Monthly Archives: August 2011

Social Media and the Art of Being an Artist

DoNArTNeWs logo

DoN has been bustling around the studio getting ready for POST, Philadelphia Open Studio Tours 2011.  While painting walls, rearranging furniture and making new works, DoN has been absorbed in implementing suggestions made by Todd Hestand @ The Corzo Center for the Creative EconomyDoN is improving his social networking by having DoNArTNeWs art blog synergize with the various communications options available like FaceBook (DoNArTNeWs – DoN Brewer Art Review), YouTube (DoNArTNeWs – DoNBrewerMultimedia) and Twitter (@DoNNieBeat58).  By simply consolidating the information on DoN‘s homepage, DoNBrewerMultimedia, visitors now see all the options to connect with DoNArTNeWs and DoN‘s art work. writing, information, promotions and videos in one place.

The DoNArTNeWs FaceBook fan page has been a particular challenge with interesting rewards.  When DoN posts a blog on DoNArTNeWs or Philly.SideArts, part of the process is “advertising” the story on Facebook, promoting the story on as many relevant art “fan pages” and “group pages” as possible.  The DoNArTNeWs fan page automatically posts a tweet on Twitter and already DoN is trending with new followers.  DoN has a major photography show at the Hopkins House Gallery of Contemporary Art, the FaceBook events feature is an easy way to contact all your “friends” and estimate how many people will actually show up at the event.  Here’s the rub, you may have to contact each page and person individually to “like” your page, or reciprocate your link, or comment on a post.  DoN asked Todd Hestand how much time he spends per day promoting Philly.SideArts on social networks, “About two hours.”

Video will be a big part of future DoNArTNeWs reports making YouTube integral to the whole.  With HD quality video built into most digital cameras and smart phones, it makes sense to take a little time to make a movie, especially now that iMovie is so easy.  DoN has a cache of unseen footage that has been languishing since last Summer when he had to disassemble his video suite due to unforeseen forces.  But with POST forcing a studio clean-up, soon some major stories will include video clips as well as photographs and reviews.

August turned out to be a busy, creative time for DoN, making new work, participating in art shows, published in two art books, Da Vinci Art Alliance Then and Now: 1931 – 2011 (available on Amazon.com) and 175 Years of Reflection, Laurel Hill Cemetery 1836 – 2011 (available in the Laurel Hill Cemetery gift shop, really, there’s a gift shop), well received articles at the Philly.SideArts blog and a record number of page views on DoNArTNeWs.  It is such an honor to be included in two books documenting art history in Philly and to be recognized as “the press” by so many galleries and artists.  Thank you so much to all the fans of DoNArTNeWs, the support and feedback inspires DoN to keep it up.  Look for new and improved DoNArTNeWs and Philly.SideArts stories and if you’re on FaceBook please “like” the fan pages of the organizations you support, these pages are good resources for what’s happening on the art scene in Philly and opportunities for you to participate in our burgeoning creative economy.

Philadelphia Open Studio Tours 2011 – the Trailer

Downstairs Gallery @ The Plastic Club – Marion Loippo, Kim Martin, Karl Olsen & Jane J. Wilkie

Kim Martin Downstairs Gallery @ The Plastic Club - Marion Loippo, Kim Martin, Karl Olsen & Jane J. Wilkie

Downstairs Gallery @ The Plastic ClubMarion Loippo, Kim Martin, Karl Olsen & Jane J. Wilkie

Kim Martin, Painting #2, oil.

Karl Olsen Downstairs Gallery @ The Plastic Club - Marion Loippo, Kim Martin, Karl Olsen & Jane J. Wilkie

Karl Olsen , Quilt, oil , Downstairs Gallery @ The Plastic ClubMarion Loippo, Kim Martin, Karl Olsen & Jane J. Wilkie.

Marion Loippo Downstairs Gallery @ The Plastic Club - Marion Loippo, Kim Martin, Karl Olsen & Jane J. Wilkie

Marion Loippo, Swim in the Lake, silk & velvet, Downstairs Gallery @ The Plastic ClubMarion Loippo, Kim Martin, Karl Olsen & Jane J. Wilkie.

