art hamptons july 11 - 13

Art Hamptons is scheduled to be held from July 11 - 13 this year at the Bridgehampton Historical Society Grounds. This show looks very promising not only in the quality of artists but also for the fine list of exhibitors. At Art Hamptons, you can see original works of Andy Warhol, Wolf Kahn, Romare Beardon, Jackson Pollock, and Sam Francis to name a few. I'm also encouraged by a variety of events slated in support of non-profit community organizations.

Art Hamptons is designed as the Hamptons premier art event, is sponsored by industry leaders, and provides a rich venue for museum quality art from the 20th and 21st centuries. If you go, don't miss North Carolina's Jerald Melberg Gallery representing the formidable Wolf Kahn's work for nearly 25 years.

blue elephant art center

Recently on a monsoon of a rainy day, I took the trek up to Frederick, MD without an umbrella and happily visited The Blue Elephant Art Center. Blue Elephant is a compilation of 10 cooperative artist studio spaces and 3000 sq. ft. of gallery space. Affordable openings for full and shared studios are available with all utilities included.

On June 7, 2008, the center held its first Members' Group Show of 2008. "Mission Statement" featured the art works of Shane Acuff, Chris Bransome, Deb Clark, Vince Coates, Sara Corley, Chuck Forsythe, Ben Fartrell, Tom Kemp, Claudia Lipshultz, Noah McWilliams, Steven Orrence, Caroline Qualls, Colin Smallwood, Matt Spire, Sandy Swann, Paul Tooley, Audrey Warren and Mr. Jingles. The collective attempted to answer the question, what is the blue elephant?

On July 5th, from 7 - 11 pm, the Center will be featuring "Metal" - the first in a series including wood, fiber, paper, and flesh. The art center will hold additional extended hours through July 13th.

Brian Slagle & Paul Tooley are doing a great job at promoting the potential of the Blue Elephant Art Center. If you are looking for a new opportunity, send your contact information (name, address, phone, email) and preferably some images of your work (5-10 color copies or email JPEG images at 72 dpi) and one page statement of work and artist intent to Brian Slagle, Blue Elephant, 4a W. 5th St., Frederick, MD 21701 or call him at 301-663-7809. Email address bluueelephantart@aol.com. Alternate contact: Paul Tooley, 301-371-4291, mailto:akryan01@aol.com.

Blue Elephant image credit to the original artist Casey McGlynn.

graham franciose emotes

graham franci0se is an illustrator, painter, and silk-screener who was recently featured at Art Whino's "We don't sleep well" exhibition in their new National Harbor gallery. Much of Graham's works are emotive combinations of exaggerated faces and the human interplay with stars.

Graham's "Wish Series" to be remembered and for health shouldn't be missed and are available on his website. The work above is 11 x 15 and titled Wonder. Although Graham's works are strongly powerful in their emotive pull, they are at the same time wonderfully sweet and innocent - perfect for children's hospitals, libraries, or sleeping chamber applications.

Embroidery Portrait Artist & His Studio: Michael Aaron McAllister

I've been spending time lately looking at other artists' studios and trying to gather inspiration for organization, space utilization, and productivity tools. I've seen gorgeous 4,000 sq.ft. farm barn lofts, reconverted spare bedrooms, and sneakily-claimed corners of a home or a kitchen table to serve as a working studio for artists who are producing incredibly marketable works.

The 2008 Special Issue of Cloth Paper Scissors features a host of art studios - or spas for the creative soul - and offers storage solutions, studio makeovers, and ways to personalize your creative space. Within the issue, I fell upon wonderful quilting and mixed-media artist's websites and two notable oddities.

The first is an embroidered portrait quilt artist; an oddity in a day where it is rare to find people who have mastered needlework crafts and are working to keep this traditional art form very much alive. The second is the fact that this particular embroidery artist happens to be a man. Michael Aaron McAllister of Saint Louis, Missouri, is producing detailed works inspired by his heroes. Above is featured Salvador Dali, 2005.

Some of McAllister's miniature quilts are prize-winning testaments to a love of color and technique. He holds a BFA and MFA in Ceramics, and like many artists, does not work in the medium of his professional training. Art is a journey after all, and it's a joy to discover bookmaking when one is an oil painter. McAllister says his needlework is the first thing he does in the morning and the last thing in the evening. When you check out his work and his site, be sure to take a peak at the works entitled, Self-Portrait with the Artist's Mother (2007) and Anne Frank (2006). Of course, you won't want to miss his Studio link complete with pictures of highly-enviable authentic DMC bins used to store all skein colors.

A Beautiful Creation Turns 21

Happy Birthday Lorenzo! I love you and am so proud of you!

