Art 21: Online Arts Education Modules

Art in the 21st Century was a recent PBS series highlighting artists' process and purpose. Not only did it receive high acclaim while it was airing, but the series won numerous awards and praiseworthy reviews. Some of the best things to come out of the series are the substantial on-line arts education materials. According to the website, they were "... developed to familiarize teachers and students with the work of living artists, to provoke critical thinking and problem solving, to present creative role models, to bridge diverse subject areas, and to inspire new ways of teaching and learning through the study and appreciation of contemporary art."

The online library offers thematic and comparative cross-sections of intricate subject matters expressed through art - such as war and peace or home and displacement. One theme exploring likeness, self, and identity is explored and shared through students' works. In-depth art and culture teaching materials from each season are also available. The well-constructed site offers artist's slide shows, videos, and blog. If you're teaching this summer, or even gearing up for fall, be sure to visit Art:21.

AIA Design DC 2008 -

Alex attended the AIA's Design DC 2008 Expo this morning and carried out a ton of great green renewal materials. Some highlights include: Sustainability by Design, where we are all learning to share the environment through LEED, Energy Star, and other business development incentives; RICCA Newmark Design had a beautifully executed brochure; DrawGate, Inc. (out of Burke, VA) exhibited 3D architectural rendering and animation solutions; Traco (out of Cranberry Township, PA) demonstrated windows and doors that greet the world; and Sky Factory's windows showed their beautiful, relaxing, and memorable transformational illusions of nature.

Some of today's AIA Continuing Education sessions included Smart Design; Sustainable Practice for Preservation; Re-skinning a fully-occupied office building; and Working with the Media. Of interest also was Potomac Valley Brick's photo and literature CDs - aptly expressing how PVC, built on a foundation of service, supports your vision and design. We'll be reviewing The Architect's Newspaper in full detail to continue to look for opportunities in bringing some of the best of design concepts to all artists.

Art Studio Design by Shauna Lee Lange Arts Advisory

Shauna Lee Lange Arts Advisory is pleased to announce a new branch of design and organization services for artists. The artist's creative soul is manifested in personalized studios, creative spaces, unique storage solutions, and organized spaces for supplies. Shauna Lee Lange brings her analytical eye and her imaginative toolbox to artists who need to re-invent studio spaces. A recent survey reflected that over 66% of artists spend at least 1 - 4 hours a day in their studio. If you are an artist who needs help converting your existing space to a studio vignette, our combined architectural and organizational experience can help you. Artists' studios can range from dedicated stand-alone structures, or corners carved out for creativity. Your studio must be a place where function meets form and style. See how our affordable services can boost your art marketability today.

graph series

I've been doodling with graph paper and exploring a bit with color combinations. Here two recent finished products from the graph series.

robert spooner: the art of sport in fly-fishing

When you begin to study art, and its locality divergences, it becomes very easy after a time to generally spot works of the west versus that of the east. And it so happens that often in my mailbox, I may get a card from an east coast gallery opening along with an invitation from one of the west - and it is funny to see how art is represented and marketed in both locations.

But to stay on top of what's really up and coming in the art world, I also study submission calls. About two months or so ago, there was a fairly large national competition call for equine art. I immediately thought of three to four people (in the west) who might have an interest. Equine art is fairly specialized (and a high commodity in Kentucky horse country - particularly in horse portraiture), but as you get up into Montana and Wyoming (to name a few) it's not that much of an rarity - still for us here in the east, equine art isn't regularly hanging on most metropolitan gallery walls.

That was when I realized Abend Gallery Fine Art in Denver, CO sent me a notice that they were featuring some pretty exciting equine works by Norman Cable (promoted just after the Belmont Downs race) and I was thinking - there you have it, that's another example of art in the west! I was reviewing the fact that in my circles, it's not often you see equine art in the form of horse racing, but more often that you see it in the wild form of horses running through a canyon, standing still in the stable, or more rarely in the setting of a rodeo, which Abend is also offering by showcasing Carolyn Miller's work.

But what Abend's done that's really interesting and exciting is to curate a variety of action works (Indian powwows, hockey games, circus performers, white water rafting) into a compilation called the Art of Sport. And within Art of the Sport is a very specific example of "Western Art" offered in Robert Spooner's fly-fishing works. Now fly-fishing can be enjoyed nearly anywhere, but in my (growing) experience, I almost always see the few works I have seen in this genre coming from the west (excepting increased concentration on the sport from the Maine and Canadian regions). Spooner's done a conceptual study of river life that's very noteworthy, suspenseful, and coincidentally humble.

Spooner's adaptations come from observation. He's the guy in the corner watching, waiting, watching, painting, teaching, and watching. I once heard it said at an Academy Awards event that actors do much of the same to hone their craft and that you simply can't BE a character actor unless you spend much of your days observing others. With Spooner, there's nothing unglued, distressed, misproportioned, or metaphorically symbolized. Spooner exemplifies Edgar Degas statement, "Art is not what you see, but what you make others see." Spooner's oil works, including my personal favorite, Downstream Cast, Play'n Hookie, and Silver Stream are featured above.

peter batchelder's new england nuances

We've been friends with The Churchill Gallery in Newburyport, MA for some time now and we wanted to congratulate them on their summer Artwalk which will be held this evening. The Churchill Gallery has some diverse talent in their stable, and it was their recent mailer featuring Old Point by Peter Batchelder that first turned our attention to his unique style.

