schmincke aquarelle watercolors lunchtime lesson

I have a confession. I had a small green plastic container from Herbalife that Lord only knows where it came from and I had been hanging on to it for ages. Years maybe. Anyway, this plastic container is divided into six neat little compartments, too small for anything significant, and too big for really small things. So when I started thinking about incorporating watercolor washes in artists journals, I knew I was on to the perfect container for pans of watercolor.

I knew nothing about what I was doing, and I have since learned that you can purchase nifty little watercolor containers made perfectly for watercolor pans for cents on the dollar - AND they come in packs of 12, 24, and more. Lesson learned. So I went over to Pearl and stood in the watercolor aisle for like 45 minutes, bearing in mind all I had read about how you really only need 2 or 3 or maybe 4 colors to get started. And this made perfect sense to me, so I decided on the Schmincke Horadam line Aquarelle Watercolors and bought a 102 (permanent Chinese white), a red and a blue (I lost the labels and now could kick myself), a Payne gray, a lemon yellow, and a magenta because I needed one more to finish out my six and wanted to stay in the primaries.

Oh joy when I brought the watercolor pans home and they fit perfectly in my little case. These are the things that make artists happy - when tools work, when systems do not collide, when organization frees up brain space so one can think about really important things. Here's what I learned. The white is a bit light for me, the red is beautiful, the blue looks like two completely different pans of color whether applied light or dark, the Payne gray is gorgeous in light application, the yellow is a bit cheery (neon) for me, and the magenta is lovely. I made an attempt at mixing an orange with my yellow and red - this was successful. My attempt at mixing a green with blue and yellow was less so and my next trip to the store will involve buying a green.

I used my very favorite plastic watercolor paint brushes with barrels that hold water so you don't have to mess with it, and learned two important things in watercolor application. One - keep aside one specific brush for darker tints - the tints stain the brush bristles and you may want to only use your dark bristled brush for dark tints. Two - the watercolor water-holding paintbrush has two strange features: a) it holds the paint in the middle of the bristles when it appears to the eye that the bristles are clean. You have to give the brush another squeeze and out will drop an eyelet of color. b) the watercolor seeps into the brush's plastic chamber - this happened particularly with the lighter colors of white and yellow (which I know makes no sense at all, but you try it and you'll see).

All in all, the Schmincke watercolors are absolutely beautiful when dry. The little pans are perfect for traveling and I am very excited about their potential uses. Only one problem - my artists journal's pages aren't made to hold watercolor ... time to look for a journal with coarser paper. Also, if you're going to buy these watercolors, invest in the sets - it'll save you money and time. If you want to purchase some Schmincke for your very own use, here's what DickBlick has to say:

Schmincke has been developing and manufacturing its Horadam line of watercolors since 1881, and the company is now owned by the fourth generation of the original family. Schmincke has a reputation for using only the highest-quality natural gums, water-soluble resins, and pigments.
Schmincke is the only watercolor manufacturer in the world that uses the exact same formula for their tube and pan colors. Other manufacturers extrude their pan colors. Schmincke hand pours the same watercolor paint that is in their tubes into convenient pans. Then the pans are left to air dry. This process is repeated three more times. The pan colors are consistent all the way to the bottom, and they last and last!

designer gouache's lunchtime lesson

I tried England's Winsor & Newton's Designers Gouache in Permanent White (Series 1 in 14 ml tubes) today as a mask for my artist's journal. The Gouache is part of Winsor's opaque watercolor series renown for color brilliance and matt finish, produced since 1935.

I had been reading that you could apply the gouache direct to paper to act as a background tint or direct on collage pieces to act as a mask which would allow subsequent layering effects. This was my first time with Winsor Newton and I found the Permanent White was maybe a bit too white for the type of vintage-y collage I like to do, and definitely too white for the graph paper I was using as my test sample (which has a greenish/blueish hue). The gouache also carried a strong odor for this non-painter (although is AP certified).

