Ryan Coover’s River Blooms II, 2011 at Wally Workman Gallery
Last weekend, we finally made it out to Wally Workman Gallery to see the group show “Rivers.” So much excellent work! I was particularly interested in seeing two paintings by Ryan Coover, which were whimsical abstractions that seemed to contain microscopic life seen up a little closer. His two larger paintings were both beautiful and fascinating.
I also really enjoyed the wonderful luminous colors in the large and small abstract oil paintings by Joyce Howell, and the lovely large worlds created by Saliha Staib. Neighbor Jennifer Balkan’s paintings are always a delight to view; I love her hunky application of paint!
Well, instead of reading my blatherings about how much I enjoyed all of the work in the show, why don’t you check out these photos I took of some of the paintings there:
I was so thrilled to be selected for the 2011 People’s Gallery Exhibition at the Austin City Hall. One of my paintings, “Luminous Future,” was selected from among 1400 pieces entered by 325 local artists and arts organizations. This year the jurors were: Carla Nickerson, artist and Production Coordinator for ProArts Collective; Johnny Walker, artist; and Herlinda Zamora, Culture and Arts Education Manager, Mexican American Cultural Center. The exhibition was finalized and designed by Jean Graham, the City’s Exhibition Coordinator. (Thanks, everyone, for including me!).
I thought I was feeling better from several days of allergy-related illnesses, so Terry and I got spiffed up and headed downtown. We arrived at the City Hall just in time to hear a few words from the mayor, and to see Caprice Pierucci receive her People’s Choice award for her piece in the 2010 Exhibition.
Jill Alo’s painting “Big Skies, super hot” on the left and Ethan Azarian’s “Herd of Shoes” on the right
It was wonderful seeing so many of my art friends there, and that so many of them were also selected for this show! Jill Alo and I were beginning painting and drawing students together in Minnie Miles’ classes at ACC back in the ’80s before she moved on to UT and I went up to SAIC. We also worked together at a framing shop while in school. We have been good friends ever since, and have been in several critique groups and art exhibitions together, so I was so happy to see her very sunny piece in this show.
Sandy Lowder’s painting “Night Lotus Pool”
I also have exhibited and been in critique groups with Sandy Lowder, whose lovely large painting was hung right next to mine. I love the abstract qualities that she always infuses into her paintings (which frequently begin in a figurative way).
Gladys Poorte’s “How Did it Come to This?”
Gladys Poorte also has an awesomely beautiful painting in this exhibition. Jill, Sandy, Gladys, and I were all in the “Topographies” show together at Studio2 Gallery in 2003, along with 4 or 5 other artists.
Kristy Battani’s “Dry Creek”
Kristy Battani from the Texas Wax organization, of which I was a part for a couple years, had a lovely encaustic work in this show, too.
There were several other friends and acquaintances whose work is in the show, but (for some reason) I did not get photos of their pieces during the opening (I simply must go back!).
Take a gander at the photos I did get below, and if you’re in Austin, I highly recommend taking an hour or so someday to go see all the awesome paintings, drawings, prints, sculptures, assemblages, and installations in this show. You can even vote for your favorite piece.
The show is at the Austin City Hall through January 13, 2012, exhibited in the hallways, conference rooms, lobbies, balconies, large stairwells, and in the Mayor’s office–all throughout the first 3 floors of the City Hall. Mine is #92, in The Economic Growth and Redevelopment Services Office hallway on the second floor. Hours are from 8am-5pm M-F.
Just a reminder that I had a painting selected from over a thousand submissions of paintings, sculptures, photographs, and more for the 2011 People’s Gallery Exhibition.
The opening is tomorrow night from 6-9pm at City Hall and features over 100 artworks from Austin-area artists, galleries, museums, and art organizations displayed throughout the first three floors of City Hall.
Short films selected for the 2011 Faces of Austin multimedia program will have a premiere screening in City Council Chambers, starting at 7 p.m. And in the Atrium, enjoy music by The Djembabes and refreshments courtesy of Whole Foods Market.
