month of January.

Art teachers from Williamson County Schools and Franklin Special School District received a portion of the money, about $11,000, Wednesday during a ceremony and tea party at the McDaniels' home. The money is to be used for art supplies in the classroom.

This the eighth year the McDaniels have conducted the event. To date, the couple and their friends have raised about $53,000.

Over the years, local celebrities, students and supporters have rallied behind the McDaniels, who believe teaching art is integral to a child's education.

"If young minds don't get that creativity early on, they miss out on that creative spark later," said Gail McDaniel, a well-known watercolorist who teaches art. "They are our future. We need to take care of them now."

In FSSD, three art teachers received grants: Linda Owens of Freedom Middle School, $1,800; Colette Chambers of Franklin Elementary School, $1,200; and Kelly Selfe of Moore Elementary School, $1,288.

In the county, seven teachers received grants: Heather McHugh of Scales Elementary School, $575; Barbara Bullard of Brentwood High School, $200; Maggie Tucker of Brentwood Middle School, $317.50; Beth Perthel of Edmondson Elementary School, $650; Patricia Hickman of Longview Elementary School, $250; Ceci Sachs of Independence High School, $500; and Valerie Lamb-Steece of College Grove Elementary School, $750.

The remainder of the money will go toward the purchase of visual arts supplies for the PENCIL Foundation, a school-supply program for Nashville teachers.

Contact Maria Giordano at 771-5425 or mgiordano@tennessean.com.

Artist/instructor Gail McDaniel (second from left) presents certificates of appreciation to Jon and Jim Hager of The Hager Twins (far left, far right) during a lunch and press conference at McDaniel's Franklin studio on Monday, Dec 3. The country comedians/recording artists have been named honorary co-chairs of the Students and Friends of Gail McDaniel Award, a program that provides funds for arts education in Williamson and Davidson county public schools.

The Hager Twins will work with McDaniel to raise much-needed funds through individual, business and foundation donations and the eighth annual Chase Away the Blahs Party, a live auction and "artistic" potluck lunch on Jan 19, 2008. The PENCIL Foundation and BancorpSouth Bank will issue award grants to art teachers in February 2008. Since founding the award in 2000, McDaniel has helped raisemore than $36,000 for arts education.

Celebrating with McDaniel and The Hager Twins are Tennessee state sen. Jack Johnson (third from left) and award co-founder Ken McDaniel (fourth from left).

For more information about the Students and Friends of Gail McDaniel Award, call (615) 599-5115, send an email to gail@gailmcdanielart.com or visit http://www.gailmcdanielart.com.

By KAREN EMERSON-McPEAK

   It's been a few months since Anna Varona of the Phillippeans searched the Web for Tennessee artists and found Gail Mcdaniel. Since then she's been active making plans to come to Franklin to study with her.
   "I know when I went to her Web site that she would be a good teacher, not one who would just say 'watch me paint,'" Varona said tuesday afetr her first class with Mcdaniel.
   Saturday, July 24, Mcdaniel will share her unique appraoch to artistry with members of the community during a one-day class at O'More College of Design, 423 S. Margin St. in Franklin. Varona will also be part of that class.
   Mcdaniel's remarkable teaching techniques have enabled students to embrace their own talents for many years and after one class, Varona felt she had made a good choice in coming to Franklin.
   Varona's week will consist of class after class after class - some group, some one-on-one. Mcdaniel teaches three classes at Brentwood United Methodist Church. Sessions usually last for eight weeks and run most of the year.
   "I rent space from the church," Mcdaniel said. "The Methodists just feel that the church space should be used."
   Anyone can attend the classes, no matter what faith.
   Varona has studied art for some time, but it was only a few years ago that she really had to paint and study what she loves.
   

   "My mother, being a business woman, advised me to try for liberal arts and commerce after high school. I did, but also applied at the University of Santo Tomas for fine arts."Varona ended up at De La Salle University because her mother insisted that she be practical.
      "I kept on hearing, 'You're not going to make any money with art.' After graduating, my mother then allowed me to study fine arts, but only on certain conditions, which were that it be an all-girls school abd that it would be interior design because there would be money in it.
   "I finshed the course, got married to my first husband and since then my art took a backseat to my children and my tumultuous married life."
   Finally though, Varona has taken up her brushes again and with encouragement from her painting group, hopes to find her niche.
   As a mother of six, she's found that she has to follow a schedule to allow for her painting time. She has thoughts of becoming a teacher herself, but for now is busy preparing for a show this December with her four painting companions.
    "You need people to encourage you," Varona said.
   Mcdaniel agrees. "Some of my students will take off for a session to paint on their own but find they don't do anything. If they don't paint for a while they lose some of what they've learned."

