DoNArTNeWs

Steven L. Spathelf created a mural sensation in Dunedin, Florida when the long-time muralist started painting oranges on garage doors late at night ala graffiti tagging or Obey stickers.  Soon the artist started noticing signs on garage doors asking for an orange to be painted there; the community recognized his contribution to the reputation of the art enclave in North Tampa and commissioned the “Welcome to Dunedin” mural.  Currently, Spathelf is working on undersea scene murals for a children’s hospital and managing the artist studios at 608 Vine Avenue, an art center with gallery/studio space for local artists similar to Spring Garden Studios in Philly, The Goggleworks in Reading or the Banana Factory in Bethlehem.

Mural by Steven L. Spathelf, Dunedin, Florid.  The artist is working on three separate panels simultaneously to be stretched and framed for exhibition in a children’s hospital.  Steven & DoN chatted about how important and calming art is for kids (and grown-ups) who are being wheeled into hospital exam rooms.  Spathelf is very familiar with Philly’s Mural Arts Program since he’s done private and public murals in Florida for decades, it’s not surprising Philly has a good reputation for public art.

Steven L. Spathelf’s studio in Dunedin, Florida housed on the second floor of an office building with many solo and shared studios throughout the large art space.  The art scene in Dunedin is integrated into the community just as much as the Baseball Spring Training season with Second Friday events, lectures and art events happening though out the village.

Steven L. Spathelf of Sterling Art Studios, 668 Vine Ave., Dunedin, Florida.

The Dunedin Fine Art Center is the hub of the art scene with workshops, galleries and exhibits in a modern, thoughtful art center designed to draw the community together with art.  The center has galleries for special shows, faculty exhibits and most importantly student show spaces with professional lighting and installation.

DoN regrets he doesn’t have the artist info on this piece but it reminded him so much of work by the Philadelphia Dumpster Divers with the use of old bundt pans, their memetic nostalgia vibrating with the wacko sculpture.  Visiting the art center in Dunedin really made DoN homesick but a studio/gallery near the Gulf of Mexico is really attractive.  The artists DoN spoke with all praised the support they’ve received from the public and their community; art is the glue that holds a town together, creating conversation, developing personalities and opening lines of communication.

Jo Schmidt, 3 Feathered Friends, acrylic @ Dunedin Fine Art Center.

Mary E. Haas, The Dream, stone @ The Dunedin Fine Art Center.

Barbara Kampe, Tu Jest Przyjemny Widok, acrylic and Carol Y. Bardes, Incan Kitchen, colored pencil in the hall of the Dunedin Fine Art Center.  The art center used all viable space to exhibit art without seeming crammed.

Student gallery @ Dunedin Fine Art Center.

Carol Ann Loven, River Rock, fiber and Stephen Decaire, In The Drink, mosaic @ The Dunedin Fine Art Center.

Bill Renc of The Painted Fish Gallery  paints dreamy tropical landscapes from plein air and memory as well as managing a large gallery & frame business.  It’s a wonder the gregarious artist gets any work done since he’s more than willing to chat with all the customers wandering through; even though it was a Monday afternoon there was steady foot traffic through the art district.

That’s Bill Renc on the left, his colorful painting of the quirky Dunedin street signs is available as print and cards, the informative and fun sign posts point in all directions at once.  The variety of interesting and colorful object, especially all the bright color which feels so alien to DoN’s city eyes, comment on the lifestyle of the Tampa Bay area.

Bill Renc of The Painted Fish Gallery in Dunedin Florida.

Ira Burhans ceramics at Clay and Paper Gallery of Art are award-winning collectibles with avid clients, the ceramicist sells his work wholesale!  Yet also manages a lovely gallery and interacts with his collectors.  Burhans was familiar with the Philly art scene since he comes to trade shows here but the warmth and clear light of Dunedin is a great place to make art.  The gallery represents about 25 local artists as well as Ira’s beautiful pots.  If you’re ever in Tampa, DoN recommends visiting this enclave of art culture in the midst of beach life, it’s a great mix.

Sibylie Pfaffenbichler, Sailor on Leave, oil.  The artist explained to DoN her inspiration came from the forties and the famous images of sailors returning home.  The painting is so exuberant, vibrant and distinctive it really makes you wonder why we don’t dance in the street when our soldiers make it home.  Pfaffenbichler is chair of The Philadelphia Sketch Club’s Annual Flower Show.

Paul Davis Jones, Enigma, acrylic.

