*Spooletti Sunday~Not to be Confused with Spaghetti Sunday

I’ve had a spectacular time exploring and experiencing as much as I could possibly take in over the last two weeks of the Spoleto and Picolo Spoleto festivals here in Charleston.  This isn’t my first time attending Spoleto USA but it is my first time as a resident and living within walking distance of several of the venues.  These two festivals bring in world class talent, including musicians of all range and style, opera, chamber music, comedy acts, dance and installation and visual arts. The companion Picolo Spoleto brings many of the same kinds of performances but from a more local range of talent.

The highlights of this year’s event for me were;

Jake Shimabukaro a virtuoso Ukulele player from Hawaii, this guy can play anything on his uk!

Rebirth Brass Band, a well known New Orleans Jazz ensemble who recently won a much deserved Grammy for their funky modern and always fresh takes on the brass tradition!  Apparently they are always back home and playin local in NO on Tuesdays…

Return to the Sea:Saltworks an installation by Motoi Yamamoto at the CofC Halsey Institute.

We also caught the lovely jazz vocals of Cécile McLorin Salvant, some cool blues on the dock of Bowen’s Island by The J Edwards Band with Big Daddy Cade  and the free Picolo Sploeto finale concert at Hampton Park last PM (including Reggae and Motown bands). There were certainly a few things I really wanted to see but didn’t but I’m very grateful for everything we did get to experience!

Here are a few events from the *Spooletti Festivale you and many of the locals may have missed include the following:

Signor Agazi and his Vegetales;
This performance art piece has been acclaimed in major vegetable-producing countries around the world.
The Signor has artfully crafted as many of our vegetable friends as you can imagine from the simplest organic material, using the almost lost art of papier-mâché in the Romany manner. They’re big and they’re talking! Join the fun as the Signor interviews each one and does all the voices that so realistically bring each one alive with its own vital life story.

3½ hours, 2 intermissions.

Iron Horse Ensemble;
Join this gifted ensemble of performers in an unusual on-site work. This Dubuque-based troupe has been instrumental in renewing widespread interest in things associated with trains and their equipment for a new generation of fans. The rage in trainspotting owes much of its current popularity to this group.
Join them at the many local grade crossings to experience the excitement they bring to the movement of some truly big-ass specimens.
All aboard!
6-10 hours of non-stop pleasure viewing.
Continuing education credits available.

Socks…Socks…Socks;
This temporary touring installation supported by a generous grant from the folks at the International Garment Workers Union offers more than you can believe in its encyclopaedic display of socks through the ages. You’ll marvel at the sheer variety and abundance provided by this diverse collection of more than 12,000 pairs of socks. Be sure not to miss the special “Laundromat of the Lost” memorial tableaux.

Fishing on the Yallu River in Plum Blossom Time;
Love opera? Finally this premiere of the long-awaited US tour has arrived on our shores. This tender tale of forbidden love bewtween a fisherman and the beautiful young daughter of a brandy merchant has everything for the whole family. The dark overtones of this tale vanish in the final wondrous moments of an impeccably performed work that had crtics from Shangai to Guang Dong raving about its purity and sensuality. Real Chinese performers clad in their working class costumes elevate the soaring melodies of authentic folk classics such as, “Where is my Pencil?”, “For the Love of a Bicycle” and “Dim Sum Summer”.
You will leave the auditorium shaking your head.
2 parts, 2 evenings with catered samplings from the famous Mr. Chow’s.

Woodpecker Chorale;
last year’s hit of the fringe festivale returns with even more excitement on the main stage. Be sure to reserve early. The lines were long last year. Who would believe the cadences and dance beats from hip-hop to Mozart that these critters can produce, especially on the back of a Stradivarius? An amazing blend of nature and conservation hits the stage with the arrival of the Ivory-bill solo. Bang on a can has nothing on this!
Hourly during daylight.
Bring suet balls for ticket discounts.