Artists' Pens Updates

Faber Castell's been in business with the same family since 1761, so it is no wonder that they know what it takes to make a fine India Ink artists pen. Their Pitt Artist Pens far surpass PrismaColor for color saturation in our opinion - although PrismaColor does have the advantage of a much wider brush nib at one end. We also still love the Pilot Precise V7 Fine Rolling Ball for black ink outlining and writing. Pentel's RSVP Fine Black Ink pen is one we often reach for. Sharpie's come a long way with their new line of colored markers in various sizes ... there are just some surfaces where only a Sharpie will do!

Many artists like the Pantone Tria Letraset markers as the color identification numbers haven't changed very much over the years. Personally, I love the shape and feel of the Stabilo Boss Original highlighters. More classics-school artists might argue that Staedtler makes some of the finest writing tools available to both artists and architects - you won't get an argument from me; I just find them somewhat more utilitarian.

Our favorite Pearl Store carries all the above, you can also find products online through Blick; Utrecht; A.C. Moore; Michaels; and at many of your local hobby and craft art supply stores. Don't forget about e-Bay - great bargains can be had if you have the patience to wait through bidding. I also like to check Craigslist - it's amazing what people practically give away.

I'm working on a series of graph paper color application works with squares of colored pencils, pastel pencils, watercolors, markers, and artists pens. These pieces are time consuming and somewhat of a commitment. Once a color theme is selected, and the work has begun, there's no going back - I feel sort of "locked in" - I hope to show these soon through the City Galleries Program and will let you know how they are coming along (especially with my new Pitt Pens!)

Residential & Commercial Mosaic Art Trends

Our friends at Mixed-Up Mosaics show off some of their recent commercial and residential artistry in this month's newsletter. Strong color blocking, defined edging, experimentation with new tile shaping, and glass pattern variations all result in vibrant, timeless, and energetic options for interior form and function. Just imagine image 4 above as the floor of a swimming pool with sparkling sunbeams on the water's surface - just refreshingly brilliant!

As you may know, we recently gave Mixed-Up Mosaics our thumbs up for its work in tattoo-inspired mosaics. And if you've not seen some of their floor tile casino medallions in person, you've missed out on an opportunity to envision Native American themes in growing mega-entertainment complexes. These collaborations work because they reflect movement. And as Alice Paul said: I always feel the movement is a sort of mosaic.

Beautiful Stationery Papers for Artists

Artists of all genres often seek beautiful and high-quality papers to use in testing tints, application techinques, artists business cards, price tags, and other arts needs. Breathtakingly beautiful stationery, stickers, stamps, notecards, and frames are available through Cavallini & Co. (photo credit above features Cavallini's Bird Gift Tag line). I

In our view, Cavallini's cornered the market on color, style, and design. Many of their products are sold through sites like Anthropologie and the Library of Congress. Other highly notable luxury paper companies are: Crane & Co.; Vera Wang Papers (gorgeous wedding invitations); Anna Griffin (we love their stamp ink); Mrs. John L. Strong; The Wren Press; Smythson; and every writer's standby - Moleskin.

Beach Stones

In keeping with current art trends themes of incorporating the natural world, we saw a brilliant photography book at our favorite Paper Source store last night. Beach Stones is a nice accompaniment to Seashells; both books reflect the free beauty available in seaside locations throughout the world and offer inspiration to artists seeking new creative pathways. The photographer, Josie Iselin, also worked on a photography collections called Heart Stones and Leaves and Pods. Ms. Iselin is an artistically well-trained San Franciscan specializing in photography and installation art. She is scheduled to appear at the Whole Children Whole Planet Expo this coming weekend.

Henna Artists & Talented Musicians

We were honored to be able to help the staff of top recording artist Erykah Badu yesterday. Erykah, with her distinctively earthy vocals, performed at the DAR Constitution Hall and was looking for assistance in finding exceptional henna artists in the DC area. We know the concert was a memorable success, and we hope our art advisory references were helpful. (Photo Credit: Sarboo on Flickr)

the resurgence of birds in art - part 1

It happens slowly. At first, you notice the little starling who seems to fly out from the roof eaves whenever you open your main door. And then you hear him chirping away just outside your bedroom window at 3, 4, and 5:00 a.m. Finally, you surprisingly notice he's nested just above your entrance wall light in a safe alcove. Built himself a tidy nest with a heat source, easy access, and all in a protected environment. Birds are like that. They kind of well, creep up on you.

And while its true that birds have been prevalent in art since before the 1800's and not just in the United States (the drawing above comes from Germany), it's also true that their resurgence in today's art is unmistakable. This is no new revelation to Wisconsin's Woodson Art Museum and their annual Birds in Art program which has been in effect as a major fundraiser since 1976. Or take worldwide nature art lovers and conservation proponents (such as Artists for Conservation) who have focused on various natural elements since the cows started jumping over the moon.

