DoNArTNeWs

Girl.Bike.Dog. creates messenger bags, backpacks, side-bags for dogs - all with super-kawaii, urban street designs featuring trippy mushrooms, clever cosmo cowgirl symbols & iconic girl graphics.  Lindsay Duggan tells DoN she’s working hard to meet the demand for Girl.Bike.Dog.  gear.  The shop offers T-shirts by various artists, cycling hats, knit hats, uber- cool dog collars & leashes and essential bike gear.

Photography by Center City West photographer/dog walker, Jeremy Burger of The Philly Pack - the ubiquitous Center City West dog-walking service who offers high endurance exercise for dogs, social & behavioral conditioning and Pack Leader coaching.  Messenger bags by Girl.Bike.Dog.

The bike and messenger community in Philly is tight-knit and owner Lindsay Duggan is knowledgeable of the needs of the biking enthusiasts, urban dog lover and fashion design lovers.  Duggan is well informed about the current discussions around bike laws in the news, bike lanes in the city and the rise of human powered transportation, the perils of being a bike messenger, dog walking services and urban dog owner needs. And, she makes really awesome hand-made bags.  The block where the shop where Girl.Bike.Dog is located includes Betty’s Speakeasy Cupcakes (best of Philly Mag), The Balkan Restaurant with the best Serbian recipes from Radovan’s family recipes and Grace Tavern, the best fries in town.  The view of Center City is spectacular, too - DoN was surprised to see the cherry trees in bloom for Indian Summer.

Photography by Jeremy Burger @ Girl.Bike.Dog.

Lindsay Duggan mastermind behind Girl.Bike.Dog.

Armond Scavo, the well-known and respected Philadelphia photographer, is a fine artist and business person traveling up to 40 weeks a year promoting his work. Scavo’s collection of Philadelphia landscapes and astounding close-ups of gemstone and minerals is his stock in trade, each piece offering a narrative, assured coloration and excellent quality. Proficient in wet dark room as well as digital techniques, Scavo presents exquistely framed images as well as affordably priced matted prints. Armond’s easy demeaner and friendly smile draws people to his display often resulting in sales and commisssions. Scavo turned DoN onto the book,”I’d Rather Be In The Studio” by Alyson B. Stanfield which is a complete guide to promoting one’s self as a professional artist and he is just that - professional. Armond Scavo’s website Earthlight Images (designed by Burnell Yow! of Ravenswing Studio) is a treasure trove of inspiring ideas; he even has self-published a book of photo’s of Philly’s famous Rittenhouse Square called “Through an Artist’s Eye - Philadelphia“. Thanks to Armond for providing show tickets for Shoshana, Alden and DoN; each of us left the Convention Center exhausted and inspired by the wide range of highly desirable objects.

Dragon Lady, Wendy Ellertson of Boston, MA. creates mixed media sculptures of dragons; DoN and Wendy chatted about all the famous dragons she incorporates into her works - she even knew about The Dragon Riders of Pern! Dragons may be mythical but Ellertson visualizes each one with a depth of knowledge and technical virtuosity emphasizing why so many of us still believe in the magic and dream of a strong, loyal and fierce companion to serve and protect.

Matti Laaninen of Hudson River Inlay creates beautiful furniture and functional objects of rare woods, mother of pearl and unusual materials. Recreating natural shapes of leaves, twigs, insects and flowers in intricate patterns and fascinating designs, DoN found he was envious of Matti’s skill and style - who doesn’t wish they could produce beautiful furniture and art that everyone desires?

mar·que·try n. Material, such as ivory or wood, inlaid piece by piece into a wood surface, in an intricate design, and veneered to another surface - especially furniture or flooring - for decoration.

Cheryl Olney of Louise’s Daughter - the colorful mixed media art is outshone only by Cheryl’s smile. Quirky, fun, funky and exuberant, Louise’s Daughter offers a perfect mix of art and design.