Jane J. Wilkie Downstairs Gallery @ The Plastic Club - Marion Loippo, Kim Martin, Karl Olsen & Jane J. Wilkie

Jane J. Wilkie , Velvet Quilt, fabric & grapevines, Downstairs Gallery @ The Plastic ClubMarion Loippo, Kim Martin, Karl Olsen & Jane J. Wilkie

Jane J. Wilkie Downstairs Gallery @ The Plastic Club - Marion Loippo, Kim Martin, Karl Olsen & Jane J. Wilkie

Marion Loippo, Downstairs Gallery @ The Plastic ClubMarion Loippo, Kim Martin, Karl Olsen & Jane J. Wilkie.

The Downstairs Gallery @ The Plastic Club exhibits members work chosen @ random from a sign up sheet, the synchronicity of the current show with Karl & Kim, Marion & JJ is fortuitous.  Painting and fabric art meld with Karl Olsen‘s expressionist paintings, Kim Martin‘s strident drawings, Marion Loippo‘s abstractions on silk and JJ Wilkie‘s bold quilts as if a gallery curator selected the art for the show.  Check out all the artist links in this blog post, they all have portfolio websites but Marion Loippo has a cool YouTube video!

 

Photos by DoN.

 

Steve Iwanczuk & Kyle Margiotta . . . empirical, real, metaphysical @ Philadelphia Sketch Club Stewart Room Gallery

Kyle Margiotta . . . empirical, real, metaphysical @ Philadelphia Sketch Club Stewart Room Gallery

Kyle Margiotta . . . empirical, real, metaphysical @ Philadelphia Sketch Club Stewart Room Gallery.

Kyle Margiotta‘s paintings draw you in with exquisite technique and metaphysical content; faces emerge from the mist, beautiful women wade through pools of red, metaphorical flowers like bleeding hearts creating an intensely personal experience.  DoN has watched Kyle draw in the Philadelphia Sketch Club‘s workshops, his depth of knowledge, skill with tools (his pencil lines are extremely fine) and focus is an inspiration to those who share the studio with him.  Margiotta’s paintings are illustrative but decorative, even though the subject is deep, the style, color and presentation are desirable.

Kyle Margiotta . . . empirical, real, metaphysical @ Philadelphia Sketch Club Stewart Room Gallery

Kyle Margiotta . . . empirical, real, metaphysical @ Philadelphia Sketch Club Stewart Room Gallery.

Kyle Margiotta . . . empirical, real, metaphysical @ Philadelphia Sketch Club Stewart Room Gallery

Kyle Margiotta . . . empirical, real, metaphysical @ Philadelphia Sketch Club Stewart Room Gallery.

Steve Iwanczuk. . . empirical, real, metaphysical @ Philadelphia Sketch Club Stewart Room Gallery

Steve Iwanczuk. . . empirical, real, metaphysical @ Philadelphia Sketch Club Stewart Room Gallery.

Steve Iwanczuk is the Exhibitions Chair at The Philadelphia Sketch Club, for his own show in the venerable Stewart Room (members are chosen to show @ random), he has selected a group of drawings and photographs that are sleek, shiny, mercurially metallic and sexy.  The detail is intense, the pencil marks stream of conscience-like flow are surreal and fluid, each drawing a dream of it’s own but his photos are sensual contrasts of light and dark, shiny and smooth, real and unreal, Steve’s photography is recognizable as a style all his own.

Steve Iwanczuk. . . empirical, real, metaphysical @ Philadelphia Sketch Club Stewart Room Gallery

Steve Iwanczuk. . . empirical, real, metaphysical @ Philadelphia Sketch Club Stewart Room Gallery.

 

Photos by DoN.

Members’ Choice @ The Plastic Club

Bonnie MacAllister Members’ Choice @ The Plastic Club

Bonnie MacAllister, Members’ Choice Art Show @ The Plastic Club.  Bonnie MacAllister‘s tiny mixed media, Revery, is subtle yet slyly glamorous with gold dust illuminating the feminine figure, the piece softy glowing in it’s own light.  Bonnie’s blog is very cool describing all the wonderful projects she’s working on; she’s a world traveler, grant winner and educator with a fine eye, thoughtful manner and socially conscious personality – a DoN must read!  Coming soon – Bonnie MacAllister, The Dressing Room, Green Light Arts, Philadelphia Live Arts Festival & Philly Fringe @ The Plastic Club, 247 S. Camac Street, Philadelphia, PA 19107.  Show runs Sept. 3*, 4, 7, 10, 11, 14, and 17, 7 p.m. *followed by artist reception
Here is the link to tickets:
http://bonnie-macallister.blogspot.com/2011/07/play-dressing-room_31.html

