SUMMER-SCAPES

That’s the theme of BWAC’s summer show, SUMMERSCAPES, and that worked out well for me. I had been working on a series of city-scape rooftops because I have  lived on the top floor during my last 45 years in Brooklyn and like its people I love the diversity of the architectural landscape in Brooklyn’s skyline.

My ceramic pieces are primarily embossed slab work and there is often a tiny section of clay left after I do a piece. Making several takes on one idea: embossing, cutting and/or glazing them differently helps me end up with variations on a theme. Here are the minis.The other good thing about them is they start at just $45 for some of the really small ones and then there are the larger framed city-scapes, In all of them you can see my affection for the sky and clouds above. No matter how big and tall this city gets the sky will always be bigger with its own dramatic impact.

I must admit the lower left is really a rooftop from Amherst, Massachusetts. All along the canal there are these beautiful old red brick buildings like in Red Hook as in other areas on Brooklyn’s waterfront.

But there is more. If you scroll down through this blog you will see some of the Jazz themed paper shall I call them collages or I may switch to calling them paper sculptures. I don’t do the traditional collage with cut out from magazines but instead use paper and give it depth and texture.

So during one of these hot summer days take a trip out to BWAC and enjoy our summer shows including the first floor national juried exhibit COLOR which has some incredible pieces. I’ll see if I have time to photograph some of it tomorrow and post the pictures. But don’t stop there because while your on the first floor go into the community room and see the exhibit of photography from some of Brooklyn’s own seniors. Then head upstairs and see my work with BWAC’s other members and there are also several installations. you’ve got the next four weekends ….. they can’t all be beach days!

 

 

 

 

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Green Market Saturday

Hello. So you don’t have to wait until the Gowanus Open Studio in the fall to see some of my new things. I will be with friends this Saturday, July 14h at the Metro Flea on 5th Avenue and 5th Streets in Park Slope Brooklyn. In honor of being there with the Green Market here is my tribute to green in celebration of all the spring rain and the endless summer heat.

My friends will add some great bargains in vintage clothing and ingenious handmade knit and quilt goods by Denise.

But get ready . . . that will not be the last you see of me this month. BWAC reopens with its summer show in just three weeks. I’m all jazzed up for that with more new works.

Come In From Out Of The Rain

You still have the chance to get out to BWAC. There is nothing like the blue sky erased by clouds competing with the water’s shades of grey, interrupted by colorful ferry boats and all the while the Statue of Liberty looks on. Then after your coffee to wake up come inside and see two floors and three bays of a diversity of art.

I’ve been struggling over what to do about this a piece and decided to make it two. First

I did this one and I hope the background tells you a little something about him – you decide what that is by how you interrupt the background material. And the I did this

Sorry for the quality of the photo but its late at night and not enough light …. but if I wait till morning stuff just won’t get done.

But do come to BWAC and immerse yourself in art and the world outside will await you.

ARTISTS TALK & work in progress

This Sunday at BWAC will be the second of three artists talks at BWAC

BWAC – ARTIST_TALK_ART presents artists talking informally about their work, on display, during the Spring exhibition. The group will move from work to work as the artist reveals the inner dialogue of their art. Meet BWAC Stage @ 12:30, and join the pre-talk conversations. Then on May 26, Sat @ 1PM listen to these artist speak:           Anna Hagan, Judith Eloise Hooper, Razi Mizrahi, Eric Pesso, Duane Stapp

Now onto new work in progress and my deciding what the background should be for these two characters and also what the name of the piece should be. Simply because of the expression on the face of the character on the left I thought Vladimir and Estragon from Waiting for Godot but my brother thought “Sacco and Vanzetti!” and then I thought to name it “On the Waterfront” which by the way was filmed in Red Hook. So you see I create the characters and then they tell me their story. So with that last thought in mind here is where I stand with the background

I may put a Red Hook sunset in the sky and reflect it in some of the Fairway windows. Or

this version is a different format and i may just call it Blue.  So hope to see you on Sunday and hear your thoughts on this piece which won’t be there.