Readings;
Famous best-selling author Fentwhistle Pinckney reads passages from his educative novel, “The Piazza’s of Charleston”, a companion volume to the “Chimneys
of Charleston” and “The Stoops of Wentworth Street”. Never has the life of Charlestonians behind the curtains been so barely revealed. Learn the real cause of the war between the states.

*Spooletti Festivale-A spoof written by Walt Dunlap copywrite 2012 printed with his permission here.

And I wish I could have also seen;

• Alvin Ailey dancers offering local master classes during Spoleto (charlestoncitypaper.com)
• Joy Kills Sorrow
• Traces
• & Mavis Staples

 

Friday Field Trip:: Charlotte and The Mint

On my way home from Penland I stopped and stayed with a friend in Charlotte.  We had one day to do some sightseeing and since we are both artists we decided to do a bit of window shopping and hit a museum or two.

[Side Rant:: window shopping, since most shops in Charlotte are closed on Sundays...still?  Come on, just because it's the South doesn't mean everyone wants to sit around and do nothing...geeze!]

Anywhoo, we did go to the relatively new Mint Art museum at the Uptown location.  I was so pleasantly surprised by this museum, what a wonderful collection of contemporary and older works of various mediums including paintings, sculptures, photography, fashion and various “craft” mediums such as ceramics, metals and furniture.  I thought this museum was the perfect size, not too big and not too small.  It took the two of us about 1 1/2 hrs to look at all of the exhibits (3 in total).  Some of my favorite pieces are below and I do apologize that I don’t have all the artists names for the different works.  You will just have to get yourself to the Mint the next time you are in Charlotte, you will not be disappointed.

I was able to see the Gary Noffke- Attitude and Alchemy exhibit (which is still running but only till Sunday!) and From New York to Corrymore: Robert Henri and Ireland as well as works from the permanganate collection.  Overall I was exposed to a lot of artists I was unfamiliar with and I’m so glad they are now on my radar! 

Margery Ryerson  (a student of the Robert Henri School of painting)

Lynn Mapp Drexler

Sheila Hicks

Nick Cave

Hildur Bjarnadottir an Islamic Fiber Artist living in Charlotte.

Henry Siddons Mowbray “Rose Harvest” American 1887

I don’t have the names for the following artist work but they captured my eye as part of the “permanant” collection of art and craft works.

A couple other artist work I took note of but don’t have photo’s of are Australian Fiber Artist, Annemicke Meinand French painter Maurice de Vlaminck.

Right next door to the Mint is the Bechtler Museum which we didn’t get a chance to go into but there was a sculpture exhibit of works by Niki de Sante Phalle outside across the street from the museum in the park.  These sculptures were an exploration of “mythology”, they were sparkly, larger than life, bold, colorful and quite fantastical!

Charlotte has the charm of the south but has some quite cosmopolitan museums, restaurants and really interesting architecture!  If you have the opportunity to visit Charlotte I’d certainly give 2 thumbs up to these side by side spectacular art museums!

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At Work in the Studio With::Penland Artists

For quite some time now I’ve been contemplating how to merge my love of art and design and my passion for organization.  While I was away at Penland I found a little seed that’s germinated and has been pushing it’s way slowly to the surface.  In that wonderful nurturing and creative environment I spent a lot of time walking around and observing other artists, their “studio” (albeit temporary for most) spaces and the work being created.  One particular evening we were visiting the Resident artists studio’s and the idea really struck me to start a blog interview series with artists about their sense of or lack of organizational skills and how that affects their work.

Above and Below::Studio space of Jewelry Artist Jeong Ju Lee

Above and Below::Studio space of Daniel Marinelli

Below::Studio space of Textile Artist and Weaver Robin Johnston

Today I’m bringing you the introduction to this new series.  I can’t promise how frequently I will be doing interviews, much of that depends upon who I’ve come across and their willingness to share their organization or lack of.  For many artists and creative types being organized is just not a big priority and often staying organized is a struggle.  Revealing this to the world may not be something many artists are willing to share.   So many people continue to feel embarassed or asshamed about being disorganized but I am here to say that EVERYONE struggles with organization in some area of their life (or has in the past).

