It  would have been a great night to start a fire and cuddle with my hubby, but instead we braved the slush and visited several galleries along IDADA’ s First Friday Gallery walk.   Before I go into detail about what I saw, I want to reflect on the similarities of the three shows that I saw this evening.  They all had layers of ideas and used a type of collage method.  They were all bodies of work that were abstract with identifiable realistic elements.  Two of the shows were more serious in nature.  One was in fun.  At least one had self-portrait elements.

We started out by visiting the Harrison Center for the Arts and seeing Elizabeth Guipe Hall’s exhibition entitled A Beautiful Mind.  Her show was based on the theme of the the brain and the mind.  She creates encaustic paintings with layers of wax, some translucent while others are opaque, and collage elements.  Examples of some of the layers in her paintings include the following: an underlying drawing, geometric spirals, ribbons of color, and more clean cut shapes that have a ’stenciled’ or ’stamped’ look.  Her paintings are designs that sometimes contrast exact geometric shapes and free imperfect forms with uneven edges.  Colors, such as red, orange, blue, and purple, are used purposefully, while an overall off-white layer gives the pieces an atmospheric translucent dimension.

The theme of the brain is expressed with images of the nervous system and branching patterns.  Titles, such as Long-term Memory, or Connecting, initiate thoughts inside the viewer of the functions of the brain and mind.

Right and Left Reacquainted by Hall

The opaque surfase of the encaustic reminded Stephen of Frosting.

Long Term Memory by Hall

Then we went down to Fountain Square to visit the AV Framing Gallery and view Strumpets and Squares, mixed media works by Jenny Elkins.   Her materials ranged from clippings, to photos, to buttons, to fabric and beyond.  It is a juxtaposition of design and humor. A strumpet is an archaic term for a loose woman, and a square is a slang term for a nerd.

After narrowly escaping being stuck in a parking lot in Fountain Square, we made our way to the Circle City Industrial Complex.  I saw the third collage exhibition of the night in Wug Laku’s Studio and Garage.  Undertow by Kate Oberreich was a series of collage paintings reminiscent of landscapes of the west Michigan shoreline.  Symbols of pebbles and homes were repeated in a few of the paintings.  She used a limited palate in many of the paintings and the shapes became important in her design.

Congratulations to the opening of Flame Art Studios! I stopped by and saw the new space that is occupied by the female flame artists: Nancy Lee, Jari Sheese, and Bonnie Ramirez. Along with displaying their beautiful works of art (that you can often wear!), they also offer classes and workshops in a variety of mediums such as metalsmithing, beading, jewelry, clay, enameling, lampworking, sculpture, and welding.

Images were originally taken in July 2009.

While you are at it, why not make it a special date? Past students have made my art classes part of a night for them and their significant other. You could make it an art themed date. After taking a class, visit a museum, photograph downtown, or paint “plein air” at a nature park.

Custom gift certificates designed by my husband are available for every occasion.

For more information, visit the Art Classes section of my website.

Sight/ Insight will be at the Stutz Art Space from November 6-25, 2009.  The show incorporates a variety of styles ranging from abstract slashes of paint, abstract quilted fabric, exaggerated recognizable forms, jewelry, and paintings and photographs that display clearly recognizable subjects.  The artwork is juxtaposed leading the viewer to flow back and forth between the styles creating a dialogue amongst this diverse set of visual ideas.  It is a conversation between eleven different artists, with different modes of visually communication, and different perspectives on the same subject.

The curator, Carol L Myers, chose artists whose work fit the theme of ‘inspired places’.  Carol herself has lately focused on drawings. She states that her “vocabulary is natural form, but inspired place happens between pencil and paper.”  She finds that drawing is a form of praying.  I was attracted to one of her quilted painting pieces entitled, Boardwalk.  The painting in the work gives the piece a sense of space and light.  On top of the painting, sewn rectangular shapes overlap and break up the space, while the process of sewing the material draws the fabric and adds slight texture.