Gail Morison-Hall, The Burning Bush, mixed media & Elise Arnold, Untitled One, acrylic.  With 199 works of art, Small World @ The Plastic Club would have been even bigger if more artists understood that presentation is half the battle, the exhibitions committee refused several pieces (DoN spotted a few suspect entries who passed muster).

Nick Brown, Orange Juice Cup & Mug, stone ware.  Brown brings unfired pottery to life study workshops at The Plastic Club and sketches directly onto the clay, often you can hear him scratching grooves into the design to prevent the glaze from spreading when applied.  The resultant objects are like ancient vessels found at an acheological dig - future meets ancient.

Lee Mamaluy, Popping Blooms, oil, Kathryn Russo, At Ease, mixed media and Jeanne Chesterton, Dots, oil.

Robert Stauffer’s photograph, Thorazine Can Kill The Human Spirit, with broken glass in a mirror lined shadow-box frame is like a history of modern art all mushed up like DuChamp meets Warhol meets Ansel Adams.  The broken glass reads like disaster, the desert scene feels like being stranded and the infinite reflections on all sides have secret hidden images to uncover.

 Alden Cole, Now n Then #3, Mother & Child, wax/clay, 2010 & 1964.

Bob Makoid, Avian Capers,markers.  Makoid told DoN this drawing is extra special to him because his kids surprised him by having the design made into a stained glass window.

Michele Jenkins, New Glasses, oil.  DoN LoVeS this painting!  Timeless, super-fun, nostalgic, funny, happy and executed with aplomb.

Anders Hansen, Earth Goddess, ink/watercolor, Lois Schlachter, Queen of the Night, acrylic and Joseph De Fay, The Cafe’, ink-jet print.

Lois Schlachter, Balloon Release, acrylic.  DoN appreciates Lois’ combination of real & unreal, abstract & illustrative, signs & significations - cool.

Alan Clawans, Small Shed, photograph, DoN Brewer, light being (Farrah Fawcett), photograph (it’s not DoNArTNeWs without some DoN news), Sylvia Schreiber, White Flower, acrylic, Susan Wierzbicki, Saim, acrylic and Elise Arnold, Cats, acrylic.  DoN is so pleased to have his entries placed so strategically in the beginning, #3, and the end, #196 - the magic of 3.

Photos by DoNBrewerMultimedia Photography.

On a cold, sunny early January afternoon, Miss Shirleen surprised Shoshka & DoN with tickets to The Barnes Foundation in Merion, PA.  Just a quick drive to the mansion from the plateau, the guards greeted us and pointed to a parking spot and soon we were wandering the fabulous rooms filled with French Impressionist masterworks, African sculptures and antiquities.

The main hall is the social hub with visitors absorbing and discussing in hushed tones the eccentric array of masterpieces.  Quickly splitting up, the three of us gravitated to lush Monet’s, an oddly hung Seurat or a small Cezanne and soon DoN found himself alone in a room with one of Van Gogh’s famous Postman portraits hung clumsily in the corner.  DoN moved in closer and closer, studying the brushwork, observing color-ways, admiring the pattern of the floral wallpaper in the background, the Postman’s eyes staring straight into DoN’s.  When DoN was about a foot from the painting he felt a tap on the shoulder, jumping like an armadillo, DoN was smilingly admonished by a pretty guard, he had wandered over the black electric tape line, the only barrier between DoN & Vincent.

After about ten minutes a few more visitors joined DoN so he moved on to the next gallery and again had one-on-one time with an Heironymus Bosch, it seems unreal that such an iconic object is so accessible, the phantasmagoria playing out across the canvas like a fever dream.  There’s a Soutine which DoN used to think was ugly and seemed to suck the oxygen out of the room but over time the skewed, garish sailor boy has transmuted into a signification of the meaning of painting.  Toulous Lautrec’s “A Montrouge” is so incredibly beautiful that everything else in the room becomes a supporting player.

DoN doesn’t understand why the Barnes is moving to the Parkway even though it will be within walking distance for many more people.  The commute to the current location is simple, the wacko presentation of art & utilitarian craft in a Main Line mansion is a unique experience and, oh yeah, it breaks Barnes’ last will & testament, beside the fact that the place was practically empty on a Saturday afternoon.  Is there really an audience for the quirky mix of art & industry removed from it’s original locale?  DoN recommends you schedule your visit asap - it’s a trip.