Above and Below::Studio space and workshop of Woodworker Tom Shields

Upon speaking with many artists though I’ve come to realize that for all of us there is a cycle to the way we work.  We carve out a space, gather the materials we think we might need to begin and we dig in.  For some creators they need to end each work day (or session) with a bit of re-organizing and tidying up.  Others will continue to work right along side the ever growing piles of detritus, materials, abandoned projects, dishes, tools and whatever else accumulates.   Some artists can go days, weeks or months before they feel the need to stop and tidy up again.  What prompts this action?  Is it the completion of a big project or a feeling of distraction or getting stuck?

Above and Below:: Iron Forging workshop

Above and Below:: Woodworking workshop and workbenches of student artists

I wonder for each of us, how does the order or chaos of our working environment impact the artwork we create?  When you look at someone’s artwork is there any clue as to their working methods?  Could you venture to guess if they are organized or dis-organized?  How does our environment help or hinder our creations as artists?  These are all questions I am interested in exploring further as we meet other artists and discuss their working methods, see behind the scenes into their working spaces and perhaps learn some organizing tips from some of them.

Above and Below:: Metal Casting studio workbenches of student artists and the instructor

Above and Below::Studio workspace of Bookmaking student artists

Above and Below::Studio work spaces of Letterpress student artists

Above and Below:: Studio work spaces of Encaustic student artists and instructor

As I wandered from studio to studio observing and speaking with artists about how they work and taking photographs I found that most of the time people tried to tidy up when I asked if I could photograph them and or their spaces.  “No” I said, I want to capture you the way you really work.  I really appreciate the willingness of all these artist to allow me to share their working spaces with you here.

Above:: studio workspace of fellow surface design artist Kathleen Bennett Bastis

Call to action::If you are an artist and feel you are particularly organized or dis-organized and want to share your working practices and space I’d love you to comment here or email me.

Above:: studio work space of my instructor Jason Pollen;>)

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Textile Tuesday::What I made at Summer Camp

Now that summer is almost over and school’s back in session I need to wrap up my experience at Penland.  I’ve been writing for the last few weeks about my whole experience  but haven’t really posted much about what I made personally.  There was more experimentation than finished product but I’ll be sharing some of my creations.  I took with me my sewing machine and, several bins of materials (paper, fabric, threads, inks, brushes and more) even though I knew I wouldn’t use it all.  I wanted to have enough variety for whatever we ended up doing since I wasn’t quite sure other than “mixed media” surface design.

Lets begin with some of the more informal exercises.  As I mentioned in my previous post here, we began working on black museum board in an 8″ x 8″ format.  We started with limited supplies, gesso, inks and colored pencils.  Here are a few of them in progress on my large almost 10′ x 3′ (fabulous!) work space.  Man I loved having all that room to spread out!  I was able to get messy and still have room to work!  I’m going to start talking more about this subject here on my blog because I became a little obsessed with observing how other artists work, are they neat and orderly or totally messy?  At what point do you stop and clean up your space because it’s too messy?  These are some of the questions I started asking fellow artists…but getting back to the class:)

Some of the pieces above came home with me unfinished and I’m continuing to work on them a little at a time but below are some details of completed pieces.

I loved how expressive, spontaneous and painterly these exercises were.  I found working on the black background both challenging (seeing colors in a new way) and liberating (leaving my “typical” color combinations behind).  I thought that the square format would be good for me (i.e. challenge me even more) because one of the things I really wanted to explore at Penland was my understanding of composition.  Sure, I’ve got degree’s in art but my past 12 years as a designer of repeat patterns has stunted my ability to create artwork with “proper” composition.  I found this out as I began to explore photography.  As a designer I tend to center or repeat things out in a certain manner so I wanted to throw that aside while there and focus on understanding composition better. 