When tried over red pen ink (Uniball Signo 207 Red), the ink gel ran a bit however I wasn't completely sure it was dry to begin with - I can be impatient in these areas. Come to find out, Winsor & Newton offer a bleed-proof white - who would have thought. When tried under ink, the application of ink on top of the gouache was a bit splotchy (kind of like trying to write over white-out, but not as thick). The gouache definitely acted better when applied in straight, flat, thin layers with a German Loew-Cornell 6F fabric dye flat brush and was not at all chalky at application or at drying.

Visual art journalists would want to use the opaque gouache when trying the watercolor as a mask, but transparent colors might be nifty with words and layers and color application in artists journals. However, when tried over other collaged pieces already adhered to our journal, the gouache made the collage paper buckle slightly which gave a textural feel, but not a smooth and flat surface.

I was happy with the gouache - it dries relatively quickly. I'm thinking my next trip to the store might result in purchasing a Naples Yellow, Yellow Ochre, Raw Sienna or Raw Umber as tints. I was surprised to find there was no availability in a nice Eggshell or Antique White - it looks like you might have to mix your own. I'd also like to try the higher level formulas to see how they compare.

wishing i could meet elena del rivero

Art is a funny thing. It has a way of seeping into your unconsciousness and when you least expect it, has you waking up at 2am with obsessive thoughts. A month or so ago, I attended a Business Women's event at the Corcoran. There on display, but roped off with yellow-do-not-cross-ticker-tape, was Elena Del Rivero's work (it was being filmed).

When you're an artist and art enthusiast and everyone is looking to "see" something, yellow ticker tape doesn't necessarily keep you from doing everything humanly possible to drink in an interesting subject, and the first image above is what greeted my eyes as I twisted and turned around the door jam under the watchful eyes of the very bored and mean security guards. Out of paper. The whole thing. Translucent and impermanent and free-floating and light-capturing. Gorgeous. Is it textile, is it paper, is it composition, is it really there? Called A Chant, 2001–2006, it is an installation of found papers mended, burnt, embroidered, and stitched to five rolls of muslin.

What I didn't get to see that day, but later saw via the Internet, and the image that's stuck with me over the past several weeks, and has now become "my purpose in life," "my cause," or "my addiction." It is the second image above called Home (Reference Library) (detail), 2000–2001, mixed media and paper. It is the detail of paper art, art journals, and visual diaries the artist used to chronicle items found immediately after September 11th - which is not only an admirable project (to have the state of mind to systematically collect and chronicle items during a world crisis) but is also so powerful because I'm not sure any of us are over THAT big one (even seven years later), especially reflecting on the state of the country on this historic, dramatic, and imperative Election Eve. Let not any of us ever forget that Tuesday for any reason.

del Rivero's bio from the Corcoran's exhibition reads: Elena del Rivero’s art inhabits the boundary between domestic space and public activity, between experience and memory, and between the desire for control and the surrender to chance. Both [exhibitions] explore the passage of time and the ways that daily routine and large-scale events intersect to shape our ideas about place and home. Fundamentally concerned with how materials gain and transmit meaning, Del Rivero works primarily with paper. For the two projects presented at the Corcoran, the artist drew and walked on, ripped, stained, bound, embroidered, wove, spun, cleaned, mended, and archived the paper that ultimately became her finished works of art. In this way, paper became a medium through which to both register and present the effects of activity and time.

On view through September 21, Home is, according to Del Rivero, “the story of a year.” She began the project in July of 2000, conceiving of it as an ongoing performance which would attempt to capture the entirety of her life during that period. Placing twenty large sheets of handmade paper throughout her home and studio in lower Manhattan, Del Rivero marked them with the traces of her daily existence—walking, eating, washing, and working. At the end of six months, she gathered the trampled sheets and transformed them over the second half of the year. They became the basis of [Swi:t] Home, where they hang amongst drawings, maps, books, and sculpture. Using the phonetic spelling in the first word of the title, Del Rivero’s piece evokes both “suite,” as in a series of works, but also “sweet,” with all its attendant associations of the memories and comforts of home.