Below I’ve chosen a few of the types of work represented at the show:

Photography: Ginny Taylor Rosner speaks through her abandoned building photos in South Stairwell.  The stairway leads upward from the bottom right side of the page.  Light is entering from the landing at the top of the stairs in the upper left corner.  The image beckons the viewer to enter, walk up the stairs and into the light.

Abstract: Kate Oberreich’s collage, Map of New York, (on right above) is about repetition.  There is a small section of a city map in the piece.  The map contains repeated rectangular city blocks.  There are repeated circles in the upper left part of the work.  Simple vines with repeated leaves flow around the map.  Even a few drips in the piece seem to repeat themselves in color and shape.

Surreal: Home, by Lydia Burris, is a collage that juxtaposes a home and a tree in a forest with the light shining through the trees paralleling the warm light shining out of the windows of the home.

Landscape: The gallery also holds a collection of landscapes that are produced with varying levels of abstraction.  These invite the viewer to walk into nature in a place of trees, water, and immense skies.  At least one of the landscapes is a piece of jewelry by artist Leigh Dunnington-Jones entitled Sunrise on Central Avenue.  Look at both the front and the back of this piece.

Other artists who are not previously mentioned:
Susan Brewer
Karen Land
Colleen Lauter
Susan Mauck
Jerry Points
Martha Vaught
Julia Zollman Wickes

Join the conversation about inspired places starting this coming First Friday November 6, 2009.

Butterfly Clover

Three Daisy Jazz

During the month of November, stop by Wug Laku’s Studio and Garage to see, Nerve, a collection of some of the gallery owner’s personal work.  His drawings and paintings are worth an extra trip downtown when his gallery is not crowded with people and conversations, but if one only has time to view them during a First Friday, stop by the opening on November 6th.

The drawings and paintings deserve more than a cursory glance.  Do not pass them by as minimalist renderings of form, but envision the works as simplified mirrors reflecting both physical and metaphysical thoughts. Open and honest communication is at their core. Parallel to his work, his artist statement is a simple poem that opens Laku up to the viewer and leaves room for abstract ideas to breathe.

In the gallery’s main area, he has work from 1993, inspired by a county road north of Zionsville, IN (and a Burger King cup).  Within this group, he juxtaposes negative/positive space, layered paint, planes of solid color, and value transitions.  One can see a simplification of nature–very direct, concrete but beautiful in Butterfly Clover.  This piece has three sections.  1) The background is a completely smooth green color. 2) The butterfly is a simple triangle that contains a slight amount of brush strokes.  3) The purple clover is the focal point.  Here alone, the color changes in value and the strokes are free and visible.  This group is connected to his later work (mostly from 2001) that is found in the red room through the conscious simplifying of nature.

The later work refines the simplification. The work’s referent is less obvious, but not less important. The color palette and texture of the images are limited, yet they are not minimal–only simplified. Three Daisy Jazz (located in the red room) represents the continuity, journey, and conversational quality of the entire show.  This medium-sized painting shows process with its un-erased graphite lines, leftover tape, straight and jagged edges, and additive pieces.

Based on my visits to Laku’s gallery over the past year, he appears to enjoy displaying multiple stages of an artist’s work. This both contrasts and unites one body of work to another to showcase the development that defines an artist’s style. Laku continues this practice with two prior bodies of his own work.

While you are viewing Nerve, be sure to check out Nancy Lee’s beautifully designed metal jewelry.

A small disclaimer: Laku has represented my work at his gallery, so I am not a complete stranger to him.

Inspiration in Munich

About a year ago, in the Alte Pinakothek, in Munich, Germany,I saw a series of paint sketches by Rubens.  They were quick unfinished swirls of color full of energy.  I began thinking about how some walk by the sketches and see nothing but mere studies, while others eagerly take in how they visually represent the artist working out issues of form and narrative.

Images of my process

Like so many things, my painting process changes. The process of how I paint is in constant transition and the next three in the series have been painted in a slightly different way, although the result will be similar.

Images of the stages of painting #4-6 of my Butterfly series:

My three latest butterfly works, After Thistles, Fluttering Cosmopolitan, and Cynthesis will be on display this Saturday, October 19th from 8pm to 2am at Oranje, a contemporary art & music event. Wug Laku of Wug Laku’s Studio and Garage is representing my work at booth 17.