I'm not sure whether it's the reference to New England scapes, or the inference to solitary (and seemingly uninhabited) buildings, or maybe it's the captivating skies that speaks to our soul. The works are time in motion studies. Everything stays the same year after year, yet not one thing remains the same one moment after another. Skies with unknown weather patterns float effortlessly above studied ground with a hint of wind. The works are almost Amish-y without the spirituality; complexly beautiful in their disciplined simplicity.

Featured above is Batchelder's 2007 oil on canvas North Truro, the 2007 oil on canvas Cottage (offered through Kiley Court Gallery), and my personal favorite - the 2007 oil on canvas Two Cottages. You can see more of Batchelder's work in his upcoming August show at the Redmond Bennett Gallery in Dublin, NH. We love some of Batchelder's works of Martha's Vineyard - it never ceases to amaze me how an image can bring you back to a place.

Batchelder's artist statement says, "I paint subjects that appeal to me from several perspectives. Having grown up in a rural setting, I was surrounded by nature. I still enjoy the solitude of fields and meadows, intrigued by the old architecture that seems to have always been part of the landscape. I am drawn to the way light hits objects, particularly in the early morning or late afternoon. My focus has often been on the landscape without people. Childhood interests in architecture and archaeology have lead me to consider the history of an old barn, or a stone wall, built centuries ago. Lately I have begun to give more consideration to the people who inhabited those scenes, who built those walls and worked in those old barns. I am slowly bringing figures (sometimes animal, sometimes people) back into the landscapes."

paper whimsy's re-engineered photographs and art papers

Gale Blare's Paper Whimsy is a painstakingly-cared-for on-line gallery and e-store for some of the most beautifully re-engineered vintage photograph papers available in the marketplace today. Paper Whimsy takes high resolution scans of vintage and collectible photos and makes them available for collage, mixed media, and other art projects. They then digitally rework and enhance the images and offer them in collage sheets for artists' use. What makes Paper Whimsy a cut above the rest is Gale's attention and curatorship of often hauntingly unforgettable images - many of children's faces. Paper Whimsy has a trained eye for beauty, form, and function - visit them soon to see "everything you need to get creative." The site's Galleria, Bric a Brac, and Attic are truly sources of inspiration for blocked artists of any media.

amy lin's detailed dots: determined and exacting effort

If you've been traveling within the Washington DC art circles lately, there's no doubt you've encountered the fast rise of Amy Lin's pencil drawings. She had shown at the Heineman Myers Contemporary Art Gallery earlier this year just prior to exhibiting at The Art League from April - May 08. And when Lenny Campello knighted her works on his hot-and-buy-now-list, I had to see for myself. I was present at the April successful opening of "Interaction" where works Transition, Unknown, Sacrifice, Strength, Gentle, and Release were displayed in large works on the Art League's walls. Lin graciously sat down with me prior to the reception's start.

Lin credits Ms. Myers in helping the artist feel comfortable in initially showing about 13 works in Bethesda. Lin said that with Myers' encouragement, Lin felt that even if no one were to purchase a work, she would still feel comfortable doing her process exactly the way she currently does. And that process for Lin is abstract stream of consciousness. It's her own interpretation and her own sharing of a meditative and encompassing work which she says has manifested itself into making her feel sick if she's not drawing and adding to somewhat negative thoughts that Lin's squandering her life if a pencil is not in hand.

Lin explained that she most encounters creative blocks before the execution of her dots. When she has to select her color template, it feels like a committed choice to decide. The number of hours that go into a work represent a color commitment that cannot be changed half way through. Lin says her color choices represent her mood at the time of selection and that can be, at times, incongruent with the happiness she feels in execution of a final piece. In her quiet escape of her own world, she says that her primary interest is not that of occupation, but rather of avocation - and that she might not enjoy the process so much if she thought of it as a duty.

Whatever non-committal anxiety Lin expresses in color choice, she is gracious in pointing to Michael O'Sullivan who she credits with suggesting a change in framing choice to allow more room for her works. She thanks Randall Scott for a suggestion in working with bigger paper and varying paper qualities. Lin likes the DC art scene, and she does not view her works in a political light. She flinches a bit as she self-describes her efforts as introspective, peaceful, and introverted. She is self-taught and views that experience as carrying gifts of freedom.

Although Lin enjoys the exhibition process, and is surprisingly self-collected at such a normally nervous time prior to an opening, she does say that arts management and the business side of art can be a true challenge for artists who simply wish to create. When asked what advice she would give a young artist, she says, "do your own thing." She recalls a story from her high school days where a painting was reviewed by authority and Lin subsequently changed the work to comply. She says when she went back to look at the painting, she realized she had liked it all the better the way it originally was. She warns, "don't sacrifice your own ideas ... keep at it and keep doing it."

Lin hasn't painted since high school, her full-time professional position keeps her time for the dots at a commodity, especially when works can literally take thousands of hours. Lin is feeling the electrical charge as the gallery is filling up with people and she doesn't realize how luminescent she looks in her pink chiffon gown. Her eyes dart and I ask her finally, "what's the best part?" And she looks back calmly and answers, "how the colored pencils feel against the surface of the paper." Lovely.

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.