 According to Mcdaniel, you can never learn enough. In fact, she too takes a couple of workshops a year.
   "There's always some new technique or product to learn about," she said.
   Mcdaniel shares her many years of experience with students of all artistic skill levels in both private lessons and weekly group clesses held in Brentwood and at Cheekwood's Fine Art Institute in Nashville.
  For more information about her classes, call 599-5115 or visit www.gailmcdanielart.com.

Staff Reporter Karen Emerson-McPeak can be contacted on karen@reviewappeal.com.

Watercolor Workshop

Saturday July 24 from 9 a.m. - 4 p.m. at O'More College of Design

The cost of this workshop is $60 and includes a light lunch and refreshments. A suggested supply list will be provided prior to the event. Attendees will have the opportunity to contact instructor Gail Mcdaniel in order to discuss supplies they may need for the workshop. Spaces in this workshop are still available and reservations are requested. Please contact Allison Payne at 794-4254, ext. 36 or apayne@omorecollege.edu to reserve your space today.

   With a little help from the Hager Twins and other entertainers, artist/instructor gail McDaniel has raised $18,127 for arts education in Middle Tennessee.
   The Franklin watercolorist will present $11,859 in award grants to 14 art teachers of Williamson and Davidson county public schools during an awards reception at her Franklin studio on February 21 at 4:30 p.m.
    The remaining $6,268 will be donated to the PENCIL Foundation’s LP PENCIL Box, a store that provides free educational supplies to area schools.

Students and friends of gail McDaniel Award grants will be issued through the PENCIL Foundation and BancorpSouth Bank. The funds were raised through individual business and foundation donations and seventh annual Chase Away the Blahs Party, a live auction and “artistic” potluck lunch on January 27. More than 100 items were donated for the auction.

is already planning next year’s event.  “Proceeds from the live auction, along with cash donations, will be used by schools to purchase much needed visual art supplies.  Many schools in our area face fiscal challenges, which often limit available funding for arts education.  This is a wonderful way for arts supporters to invest in the future of artists of America.”
    McDaniel noted that over $35,000 has been raised for arts education since the awards started in 2000.
  Receiving award grants are Susan Duncan, Nolensville Elementrary, $500; Katy Lane, Pinewood Elementary, $750; Barbara Bullard, Brentwood High, $325; Jennifer Schuil, Sunset Middle, $1,395; Brad LeDuc, Ravenwood High, $487.73; Cassie Stephens, Johnson Elementary, $750; Linda Owens, Freedom Middle, $1,600; Kelly Selfe, Moore Elementary, $500; Emily Wiles, Poplar Grove Middle, $570; Naomi Norman, Liberty Elementary, $2,426.82; Sharon Byers, Freedom Intermediate, $1,300; Leigh Siegfried, Dalewood Middle School, $500; Linda Anderson, Glencliff High, $503.85; and Laurie Poole, Nashville School of the Arts, $250.
    LP PENCIL Box, a school supply store for educators, provides learning materials for impoverished students in Metropolitan Nashville Public Schools.  Supplies are solicited from businesses
  

organizations and individuals for distribution throughout the year.  Art teachers will be able to shop free of charge for visual art supplies on designated days and times.
   “The generous grant PENCIL receives from the Students and Friends of Gail McDaniel arts program will allow us to earmark funds to purchase much-needed art supplies,” said Laura Ross, finance/human resources director for the items are in high demand, and our supplies are often times small in comparison to the need.  We are also excited about partnering this summer with the Community Resource Center in a joint venture called materials for the Arts.  We will be collaborating with CRC in a program specifically designed to help meet the specific supply needs for our art teachers.”
   “We could not have done this without the support of the PENCIL Foundation of Nashville and BanCorpSouth of Brentwood,” McDaniel added.  “Special thanks to all the many supporters who made this possible.  This means so much to art teachers and their students.”

For more information about the Students and Friends of Gail McDaniel Award grants or to make a donation, call (615) 599-5115, send an e-mail to gail@gailmcdanielart.com, or visit www.gailmcdanielart.com.

