DoNArTNeWs

Trina Mansfield, Eiffel Tower, quilted fabric collage @ The Cosmopolitan Club.

Trina Mansfield is a multi-media artist working primarily in fabrics but she also takes the photographs, plots the designs on the computer then pieces together elaborate “quilts”.

Trina Mansfield’s labels for her exhibition @ The Cosmopolitan Club are truly exceptional - hand-written notes in pencil with tiny sketches like getting a nice letter from a friend.

Trina Mansfield @ The Cosmopolitan Club.

DoN LoVeS quilts and fabric art (he watches all those geeky sewing shows on TV), maybe because there’s an emotional link to Grandma’s crazy quilts from childhood.  Mansfield’s quilts are painterly and impressionistic, even though the concept is based on crazy quilts these designs are exceptionally lucid and lush with witty contrasts and meticulous details.

Alden Cole @ Galleria Deptford - Deptford Municipal Building, 1011 Cooper Street, Woodbury NJ.

While Alden installed his fantastical display of luminaries he was constantly stopped by the flow of visitors to the lobby of the Deptford Municipal Building, everyone wants to know what they are or they have a story about one of the components or their grandmother had a lamp just like that.  Cole takes memories, shakes them up in his mind, recombining the pieces into objects with the logic of dreams; people are drawn to the glowing objects, filled with little stories, overflowing with light and love.  And people are drawn towards him to find out how he figures this out and if he wants their grandmothers old lamps or why didn’t they think of that?  Alden has a story for each luminary and a moment for each admirer.

Stars Stairway, in Alden Cole’s gallery/studio in South Philly.

Starlings Under Glass #4, oil on glass, Alden Cole @ The Plastic Club, Red White & Green Show.

Memento Mori #1, marker, Alden Cole @ Conscious World of Art.  Alden is influenced by Nicholas Roerich and Mati Klarwein - Roerich was the first artist to win a Nobel Peace Prize and Klarwein created the famous Santana album cover.  Alden Cole’s art brings people together, his art works the room like a good conversation, creating a buzz, upping the voltage with voodoo god-heads & peaceful warriors.  Alden’s Starlings series taps into a deeply seated symbol pattern recognition with his sprightly characters playing out human emotions and exhibitionism in a playful accessible way.  James Warhola just acquired one of Alden Cole’s pieces at the Da Vinci Art Alliance’s current show.

Starlings #2 & Delicious, shown here @ The Plastic Club, now available @ Dumpster Divers Gallery, 734 South Street.  Don’t worry, be happy.  Alden Cole currently has work available at the Deptford Municipal Building Galleria Deptford (psst…really great prices, big selection), The Plastic Club’s Red, White & Green show, the Da Vinci Art Alliance Under $200, SOTA on Pine Street, Home & Planet in Bethlehem, the Dumpster Divers Gallery on South Street and @ The Conscious World Art of Alden Cole Gallery/Museum.

DoN LoVeS this photo with Alden Cole’s Light Beings and DoN’s “light being (Rick Selvin)” @ Galleria Deptford.

Nancy Barch, Chained Mail, mixed media @ Grow - Off the Wall Gallery.  The use of disposable materials such as the ceiling tile and old slides reek with hidden meaning and memes.  Slides are so anachronistic and ceiling tiles, even though functional at insulation and sound-proofing, are out of style.  Barch’s piece sends obtuse mixed messages stimulating social consciousness neurons to fire in the brain.

 Grow @ Off the Wall Gallery in Dirty Frank’s Bar.

Alisa Fox, Jars, mixed media.

One of the cool things @ Off the Wall is the corner display case where more delicate constructions can be installed.  The team of Jody and Togo extend much effort in branding, soliciting, promoting and selling art from publicity to art cards and posters to installation, the production is always top notch. Off the Wall has hosted hundreds of local aspiring and established artists in their thoughtful exhibitions.

Karl Olsen, Free Compost, mixed media including ingredients from mustard to absinthe.