Another very fun and liberating part of the class were the quick 15-30 min exercises we spent each morning exploring a certain mood, idea or expressing a feeling (these were centered around the discussions of various Astrological signs).  I had gone with certain expectations of this class (I tried not to but inevitably there were some) and I didn’t realize how much expressive drawing and painting we would be doing.  Some of these exercises were quite large in scale (compared to 8″ squares) and I enjoyed the movement involved in creating these!   Sometimes you’ve got to get your body MOVING to make ART!

We continued to work on these quick exercises at the beginning of each class almost to the end.  Sometime after the first few days we began to explore other ideas and expand beyond the small format and black background.  That’s when we started (not the whole class but some of us) experimenting with rust dying on fabrics.

We did a whole batch of scraps to see what kind of results we liked and from there I decided to create a silk scarf using the rust dying technique and some shibori pleating.  I had particularly liked the results of a couple of pieces of metal from our experiments so I used them to wrap my pleated scarf around.

Since this was quite a large scarf I used 2 pieces of metal and pleated and rolled from both ends to create different effects on both sides.  Then I used a wire that would rust to secure the whole bundle.  

This is what the bundle looked like after 24 hours and before I unwrapped it.  Promising but a little un-nerving.  There’s something exciting about the juxtaposition of using these industrial rusty, dirty metal pieces to “Dye” this beautiful delicate, “precious”, pure white organza silk!

I’m so glad I photo documented this unwrapping process!  I love the swirly shapes created by one particular piece of metal and once this was un-pleated and unrolled completely it would never look exactly like this again.

This is how it looked completely unfolded.  I love the results and it’s got me hooked on rust dyeing.  But wait, I wasn’t finished yet!  I decided to take this another step and I over dyed part of this with a coffee/tea stain using a bound shibori process to resist a large portion of the scarf from being dyed.

I let it dry and in the meantime spent some time trying to learn how to create a rolled hem with the appropriate presser foot.  I wasn’t pleased with the results so I decided to bring it home with me and create a hand rolled hem to finish it.  When I got home though, I decided to do a little more experimenting with the machine rolled hem and to my surprise I was able to find a great tutorial and with a little experimentation I was confident it would turn out successful so I bravely finished the two ends (the sides are selvedge edges).

I am totally happy with the results of the finished scarf and I have plans to create more, similar pieces in the future!  I’ve always loved shibori and dying but have been hesitant to continue to use chemical dyes as I get older.  I’ve experimented enough with them over the years but I don’t want to prolong my exposure to them.  The process of rust dying opened my eyes to a whole new medium to explore, along with other natural dying processes.

The finished piece has been over dyed with the coffee/tea stain on one side which created a beautiful grey which occurs naturally as the tannins in the tea react to the rust.  The neutral colors of this scarf are so versatile and sophisticated!

I may finish this piece off with a few beads at the ends to give it a little extra pizzaz but nothing flashy.  I love the simple beauty of it.  As you can see there was a lot of exploration and self expression that came out of this class for me.  I’ve got some other bits I worked on as well that I’ll probably share down the road but this give you a good idea of the amount and kind of work we did within the two week class.  It was fabulous!

 

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Friday’s Field Trip::Penland Surface Design Class

I’m finally getting around to sharing the ART part of my experience at Penland.  It was such an inspiring time.  I loved the energy of working in the studio every day with a variety of other artists.  I don’t really have a studio space at home so I often feel guilty if I leave my art supplies out for a long period of time but for me I need to be able to walk away and come back to my work.  I learned a lot about how I like to work while I was there.

Knowing yourself as an artist means knowing how you like to work, for what period of time, when to step away from something and knowing when to push through and let the inspired moment sweep you away.  Being in a class for the first time since some graduate classes I took back in 2004 offered the balance of exploration and structure which also helped me grow as an artist tremendously.  The irony of this is that as a designer I was trying to loosen up and allow myself to be more free and expressive (and abstract).  Each day our instructor began the class with short exercises that allowed us to be gestural, free, expressive and not to over think what we were doing.  These were fantastic and fun.  I didn’t always like the outcome of what I created but that wasn’t the point.  It was about just getting out of my own way and letting whatever creative expression inside the chance to escape.  Some of the works created by the class in these short exercises are below.