In one sense, [Swi:t] Home: A Chant grew organically from the concerns of the earlier work; in another, it is the product of pure chance and outside intervention. When the World Trade Center was attacked on September 11, 2001, Del Rivero’s living and working space—located just across the street from the towers—was also a casualty. Returning home to find her windows blown out and every surface covered with ash and debris, the artist began the process of making sense of an event that had, in an instant, supplanted the memories made and recorded there during the previous year.

Over the next five years, Del Rivero painstakingly collected, catalogued, and, ultimately stitched together the bits of paper and debris that she found in her apartment. The result is a majestic curtain of sewn paper, more than 500 feet long. Installed in the Corcoran’s rotunda through November 16, the work cascades from the ceiling onto the floor—at once dramatic and humble, mournful and reparative. Like [Swi:t] Home, it speaks to the complex intermingling of daily routine and chance events, and the ways in which life intersects with art.

Elena del Rivero was born in Valencia, Spain, and has lived in New York since 1991, gaining U.S. citizenship in 2003. She earned her BA from the University of Valencia in 1974 and a diploma in English Literature from Cambridge University in 1977. Del Rivero has had one-artist exhibitions at the Drawing Center and Art in General in New York, and at the University of Salamanca, the Museo Nacional Centro Arte Reina Sofia, Madrid, and the Caixa Foundation, Barcelona, in Spain. She has also been included in group exhibitions in museums in the United States and abroad.

In 1995, Del Rivero represented Spain at the Johannesburg Biennale. In 2006, the Institute of Modern Art in Valencia (IVAM), along with Patio Herreriano in Spain, organized At Hand, 15 Years of Works on Paper. Del Rivero has been the recipient of two grants from Creative Capital (2003, 2001), two NYFA grants (2002, 2001), and two grants from the Pollock-Krasner Foundation (2002, 1991). In 1988, she won the Prix de Rome. In 2005 the Rockefeller Foundation awarded Del Rivero a residential fellowship at the Bellagio Center in Italy.

She has been a visiting artist at the University of Barcelona; the College of New Rochelle; Wellesley College; the Whitney Museum of American Art at Champion, Stamford, CT; and Brooklyn College. From 1993 to 1997, she was on the artistic staff of the Studio in a School, New York. Del Rivero’s work is in the collections of IVAM in Valencia, Spain; The Museum of Modern Art, New York; Yale University; the National Gallery of Art, Washington D.C.; the Fogg Art Museum at Harvard; and the Museo Nacional Centro Arte Reina Sofia, Madrid, among other institutions.

Where is elena del rivero today? If anyone knows, please contact me. I'd love to meet her to thank her for my awakening and ask her what she thinks of our new President-to-be.

Images Credit: Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., and the artist. Home image is (Courtesy of Patio Herreriano, Valladolid, Spain, 2007, and the artist. (c) Elena del Rivero

shifty shifts

This is why November's always such a strange month for me. Shifting sands, shifting thoughts, shifting tides and shifting ideas. I have been unable to control my growing excitement about artists journals, art journaling, visual diaries, collage, mixed media, art on paper, book art ... and I'm giving serious thought to putting aside the arts business end of Shauna Lee Lange Arts Advisory to instead focus on a research, teaching, writing, creativity workshops, and arts working ends oriented around journaling. As I study artists' pages in various books and as I study methods of paper manipulation, I find that art journaling and visual chronicling seem to be all I can think about. And I already shared with you that I have this arts journal idea tied into the holy prayer cards. I keep thinking about how to present the idea and I seem to be on a rabid hunt for anything and everything paper related. To that end, Art Whino's offering an upcoming show on the art of stenciling which I thought I'd share here. Who in the DC area specializes in the art of the book? If anyone knows, please contact me.