The November issue of Philadelphia Magazine had an article called “Five Artists Who Will Make You Rich” by curator extraordinaire Eileen Tognini.  What a task?  DoN is familiar with four of the five artists the esteemed curator gleaned and couldn’t agree more but it made him wonder who he might choose if he could only pick five.

Karl Olsen with model/artist Arthur Ostroff @ the MCGOPA show last Fall.  Olsen is driven to achieve a level of technique, style, originality that is fiercely determined, tenacious yet warmly accessible - everyone loves impressionism but Olsen’s squishy brushwork has a darker undercurrent of emotion like a 21st Century Otto Dix, Olsen exposes the hurt, apprehension & fear of life during war-time preserving a moment of great change in our history.  Photo courtesy of Karl Olsen.

Brooke Hine was one of Tognini’s picks to make you rich.  DoN finds that just spending time with Brooke makes him feel richer; Hine is warm, empathic, vivacious, sharing, curious and extraordinarily creative - some of her ceramic sculpture incorporate cat whiskers, so poetic.  Her ancient/future ceramic concoctions ooze a dystopian narrative of archeological digs in our own future world or some inter-planetary find by an ancient space visitor.  Bones, spines, claws, spikes, hairs, curves and swirls all meld into interchangeable narratives - spooky yet fun.

Bob Jackson’s ball point pen figure studies on typing paper are like finding the perfect seashell on the beach or a crystal you want to keep while rock-hounding or that great antique find at a Paris flea market.  Jackson’s drawings are expressive and technically precise yet his use of lowly materials raises up ordinary paper to a higher plain because of the lines of ink Bob streams across the page with abandon, lyricism and grace.  Jackson is President of the Plastic Club where you can buy his drawings for around 20 bucks.

Karen McDonnell & Tony Cortosi collaborate on each of their hand-drawn, hand-cut stencil spray-paint paintings skewering modern icons, historic figures and art world figure-heads with equal levels or irony, respect, sarcasm, awe and cultural awareness from punk, pop & hip-hop to Shakespeare to Foxy Brown.  Their mash-ups are a comment on our time bringing a skate-punk anarchistic rock mentality to the gallery setting without giving up on street-cred integrity.

Eileen Tognini picked Rachel Constantine because she personifies the quintessential PAFA school of atmospheric realism presenting realistic, emotionally charged, technically accomplished paintings and deservedly so, Rachel’s work is absolute perfection.  But, DoN would include Paul DuSold in his time capsule of 21st Century art investment; DuSold’s paintings are ripe with vivid life brought into the realm of the sublime.  A simple wrapped loaf conveys a story deep with realness, a flower lives only for the moment before fading to obscurity, the portrait a glimpse into a model’s inner thoughts or the patron’s aspirations - Paul DuSold is a modern painter working with techniques passed down through the ages.

Eileen Eckstein, Balloons, photograph, DoN Brewer, light being (Mama Cass), photograph, Laura Pritchard, Portrait, mixed media, Dorothy Roschen, Red, White and Green, relief tiles and Alan Klawans, Milan, archival pigment print @ The Plastic Club’s Red, White and Green exhibit.

DoN Brewer Photography

light being (Mama Cass) $150.00 light being (Kurt Cobain) $150.00

Michael Guinn, 12th Street Still Life, oil.

3rd Honorable Mention Lois Schlachter, My Brother’s Keeper, acrylic, Alden Cole, Good Vibrations, mixed media and Honorable Mention Morris Klein, Love Park, photograph.  Juror Rich Harrington has a great eye and excellent taste considering that the theme was ambiguous in that the three title colors had to be used but not exclusively; Harrington chose works who fully met the criteria such as Dorothy Roschen’s wall sculpture in blatant red, white and green squares for 2nd prize and Peter Petraglia’s trippy undersea fantasy in a subtle palette for First Prize to Lois Schlachter’s wildly imaginative abstraction with what seems like millions of colors.

Tracy Landman, Reflections on Stewart, oil, Patricia Wilson-Schmid, Catching the Light, and Lucy Roehm, Radish Trio, color pencil @ The Plastic Club’s Red White & Green exhibit.

The theme is Red, White & Green which one would think should conjure Holiday Cheer but @ The Plastic Club the art is edgy, sarcastic, goth, even scary like Hunter Thompson meets Charles Addams meets Salvador Dali.  Some of the work is literal and literate like Roehm’s Radish Trio and some is out and out transcendental like Jake Smith’s Merry Fish Mess.  Above: Anders Hansen, Shiva, ink, graphite & charcoal, First Prize Peter Petraglia, Tubulars, pen & ink, Marie Davis Samohod, Funerary Portrait, mixed media and Karen Frank, Totem and Taboo, Acrylic.