Get updated event and parking information at Austin Art in Public Places
If you go to the opening, look for me and/or my painting somewhere in that space!
Sculpture “Plucky” by Dominique Vyborny at the Pump Project Arts Complex during E.A.S.T. 2010
Full Day of Visiting Artist Studios, Last Day of E.A.S.T.
I decided to spend the final day of EAST visiting more artists’ studios rather than hanging around The Vortex. If you came to see me at The Vortex yesterday, my apologies for not being there; if you’d like to see more of my paintings, you can always schedule a private visit at my home studio; just contact me and we’ll set something up.
Robbie Ortiz – Seated Woman
I started at neighbor Robbie Ortiz’s studio, where he and fellow painter Stephen Schwake were showing their work. Robbie does some amazing cubistic paintings and drawings; visit his website at: RobbieOrtiz.com.
Stephen does large paintings and drawings influenced by “80’s skateboard graphics, hot rods, science, stained glass, American roots music, mid-century modern design, art history, and World War II fighter planes.” His site is StephenSchwake.com.
Court Lurie – Aspects
Next, I headed down to the Artpost, where I visited with Court Lurie for a bit. I really love her abstract paintings! Court is very deservedly a rising star in the Austin art world.
I popped my head into a few other studios; there’s a glass artist named Nicholas Dertrien who is doing some pretty amazing blown glass sculpture of the human body, some complete with (what I think are) internal organs.
I also peeked at the work of sculptors/installation artists Scott Proctor and Marianne McGrath.
Also poked my head into the studios of Alicia Hartzell, Amber Kappes, Erika Jaeggli, Mark Johnson, Katherine Sheehan, Leanne Venier, Darvin Jones, Paul Alix (illustrator, very funny guy), Scott Ewen, Audrey Lopata (awesome kids illustrator), and Lana Waldrep.
Keva Richardson – Raindrops and Grass
Then I drove up to the Pump Project Satellite, where I met painter Keva Richardson (love her work), and visited with good friend Jill Alo at Women Printmakers of Austin, where I also ran into friend and fellow encaustic artist Maggie Jordan. Popped into Damon Arhos studio, too.
Then I walked down to Big Medium (the folks that started all this), viewed the show at the gallery, visited with encaustic painter Kristy Darnell Battani, abstract painter Rebecca Bennett, and said Hi to Judy Paul above the crowd that always surrounds her. 🙂
Rebecca Bennett – painting
Stopped in to see Daphne Holland’s new work, and chatted with Juan Moreno, two more encaustic artists from Texas Wax. Stopped into Bay6 Studio, where I talked to Kevin Kuhn briefly (he’s taken over the Texas Wax website, bless his heart), and Sharon Kyle Kuhn, the encaustic artist who started the Austin Chapter of Texas Wax.
Jennifer Chenoweth – Red Zip
By this time, it was after 5:30, and I still had at least 6 more artists on my must-see list but knew I only had time for one more. So I zipped over to Jennifer Chenoweth‘s to see her new work and the work of Virginia Fleck. Her work is always so interesting, and her home itself is an amazing work of art! Good call: Jennifer very kindly packed up a bowl of her delicious chicken pesole to take with me after my very brief visit.
And that, my friends, was my whirlwind one day tour of EAST 2010 (seeing only about 1/10th of the artists participating this year).
View some photos from the ArtPost and the Pump Project Arts Complex in this gallery.
Sculpture by Hank Waddell and paintings by Shawn Camp at Shawn Camp’s studio during E.A.S.T. 2010
An artist is not an isolated system. In order to survive he has to interact continuously with the world around him… Theoretically there are no limits to his involvement.— Hans Haacke
EAST Artists Tour
This year, for the first time, artists were able to visit other artists’s studios on a few weeknights in the week between the two EAST public tour weekends. This is a really great development! A major drawback of being a participating artist in EAST these past years has always been that you’re stuck at your own studio and can’t get out to see new work, new artists, new spaces, new ideas, and visit with your artist friends. It was one of the main reasons why I didn’t open my studio last year, and instead spent the time visiting as many artists and studios as I could comfortably squeeze in.