Grow is on display through August 7th and includes work by 30 artists including members of the Plastic Club, Photographic Society of Philadelphia and other regional arts groups.  Frank’s has been an outpost for many Plastic Club members and recently Anders Hansen hosted a Salon at The Plastic Club to discuss the Grow show.  In branding the show, curator Jody Sweitzer and manager Togo Travalia, put a new spin on the current “green” trend with a focus on recycled materials and ideas.

Karl Olsen used phylo dough, Julia Fisichella’s amazing photoshop collages are inspired, Ed Snyder’s floral photograph exquisitely illuminated the concept with an image pinched from nature, Veronica Schmude’s moody interior photograph is brimming with stolen narrative (Veronica is the guest speaker at this Tuesday’s PSoP lecture series at The Plastic Club).  The Salon was lively: Shoshanna Aron (just back from Israel) pointed out how being “green” is a new concept - that the old paradigm was consumerism, Bob Bohne introduced the topic of the healing power of art and the importance of community outreach, Alan Clawens highlighted how artists resist creating new work for a theme show and try to squeeze old works into new parameters, DoN mentioned bricolage and Burnell Yow!s amazing show at Smile.  The group sipped wine and chatted until sunset and the party moved to Frank’s.  The discussion helped DoN realize that thinking outside the box isn’t always the best approach - sometimes all you need is the box.

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.

NTPE4 means NewsToday Print Exchange 4.  Newstoday, which now is simply QBN.com , is a website where artists, designers and web coders network on-line.  For the last four years someone organizes a print exchange with the first 20 people who sign up - the idea is to send 19 prints to other artists and they each send you one resulting in a collection of twenty artworks by some truly talented artists and designers from around the country.  DoN has started receiving prints in the mail and it feels like Christmas in July; DoN will run a special edition of DoNArTNeWs featuring images of the works from NYC, Denver, Anaheim, Phoenix, OFallon, Il.,Brooklyn, Tampa, Portland, Or., Woodland Hills, Milwaukee…and of course, Philadelphia.

With all the art clubs in Philly, wouldn’t it be cool to so the same here?  Let DoN know what you think.  So far I’ve heard from Anthe - maybe we could do a drawing exchange. 

Photo Synthesis is -

A juried awards exhibition featuring photography and photographic processes

with art by:

Amy Ahearn, Tony Anthony, Keith Auerbach, DoN Brewer, Suzanne Comer, Judy Engle, Carlos Gil, Robert Grunke, Rikard Larma, Marilyn Lavins, Richard Marr, Karen McDonnell & Anthony Cortosi, Lee Muslin, Liz Nicklus, Mickie Rosen, Armand Scavo, Susan Van Selous, D.B. Stovall, Robert Waldeck, Ted Warchal, Julien Weitzenfeld, James Widerman.

Juror and Awards Judge: Internationally acclaimed photographer JON NAAR.

Mr. Naar was present at the opening reception, signing his books The Birth of Graffiti (2007) and Getting the Picture (2005).  DoN purchased Birth of Graffiti and chatted with Naar about how to present photographs most effectively.  ”Naar’s photographs have been published in many of the world’s leading magazines and exhibited at the Metropolitan  Museum, the Museum of Modern Art, the International Center of Photography, New York, the Museum of Fine Arts Houston, and the Centre Pompidou, Paris. In 2005-06 at the Jan Cunen Museum in the Netherlands, his retrospective attracted a record-breaking 15,000 visitors (Jon Naar’s website).”

DoN with his entry ”light beings (Dora & Pablo)”, photo by Rikard Larma.

Award winning photograph by Suzanne Comer.  (DoN agrees it looks like a botanical drawing - just stunning.)

Suzanne Comer with Photo Synthesis juror Jon Naar.  Comer was trained as a painter who used photography for reference but is now a primarily a photographer which explains her painterly eye.   Comer was thrilled to win an award with such terrific competition at The DaVinci Art Alliance, she positively glowed with pride.