DoN is honored to be exhibited along with such wonderful artists as those in the Plastic Club, their shows are always challenging, pushing the envelop, breaking rules yet there’s no stress, the only expectation is making art.  And when the art is all hanging together it feels really good to be an artist rubbing shoulders with some of the best in town.  A cool thing about writing this blog is that when DoN took the photos he didn’t know that he was shooting the work of some of his best friends, the Plastic Club uses a number system for labeling, it’s kind of like doing your own blind jury-ing and then finding out you picked only your friends such as Lois, Pat, Mike, Alan, Alden, Eileen, Dorothy, Morris, Anders…

Jake Smith, Merry Fish Mess, acrylic and Theodore J. Amick, Untitled, oil.

Merry Fish Mess, everybody!

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.

Ron Hartman Sand Mandala, DoN Brewer light being (Ann D Harnoncourt), light being (JRR Tolkien) and Ron Hartman Kimono Bow @ Galleria Deptford Annual Photography Show.

Annual Photography Exhibition @ Galleria Deptford, Deptford Municipal Building, 1011 Cooper Street, Woodbury NJ.  Curator Pauline Jonas has gathered together six photographers with distinct and diverse styles from landscape to portrait to abstract, from C prints to inkjet to traditional dark room color prints.  The municipal building has been hosting art exhibits for 8 years, offering exhibition opportunities to art groups, theme shows and retrospectives - without enthusiatic coordinators like Pauline, events like these don’t happen.  DoN was invited to show ten works, choosing favorites from his “light being” series, abstract landscape photographs of light reflections named after the dearly departed ie., friend, “light being (Rick Selvin)“, grandparents, “light beings (Nana & Dada)”…  Pauline mixed the various artists works together in loose categories creating a wonderful salon experience and getting the artists & their groupies to mix and meet.

DoN Brewer, light being (Edward Hopper), digital photo, inkjet print and light being (Ophelia), digital photo, inkjet print on drawing paper.  Edward Hopper has been exhibited at Philadelphia Sketch Club’s Photography 2008 and Philadelphia Art in City Hall’s, In Your Dreams, 2009; Ophelia was shown at Lantern Theater Company’s Black Box Gallery for Da Vinci Art Alliance’s Envisioning Hamlet show.

DoN Brewer, light being (Leo Seeger) and light being (Nana & Dada) - Seeger was included in PSC’s Photography 2007 and  ArtFirst in Princeton & Nana has been seen @ Ardmore Initiative.

Ann Coretti, Perspective & Armchair, digital prints @ Galleria Deptford.  DoN’s 2nd cousin Alex, age 3, liked Armchair the best, he totally got the joke - even though it’s a visual pun, the image really deserves second looks for quality of composition and the mixed metaphors from plaid, to brick to wood.

Leroy Hickman, Jr @ Galleria Deptford Annual Photography Exhibit.  Hickman’s nature photographs draw the viewer into his world of wonderment of wildlife; Leroy was also prepared with swag to give out including ballpoint pens with the Ravendark Photography logo along with 2010 mini-calendars with varying images from his photo collection.

Ron Hartman @ Galleria Deptford Annual Photography Exhibit.

Mary Waddington @ Galleria Deptford Annual Photography Exhibit.

Horse Bowl by Deborah Waddington Smith.  Even though the show was primarily photography, the exhibit included several accomplished sculptures by Waddington Smith - this wonderful Rodin-like bowl is transcendental in concept, design and execution.

Sculpture by Deborah Waddington Smith @ Galleria Deptford.

Pauline Jonas discovered DoN Brewer’s “light being (Larry Angel)” in Alden Cole’s art collection, contacted him, meeting at Galleria Deptford last Summer she invited DoN to participate in the Annual Photography Exhibit.  The opportunity to exhibit in DoN’s hometown of Deptford (Class of ‘71 Most Artistic) is exhilarating - The Gloucester County Times mentioned the show on page one!