Another fun aspect of the class was that our instructor, Jason Pollen (check out his amazing work if you don’t know him!) used Astrology as an inspiration for us to focus our creative energy on.  Each day we discussed a different planet, the corresponding sign and the energy surrounding it.  In this way we were encouraged to channel certain emotions or energy to put into our work.  This class was primarily a surface design class and we began with limited materials and an 8″ x 8″ format using black backgrounds.  The way we see color on black is different and this encouraged each of us to shake free of the “normal” color combinations we might use.  We started with only gesso and color and eventually were encouraged to add stitching, collage or whatever else we wanted to.  I find it tremendously helpful when I’m creatively stuck to really limit my options, within more restricted boundaries I find my self stretching to explore those limitations.  After a few days experimenting and playing in this smaller format most of us began to explore other mediums and formats for our work.  A group of us in the class began raiding the iron departments scrap pile and we began experimenting with rust dying.  There is a good description of this process over here if you want to learn more about the technical aspects.  I loved how as a group we got swept up into this creative process together.

Rusty metal pieces laid out with fabric for rust dying.

Completed pieces of rust dye fabrics.

Another process we began to experiment with was Encaustic painting.  Although this was not a class in Encaustic one of our classmates was using encaustic and there was also a class being taught so those of us interested in experimenting with this process got the chance to give it a try.  As you can tell we covered a lot of ground in this class.  It was so freeing and inspiring, I came home with several new materials, techniques and ideas to work through more thoroughly.  Both Jason and our studio assistant Debra Smith were fantastic about assisting and encouraging each of us in our own directions.

Jason working on one of his stitched pieces for the auction.

Debra’s scarf and a collaborative piece by Jason and Debra, donations for the Penland fundraiser auction.

Debra modeling a purse made by one of the students for the fundraiser auction.

Below are a variety of samples of fellow classmates work and working shots.  My class mates ranged in age from 18 to over 75 and came from both the east and west coasts with all different backgrounds.  Each one of them was an inspiration to me.  I am so glad we all got to meet and work together:)  Thanks to each of you!!One of the final projects I worked on was a collaboration with 3 other students which we donated to the Penland Session 4 fundraiser auction.  I love to collaborate and this piece turned out well.  I wish I knew who bought it…

Next week I will be back to share some of the work I began personally in class.  Some of what I started is still incomplete but hopefully won’t be by the time I post again.

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Textile Thursday::Swap

I want to share the results of this great swap I did a few weeks ago.  Now that I know my partner got her postcard and I got mine I can post photos.
The 3rd Great Big Stitched Postcard Swap was hosted by Beth Nichols over at Do What you Love and this swap’s theme was LOVE!  I’ve done a lot of swaps but haven’t done any recently and this one looked like a lot of fun and was it ever!  It gave me a chance to explore some ideas I’ve been knocking around in my mind, using my photography, photo transfer on fabric and stitching.My partner, Irina over at “el petit taller“, seemed quite pleased when she got my postcard at least she sounded enthusiastic from her email!

“Hello Heather!

I received my card today and I LOVE it!!!

So much work in it! amazing, what a patience with those tiny beads!!

I’m looking at it closely and just trying to figure out how you did all those stitches.”

That’s a little secret which I will reveal soon, right here on the blog.  You may be savvy and be able to figure it out for yourselves but I was quite happy with the outcome, little fuzzy stitches sticking up and enhancing the “heart” shape of the Bleeding Heart in the photo.

The card I received in the post also did not disappoint (and having done quite a few swaps, I have to say that sometimes they do).  My partner was Lisa Pocklington of Get Smitten and she kept it a big secret from me that she had me as a partner.  She and I have had several occasions lately where our virtual paths have crossed so I was REALLY excited to open her package when I saw her name!