calligrapher joei lau

I recently found Joei Lau, calligrapher and designer, through the 1000 Art Journals Pages. Joei's work is stunningly executed and gorgeously matched with color and meaning. A group of work varied from an exhibition in December 2006. 40 canvas were painted with watercolors, covered with ohp sheets with hand writing. Pieces found in this set are scanned from the original canvas combining another set of hand painted watercolors postcards. Digitalized by Photoshop.

http://www.joeilau.com
http://majoart.exblog.jp

my latest series: beginning stages

Here are some beginning stages of my latest spiritual art series in holy prayer cards. I haven't figured out exactly what I'm going to do yet. They will likely stay in small works and will likely be enhanced with mixed media, collage, ephemera, perhaps some inspirational words ... they are the cornerstone of a much larger project I currently have in mind. I hope you enjoy these as I've enlarged the three pieces that make the strongest artistic statement.

on my desk: artists' studios blog

Lauren introduced me to one of my newest and most favorite art sites, the on my desk: creative spaces blog. We love the idea of artists' studios, their functionality, their design, their locations, and their themes. This blog is a space where artists, illustrators, designers, and creative folk share the stuff on their desk by submitting pictures and writing a few blurbs about it too. We've shown you one of Ximena Maier's photos, an illustrator out of Madrid, Spain. You can learn more about her at
http://www.ximenamaier.com
http://ximenitadibuja.blogspot.com
http://lobstersquad.blogspot.com

On my desk is a great space to gain inspiration, organizational skills, to pick up a few tricks of the trade and to constantly remind yourself how small and simple really CAN be better. Enjoy!!

lesley venable's flatwood folkart

I was sharing with you the fact that I've been turning my attention to serious art journaling which has proven to be a fantastic and wonderful voyage. It's brought me to new challenges in my artwork and new Internet sites about artists' studios. I've seen traveling journals and it's opened my eyes to some of the established authorities on the subject - but the thing that leaves a lasting impression is the images.

Now my art journaling is taking a surprising spiritual or religious twist and I'm finding that the works I'm creating, the journal I'm keeping (I'm actually keeping two), my blogging, and my momentary artistic interests are melting to one blurred and indescribable pot. I'm not sure I can explain it, and I'm not sure I even understand what is happening artistically.

I'm drawn to works of a spiritual bent, I suddenly love works that feature some element of flying or travel, and the soft and quiet works are gathering my attention. I've had to do much inner searching of late, particularly in some professional settings that have been less than comfortable, and it's the quiet place that holds my rest.

Anyway, this is a long introduction to tell you how I came upon Lesley Venable's site Flatwood Folkart. The images above are courtesy of her vintage eye. Lesley's a kindred spirit in that she is also a mixed media, altered art, assemblage, collage artist. Raised in Louisiana by a mom who is a more traditional professional artist and a Dad who was the resident artist in the kitchen, Lesley's sister's creative knack came out in garden and landscape design.

Lesley has what she calls my "necessary" job that she goes to on a daily basis and then, like many artists who have yet to become full-time professionals, she creates her art work at night. She says her muse seems to be the busiest when she has the least amount of time to devote to her suggestions. Lesley thinks when she is not creating, it frustrates the muse to no end.

Lesley's family consists of herself, a husband, a step-son who lives in Northern Virginia, 3 dogs (two golden retrievers and a mixed breed who they rescued from an abusive past) and 1 cat who thinks he owns the house. She says she's been blessed in so many ways by God and she is forever thankful for the people He has sent into her life to touch her heart.

artful thoughts

A moment's insight is sometimes worth a life's experience. (Oliver Wendell Holmes Sr)

Wisdom is ofttimes nearer when we stoop than when we soar. (William Wordsworth)

They know enough who know how to learn. (Henry Adams)

The rays of happiness, like those of light, are colorless when unbroken. (Henry Wadsworth Longfellow)