Alden Cole’s luminaries are featured in the display case (DoN will post a story about Alden soon) and DoN’s “light being (Rick Selvin)” is displayed right next to the cabinet.  Ironically, the photo (which is named after one of DoN’s first great art patron’s & supporters) was shot across the intersection from Cole’s studio/gallery/museum/workshop @ 7th & Federal in South Philly.  The spirit of the photograph resonates with Alden’s luminous “beings of light” - each of his creations seems to have a particular personality all their own.  To say it’s an honor to be exhibited alongside one of Philly’s “famous” artists is totally an understatement.

Thanks to Pauline Jonas for inviting DoN to participate in Galleria Deptford’s Annual Photography exhibit.  Thanks to the Hayes family for their love & support, the Regional Art Association for longevity of friendship, Dr. Ross Beitzel for promoting the arts in South Jersey, painting mentor Paul DuSold (we just launched his new homepage design), artist Clif Anderson, Alden Cole for providing the magical showcase, Michael Hogan for presenting wonderful C print landscapes doing brisk sales of the book The Natural Wonders of the Jersey Pines and Shore filled with lush color photos about wildlife in the Pinelands of South Jersey and all the other artists who make art fun, enlivening a warm and friendly arts event which runs through January 20th, 2010.  DoN encourages you to discover this unique art installation in the heart of South Jersey.

David Guinn & Jim Hinz, Hairy Chinese Landscape @ University City Arts League Gallery.

David Guinn & Jim Hinz both painted on the huge paper scroll simultaneously; according to Guinn the idea was to make a mess, not worry, not think about it or make it look good.  Working with big brushes they flowed with their stream of consciousness and let each other paint through and over each others contribution, fearlessly resulting in an abstract expressionist pan-cultural tour de force spanning an entire wall of the gallery.  Jim Hinz told DoN it’s rewarding to work with David Guinn because he’s so easy, willing to mix aesthetics, brings lots of collaborative enthusiasm and let him, “do whatever I wanted to do.”

Recovery, Psychedelic Birthday @ Facing the Void, works on paper @ University City Arts League Gallery, Jim Hinz & David Guinn.

Purple Sandpiper, David Guinn.  David is famous for his bird paintings whether you know it or not; as one of the most popular muralist in Philly he almost always includes birds in his wall paintings such as the Four Seasons series, the Morris Animal Refuge Mural and the dual mural @ 34th & Baltimore Streets.

Jim Hinz, Because You Have To Say It, digital print.

Jim Hinz, The Big Man, digital print from brush & ink on paper.

Mythical Mountain Fountain by David Guinn & Jim Hinz echoes the collaborative paintings the duo created including architectural elements, blobby swirls and real liquid dribbling wetly over the ceramic bowl as if one of their paintings materialized fully formed out of their imaginations.

Jim Hinz & David Guinn @ the opening of their collaborative exhibit, Meadowlark, @ University City Arts League.  The team worked well together because they made no mistakes, felt free to experiment and fail - a lesson we can all learn from.

The 14th Annual Art Ability Exhibition & Sale at Bryn Mawr Rehab Hospital’s Patron’s Preview Party on November 7th was a sensational event kicking off the extensive art show featuring more than 400 art works by 128 artists from 23 states and 10 countries.  The hospital on Paoli Pike is an excellent venue with high, long walls, a fine hanging system, great lighting providing a wonderful stroll or roll along a meandering path to wander and take in the wide array of fine art.

Photographer Linda Fry Goschke was honored with the catalog cove, a beatific portrait of a “Crested Caracara“, a raptor she spent time with in a bird sanctuary.  The photograph is poignant, strong and sensitive; at first glance it appears to be a painting with golden light brushing the elegant bird’s feathers, the dark head contrasting the ochre beak and the glint of disinterest in the eye, a perfect metaphor for the theme of the exhibit.

Goschke told DoN that in order to capture her images she had to wait for new technology to catch up with her vision - the lustrous flower photograph is actually created on a flat-bed scanner, then enhanced with Photoshop.

Linda Fry Goschke, Barred Owl, photograph @ Art Ability.

Sal Panasci was commissioned by Bryn Mawr Rehab to create the design for a mural leading to the admissions center, formally along stark hallway to what could be an uncomfortable experience.

Now, the hallway is a colorful, exuberant scene welcomes people to what may be an extended stay to rehabilitate the body, mind and spirit.  Panasci’s painting was transformed into wallpaper creating a warm, sunny vista.

Sal Panasci, Late Autumn Palette, oil.

Ken Smith, Blue Flower, photograph pigment ink on paper on board, encaustic.  Smith’s serene composition won honorable mention, The Mary Armitage Green Memorial Award presented by Heather and Damien Lubeski, the wax finish means the print will survive for a very long time.