Ileana Andruchovici of Bala Cynwyd’s creater of Olympia Creations - Digital Couture, developing her own fabric designs combining, photography, illustration and unique printing techniques on silk and fine fabrics. When DoN walked past her booth, Ileana remembered him from last year’s show at the Armory and invited him in to see her latest creations - dresses, pant suits, tops and even neckties, each one lovingly designed, constructed and produced to provide the wearer with an indivual identity. Beautiful!

The Convention Center venue was a definite plus for the artists but the parking situation for patrons is a sham! Some garages charge $25 or more for two hours, we found a spot on the street but the meter ate quarters like potato chips, ignoring half of the money we fed it preventing our group from spending more than 90 minutes to see the hundreds of artists in Paradise City. Philadelphia should be embarressed by the Parking Authority and the Mafia-like shake down of visitors to our town.

The Dumpster Diver Gallery @ 734 South Street held a gala in honor of their 17th anniversary as an anarchist art collective dedicated to making art from cultural refuse. Like the gleaners in a Millet painting, this disparate group sifts through the remnants of contemporary culture creating junque, elegant objects, witty pronouncements, versatile visions as if gathering potatoes in a French field.  Ellen Benson’s mixed media constructions from old books and Lincoln Logs throb with vague dreams of lives past; each anthropomorphic object has a funky little personality all it’s own, Benson is on a mission to create 1000 dolls, she’s approaching 500.  

Randy Dalton has recreated the Blue Grotto in the back of the sprawling space;  DoN LoVeS seeing funky old computers like the Mac blue-and-white monitor being used as an art object like some retrofitted Neuromancer future style.  DoN’s blue-n-white glowed purple and made a zapping sound early in the morning a while back but it’s still in the basement, too beautiful to throw away.  Neil Benson’s lamp made of stacked tin boxes is a museum piece; each box filled with memetic waves forms depending on the pattern printed on the thin folded metal.   The Dumpster Divers on South Street is like William Gibson’s future city built on the remains of the Golden Gate Bridge after the grid goes down and a whole society develops meeting every need from noodle soup to watch repair.  

Artists are taking the city over from City Hall to South Street, Kensington to University City, Rittenhouse Square to Pretzel Park; art is more than just on the surface, it’s being built in. 

Ellen Benson with her dolls @ Dumpster Divers on South Street.

Randy Dalton’s Blue Grotto @ Dumpster Divers. 

Kathryn Pannepacker curated the “On the Fringe of Fiber” exhibit @ Art in City Hall, filling each of the luminous new display cases with cutting edge fiber arts from the elegant to the extreme, blobby constructs and wearable art to crafts and fine art, fluidly mixed together in an eleoquent statement on the state of the arts in fiber.  On the Fringe of Fiber is on floors two and four of the historic building; art is truly integral to Philadelphia, Art in City Hall in a real gift to the city and it’s artists.

 On the Fringe of Fiber @ Art in City Hall.  The dress on the left is shredded paper - Bjork would LoVe it! The dresses were done by Lesley Haas and the middle fiber piece was marvelously done by Duane Weber.  The display cases are right outside Mayor Nutter’s office on the 2nd floor.

Pat diPaula Klein, stitched by hand over several months with cotton floss on linen, the process and the materials speak of women’s work, texture and time, rhythm and repetition (catalog).

On the Fringe of Fiber @ Art in City Hall. 

Ladies, DoN knows you will LoVe, lOvE, LoVe this show.  Shoes, nothing but shoes - hundreds of them.  This little number, “In Bloom“, is by Kathryn Myers Gilbert.  Moore College of Art & Design is on the Parkway @ 20th Street.