This is the link to the press release:http://bonnie-macallister.blogspot.com/2011/07/play-dressing-room.html

BONNIE MacALLISTER: Play: The Dressing Room

Members’ Choice @ The Plastic Club

Members’ Choice Art Show @ The Plastic Club.  Patricia Wilson-Schmid, Celebration, acrylic, Laura Pritchard, The Donors, batik on silk, Karen Frank, Strongman and Ballerina, mixed media, Theodore Amick, Jibber Jabber, watercolor and Bob Jackson, Mrs. Wildfowl and Tea, junk and stuff.

Sy Hakim Members’ Choice @ The Plastic Club

Sy Hakim,  Members’ Choice Art Show @ The Plastic ClubSy Hakim’s large landscape painting, Formations – Daylight, describes a beautiful yet challenging world, the small figure seems huddled against the power of the landscape, the outcroppings hang high above his head, a daunting climb but a great view from the top.

Members’ Choice @ The Plastic Club

Members’ Choice Art Show @ The Plastic Club: Lois Schlachter, Guarding the Kingdom, giclee and Sixty, giclee, DoN Brewer, Iris of the Storm and Amy, Amy, Amy, digital photographs, archival ink prints and Mervyn Klein, Karate, collage.  Lois and DoN have been friends for years and Mervyn & DoN had a show together in the Downstairs Gallery earlier this year; the tones of this grouping are balanced and vibrant, there are tableau’s throughout the gallery where works speak to each other through color, technique and theme.  DoN priced his work at $4.3 trillion and $3.2 trillion respectively hoping to save the economy but the guide says NFS, oh well.

Bill Myers Plastic Club

Bill Myers @ The Plastic Club.

Bill Myers photography is confounding yet simple; his Photoshop collages fool the eye when the artist mashes his own photography with found images, morphing the pictures into something different yet familiar.  Scary Scenario, photo collage, looks authentic with deep blacks and dark shadows but look closer and the foreground figure becomes impossible, the girl in the phone booth has two umbrellas, huh? – Bill Myers is good at that, that “huh?” moment.

Sy Hakim Members’ Choice @ The Plastic Club

Sy Hakim, The Cave-Night, oil, Members’ Choice Art Show @ The Plastic Club.

An art patroness becomes part of the art in the Shiekman Studio upstairs at the Plastic Club, her Summer dress extending the scene magically onto her person.  The art flanking Hakim’s painting is by Gail Zelikovsky, Rock Garden, painted silk and Rock Garden with Waterfall, painted silk.

Sy Hakim Members’ Choice @ The Plastic Club

Sy Hakim, The Cave-Night, oil, Members’ Choice Art Show @ The Plastic Club.

Sibylle-Maria Pfaffenbichler @ The Plastic Club

Sibylle-Maria Pfaffenbichler @ The Plastic Club‘s Member’s Choice Art ShowSibylle-Maria Pfaffenbichler‘s action paintings are not just fast in painting style like an abstract expressionist but the quickly painted figures are always moving, dancing, prancing – Ringa-Ringa-Reia, gouache & charcoal, is a joyful work of art.

Members’ Choice @ The Plastic Club

Members’ Choice Art Show @ The Plastic Club.

Ted Gutswa Members’ Choice @ The Plastic Club

Ted GutswaMembers’ Choice Art Show @ The Plastic ClubTed Gutswa‘s charcoal drawings, Spring Mist & Sweeping Dream, explains all about what it means to be a member of the Plastic Club, simple materials, uninhibited application and beautiful presentation, raising the combined whole to a level higher than it’s minimalist components.  The Member’s Choice show at the Plastic Club represents each artist’s best work, the sum of it’s parts is elevated even more by the quality, style and variety of the work in proximity.  Downstairs Gallery at the Plastic Club is a lovely space featuring Kim Martin. Karl Olsen, Marion Loippo and Jane Wilkie; DoN will post some images and comments soon.

 

Photos by DoN.