Fresh Art...

What Appears Simple   watercolor/mixed   27.5 x 21

On any given weekend, there is a wide variety of art events from which to select.  So much to see.  So little time. This is my weekend pick:

     Fresh  Art

     Summit Artspace, 140 E. Market Street, Akron Ohio 44308

     Call 330.376.8480 or e:  info@akronareaarts.org  for further information

     Juried by:  John T. Adams and Clare Murray Adams

My work " What Appears Simple..." has been included.

We at Akron Society of Artists will also be painting on Saturday night from 5-9 pm at the ASA studio.

Come on along....it'll be fun.

The Box is Open...

Sunflower Box lid...my entry

Or should I say the boxes are open? All 78 of them! Last night at Summit Artspace was the opening for the "out of the box" auction that will culminate at the Arts Alive! celebration on November 7 at the Portage Country Club. What a wonderful surprise! 78 Akron area artists have created and donated boxes to benefit The Akron Area Arts Alliance. And what a bunch of wild boxes there are! Openings are not the best venue to commune with art of any kind as it kind of goes like this: spend 30 viewing.....chat 5 minutes....spend 15 seconds heading towards.....run into someone else.....and on and on. So, needless to say, I plan to spend more time in appreciation of these creative efforts. Miller Horns' tiny and affordable housing boxes are thoughtful. Shannon Casey's box kite is a one-of-a-kind. Linda Nye's assemblage of paper painted flowers made into an upside-down flower pot is positively kookie....that really was a word in the 60's. A large-scale globe box with hands for legs by Candace Bennington is magical and captivating. The list goes on and on. The bidding sheets are attached....bidding has begun and will continue during gallery hours: Thurs-Sun of this week from noon - 5 pm. They are quirky, thought-provoking, humorous and quirky again.

This shoe box drawing was done during my perspective class this past summer. For me, a point of interest and learning is the brand title on the box lid. I purposely turned it upside-down in order to draw the word by the shapes making up the letters. Knowing the word itself (words come from the L-brain) interferes with this process. Not only is the word itself (as one unit) affected by two-point perspective, but the backbones of all of the individual letters are also affected. Those are some of the things you know inside, but are surprised nonetheless to see them spelled out in front of you. I love surprises!

Standing on the Shoulders of Miller

Miller Horns   a sketch

Congratulations to Miller Horns! He was awarded the outstanding visual artist by Arts Alive! in Akron sponsored by The Akron Area Arts Alliance. This small sketch of Miller was done a few years back as he sat and chatted with Rick during some function-or-other at Summit ArtSpace. For all of these years, I saw a few isolated works by Miller and always enjoyed their hidden complexity. But the power of seeing a lifetime of work is undeniably moving and emotional! A retrospective of his work is currently being shown at the new home of Artists of Rubber City, "The Box", on the third floor of Summit ArtSpace. Seeing this wonderful exhibit is worth the elevator ride up....in fact, several elevator rides up. Patterns from Miller's life form meaningful displays in electrostatic art. The quality he achieves visually is similar to me to a large print. He is able to achieve both attention to detail and the very big picture simultaneously. He is quiet. He is thoughtful. And he is complex. If you are lucky, you will be able to meet Miller and he will be able to further explain his ideas and his process. His is the life of an artist, a life well-spent. Thank you, Miller.

Wait

Wait   mixed/paper   20 x 13.5

No one understands defeat like an athlete. An athlete seems to understand the ebb and flow between victory and defeat and the resultant tenacity that serves him/her well. Everyone experiences defeat. Artists experience defeat when they receive rejection notices from exhibits that have chosen not to include their work. Artists experience defeat as the painting progresses from the deliriously expectant and joyful start to the realization that this work, too, has its flaws and may not be everything they had hoped it would be. But without the polar opposites of victory and defeat, we would not even begin to understand one or the other. Without defeat, success would be devoid of meaning. And I believe a successful athlete learns to gracefully incorporate both victory and defeat into her/his being which leads to a rich and soulful existence. Creative Akron artist Mark Soppeland has a wonderful work at the "Fresh and Witty" exhibit at Summit ArtSpace that is entitled "Obsessing over Other's Successes". This work has been created from old trophies. I can't wait to see it in person! The model for "Wait" posed with a towel around his neck, a dejected look on his face, and a trophy in his hand. I chose to concentrate on the face area, as I hoped that his dejection would have a more generalized influence without a physical trophy. Vertical strokes were used to strengthen the feeling of being "down". As with all sadness and disappointment, the only medicine is time.....the wait is painful.

Saturdays

daisy stamp...carved from eraser

Saturdays are my days to break my weekly routine. Saturdays are for yard work, errands, framing, catching up on details and making small bits of art just for fun....no grand paintings or drawings.....just bits of creative experimentation that may lead to something down the road. IDEAS. This past Saturday, I attended a wonderful two-hour workshop on printing lead by Susan Mencini. Susan lead us through the process of conception, carving and printing from plastic erasers. Pure fun. There were a dozen or so artists present...each one turned out a marvelous stamp. We used Speedball lino-cut tools and juicy water-soluble markers for printing. What a wonderful way to add to Saturday fun. Each exhibit at Summit Artspace offers many such Saturday afternoon forays into creative fun....just a taste, just a bit of what could lead to something bigger. If you have some free Saturday afternoon time please visit: http://www.summitartspace.org/

The Artistic Community

African Prince   mixed on paper   34.5 x 21

For me, the artistic community is very comforting.....like a second home. Here one encounters some wonderfully diverse people, yet those who share the bond of a life's work that is often difficult, inconstant and not-so financially sustainable. These are the people who share the appreciation for creating at any cost. And these are the people with whom I feel the most comfortable. The Summit ArtSpace gallery was buzzing last evening at the opening for "Kaleidoscope 2008", a juried exhibition made up of members from the 4 local art groups: Akron Society of Artists, Artists of Rubber City, Cuyahoga Valley Art Center and Women's Art League. This year's exhibition was juried by Craig Lucas, retired professor emeritus from Kent State University. The Gallery is open Thursday - Saturday from noon - 5 pm. Each Saturday during the exhibit, there will be free demonstrations by various artists. Such a deal!  My mixed media work "African Prince" received an honorable mention. I am proud to show alongside all of the artists in the exhibit.

Fresh & Spooky

Shocking   mixed on paper   34.5 x 22

I usually paint what I want to.........that's part of the freedom catch in being an artist....and....that is what separates fine art from commercial ventures where everything is dictated to you with the mass market in mind. Trust me on this. But earlier this year a call came out from Summit Artspace, our community gallery, for the "Fresh and Spooky" show juried by extremely creative and whacky teacher and artist Mark Soppeland. I love Halloween. I love spooky movies. And, I love candy corn. So I went about creating a piece specifically for this show in the hopes that my work would get in. The "Fresh & Spooky" show is on exhibit from October 3 - November 8 at Summit Artspace in Akron. I can hardly wait to attend the opening this Friday, as artists of all kinds were dragging in artwork of all kinds at the take-in. "Shocking" is my effort.