She used the phrase “Do What You Love-What You Do”.  It’s such a positive uplifting message and a joy to look at.  I was also really mesmerized by the technique she used on the back of using photo transfer for text and to “capture” the floating paper doily and stamp.  I just LOVE that idea!  Since I don’t crochet (not very well) I can so appreciate the beautiful signature border and the beautiful little heart fringe she created.  Isn’t it just stunning?  Check out her blog post where she has some better up close photos.  To see other fabulous post cards from this swap, check out the Flickr group.

Mundane Monday::Bread Tabs

To continue my post about using “Mundane” items in craft and art I’ll share with you a little project I began earlier this year.

I’m an artist and therefore I’m a collector (I don’t really know any artists who don’t collect SOMETHING odd or beautiful!).  Starting with stickers and stuffed animals in childhood I’ve now elevated some of my collections to things a bit more valuable but sometimes I love to collect the “Mundane”.  These types of collections usually begin with an idea or something that sparks my interest, visually or otherwise and it runs its course, I explore the possiblity and eventually let go of the collection.  Thank goodness for that because I’d probably be considered a “Hoarder” if I held onto everything that ever caught my fancy or sparked a creative idea!

So, I’ve been collecting these little colorful plastic bread tabs (tags, clips, whatever you call them) for about 2 years now, maybe even 3.  My friends and family have also been collecting little stashes of them for me.   They are always asking if I’ve started to use them yet.  “What are you doing with these again?“  “Oh, I’m not sure yet.” I say…”I’ll use them in some art project.”  Well, I finally am!  I was inspired to start playing with them about a month ago.   I love the colors and the shapes and I can’t even tell you where all I’ve found them.  Most recently I found a whole bunch at the county fairgrounds imbedded in the partially frozen gravel and dirt.  No, I didn’t sit there and chip away to get every last one but I got a few.   Like anything, once you begin looking you will see them all around.  I feel I’m picking up the currency of a future piece of artwork when I find one and this series of work is titled “Our Daily Bread”.

Here are a some of the works I’ve created so far.  They are really just studies and play, experimentation with something mundane to see where it will lead.  It may lead to more experimentation and it may lead me to a larger work, design or collection of work.  For now, I’m enjoying the “mundane” possibilities.

I’m very interested in not only exploring the form/shapes and colors but also some more esoteric meaning I’ve begun to associate with these bread tabs.  The title of the series “Our Daily Bread” refers to a Christian passage in the bible (Matthew 6:11) but I’m not really exploring anything associate with religion here.  What I am exploring are the practices of breaking bread, sharing meals and the issues surrounding food and agricultural shortage around the world and found currency.   If you have any thoughts you would like to share or comments about this new project please leave them here!

Do you collect anything “Mundane”?

I’m interested in the

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Mundane Monday::Rubber Bands

Rubber Bands may be considered by some to be mundane because they are used for all sorts of everyday things.  They stretch, they hold things together, they bunch up, they come in many colors and they can be spotted these days being used in lots of unconventional ways.  Here is a round up of some of the unusual rubber band findings including jewelry, vessels or containers some beautiful artwork!

Painted Desert Ring by Margarita Mileva

Rubber Band Dress by M2 (same artist as above)

Floral Pin by Margarita Mileva

The three pieces above are examples of work by M2-Margarita Mileva of Milev Architects where her work explores “opportunity to experiment with new design challenges, ideas, materials and forms” as seen through the eyes of an architect.  Fabulous, don’t you think?  She is certainly someone who stands out as truly innovative.

Fine Rubber Bands by RuRong

Rong Rubber Band Necklace

The two pieces of Jewelry above are by a former SCAD student who’s work I saw at the ACC show in Baltimore (2010).  I did some research and found out she is a Metals/Jewelry major and is origionally from China.  Her work may or may not be available for sale but you can get in touch with her via her Flickr account.  I love how she uses rubber bands in such an elegant way by combining them with more precious materials.