Artist Liz Nicklus with her photo montage/collage.

Liz Nicklus’ “Witness“, mixed media.

Susan Van Selous‘ “Carley’s Daisy“, digital design. 

Photo by Rikard Larma @ Photo Synthesis.

Artist Marilyn Lavins with her entry in Photo Synthesis @ DaVinci Art Alliance.

Dr. Debra Miller, President of DaVinci Art Alliance with Armond Scavo’s first prize winning photograph.  

Miller’s T-Shirt was created by Margharita Warhola, niece of Andy Warhol, exclusively for Deb.  Andy would have been 80 years old this year and has been gone from our plane of existence for twenty years now - hard to believe.  Dr. Deb explained the meaning of photography in her opening remarks, “Phos is Greek for “light,” and graphein is Greek for “to write”–so photography means writing with light.” 

All photography by DoNBrewerMultimedia except where noted. 

Philadelphia Area New Media Association presented a primer on new web applications which was totally fascinating, fast-paced and intelligently presented, including talks by Kelani Nicholeof M, Johnnie Billota of Indy Hall and Nick Floro of Sealworks Interactive Studios.  DoN learned so much cool stuff about the web, social networking, design and working with clients - PANMA is a wonderful resource for artists, designers, coders, videographers, photographers - if you are one of the afore mentioned you should join PANMA, it’s free, fun and informative.  The presentation took place in the Buckminster Fuller room with a portrait of Bucky that seems to stare at you wherever you are in the room as well as his Dymaxion map of the world - very cool.  Do you know what “FOAF” or “OWL” means?  DoN does now.

Some of the cool websites we looked at include:

Smashing Magazine

A List Apart

Wine Library

eCost.com

Maramushi.com

37 Signals

Ning.com

Saturday, Shoshka and DoN visited the Center for Emerging Visual Artists Show House at 1634 South 13th Street, the former home and studio of artistScott Pellnat.  The townhouse is filled with art by CFEVA artists including Anne Canfield, Katie Murken, Julia Blaukopf, Kara Rennert, Caleb Nussear, Darla Jackson, Jennifer Chapman, Serena Perrone and of course Scott Pellnat’s wonderfully wacky constructions.  Pellnat is an accomplished woodworker and avid dumpster diver creating mechanical constructs out of marquetry of colored pencils, found objects and wood, there’s even a hidden room behind bookshelves which open by pulling on a book ala the Addams Family revealing robotic creatures pulling ropes and strings producing a dramatic diorama.

Looking up into the turret Pellnat built on the roof.

Looking down from the turret into the house - the walls are covered in colored pencil marquetry and the floors are spray painted through lace and stencils. 

The top floor is filled with a knitted installation with tendrils swooping through the room like some kind of giant alien brain cell.  The site specific piece was created by Katie Murken.

 Scott Pellnat in his “secret studio”.

As if the room isn’t creepy enough, there’s a gravity distortion which turns the room sideways!?! 

On the way home DoN wandered into the new Comcast building and just happened to be there as an elegant party was going on - a herd of men in suits with gray ponytails and a flock of ladies in Prada and Manolo’s munching on canapes and sipping wine - for the premier of the world’s largest high definition LCD TV screen in the sprawling lobby.  The wall looks like the paneling in the rest of the room when the show’s not on but magically transforms into hyper-realistic video causing DoN to wonder if he was witnessing real actors scrambling up the wall, dancing to The Mashed Potato or swinging from cables ala Cirque du Soliel. The color, vibrancy, choreography and special effects are truly a gift to the city.  The sculptures of people traversing beams high up in the soaring atrium are amazing as well with stereotypical workers metaphorically balancing life and commerce above the lobby floor.

Sculpture in the Comcast lobby. 

These are not real people - HD LCD Dancers doing the Mashed Potato @ Comcast.

World’s largest HD LCD monitor @ Comcast.