Trying To Staying On Top of It!

Let’s see if doing this at 7 pm is better than 3 am in the morning where I tell myself my mind is more fluid, but that’s probably because its melting from yet another long night in my studio. I find great joy and solace in the solitude of the night but the next day when I have to move in sync with the world, being up all night seems like not such a good idea until that next night when I am once again alone with the sounds of the night, the blue light from my tv and the inspiring chaos of my studio.

It may be why I love these new pieces that speak of the same feelings of solace and inspiration I feel when I’m at a music performance. You are alone with the darkness, the vibrations of the instruments and the emotions they inspire. At the moment this piece is called The Grey Wall but this may change once its framed.

There is nothing like the sound of a mournful sax in a duet with a bass to make you think about choices made, to be made or undone. For years I have been attempting in these paper collages to make something that rises up out of the paper resembling the free form unfinished lines of the sketches that inspired them but I was always trying to do it from a sheet of white paper. Now finally the shades of black spoke loud enough for me to hear!

I totally digress from what I really wanted to write about,  this Sunday, May 20th at BWAC. Aside from several really interesting shows – the national juried show Wide Open #9 in our ground floor gallery, members exhibit in bays 1 & 2 on the second floor and the juried Recycled show in bay 2’s center aisle. Time your visit so you end up in the cafe/stage area first for two or three docu-films about making art from found objects or trash followed by a discussion with several artists. That will be followed by John Istel’s Word Cabaret for an afternoon of persona performance poetry at 4pm until 5:30 with “I’m Talking To You …” .

But don’t forget to first look at my piece in the juried show downstairs and then stop by and say hello to me at the second floor desk on your way to view my works on panel #152 in bay 1.

Catching Up With Myself

So BWAC opened today to a huge crowd in spite of the horrible weather or maybe because of it. It was a great place to be on such a crummy, rainy, chilly day if only because you could be inside but mostly because of the two floors with its three bays of art and live music and for the opening food. Getting my artwork ready for the show is always an overwhelming challenging yet highly pleasurable adventure. I go in with an intention and then it tells me its purpose and I love the surprise of its reveal. This is or I should now say was my panel at BWAC for its spring show called Transformation. I say was because the piece in the upper left hand corner sold this afternoon.

It and the one below it are created from my collection of sketches drawn on the subway. The show as I said is called Transformation and there is a booklet attached showing the sketches that became transformed into these paper collages.

After I installed my panel I left my studio in its chaos because I wanted to continue in this same vein and cleaning up is how I clear out my brain. However after a walk in he park with a friend one day and a lovely afternoon lunch in the garden with other friends the next day, when I returned to my studio I had changed and the work had morphed into something different. After days in the light feeling the onset of spring I did this

I had wanted for the longest time to do pieces where the figures were appearing out of the background and it was always out of whiteness as the background. But as I said while sitting in the light with the warmth of the sun n my skin, laughing and enjoying a great meal with friends I came home and showed how I love sitting in darken rooms having my soul filled with the warmth of live music. So I am now working on a series of this life (light) that comes out of the dark and makes us dream.

So come to BWAC in Red Hook and see the wealth of interesting creative sculptures, paintings and photography and then of course my paper collages. I also have a collage piece downstairs in the national juried Wide Open exhibit and upstairs in bay 2 aside from our members exhibit there is the exhibit of artwork made from Recycled materials. so please forgive my delay in getting this to you but I almost always fail at getting the business of art out there while immersed in the joy of making art.

ART TOURS & SPRING

Spring may be holding back but a new season of art to inspire the imagination will still blossom for 2018 in just two more weeks. While the bears were hibernating and other forms of life lay dormant I found solace in my studio. Please come and see what I and others of the Arts Park Slope/Windsor Terrace Artists have been up to this winter. There is a hint of new things to come in State Assembly Member Robert Carroll’s office window at 416 Seventh Avenue where I am exhibiting with a few other artists from ARTSpswt.