   Artist/Instructor Gail McDaniel will present a record $7,138.50 in award grants to the visual arts programs of Davidson and Williamson County public schools during an awards reception at her Franklin, Tenn., studio on Feb. 22.
   Students and Friends of Gail McDaniel Award grants will be issued through the PENCIL Foundation and BancorpSouth Bank. The funds were raised during the sixth annual Chase Away the Blahs Party, a live auction and "artistic" potluck lunch on Jan. 28. More than 100 items were donated for the auction, including a week-long time share vacation at a premier international resort; a two-night stay at Waterfall House in Monteagle, Tenn.; an all-tuition-paid one-day watercolor painting workshop led by McDaniel; performances by acclaimed songwriters/musicians Wayne Jackson, Kenny Durham and Richard Armentrout; and a wide range of arts supplies, equipment and other items.
   "We raised $4,000 more than we did last year – it was a tremendous success," said McDaniel, who is already planning next year's event. "Proceeds from the live auction, along with cash donations, will be used by schools to purchase art supplies. Many schools in our area face fiscal challenges, which often limits available funding for arts education. This is a wonderful way for arts supporters to invest in the future artists of America."
    Receiving visual art education grants in 2006 are:
• Metropolitan Nashville Public Schools: Laurie Poole, Nashville School of the Arts, $600; and Laurie Poole and Deanna Fiorita, Nashville School of the Arts, $750.
• PENCIL Foundation School Supply Depot, $473.70.
• Williamson County Schools: Louise Braswell, Westwood Elementary, $500; Katy Lane, Pinewood Elementary, $500; and Maggie Tucker, Brentwood Middle School, $500.
• Franklin Special School District: Sharon Byers, Freedom Intermediate, $571; Naomi Norman , Liberty Elementary, $500; Linda Owens, Freedom Middle, $1,000; Kelly Selfe, Moore Elementary, $1,243.80; More Gail mcdaniel to present awards grants to public schools -- 2 and Cassie Stephens, Johnson Elementary, $500.

   

    Making donations of $25 or more were Jean Anderson, Richard Armentrout, Art Connection Painting Group, Art South Studios, ATM Productions, Athena Health Club and Day Spa, Thelma Baldwin, BancorpSouth, Bank of Nashville, Jean Barwich, Judy Butler, Marcia Campbell, Deborah Carman, Michael Carter, Thom Case, Evelyn Chandler, Beverly Cheek, Barbara Conrad, Lee Dabbs, Brenda DeLaney, Lilia Davis, Helen Derryberry, Susan Duncan, Kenny Durham, Karel Grace Dye, Mary Ann Eley, Cathy Ellis, Exit Realty Center, Jennifer Flynn, Elaine Ford, Priscilla Garcia, Jonatha Gibaud, Otis Godin, Carol Hall, Jennifer Hamilton, Laura Hampton, Sylvia Haneberg, Hanging Around Contemporary Art & Framing, Kathleen Haynes, Mike Hill, Judy Howell, Mary Isenman, I’ve Been Framed, Wayne Jackson, Gayle Jones, Ann Kegarise, Ron Kegarise, Sue Kinzer, Miera Kirsch, Judy Klich, gail Mcdaniel, Ken McDaniel, Linda McLaughlin, Kathy Minton, Farrell Morris, Peg Morrison, Rogers Morrison Sr, Mosaic Computer Services, Jane Newsom, Susan Panzarella, Cheryl Petty, Mary Phillips, Plaza Art Supplies, Iris Rotker, Susan Schatz, J.J. Sneed, The Saucy Sisters, Shine Time Records & Books, Louise Strang, Lisa Syler, Phyllis Tatum, Melissa Thomas, Twisted Sisters, Lucinda Trabue, Betty Valdes, Mary Kay Walton, LeeAnn West-Malm, Whiting Publicity and Promotions, Melinda Williams, Williamson County Cultural Arts Commission, Williamson County Medical Center, and Rebecca and Chris Youngblood.
    "We could not have done this without the support of the PENCIL Foundation of Nashville and BanCorpSouth of Brentwood," McDaniel added. “Our goal this year was to raise $4,000, and we exceeded our goal by more than $3,000. Since 2001, we’ve raised more than $17,000 to benefit arts education. This means so much to art teachers and their students."
    For more information about the Students and Friends of Gail McDaniel Award grants or to make a donation, call (615) 599-5115, send an e-mail to gail@gailmcdanielart.com, or visit http://www.gailmcdanielart.com.

Proceeds will provide visual arts grants for Williamson, Davidson county public schools.