Wug will be displaying his drawings, digital art prints, light boxes, and furniture along with the jewelry of Nancy Lee (I’m sure she’ll be there, too!) and the mixed media of Cagney King –among others. They will be recreating the feel of his gallery in their 22′ x 24′ mega-booth for an intimate discussion with the artists. This past weekend, they were practically living there getting the space ready.

Tickets to the event are $20 and is only open to 21 and older.

Oranje
Wug Laku / Booth 17
2323 North Illinois
Indianapolis, IN 46208

The Dreamer sits on a window ledge of a ruin.  He is not inside the ruin nor is he outside the ruin.  Inside the ruin are dead trees, while outside life thrives.  The dreamer looks sideways, neither out of the ruin nor into the ruin.  Is this not true of a dreamer, of someone who lives half in the metaphysical realm and half in the physical world.  It is a delicate balance.

Morning in the Mountains, completed in 1821-1823, speaks of a misty, grand expanse.

In The Giant Mountains, 1835, Friedrich uses the mist in the mountains to separate the mountains and fall into the river that weaves a winding path through the scene.

Sunset (Brothers), a physically tiny piece that is powerful on a sensory and psychological level.  The landscape is simple in detail, yet has an amazing light created by reflection off of water.

Seashore (Nets) has a warm, glowing horizon line that draws the viewer into the lonely scene void of humans.  The scene is quiet, created with subdued, complimentary purple and yellow.  Birds create slight movement toward the sun or moon in the sky.

A mist creates a different kind of depth in Night in Harbour (Sisters).  A church and the masts of boats is all we see.  Why is there a Jewish star at the top?

Moonrise over the sea was completed in 1821, and presents a beautiful, yet contemplative scene.  I noticed several triangles in the scene.  There is a triangle where the points include the large anchors in the front, the two women sitting on a rock, and the two men standing on a rock further into the sea.  There is also a triangle between the moon, the anchors, and the men, or the moon, men, and women.  I point out those physical triangles to set the stage to point out the triangle that I think is most important.  That is, the triangle between the one viewing the picture, in this case me, the people in the image, and the moon.  The contemplation of the ones in the picture is echoed by me as I look at the painting.

Sunset (Brothers) is a tiny painting compared to some of the larger ones in the room, yet it has a great presence.  The landscape is simple with a warm glow of dusk.  The water reflects this fading light.

On a Sailing Ship is full of youthful love.  This painting was done in 1818 and 1821.  A couple clasps hands as they peer off the bow of a ship at a distant city or port.  Is the sky golden with the morning light of their relationship?  This painting is said to be completed after Friedrich returned from his honeymoon.  Unlike a number of paintings by Friedrich, where the human figures seem alone in the presence of others, this couple appears connected in their thoughts.  The couple are linked to each other, and they are related with their surroundings.

Swans was painted before 1832 and depicts two swans encased in foliage.  There is a sliver of moon sending out light into the scene. Why swans?  Perhaps because they are known for forming ties and staying with one partner for life.

I have three of my butterfly paintings in the 2009 IndyFringe Festival. Thistles, Fluttering Cosmopolitan, and Cynthesis were mentioned in my prior post, Trio of Painted Lady Butterflies. You can see thumbnails in that post. These works can be seen at Henry’s on East, 627 East Street, Friday, August 7, 5 – 9 pm.  Cafes, theaters and spaces along Mass Ave. have been transformed into art galleries for the IndyFringe Festival. Add it to your usual IDADA First Friday Art Walk on August 7th. I hope to see you there, but if you can’t make that Friday, then the work will be on display until August 30th.

You can vote

Make sure to stop by the temporary galleries to vote for your favorite piece of art to become one of those “Be Indypendent” stickers you have seen on your neighbors’ cars. Complimentary Barefoot Bubbly champagne cocktails will be served at each Fringe gallery, too.