It feels appropriate to post this story on Thanksgiving since tonight DoN ate many of the native foods these two very interesting and entertaining historians described. Sunday, October 23rd, Alden Cole and DoN attended a splendid lecture by Carla and Allan Messinger who presented fascinating information about the Lenape Tribe, “The Original People“.  The hour was packed with so much information so pertinent to our current situation in America including the notion that by Autumn the people would have stored enough food to last until June of the following year (Economist Suzy Ormond recommends one have enough funds stashed to last eight months - hmmmm), that in 1737 the Indians were perpetrated a hoax when they were promised land forever (sounds like Bush’s ownership society hoax - hmmm), 45% of modern medicine is derived from native American plants (hmmm) and that if it were not for the Indians we wouldn’t know about beans, squash, tomatoes, chocolate or corn (yummm!).

Carla & Allan Messinger @ Da Vinci Art Alliance.

Indian artifacts on display @ Lenape Lifeways lecture.  The Messingers described a full cultural life that worked with the land and respected its resources and explained lessons remembered from the people who originally occupied the banks of the Delaware.  A people who mastered the art of survival.

Carla Messinger (a Lenape descendant) displaying authentic garb.  The lecture was sponsored by the Pennsylvania Humanities Council, you can learn more at www.lenapeprograms.info.

Lenape oject d’art.

Carla Messinger and David Foss @ Da Vinci Art Alliance.

Happy Thanksgiving.

LoVe

DoN

Supermodel Mike invited DoN to visit Jinxed Clothing to meet artist Tim Diet and toy designer/artist  Mr. Shane Jessup.  Tim Diet is a NYC based artist who creates super-pop art featuring icons of advertising and cartoons; “Where’s the Beef?” features the Hamburgler, Wendy, Wimpy and more, “Menace to Society” stars Dennis and other trouble-makers.  Diet’s style is to paint with acrylics on stretched canvas and create a masterful mash-up of cheery icons designed to make us buy stuff that’s not really that good for us.  

Tim Diet with his paintings @ Jinxed.

Acrylic Boxes by Tim Diet @ Jinxed (that’s Leanne Biank working on her entry for The Rolling Canvas Art Collective presented by Fuji Bikes which opens Friday @ Jinxed).

Acrylic Box by Tim Diet @ Jinxed.

Tim Diet and Jinxed owner Supermodel Mike.

“Words that Hurt” paintings by Mr. Shane Jessup @ Jinxed.

Mr. Shane Jessup is a toy designer for Kid Robot,  planet Earth’s premier creator & retailer of limited edition toys, clothing, mini-figures, artwork & books.  Jessup designs three-D toys in Illustrator, the vinyl toys are manufactured overseas, refined back here in the states and then sold to kids and collectors alike and are currently a big hit at ComicCon in San Diego.  The toys are Super-Kawai bunnies, robots, punks and monsters - DoN LoVes them all!  You can buy a box of 24 figurines some of which are rare and collectable - then you have to network with other collectors to find the special ones you need to complete your collection.  Start by shopping at Jinxed, you’re sure to find something deliciously wacky to start your collection.

Painting and vinyl figurines by Mr. Shane Jessup @ Jinxed Phildelphia.

Jinxed Philadelphia on 4th Street, South of South Street.

Next, DoN stopped in Digital Ferret CDs because of the crowd of punks outside; it’s so cool that punk is not dead, super-high platform boots, black leather and pink Mohawks will never go out of style. Digital Ferret CDs is one of America’s leading music retailers and mail order houses for 80s, Ambient/Techno, Industrial, Electronica, Gothic, Metal, Trip-Hop, World Fusion and Experimental Music.  Inside the shop was rocking to the sounds of Philadelphia’s own Society Hill, kind of a mash-up of punk, funk and grunge - really fresh and clean - lead singer Dwight was totally unintelligible - fabulous!  Check out Society Hill’s MySpace Page to learn more about the band.

4th Friday on 4th Street is really fun with jewelry vendors, stained glass, art and clothes for sale on the sidewalk - and parties everywhere.  Let’s ROCK!

All photographs by DoNBrewerMultimedia Photography.