By KAREN EMERSON-McPEAK
Staff Writer

    The Chase-Away-The-Blahs Party started out with just two people wanting to chase away the ''cobalt blues,'' as Gail Mcdaniel, artist and host of the event, explains.
    Mcdaniel teaches several art classes locally and at various events during the year. This year the party is set for Jan. 29 from 10:30 a.m. to 4 p.m.
    ''I just looked at Ken one day and said, 'We need to have everybody over, it's such a blah time of the year.' We did,'' Mcdaniel said. ''The next time the students suggested we add an auction. Then it's just sort of evolved from there.''
    The money raised from the auction has gone to various places in the past, but Mcdaniel and her art students felt that keeping the money in and around Williamson County was important.
    ''The students are so giving and wonderful and warm. It's very rewarding to work with them.''
    This year the event will join with the PENCIL Foundation and BancorpSouth Bank to provide grant money for the visual arts in Davidson and Williamson counties through the Students of Gail Mcdaniel Award.
    Proceeds will be equally divided between Davidson and Williamson County public schools. The award money will be used to buy art supplies and/or for art-related personal development and will be awarded based on written grant applications.
    The goal this year is to raise $2,000. Ken Mcdaniel, Gail's husband, feels this is attainable.
    ''The first four 'Blahs' parties and mail solicitations raised over $6,500. If we raise $2,000, this would mean $1,000 for the visual arts in public schools in Davidson County and $1,000 in Williamson County. This is a chance to invest in FAA — that is, Future Artists of America.''
    According to Gail, the event is just a fun-filled time, a gathering of artists that includes food and the fun of an auction. The students themselves find and donate items. Sometimes it's just cleaning out their closets and getting rid of books or art supplies that they don't want or need.
    ''We do like to say, 'One artist's junk is another artist's treasure,' '' she said.

        Many of the artists bring items on the day of the event, but some have already told Gail what they'll be offering. The list includes the following:
    • Wayne Jackson has donated his musical talents. Jackson is the trumpet player of the two-person Memphis Horns group, which was formed in 1969. He has performed with a who's who of artists from around the world on more than 300 gold and platinum records.
    • Lucinda Trabue is offering two nights at Falling Waters, Rising Spirits, her second home on Monteagle Mountain. This is a completely furnished, secluded and modern three-bedroom, three-bathroom home on seven wooded acres that has a 300-foot waterfall behind it, all normally rented for $200 a night.
    • Jennifer Hamilton has donated a two-night weekend (Friday through Sunday) use of the guesthouse, which is located on their 300-acre farm in the middle of several other large farms in the wilds of southern Williamson County. Their guesthouse will sleep four, is fully furnished with kitchen and bath, and has two bedrooms — one with a double bed and the other with twin beds. Suggested rental price is $240 for the two-night weekend.
    • Mike Hill, the Michelangelo of fly-fish lure tying, is giving very beautiful, colorful and intricate one-of-a-kind hand-tied (by him) fishing lures, which are suitable for framing.
    • Rebecca Youngblood, Gail's daughter of Visalia, Calif., is a jewelry designer, with many Saks Fifth Avenue stores carrying her line of one-of-a-kind pieces of fine jewelry. Youngblood has created two pieces for this auction.
    But to get the full lineup of auction items, you have to go by and see what is available.
    The event is potluck, which, according to Gail, works out just fine.
    ''If we have all desserts, that's OK, too,'' she said.
    In her invitation, she suggests bringing artistic food and to ''bring a dish that looks like it was prepared … 'by a man going over the top of a hill singing — Robert Henri.' ''
    She admits this event has ''taken on a life of its own,'' starting out small and growing bigger each year, encouraging anyone to come spend their money.
    ''They just need to be an art lover and willing to support the arts in the area,'' Gail said.

For more information on the Chase-Away-The Blahs Party, call 599-5115. 

   Local artist Gail McDaniel organized an event in January, called Chase Away the Blahs Party, that included a live auction. The $3,550 raised from the event recently was handed out by McDaniel in the form of award grants to local art teachers, including Susan Duncan, Loise Braswell, Elizabeth Pittsley, Heather Thorsby, Susan Harlan, Naomi Norman and Kelly Selfe. Additional support came from The PENCIL Foundation and BancorpSouth Bank of Brentwood. For information, call 599-5115, e-mail gail@gailmcdanielart.com or go online to www.gailmcdanielart.com.