What I see in review of tons of art magazines, websites, gallery openings, and new museum acquisitions, is a resurgence of bird images, bird life related themes (nests, eggs, feathers), and birds presented in ad hoc methods through paint, collage, murals, and sculpture. Who can argue that the depiction of both the owl and the raven have grown substantially in past years? Or that birds have held a steady place in Asian art for centuries? But we notice a new art trend with the bird being presented in a not-so-flighty way. The birds in art today are somewhat of a pseudo psychological element - the carriers of secrets, the communicators of thoughts, a dancing and lively presence in dark fields, or perhaps memories of little things long forgotten.

In this four-part series, we will review bird art as it appears in traditional art, contemporary art, altered art and new media. We'll show you some examples, we'll pose questions about meaning, and we'll try to demonstrate in a small way, how birds in art are enjoying a healthy and robust resurgence today.

The Bird's Nest
I know a place, in the ivy on a tree

Where a bird's nest is and the eggs are three

And the bird is brown, and the eggs are blue

And the twigs are old but the moss is new

And I go quite near, though I think I should have heard

The sound of me watching, if I had been a bird
by John Drinkwater

danielle muller - the vintage dragonfly

I first saw Danielle Muller's work in Somerset Studio's Dragonfly Jar series. Her art is cutting edge in the field of romantic ephemera, mixed media, and collage works because of its ingenuity and ability to re-invent antique vintage ideals. Muller's creations and "The Vintage Dragonfly" website are a quiet and sweet compilation of birds, seaside life, nesting, and muted vintage images from her collage art, collaborations, and art swaps. Danielle's also incorporated the new Internet art trend of including instrumental, peaceful, and unique musical composition arrangements on her website; thereby marrying sight and sound for an end-user experience.

Dragonfly art, especially art encompassing nature and all its elements, is hot, hot, hot. Match it up with some poetry or individual words or musical scores as background motifs and you nearly have a sure seller for craft fairs and festivals. Although the work has to "speak" and have its own "voice" - the right combination of muted tints, fabrics, and interesting little odds and ends will help the artist create a solid market presence. Dragonfly addicts will love these sites: Art.com; The Nature Store; and Webclipart.About.com. What we love is Muller's commitment to sharing works of other like-minded artists with visitors to her site - that's a true cool art trend we hope continues for decades.

Jackie Hoysted's Cigarette Art: A Year Later

Nearly a year after first meeting Jackie Hoysted the smoker, we caught up with her re-invented non-smoking self while she was volunteering at the Amy Lin exhibition at The Art League last night. Not only is Hoysted now celebrating her smoke-free life, looking radiant and healthy as ever, but she's also excitedly preparing to exhibit her smoking related art works combined with gorgeously displayed poetry at Artomatic.

Hoysted is a Maryland artist who explores the psychology of smoking and quitting. She smoked for over 20 years and has been smoke-free since July 9, 2007. Her blog posts her smoking related art and writings on how her "quit" is going. In an effort to chronicle her journey, she began an art project designed to enlist others in the shared experience of "the last cigarette." She sent a call to the public. Smokers could participate in the project by mailing their Last Cigarettes along with their plan to quit. She hoped to immortalize the effort in a work of art.

Hoysted had completed an image entitled Destruction. It is a collage of burnt watercolor paper soaked in cigarette butts and sprayed with nicotine “dye” (i.e. cigarette butts soaked in water over a few weeks). She had planned to continue in this vein for a while - as she found it both therapeutic and disgusting. She exhibited at: 9x10 WPA/C Member Show, William Parker Gallery, DC; and DCAC Wall Mountables, Washington DC.

What happened though, was that Hoysted found it very difficult to get contributions of "last cigarettes" because smokers find it too hard to part with them even when they have made the commitment to stop smoking. She's resigned herself to the probability that it would be easier to get cigarettes of people who are not trying to stop.

Hoysted's exhibits over the past year include: Delaplaine Arts Center, Regional juried show; Glenview Mansion, Rockville Art League juried show; Corcoran College of Art & Design, Washington DC.; Artomatic 2007; and a solo show at Gaithersburg City Hall, MD, juried. She continues her active participation in the Rockville Art League and in her participation in arts training through The Corcoran.

If you can't part with your pack, send a postcard or photos with your thoughts/story on smoking; Jackie will endeavor to include them all in a handmade book. For details go to: http://jackiehoysted.com/ashestoashes/archives/category/artproject/.

post beauty

Shauna Lee Lange Arts Advisory invites the international public to anonymously submit pictures of beauty to our community art project - post beauty.