What I must do is all that concerns me, not what the people think. (Ralph Waldo Emerson)

artist relocation programs

We've been keeping an eye on several artist relocation programs; notably Paducah's well-established program, Peoria's attempt to bolster and establish a more formalized program; and now Fall River's attempts to bring commerce and the arts to an area much threatened by the current economic crisis. Michael Holtzman did a fine job reporting on Fall River's Artists in Residence in this 10/26/08 article.

nathan durfee @ robert lange studios

We have lots to update you on as we've been extremely busy with events over the past week. In the meantime, Robert Lange Studios (no known relation) is showing some thoughtfully whimsical works by Nathan Durfee in Charleston, South Carolina.

Stay tuned for much more on art journaling, my new creative series involving holy prayer cards, pictures of the studio, notes on art and panel discussion events last week, and thoughts about the direction Shauna Lee Lange Arts Advisory needs to take in 2009.

art whino and shauna lee lange arts advisory's october collaboration

Art Whino and Shauna Lee Lange Arts Advisory proudly announce an exciting art panel discussion event scheduled for Friday, October 24th at the Adidas store in DC's Georgetown (1251 Wisconsin Ave NW Washington, DC 20007).

Art Whino's National Harbor presence continues to inspire and invigorate the DC art world by bringing forth challenging ideas of contemporary art to the masses. Art Whino's creative vision for a strong DC university and northwest presence will certainly come to fruition as the gallery begins fully utilizing the Adidas Loft location in swanky Georgetown for premier, never-before-seen events.

Art Whino is fully committed to encouraging new forms of art collection and stewardship by offering cutting edge works which communicate new voices to those scouring the marketplace. They may include often overlooked works, reasonably priced (below marketplace) works, international artists establishing a US foothold, or other generally unexpected works.

Gallery managers are professional, open, relaxed, and forward-thinking in wanting to establish gallery spaces that encourage conversation, critiques, and collaboration. It is in this spirit that they agreed to work with Lange, a metropolitan DC arts advisor, in presenting a DC forum for the 2008 Americans for the Arts Creative Conversations events being held throughout the nation during October.

Art Whino has already established themselves as a viable and trustworthy art source and with Lange as a quickly rising art expert in the area of art business, they make a formidable team. Together they embody the words of William Shakespeare, "Things won are done: joy's soul lies in the doing." If you are interested in receiving an invitation to the event, please contact this writer.

Image: BAT Boulandi, People Under the Stairs, 16x20", acrylic on canvas. See http://www.artwhino.com/.

nyc gallery bound for columbus day

Shauna Lee Lange Arts Advisory is headed to New York City over the Columbus Day weekend. We'll be stopping in to see some arts professionals, visiting some new galleries to see new works, making a trek over to Brooklyn to drop works, having dinner with a very special someone, and generally getting a feel for how the economy is impacting NYC art sales, the overall art market, and obtaining a sense for what's hot and what's not on the street level. We'll be bringing back fresh NYC ideas to our metropolitan DC arts arena. Stay tuned for more.

Image: P. Buckley Moss, Amish Homeland, 2008, 8 x 18 3/4" see www.pbuckleymoss.com.

deborah davidson @ sue greenwood fine art

I love to see what's being shown on the west coast, and Sue Greenwood Fine Art seems to always have something exciting. Her gallery embodies the words of Will Hays: "Things do not happen in this world - they are brought about." Greenwood's helping well known artist Deborah Davidson exhibit her reflective and pensive works.

Davidson's bio says: This body of work is about mysterious places that, when we go to them, we feel connected with the universe. There, nature is the physical manifestation of emotion, magic, and grace. Jung once described the possible phenomenon of an intelligent and responsive universe, one that acts and reacts in our interest. I am reminded of a power outside myself and that something sacred, rather than merely physical, is at work.

