Holiday show openings!

Get into the holiday spirit with inspiration from these fine galleries, all have openings this Friday:

(I have one piece in each of the Putnam and Rochester galleries)

You are invited to attend the opening of  "Trashformations: From Trash to Treasure"   Holiday Art Exhibit  Opening Friday December 2nd, 6-8pm      Silver Circle Gallery, Putnam CT  On Display November 30- December 31, 2011   The Silver Circle Gallery in Putnam, CT is proud to announce the upcoming exhibit Trashformations: From Trash to Treasure, a holiday display showcasing contemporary artwork by nineteen artists that live locally, regionally, and even internationally. The opening reception, Friday December 2nd from 6-8pm, is a free event that will allow the public to view the artwork and meet many of the artists. Co-curator and exhibiting artist Debora J. Aldo of Pietre Dure Design, is a nationally known CT -based mosaic artist who has studied with highly regarded instructors from Europe and across the US. Deb first conceptualized the show in hopes of bringing something new and unusual to the typical holiday art displays often seen in regional galleries. With that in mind, not only are the pieces chosen for the show beautiful and affordable, they make a larger statement because of their quirky origins. In a time of consumerism and waste, especially around the holidays, Deb and Silver Circle Gallery owner Carly Martin both feel that showcasing artwork that epitomizes the up-cycling trend will capture the ideal notion of downsizing in a fun, unpredictable, and meaningful way. Trashformations will feature artwork in a wide variety of mediums with a high level of craftsmanship and sophistication despite their humble origins. Included in the show are mosaics, textiles, sculpture, furniture, fashion accessories, collage, assemblage, functional home accessories, and purely conceptual artistic statements that were chosen for dramatic effect (such as a twenty foot paper mache dragon to be hung from the ceiling). Most pieces, however, are suitable in scale and price for one-of-a-kind "green" holiday gift-giving purposes. Exhibiting artists include Debora J. Aldo, Anita Gangi Balkun, Gwen Basilica, Banu Cevikel, Lisa M.Corson, Linda Dadak, Ted Demers, Jennifer Flanagan, Frances Kornbluth, Luci Lytle, Cheryl Martin, Audrey Mucci, Donna O'Scolaigh Lange, Jane Pettit, Sumukha Ravishankar, Shaun Rock, Nikki Sullivan, Carol Talkov, Kaarina Talvila, and Paul Zelanski * * *  Silver Circle Gallery is located at 75 Main Street in Downtown Putnam. Since 2008, Silver Circle has been a fresh, contemporary space where local and regional visual artists collaborate to show and sell their work, educate others, and inspire one another and their community. Visit www.SilverCircleGallery.com for more information.

At the Rochester Contemporary Art Center:

December 2 – January 8, 2012
Patron Preview: Thurs Dec. 1, 6-8pm;
     15% off any artwork purchase
Opening Reception: Dec. 2, 6-10pm
The Days the Artists Spoke: Dec. 3 & 4
Art of the Mix - Leap Day: Feb. 29, 6-8pm
     Enjoy your extra evening with Rochester's top mixologists.
     80 tickets available ($50 each) Call to purchase.
Artwork Pick-up: January 8, 5-7pm, January 9-10, 12-6pm                  
Closed to the public for Holidays: December 23-January 2
Exhibition Closes: Jan. 8, 5pm

Each year Rochester Contemporary Art Center welcomes all current members to show their artwork. Over 300 artists are participating this year!  Rochester Contemporary Art Center 137 East Avenue Rochester, NY 14604    Map 585.461.2222 www.rochestercontemporary.org

And the Wadsworth just opened their Festival of Trees, a yearly favorite!

Festival of Trees and Traditions

Welcome and celebrate the holiday season at the 38th Annual Festival of Trees & Traditions! Enjoy musical entertainment and festive family activities throughout the museum as we showcase fanciful, fabulous and romantic trees and wreaths decorated by more than 200 creative artists and individuals from our community. All trees and decorations are for sale and all profits are used to fund special exhibitions, educational programs and operating expenses. The Festival of Trees & Traditions is presented by the Women’s Committee of the Wadsworth Atheneum and made possible by support from Presenting Sponsor People’s United Bank, Silver Sponsor United Technologies Corporation, and Bronze Sponsors Bradley, Foster & Sargent and Bingham McCutchen.

For a day-by-day- schedule of Festival programs, click here.

Festival of Trees & Traditions 2011 opens December 2 and closes on December 11. 

Check in with Sean Scully

The Wadsworth Atheneum is one of my favorite places to visit, even just to recharge my artistic battery.  It's even better when they invite a renown artist to come and talk about their work!  I was first introduced to Sean Scully's paintings during my MFA critiques with master painter Stephen Brown, whose grace and knowledge I truly miss.  Stephen opened my eyes to so many amazing artists, so in Stephen's honor, here's Sean Scully.

Sean discussed his process and inspiration for his 'brick like" structured paintings.  It surprised me that many were actually built sculpturally by inserting one painting next to or into another.  He was most animated when retelling stories from his childhood in South London and how those experiences continue to enrich his artistic process. Scully's stories about his cerulean blue tricycle and describing his church 'like a drum' (candles, robes, incense) were most entertaining!

photo courtesy of Diana Guay Dixon, staff photographer for the Atheneum, check her out at:

Diana Guay Dixon

dianaguay.com

I was lucky enough to shake Sean's hand and add this to my sketchbook notes

Instant Atheneum

Sean Scully Emily Hall Tremaine Lecture in Contemporary Art presented an artist talk by contemporary artist Sean Scully on Wed. Nov. 9th. Scully, born in 1945 in Dublin, Ireland, has exhibited his work widely throughoutEurope and the United States. Among numerous solo exhibitions, he has had a major retrospective at the Whitechapel Gallery, London, in 1989 and a traveling exhibition initiated in 1995 at the Hirshhorn Museum, Washington, D.C. He is represented in the collections of numerous museums, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Museum of Modern Art and the Guggenheim Museum in New York; the National Gallery and the Smithsonian American Art Museum in Washington, D.C.; the Tate Gallery in London; the Reina Sofia in Madrid; and in many other private and public collections worldwide. Scully has twice been named a Turner Prize nominee in 1989 and 1993 and received a Guggenheim Fellowship in 1983. He currently lives in New York, Barcelona, and Munich.

Bits n pieces

Well, Alfred really knocked me out of the blog seat for a bit, but I was never too far from an art adventure. When the lights go out….go out and see art (of course!)

last week my class visited with collage artist Joy Floyd at the Hartford Public Library to see "The Good Earth" show at the Artwalk gallery.  Joy told us about her process inspired by 'old and worn things', the students especially loved the ones with jeans!

Joy's collages inspired from old quilt pieces

I also ran into Joy at another wonderful collage show, just opened at the Pond House featuring the graceful work of Nancy Doherty.  Her show "Small Stories" includes collages all created from the pages of the same book based on the Tao Te Ching (her whole body of work totals 100!). 

Nancy Doherty and Joy Floyd, Nancy's art in the background