 

But this will only give you a taste of what is to be seen at the Ossam Gallery where in two weeks for two weekends I will be exhibiting with 18 other artists   Food and drinks at the opening.

Ossam Gallery @ 3 Seventh St. btwn 5th & 4th  EXHIBITION OPENING April 20th 5 TO 7 pm. Hours ~ April 20th to 22nd – 1pm to 7pm, April 27th to 29th – 1pm to 7pm.

That second weekend several of our artists will be also show with the South Slope Open Studio Tour April 28th & 29th 12 noon to 6 pm. So to help warm the senses and get ready for spring put on your walking shoes, bring your friends and come enjoy some visual stimulation.

 

 

STILL LOOKING FOR IDEAS

Need that perfect little (or big) hostess gift for someone special and you wonder what?

Maybe a small dish to fill with your homemade cookies they just love each year. $35 each

Something a little larger they can serve you your favorite side when you come over. $60

Or something a little smaller or larger in an oval or even more than one. $35 t0 $80 each

Their favorite flavor of tea and a unique set of cups and saucers ($75) or the tray alone for those mornings in bed or afternoons on the couch with an engaging new book. ($80)

AFTER THE STUDIO TOUR WISH LIST

So you went on the Park Slope/Windsor Terrace open Studio Tour and it was just show and tell for you. But now its after Thanksgiving and you are totally ready to think about the holidays and gift giving or something new for your home to make it looks special.
Winter is bound to come at some point and then a cup of tea for two would be perfect. Teapots priced $100 to $140.

Or maybe you are having guest for dinner and want to set a table that is special or you want someone to know you think that they are very special and unique to you with a gift.

Maybe just to show how special the evening is or they are to you its a black tie affair and you want to not only dress yourself but dress the table as well. Tablewear returns ($120)

Or maybe your appetite wants to travel to foreign places and you would like your table to follow suit. The Egyptian Napkin Rings with 100% cotton napkins can be sold in sets of two ($65), four ($120) or six ($180) or Africans with cotton gauze napkins in a set of four.

Maybe you want to make a statement with the leaf dish in a variety of shapes and colors.

Use them for guest soaps, votive candles, jewelry, keys bread dish or you tell me what they can be. For just $20 each mix and match.

Or is it your walls longing for something new but don’t forget art makes a great gift too!

Wait! I was about to sign off totally forgetting another returnee re-imagined and special. The Japanese wall hooks with bamboo plaque to hold scarves or ties, keys, jewelry, soaps and guest towels. Once again don’t let me put limitations on your imagination. $70 each.

That’s all for now. See that thing you want or need, email me and set up an appointment.

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NOV. 2017 PS-WT OPEN STUDIO TOUR

Working link to PS/WT open studio tour
Almost as soon as the one year ends its time to start on the next so I feel like I’ve been working on things for this years tour since last year. I know the planning begins at least six months ahead so the work just never ends. I had planned to write about what to do with what you already have that will take you someplace new and do a little food talk but life had other plans. So now you will just have to come and see for yourself at this years 2017 Park Slope-Windsor Terrace Open Studio Tour. Click on the poster below and see

Be sure to also check out the work of Victoria Beerman, She will be here with her silk scarves but on her site you can check out her other work. Plus Lynn Goodman will also return with her colorful functional pottery. So three flights of stairs three artist, three times the experience of exploring art from many different directions.

Take another look at the images below to see all the different things I will be showing from the paper collage portraits to ceramic landscapes to dinnerware. The dinnerware includes the return of my functional art napkin rings which I am always telling people to take off the wall and use on their tables and unique serving bowls and platters.

Thank you again everyone who came to the Gowanus open studio tour and if you saw something you liked and weren’t ready to shop yet here is another opportunity to get a head start on the holidays or gift the walls of your home with a ceramic city-scape.