The folks who organized this actually pulled it off more or less at the last moment, so I think that not all the artists were even aware of it. I found out too late to make it during the first two nights, but managed to get to three artist’s studios on the third night.
Jennifer Balkan Poof!, 2010, 30″ x 30″, oil on birch with map fragments and ink
First, I got to visit with neighbor and painter extraordinaire Jennifer Balkan. Jennifer is a very painterly figurative painter who often uses bits of maps in her work (and she’s really, really nice!). I saw her work during the very first EAST Tour that I visited—maybe it was #2 in 2004 (when there were only 51 locations)—and I was blown away by her work then.
Jennifer just gets better and better, and her work is currently included in this great invitational “Women Painting Women” show at Robert Lange Studio in Charleston. You can see the show and read the articles from American Art Collector, ArtMag, & Art See at: Robert Lange Studio, and you can visit her website and see more of her work and info at: JenniferBalkan.com.
Ines Batllo – “Under” – oils on board
Next, I visited with neighbor, friend and painter Ines Batllo in her wonderful new studio. Ines is a Catalan painter whose paintings in oil and encaustic are skillful, deep, and full of soul. She’s doing some very interesting three-dimensional work with encaustic. She and I were having such a great conversation that I forgot to take any photos there, but you can view her work online at: inespaintings.com.
Shawn Camp – oil on canvas
My last visit of the evening was to Shawn Camp’s studio, with Shawn Camp’s paintings and Hank Waddell’s sculptures.
Shawn’s paintings are so luscious; they are very thick with gorgeous paint, and I just want to roll in them (like in the movie “What Dreams May Come”). His work also references the landscape from an aerial perspective. I first saw Shawn’s work at the Davis Gallery in 2006, when he showed with the awesome sculptor Caprice Pierucci, and I just fell in love Shawn’s work at that time (and Caprice’s!).
Well, I fell heads over heels in love with one particular little painting of Shawn’s this night, and so, soon I will be able to look at it every day. Yes! I am buying a small painting from Shawn, and I could hardly be more excited! (EAST folks, take note: The EAST Artists Tour is definitely worth it for artist and artist alike!). 🙂
See more of Shawn’s gorgeous paintings at ShawnCamp.net.
Sculptor Hank Waddell’s work is very cool, and so is he. He uses a lot of construction materials in his work, makes beautiful and intriguing sculptures in wood, bamboo, metal, foam and more. He also creates some very cool (and affordable) lead airplanes, and is always, always surprising. Hank was one of the very few artists chosen for the 24th “New American Talent” at Arthouse’s Jones Center. The work was selected by New American Talent juror, Hamza Walker, Curator and Director of Education, The Renaissance Society, The University of Chicago.”
I met Hank when he was president of the Texas Society of Sculptors, and I was taking over as webmaster. We’ve both since moved on from our positions at TSOS, but we have stayed friends, and I designed his newest website. To see Hank’s fantastic and fun work, visit his site at: HankWaddell.com.
The Drishti Dancers performing at The Vortex, East Austin Studio Tour 2010
Participating as an Artist at The Vortex
This year’s East Austin Studio Tour was great, as always! I had my paintings up at The Vortex, and hung out there for 3 of the 4 days of the tour. Sold some work, met some people, visited with friends, and had a good time enjoying the other events at The Vortex (belly dancing, hula-hooping, musical performances, aerial dancing, trapeze). Oh, I didn’t participate in any of those; I merely enjoyed watching them.
The Nematoads play at The Vortex, E.A.S.T. 2010
One of the several musical highlights for me was a 60’s style surf band called the Nematoads. Think The Ventures, only really fast! They are a 5-piece band with a fabulous drummer, bass, guitar and a horn section. They played a very high-energy rock-n-roll set, and were pretty awesome. The crowd loved them; they had hula-hoopers out there hooping it up through their whole set.