The 2009 VisualFringe galleries are: Mass Ave Wine Shoppe, Theatre on the Square, Franklin Barry Gallery, Henry’s on East, Hoaglin To Go Café, Herron School of Art and Design at The Earth House, and the Fringe Gallery. Visit IndyFringe for more info and full gallery addresses.

Opening Quick Facts

August 7, 5 – 9 pm
Henry’s on East
627 East Street

It’s been a while since I have posted here on Llama and Lamb. One of the reason is because I have become active on Twitter (@smjdesign). Yes, that thing everybody is talking about. Speaking of Twitter, earlier this week I tweeted:

Can’t we go back to when we could knock on each others’ doors at any time, ask if they can come out and play. Are people really that busy?!

I thought I’d unpack this thought with three themes: the past, the present, and the future. So let’s first stroll down memory lane and do a little psychoanalysis.

The Past

As a teenager, I had friends that I could stop in on. Some were adults others were my own age. Often I would tell my parents I was going to run an errand and not show back up until 11:00, since I had stopped by a friends house. Nothing was as disappointing as stopping by a friend’s houses only to have their mother, grandmother, or closest relative tell me they were not home.

I grew up in rural Kentucky in a county with about 7000 people. There was not a large pool of teenagers. There were 66 other people in my high school graduation class. I managed by attending summer camps in larger cities. By camps, I mean air-conditioned college campuses with classes that focused on computer programming and academics. This new medium called instant messaging was a god-send (remember ICQ, the hippy-themed precursor to AOL Instant Messenger?). I was able to log-on every night and chat with friends in other parts of the state and even a few local. Nothing was off limits: romance, religion–you name it. As I think back, it is true that people will often write virtually on the web information that they would not say in person.

So I moved onto college and loved the access to 1300 people–yes, it was a small college. Most weeks, I was that guy who hung around the dorm on Friday and Saturday nights knocking on people’s doors to see who was around. In these circumstances, it is somewhat amazing that I never met my wife, Rachel, until the last month of our senior year. It was my curiosity of starting up a conversation with strangers on an art field trip to New York that lit the match of romance. Habits are difficult to break though. For the first few weeks, Rachel wondered whether I was truly attracted to her, since I spent the majority of our time together talking about other girls I knew.

The Present

In the apartment my wife and I used to live in, my neighbors changed frequently. New residents moved in and old residents moved out every year. I did not expect consistent relationships beyond a greeting in the stairwell. When I was in the process of buying a house, I had visions of new neighbors knocking on my doors and bringing us casseroles and fruit baskets. That didn’t happen. Reality is pleasant–I can’t complain. I have really nice neighbors that say “hi” when one is out doing yard work. One of my neighbors once cut my gas for me for free.

Yes, the onus is on me to invite my neighbors into my house. We’ve hesitating doing this so far due to the continuing remodeling of our foreclosed house (think plastic sheeting on the floor, lack of shoe molding, and monstrous sponge painting from the prior owners).

The future

I’m afraid that my life will become busy with people that I only see once a month or have a passing friendship with. We sometimes have to schedule get-to-togethers with friends over a month in advance. Yes, you have to meet someone in order to have a deeper friendship, but many of our friends have children. I understand–I’m sure we will have children that will require (that we will want to spend) time with–those poor nerdy kids! I am very fortunate that I met Rachel in college– I do not have any idea where I would meet woman similar to me now (not that I’m looking). I guess what I’m saying is that it seems that we are often in our own little bubbles.

Now, on a lighter note

During this last weekend, Rachel I walked around the Stutz Building in Downtown Indianapolis stepping in and out of artists’ studios. I discovered that artists don’t really care for labels on their work, but as a poet, it’s hard for me not to distill images down to words. After all, there art encompasses their whole life, right? I also have some trinkets of insight to pass on, too. Enjoy.

Art lessons from four hours at the 2009 Stutz Open House:

• Hearts do not belong in fine art paintings (O.K, maybe folk art, but nothing else!).
• The larger your huge gaudy golden frames are the faster your work will sell.
• Lombardy Poplars (the “French trees” in impressionist paintings) should be banned–permanently. Why do we want the French countryside in our living rooms?

