More DBG

My second week of tai chi was as good as the first, and though I'd planned to leave after class and "be productive," the garden had other plans for me. Class was moved to a building deep within the garden, so I had to give in and wander along another pathway after class, enjoying the fresh air and smells of plants and dirt after yesterday's serious rain. The birds seemed particularly happy too. I've included another of Alan Houser's sculptures in this photo journal, and the stunning-against-the-blue-sky Chihuly, also.







The leaves of the cottonwoods were just dancing on the breeze - we don't get that kind of leaf-rustling in AZ very often.








Alan Houser, "Embrace"

Desert Botanical Garden, Tempe AZ

A great way to start the new year has been taking a Tai Chi class held in the DBG - but the best part is that it gets me to the garden every week! As if the class wasn't relaxing and rejuvenating enough.... another hour wandering amidst the gardens is amazing. Sometimes I can find a path that hides me from view of any other humans - I get to pause in a secluded spot and watch quails, lizards, and the ever-amusing cactus wrens.

The plants in the garden are works of art - some of them even remind me of some artists that I work with! Looking forward to my next class this Weds.

A beautiful place to wait for Tai Chi class to start......








This giant yucca reminded me of CA artist Randy Strong's glass sculptures.






Artist Alan Houser has a joint exhibition of his work at DBG and The Heard Museum in Phoenix. Love how this sculpture juts skyward just like the yucca behind it.

SOFA Chicago Part 2: Closure....

As I seem to have never found the time to write all the words I meant to about November 2009's SOFA Chicago, I'm going to post the pictures as that's what really matters in the end. Enjoy! I'm sorry there are no significant captions - this is driven by my need to simply move on to the new year.... I promise to do better in the future.


Feminine Mystique
I found an interesting trend of traditionally feminine works at SOFA - delicate stitches, lace-bound books, purses, dresses.... enjoyed seeing this theme amidst the bold, shiny objects that abound....
























This fascinating woven glass work kept me coming back again and again - little glass bolts woven together with copper wire, threaded or crocheted through with the fuzziest purple fiber.... very unique!

FIBER.....


As always, beautiful work by Barbara Lee Smith at Snyderman-Works Gallery.


Vivid bright colors in a dramatic large textile work by Joy Saville, also at Snyderman-Works.


Gorgeous stitches by Hilde Morin at Maria Elena Kravetz Gallery. I liked these intimate little works the best.


Intriguing layers by Jeanne Raffer Beck, also at Maria Elena Kravetz.


And the glass.. the glass........

Randy Strong... the agave plants I saw recently at the Desert Botanical Gardens reminded me so much of his work...


Standards: Therman Statom and Danny Perkins...


Another stunning display of Czech glass. Always powerful.


New body of work by Jamie Harris - love the fluidity of color.


Long-time favorite artist Stephen Dam - thrilled to see his show pretty much sold out.


More beautiful work by Cassandria Blackmore...


Alex Bernstein, who also gave a wonderful lecture at SOFA....


And Phoenix favorite David Bennett!




Mmmmmmm..... clay..........

ASU Professor Susan Beiner had a fantastic, intricate installation....



Compelling and unique: Dirk Staschke at Wexler Gallery.




Birds were also seen throughout the fair, and not just flying overhead in the cavernous space.


Beautiful evolution of Myung-Jin Kim's work at Ferrin Gallery.


Vivid colors and pop shapes were prevalent this year, and overall the fair was well-curated, well-attended, and reasonably well-bought. Here's to better years and adventurous dealers, may we match the daring of our artists!

SOFA Chicago Part 1: Skulls and Shiny Things

Good evening from sunny Chicago! It's been a gorgeous day for fair-goers, and we're all grateful for the pleasant weather. Makes for a much nicer fair. This will be a quick post as it's late! Just got home from a very nice post-opening dinner with painter Joanne Mattera, and gallerist Melanee Cooper and her artists: Julie Karabenick and Kathleen Waterloo both opened excellent shows tonight. I'll fill in the gaps tomorrow and post more pictures and more details.


View from the Pier this afternoon.

Some common images running through the fair were skulls, animals and metallic thread. Very interesting - maybe I'll see different patterns when I walk through tomorrow, but these elements were definitely prevalent and actually well-used. Here are a couple of skulls (all seemed to be glass). I won't have all the gallery and artist credits tonight, but will fill them in shortly.



William Morris - skulls, animals - a lot of nice pieces.

To give you a taste of the show, here are some subjectively-chosen works: all artists that work with Cervini Haas Fine Art. Great job all!

Jennifer Falck Linssen showing a nice transition to wall pieces at Del Mano Gallery.


Gorgeous new glass works by Jamie Harris - can't wait to get some of these for CHFA!


J Paul Fennell at Del Mano - delicate, precise, an impressive offering of new pieces.


I love Bennett Bean's wall tiles - this asymmetrical work is brand new and is a strong new step in Bean's work.


Adrian Arleo has a beautiful installation at Jane Sauer Gallery - sensitive honeycomb works of thoughtful female nudes.


GREAT new graphic work by Steven Heinemann. Very pleased to see it on the wall.


Three new glass sculptures by Danny Perkins - they have such a grace and elegance to them, they remind me a bit of seaweed waving underwater.

This evening's opening at Melanee Cooper Gallery on Franklin St. was packed. Julie Karabenick's geometrically abstract, eye-popping acrylic paintings were intense and vibrant:


Kathleen Waterloo paints with encaustic so thick and richly colored they reminded me of quilts from a distance - lots of dimension, texture, definition. Congratulations on a fantastic show! And thank you to Melanee Cooper for a truly enjoyable dinner after - the food and, most of all, the company - at Costa's Greek restaurant on Halsted.


Other events of the day: fiber lecture including Jon Eric Riis was inspiring; the Dale Chihuly opening at Habatat was packed - new botanical work was dramatically displayed, (but my favorite works were the Shayna Liebs in the back); and this year's slightly smaller SOFA Fair is overall a success - maybe all the more so due to its palatable size. More later.... second impressions of SOFA tomorrow! Starting the day with Jan Hopkins' lecture on her mixed media fiber works.

Anatomy of a Commission Part I

Our artists are frequently asked to create custom works for clients and public spaces. This is Part 1 of the "Evolution of a Fiber Art Commission," a custom artwork by Tim Harding for a private residence in Scottsdale Arizona.

The clients were familiar with the artist's previous work, so I met with them to show them what was new. They noted specific colors and patterns that they liked in the existing pieces, and Harding then created these swatches of color groups.


I met with the client in their AZ home to see the installation site and the surrounding artwork and furnishings. We worked together to narrow down the color selections - which is difficult when each piece of silk fabric is more gorgeous than the last!

We also chose a series of Harding's wall-hung fiber artworks to base the commission on, deciding on the "Shimmer" series.

"Golden Shimmer" by Tim Harding

Next, all my notes go back to Tim's studio and the work begins. I'll also send along photographs of the client's home so he can see the environment his work will hang in. This commission should take about 8 - 12 weeks to complete.

I'll keep you posted on the commission process and post a picture of the finished piece. This weekend, I'll be attending, and blogging about, the SOFA Chicago Art Fair.