When: Saturday and Sunday, November 13-14, 21-22, 2010 11am-6pm.
CircX VorteX, November 14 7pm.
Where: The VORTEX, 2307 Manor Rd. Austin, TX 78722
Free Admission!
The VORTEX and CHULA present 2 weekends of visual and performing arts for the East Austin Studio Tour. Each day of the tour, visual artists display their work while performing artists provide demonstrations and performances. See the full list of daily events at the Vortex website.
The Vortex is Exhibition Space # E28 on the EAST map.
Visual Artists from the Cherrywood Neighborhood include:
Carolyn Green + Katinka Pinka, Mother-daughter team devoted to multi-media collage art, clothing, and accessories from recycled materials, www.katinkapinka.com
Cassandra Ramirez, ceramic artist showing bowls and succulent planters.
Cedar Stevens, hoopster and herbalist, Hoops by Hullaba Loola and Natural Magick Shop
Jeff Woodruff, art jeweler, painter and mobile sculptor, www.metalicity.com
Demonstrations and performances each day between 11am and 6pm of EAST include work by Sky Candy Aerial Collective, Drishti Dancers, John Steven, and Tyler, Abigail and Hansel, Nematoades, Haun’s Mill, Los Super Avengers, and Sticky Fingers Fashion Fragrance Show.
CircX VorteX returns with a fall installment at 7pm on November 14. This Free Circus Arts show features Aerial arts by Sky Candy, Drishti Dancers, live music, and more. Donations accepted to support the artists and the venue.
At least, that was the top occupational match for me yesterday in an occupational skills test I took online at O*NET OnLine. Whodda thunk?
Well, here’s the thing I have to wonder, does everyone show up as a potential nuclear engineer?
Maybe I overestimated my skillsets, who knows? Why not a rocket scientist? Science is one of my favorite non-art/design subjects, and I think that artists and scientists have more in common with each other than they have differences. Both are intensely curious, both are creative, and both like to experiment and see…what will happen if I do this?
I took a paper-and-pencil type of occupational test the 3rd time I was in college decades ago when I was on my 5th major. What that test did that this test didn’t was ask questions about preferences–do you like to work with your hands, is your working environment important to you–things like that. ‘Cuz I gotta tell you, I would not be interested in most of the occupations on that list. Nothing in the medical field–I am the most squeamish person I know! Sales engineer? What is that? A salesperson? Definitely not my strong suit.
But the cool thing about this occupational test is that you can look at all sorts of occupations and see if you might have the skills that your desired occupation requires.
So I looked at “27-1013.00 – Fine Artists, Including Painters, Sculptors, and Illustrators.” Dig it: my occupation of choice uses many of the skills that I have. It shows that my other occupations (the ones that pay the bills), “27-1024.00 – Graphic Designers” and “15-1099.04 – Web Developers,” use most of the same skills as fine art–with a few more here, a few less there–and other than time and money management (which I’m getting better at), I’m good!
Here’s the thing: a lot of the skills I now possess I did not have when I was 20 or 30 or–well, let’s stop there. A lot of the skills required for the types of work I do, I developed along the way in order to do the types of work I do. I’m pretty sure I never would have thought about learning any kind of computer programming had the web not come along.
And the website shows, in summary, and in detail, the Tasks, Knowledge, Skills, Abilities, Work Activities, Work Context, Job Zone, Interests, Work Styles, Work Values, Related Occupations, and Wages & Employment Trends. You can also create a Custom Report, which I haven’t tried yet, but it looks cool.
I think this website could be an extremely useful tool for anyone still trying to make a future career decision. For me, it’s just confirmation. Check out the O*NET OnLine occupational skills test and see what you think. I’ve love to know if “nuclear engineer” ranks high on everyone’s list!
Oh, this is a lovely time-waster…or inspiration-finder.
You can search by any topic; I search for painters frequently; there’s some really good stuff out there that I might never have seen otherwise, some not-so-good stuff, some very useful sites, and a few things you may have already seen rather frequently. Check it out.
Dear Readers,