Other sites promote your negative hidden secrets. We ask you to share pictures of positive life events, love you find, and unexpected kindnesses encountered.

Post Beauty gives the world a venue for light, life, and love through beautiful images shared. Email your digital images to postbeauty@gmail.com. New photos will be uploaded periodically.

10th Annual Business Philanthropy Summit

The Alexandria Volunteer Bureau in conjunction with a host of other noteworthy organizations is participating in Spring for Alexandria. The event is a three-day celebration of giving and service in Alexandria, Virginia. Several programs will be highlighted from 4/24 - 4/26 - including a Generations of Giving Gala, a community service day, an Earth Day celebration, and the 10th Annual Business Philanthropy Summit. We're honored to participate, even if only in a small way, in this opportunity to celebrate the arts, business, and nonprofit community’s contributions to our city. We look forward to learning more about how we can help others, especially through art.

successfully advising artists

As an arts advisor, it pays to know what calls are currently open, what galleries are on the hunt for which material, and when the timing is right for an artist to make a move. About a month ago, we were contacted by a painter who claimed she could not find a gallery to accept her work. We consulted with her, reviewed her portfolio, made a few phone calls, considered the whole situation, tested the market and called her right back.

We knew of a Chelsea gallery wanting to host an opening on a particular subject, and although this painter claimed not to want to be a pigeon-holed "type" of artist, we encouraged her to immediately submit her works. You can see where this is going, right? Yes siree, not less than a month later, this painter who couldn't get placed in a gallery will now show in New York City's esteemed Chelsea gallery row.

Even if the piece doesn't move (which we believe it will), and this artist generates NO interest (which we KNOW she will), it's a success for the gallery, for the painter, and for us. And that's why we love advising artists. It works, it's successful, and when the effort is timely and well-researched, it's like putting a round peg in a round hole. Beautiful.

an interesting tale of arts collaboration

There's a lesson in loss and it may just be that all loss has a purpose. We were very disappointed to learn we lost a much loved public arts project bid for which we had expended a tremendous amount of research and legwork. Our intuitive reaction, that the organizers wanted permanent sculptures and local townspeople to construct them, proved dead on correct when the final results were published.

Not unexpectedly though was the fact that the finalists for this particular competition were all extremely insightful, talented individuals with unique ideas, and giving of their time and efforts. We were well pleased to be in such great company. So it turns out that one of our top competitors, a woman I can only describe as literally having had thought about every single available facet of her proposal, also lost.

You know when you hear a competitor's proposal and you're thinking to yourself, GULP? We couldn't understand how her idea could be passed by. Well, where the door was closed, the window opened. This woman (an events coordinator) and her truly fantastic public art festival not only secured an alternate site for her event, but graciously invited us to bring our loved luminaria proposal along with her.

That's collaboration at its best, and the winner in this case will be the families who attend our breathtaking evening event in July. Stay tuned for more about Starry Teller Festival and our Luminaria highlights.

interview on art purchasing trends

We were thrilled recently to be contacted by one of the most interesting trend management companies to come around the block lately, http://www.thefuturelaboratory.com. Editor Miriam Rayman is associated with a division known as http://www.lifesignsnetwork.net. Seems they're working in part on understanding, qualifying, and quantifying art acquisition and the growing use of art consultants and art advisors. In some circles, personal art buyers are akin to personal shoppers, personal assistants, or personal concierge services. We feel the root cause of this growing trend is the necessity for arts specialization as opposed to generalization. Understanding trends in art business just makes good sense and great reading.

spring's yard art

One of the reasons we love yard art is because once the weather breaks, you can actually get out of the house to see it. This winter we were missing the smell of fresh cut lawns and the site of madonnas in the bathtub. Here's a few great web places to check out truly creative yard art in all its independent glory.

http://www.narrowlarry.com
http://www..literate_lemur.com/yard_art_project
http://www.unusuallife.com/richarts-yard-art-ruins

And here's a few finer publications available covering the origins, status, and future of yard art.

Yard Art and Handmade Places: Extraordinary Expressions of Home
Detour Art: Outside, Folk Art & Visionary Environments Coast to Coast
Self Made Worlds
Sublime Spaces & Visionary Worlds: Built Environments of Vernacular Artists

testimonials

We've been getting some great feedback lately - here's where we'll place our testimonials as they roll in.

"Shauna Lee has stepped forward to energize and inform Alexandria, Virginia and the Washington Beltway about CHALK4PEACE. The Event wishes we had ten more of her; then the WHOLE WORLD would know! She has a charismatic power in her enthusiasm for an idea. She is a definite go to person about the arts..." Dr. John Aaron (Apr 08)