Red Rubber Band Ring by Colleen Baran

Double Rubber Band Ring by Colleen Baran

The two rings above are by Jewelry artist and designer Colleen Baran.  She blogs about her Ring A Day project over at her blog SeeSeeBe.  Check it out, she’s got some wacky and cool rings (and other stuff).

Rubber Band Cube by An Pham

Samica Rubber Band Artwork by An Pham

These two pieces of artwork are by an artist I came across on Flickr; An Pham.  I don’t really know much more about her work but she explores using other ever day materials in her artwork as well.

Vessels by Unknown artist

Rubber Band Digital Art by Patrick Gunderson

 

Long Woven Earrings by Amila Hrustic

Woven Earrings by Amila Hrustic

Necklace by Christian Diehl

Each one of these artist works with rubber bands as well as other materials, sometimes digital, sometimes photography, architecture or landscape.  The work they do explores the possibility available to each of us in what we might consider Mundane materials.  Seeing beyond the mundane to the possibilities is what makes these artist work so interesting.

What materials do you consider Mundane but worth exploring? Next week I’ll share with you a new project I’ve begun which explores the use of the “Mundane” plastic bread tabs that comes on our bread bags.

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Motif Monday::High Art vs. Street Art

Another Monday full of Motif’s for your inspired use!  Today I’m sharing images from what I’m calling High Art, murals on the ceilings and walls in cathedrals and other ancient buildings.  We visited the beautiful Saint-Martin Church in Saint-Remy-de-Provence that had a lot of great motifs on the walls and ceiling, quite deteriorated but lovely colors and timeless motifs.  This particular cathedral is famous for it’s organ and attracts some of the worlds most renowned organists for the annual festival.  This town is also famous because it’s the hometown of Nostradamus and right outside of town is the Saint Paul de Mausole hospital where Van Gogh spent time painting some of his most famous works of art.

The incredible gilded mural with the ship and peacock above right is from the Notre-Dame-de-la-Garde Basilica.  This hilltop cathedral overlooks both the city of Marseilles and the French riviera.  The inside is spectacular.  Do some searches of your own on both of these churches for other images of the details.  My photography is just a stepping stone for you to use to find other images and inspiration from these venues.

Another inspiring subject found all over France that caught my attention was Street art or Graffiti.  It came in all shapes, colors and locations and often it was quite unexpected.  I think it was the juxtaposition of the ancient buildings with these modern images and text that made for such intriguing subject matter.

Where do you find motif’s that inspire your work?  Is it historic or modern interpretations that catch your eye the most?

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Field Trip Friday::Corcoran

I recently went to the Corcoran for a lecture and while I was there I spent a bit of time browsing the exhibits.  I was particularly engaged by the work of the Spencer Fitch exhibit My Business with the Clouds.

This exhibit explores sculpture, photography, paintings and drawings that examine the relationships between science, nature and memory. More specifically he is exploring clouds through weather patterns, light and the environment.  I find it playful, exploratory and curiously observational. This exhibit closes on January 23rd so get there to see it yourself while you can.

Another contemporary exhibit currently underway is Washington Color and Light.  This exhibit showcases pieces by students and contemporaries of the Washington Color School.  These works explore abstraction from the 1950′s-70 in the regional DC area.

While your at the Corcoran you may want to take a little time to explore the permanent exhibits which include incredible contemporary, decorative, European and American art as well as photography.  A few of my favorite pieces are below.

I have tremendous respect for the Corcoran.  I attended summer art classes in sculpture there years ago and I’ve attend regular lectures and film screenings there over the years.  In a city with so many free museums it must be difficult to compete but they seem to engage with the Artist community in a way that other area museums do not.  Perhaps this is due to their commitment to arts education.

Do you have any local museums that do a particularly great job by offering engaging work, education and lectures?  If so I do hope you support them regularly.

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