More than light and space, these painting are about perception and the ability to be aware. They are about the use of intuition as a position of knowledge. They are memories of landscapes transformed by the mind into images akin to those in dreams. Nature used as an embodiment of my subjective self, a projection of my emotions of ecstasy, fear and wonder. These works are about nature's vastness, the majesty of its storms, its loneliness and terror and its profound peace. These images are moments. They are the heartbeats, the breadths by which we affirm each instance.

"…so the darkness shall be light, and the stillness the dancing." -- T.S. Elliot, "Four Quarter"

Image: Deborah Davidson, Pearls of Wisdom, 48.00" x 36.00", oil on panel.

cassandra barney's the incumbent: loving and growing strong

The Incumbent by Cassandra Barney. Don’t pick it up, and don’t put it down. - African Proverb.

“I once saw an interview with Maya Angelou,” says artist Cassandra Barney, “in which she talked about praise and criticism. She said that if you keep to yourself—here symbolized by the figure’s hands folded in her lap—then the harsh words of others won’t bring you down and their flattery won’t over-inflate your ego. This regal woman understands the importance of community and family, but she knows, too, that in the end you must believe in yourself and be able stand on your own two feet. It is her inner strength that gives her such beauty.”The popularity of Cassandra Barney’s elegant portraits has gained momentum over the last few years, from gallery walls to the Internet. “Thanks for making my heart happy with your art,” wrote one recent visitor to Barney’s weblog. This is essential art for a new generation—loving, growing and strong.

Text and Image courtesy of: Greenwich Workshop Fine Art Giclée Canvas:limited to 100 s/n. 12"w x 18"h. $395Ask About Availability

brooklyn artists gym hosts lange's dc photography for BKLYN:111 show

The Brooklyn Artists Gym Gallery gave a resounding New York nod to metropolitan-DC's Shauna Lee Lange Arts Advisory's photographic works. The works were selected as finalists from a wide field of entrants in support of the organization's upcoming fundraising event and show "BKLYN:111."

Lange's original works (Mirror, Mirror, digital photography, 2008 and Wild Berries, digital photography, 2008) will be premiered during the opening reception on Saturday, October 18, 4:00-7:00 with full show dates running from October 17th to the 25th. The show runs in conjunction with the Annual Gowanus Artists Studio Tour (AGAST).

The Gallery's fundraising event, BKLYN 111, is scheduled Saturday, October 25th 4-7pm. On the final day of the show, the fundraising party will be held. Collectors who purchase tickets will have the opportunity to take home any one of the works on display. The order in which they make their choices will be decided by lottery, but everybody will get art!

Representing Ms. Lange of Alexandria, VA, as artist representative, will be Brooklyn's own Ms. Lauren Turnbull, a promising student artist, photographer, and filmmaker at Pratt Institute.

The Gallery is found at 168 7th St., Brooklyn, NY (between 2nd and 3rd Ave.). The nearest subway is the F train (4th Ave. stop) or the R train (9thSt.stop). More info is at Brooklyn Artists Gym show@brooklynartistsgym.com http://www.brooklynartistsgym.com/ or 718.858.9069.

artist of the year competition: friends of the torpedo factory

Each year, the Friends of the Torpedo Factory Art Center host an Artist of the Year competition among resident or affiliate artists. Shauna Lee Lange Arts Advisory is honored to accept the President of the organization's invitation to serve as the 2008 independent blind juror. Entry submission dates for this competition are still being organized, and the Friends hope to announce the final winner by year's end.

Earlier this summer, the Friends of the Torpedo Factory Art Center hosted a reception for 2007 Artist of the Year Joyce McCarten. Joyce served as an associate picture editor at Smithsonian Magazine and studied at NOVA, George Mason, The Art Leage, and The Corcoran. She began teaching at the Art League in 1999. Her greatest influences come from land forms she has seen. Of late, she has been making mixed media paintings with pieces of metal found in her late husband's garage. These pieces, along with paper have become "pieces of paint" on her palette.