It’s been a while since I have posted here on Llama and Lamb. One of the reason is because I have become active on Twitter (@smjdesign). Yes, that thing everybody is talking about. Speaking of Twitter, earlier this week I tweeted:

Can’t we go back to when we could knock on each others’ doors at any time, ask if they can come out and play. Are people really that busy?!

I thought I’d unpack this thought with three themes: the past, the present, and the future. So let’s first stroll down memory lane and do a little psychoanalysis.

The Past

As a teenager, I had friends that I could stop in on. Some were adults others were my own age. Often I would tell my parents I was going to run an errand and not show back up until 11:00, since I had stopped by a friends house. Nothing was as disappointing as stopping by a friend’s houses only to have their mother, grandmother, or closest relative tell me they were not home.

I grew up in rural Kentucky in a county with about 7000 people. There was not a large pool of teenagers. There were 66 other people in my high school graduation class. I managed by attending summer camps in larger cities. By camps, I mean air-conditioned college campuses with classes that focused on computer programming and academics. This new medium called instant messaging was a god-send (remember ICQ, the hippy-themed precursor to AOL Instant Messenger?). I was able to log-on every night and chat with friends in other parts of the state and even a few local. Nothing was off limits: romance, religion–you name it. As I think back, it is true that people will often write virtually on the web information that they would not say in person.

So I moved onto college and loved the access to 1300 people–yes, it was a small college. Most weeks, I was that guy who hung around the dorm on Friday and Saturday nights knocking on people’s doors to see who was around. In these circumstances, it is somewhat amazing that I never met my wife, Rachel, until the last month of our senior year. It was my curiosity of starting up a conversation with strangers on an art field trip to New York that lit the match of romance. Habits are difficult to break though. For the first few weeks, Rachel wondered whether I was truly attracted to her, since I spent the majority of our time together talking about other girls I knew.

The Present

In the apartment my wife and I used to live in, my neighbors changed frequently. New residents moved in and old residents moved out every year. I did not expect consistent relationships beyond a greeting in the stairwell. When I was in the process of buying a house, I had visions of new neighbors knocking on my doors and bringing us casseroles and fruit baskets. That didn’t happen. Reality is pleasant–I can’t complain. I have really nice neighbors that say “hi” when one is out doing yard work. One of my neighbors once cut my gas for me for free.

Yes, the onus is on me to invite my neighbors into my house. We’ve hesitating doing this so far due to the continuing remodeling of our foreclosed house (think plastic sheeting on the floor, lack of shoe molding, and monstrous sponge painting from the prior owners).

The future

I’m afraid that my life will become busy with people that I only see once a month or have a passing friendship with. We sometimes have to schedule get-to-togethers with friends over a month in advance. Yes, you have to meet someone in order to have a deeper friendship, but many of our friends have children. I understand–I’m sure we will have children that will require (that we will want to spend) time with–those poor nerdy kids! I am very fortunate that I met Rachel in college– I do not have any idea where I would meet woman similar to me now (not that I’m looking). I guess what I’m saying is that it seems that we are often in our own little bubbles.

Now, on a lighter note

During this last weekend, Rachel I walked around the Stutz Building in Downtown Indianapolis stepping in and out of artists’ studios. I discovered that artists don’t really care for labels on their work, but as a poet, it’s hard for me not to distill images down to words. After all, there art encompasses their whole life, right? I also have some trinkets of insight to pass on, too. Enjoy.

Art lessons from four hours at the 2009 Stutz Open House:

• Hearts do not belong in fine art paintings (O.K, maybe folk art, but nothing else!).
• The larger your huge gaudy golden frames are the faster your work will sell.
• Lombardy Poplars (the “French trees” in impressionist paintings) should be banned–permanently. Why do we want the French countryside in our living rooms?

For more information or to see photographs of the exhibit or the talk I gave in KY on March 5, 2009 go to RachelSteely.com

For more information or to see photographs of the exhibit or the talk I gave in KY on March 5, 2009 go to RachelSteely.com

To read the rest of this blog go to RachelSteely.com.

To read the rest of this blog go to RachelSteely.com.