$4,000 award will recognize traditional ‘transparent stylist’

By BONNIE BIRCH
Staff Writer

    FRANKLIN – The students of Gail McDaniel are making sure that at least one watercolorist won’t be a starving artist.
   The students of the local art instructor raised $4,000 to present as a cash award to a fellow painter who has entered a totally transparent watercolor painting into the 29 th Tennessee Watercolor Society Show and Exhibition beginning May 17 in Jackson, Tenn.
    “Our goal with this award is to try to renew the enthusiasm for totally transparent watercolor painting. “It’s the traditional form used in watercolor painting and I call myself a watercolor purist,” said McDaniel.
   In the art form, painters do not use white paint. Instead they let the white of the paper serve as the white definitions in the water-based painting. The painting must also be free from acrylics, gouache and casein.
   Of the more that 100 watercolor societies in the country only two – The Transparent Watercolor Society of American and Watercolor West - deal exclusively with transparent watercolor.
   “Traditional watercolor painting is the most difficult medium to work with and the least appreciated,” she said.
  That’s why McDaniel’s students decided to reward a fellow purist. They know how long and hard he or she must have to work to create masterpieces.
   In 2002, Helen Burton of Cleveland, Tenn., received $1,825 from the bi-annual prize.
   To raise the funds for this year’s award, the artists held an auction Jan. 24 during their annual Chase-Away-The-Blahs-Party-Artistically.
  Donated auction items ranged from the simple including art books, paints and brushes to stays in a Monteagle home, Adams Edgeworth Inn or a 300 – acre Williamson County farm, tied fishing flies, jewelry carried by Saks 5 th Avenue, a Worth Collection scarf and buying time with trumpet player Wayne Jackson.
   The $1,840 raised at the event was combined with $2,200 produced at last year’s Blahs party and from monetary donations for a total of more than $4,000.
   “The award is not given by me but by my students. They were the ones who decided this would be a good thing. And the best part of all for the winning artist is that she gets to keep the painting in the end,” McDaniel said.

Local artist Gail McDaniel holds an auction item up for bidding during the Chase-Away-The-Blahs-Party-Artistically. The students of Gail McDaniel raised $4,000 through a couple of fund-raisers to present to an artist who creates the best totally transparent watercolor painting during the upcoming Tennessee Watercolor Society’s exhibition.

By BONNIE BIRCH

   BRENTWOOD - For the past three years, award-winning watercolorist Gail Mcdaniel has been encouraging the students in her two art classes to come up with their own designs to fashion into holiday cards and decorations.
    And for first-year student Ron Kegarise of Brentwood, the challenge was not one easily passed up, so he created a scene

of a winter tree, a red cardinal, a mailbox stuffed with Christmas packages and a warm farmhouse in the background.
   "I showed the painting to my daughter during Thanksgiving," Kegarise said, "And the tears just welled up in her eyes. To send something that you created personally is always special."
   The benefits of sending your special creations goes beyond impressing the neighbors with your

artistic talents. It is an opportunity for self-expression.
   Wendy Latimer made cards showcasing ornaments nestled among the evergreen branches and poinsettias. Maxine Kunkel of Thompson's Station, whose favorite subjects are children and horses, painted kids playing in the snow. And Zoe Wells sent out traditional cards with an old world Santa, a little Christmas tree and a snowman.

Geri Gray, who drives from Mt. Juliet to attend Mcdaniel's classes once a week, expressed contrasting sentiments.
   A rich lady toting shopping bags passes through a snowy city park barely noticing a homeless family sleeping in a tent and trying to keep warm. A tree decorated with gold balls stands between them, and an office party, a church and a Union Rescue mission building are part of the city skyline in the background.
    "It just shows the irony of our real lives," she said, "Every Christmas we do the little things like adopt a child from an Angel Tree or help out at a shelter. But it never seems to be enough."
   Mcdaniel's students get their

inspiration from a number of sources - some use photographs they have taken themselves, others find ideas out of magazines and books, while still others paint directly from their own imaginations. And depending on the experience level of the student, a single watercolor Christmas work can take only a day or a few weeks.
    Many local print shops can transform a painting into Christmas or note cards. Students can choose the quality, weight and color of paper, the size of their cards and have a pre-print greeting or Christmas poem inside. Of course, the cost of printing and painting supplies doe snot make it an economical option

as opposed to store-bought cards.    Personalized cards can average around $1 each in just the printing costs. Plus, the way they come back from the printers, you have to fold each individual card yourself, Kegarise said.
   And be forewarned, cautioned Wendy Latimer of Brentwood, that once family and co-workers get a taste of a personalized card, they will be checking their mailboxes for your next creation every December. "They all say that they've been wondering what my cards will look like this year. So you see, I have to make my own Christmas cards. I can't buy one now," she said.