In filling a jurist's duties, Shauna Lee Lange Arts Advisory will honor the words of Martin Buber: No limits are set to the ascent of (wo)man, and to each and everyone the highest stands open. Here it is only your personal choice that decides.

Good luck to all the entrants, and may this year's competition be spirited and invigorating.

torpedo factory's 3rd annual art collector's panel: cultivate your taste for art

The Torpedo Factory Art Center will hold their 3rd Annual Art Collector's evening panel: Cultivate Your Taste for Art (CYTFA) on Sunday, October 26th.

Shauna Lee Lange Arts Advisory is thrilled to have been asked to serve as a panelist. The by-invitation panel consists of a high-profile DC arts events promoter; a vibrant gallery's co-director with experience in VA, MD, and DC; and a national full-service arts advisory firm headquartered in Alexandria and specializing in the metropolitan DC area.

This panel event is a great opportunity for arts enthusiasts to build their art holdings and to learn about the components of art collecting. Attendees will also learn the basics of wine tasting while sampling a variety of Virginia wines in honor of the 20th anniversary of Virginia Wine Month.

The Torpedo Factory's Director of Special Events is serving as organizer of the fun gala which mixes art, wine, and good times. The event will be held from 6:30-9:00pm with a panel discussion beginning around 6:45pm. Some Torpedo Factory artists will have artwork priced at $350 and below for sale, and many artists will be on hand to speak with and answer any of the public’s questions about their work and their process.

Ticket Cost: $20 in advance, $25 at the door.For more information call 703-838-4565 x 2 or email events@torpedofactory.org.

Image: Partytime by Maggie Stewart.

americans for the arts - october creative conversations events in virginia

Alexandria, Virginia is representing the arts in the Commonwealth of Virginia by hosting two upcoming events: Creative Conversations. The conversations are multi-disciplinary panel talks designed to help encourage emerging art leaders in incubating arts awareness, advocacy, and involvement by working with the national non-profit Americans for the Arts. The events celebrate October's designation as National Arts & Humanities month. Americans for the Arts says:

"National Arts and Humanities Month (NAHM) is a coast-to-coast collective celebration of culture in America. Held every October and coordinated by Americans for the Arts, it has become the largest annual celebration of the arts and humanities in the nation. From arts center open houses to mayoral proclamations to banners and media coverage, communities across the United States join together to recognize the importance of arts and culture to citizen's daily lives."

Alexandria's co-hosts include Vander Zee Foundation and Shauna Lee Lange Arts Advisory. The two will hold panel discussions on Thursday, October 9th and Thursday, October 23rd from 7 - 9 pm at the Vander Zee Gallery, 205 South Lee Street (above Why Not), Alexandria, VA 22314.

Scheduled panelists include an esteemed composer, a prolific writer, a fine arts painter, a well-heeled photographer, and several others. The conversations promise to be lively and engaging. The events are open to the public and street parking is available. Metropolitan DC'ers can metro to the King Street station and take the free red trolley to lower King Street. Click here to register for the event (scroll down to Virginia listings) or arrive last minute to participate. http://www.americansforthearts.org/networks/emerging_leaders/events/creative_conversations/2008/002.asp

judy morse travel photographer

Judy Morse's travel photography is currently on exhibit at Café Pizzaiolo in Arlington. Interesting groupings, various sized prints, beautiful frames, and photography on gallery-wrapped canvas highlight the exhibit. Morse's works are archival pigmented ink prints from from the photographer's travels in Italy, Hawaii, and at home in Washington, DC. We've highlighted three images from her Eastern Sierra series. Ms. Morse is scheduled to appear on an esteemed panel of speakers discussing creativity on October 23rd in Old Town, Alexandria. Contact Shauna Lee Lange Arts Advisory at 703.960.0616 for more information.

Images above: Ghost Town at Bodie State Historic Park, CA; Fall Colors on the June Lake Loop near Mono Lake (2004); and Monument at Manzanar National Historic Site in Owens Valley (2004).