Michael Jameson, Charlois Bull, oil painting on birch panel

Sheryl Yeager, pastels.  DoN talked with Sheryl about her inspiration for the delightful pig and zebra pastels, she explained that she portrays lots of different animals because they make her feel free, at one with God & nature and the art heals her past.  A self described high functioning autistic, her most popular drawings are of elephants and she’s more than willing to accommodate her customer base.  This is Sheryl Yeager’s 5th year with Art Ability, she has been accepted into the Pastel Society of Little Rock and has exhibited her work at the Andrews Art Museum in North Carolina.

The big fish are by Arnie Segal, the drawing is by Mari Newman, Dick Wexelblat created the menagerie and won honorable mention for Fine Crafts presented by Sal & Linda Panasci, the sculpture in the right forefront is by blind artist Tara Arlene Innmon.  This tableau is very popular with visitors with the vibrant animal forms delighting the eye and lifting the spirit.

Arnold Segal was a true art star at the Art Ability Patron Preview, selling most of his collection of sculptures and earning commissions - a mixed media artist, Segal uses plaster, paper mache and electronics to enliven his sculptures which often have hidden surprises.

Liam Kennedy, Dreams, bronze, winner of 2nd prize for sculpture, the Sarah Hair Shearer Memorial Award.

Kathy Harris, Double Self Portrait & Winter Bride.  Harris created the portraits from life masks - the double self portrait is from 30 years ago and the Winter Bride is a recent mask.  Kathy told DoN that the younger version is dreaming of the future and the elder shows aging through time, either way she’s beautiful with a wonderful spirit and wicked wit, we had the best time chatting about her career making paintings, ceramic tiles and pipes.

Michael Tavani, Winter in Chadds Ford, oil.

Jack Beverland, Happy Trails, acrylic & plastic.

Clif Anderson, The Last Rose, oil.  Clif told DoN this was literally the last rose in his garden last November.

Beverly Strohecker-Yablin, Favorite Teacup, oil.

David Gerbstadt is one of the famous Philadelphia Dumpster Divers, his mixed media paintings are super-pop, perfect for a hipster’s pad or austere modern interior.  DoN was recently in the Dumpster Diver gallery on South Street and a patron bought 27 of his $1.00 drawings as Christmas gifts.

Marilyn Lavins, 40th Anniversary 1969-2009, Moon Landing, collage.

Photography by Jim Knisley @ Art Ability.

Gregory Gans, Spirit Over Waters, photograph, winner 3rd Prize for photography, The Denise Fraunfelter Memorial Award.

Photography @ Art Ability Exhibit in Bryn Mawr Rehab.

Gregory Gans, Forest Cathedral, photograph.  DoN had the opportunity to chat with Greg’s biggest fan, his wife, who offers constant support and encouragement and agrees with DoN that if you don’t have something nice to say don’t say anything.  Gans’ has been a working photographer for 45 years, creating hundreds of images - now many of his photos have Biblical & spiritual references reflecting his faith and strength to battle the epileptic seizures he endures after having a benign brain tumor removed.

The Art Ability show has so much to see it’s impossible for DoN to share it all - Evan Gozali’s brilliant digital Asian style scroll is transcendental, Elizabeth Core’s imaginative large painting, Christine Severson’s jewelry…the point is that even though the art is all created by artists with disabilities there are no boundaries, no style, no medium that is exempt from an artist with the will to create from painting to drawing, photography to sculpture, fine art to crafts, an artist is an artist even if they have to hold the brush with their mouth, work from a wheelchair, try to hold steady until the tremor passes or struggle to articulate because the words won’t come.

DoN was so happy to see so many red dots indicating sales - 80% goes to the artist and the remainder is used to improve the facilities to aid people who need rehabilitation everything else is provided by volunteers including the wonderful sales team.  DoN had the pleasure of meeting Ellie Pfautz, a volunteer sales rep who absolutely loves Bryn Mawr Rehab since they helped her recover from a brain aneurysm; the two of us marveled at the new Lokomat suite - a robot which helps train muscles & nerves by reminding the body of motor pathways, building new neural networks and strengthening the body without manual manipulation by a technician.  To see a short video clip - click here.

Lokomat Robot @ Bryn Mawr Rehab Hospital

Ashley Pigford & Troy Richards, Vanishing Point combines computer graphics, motion sensors and robotics in the Information Translated exhibit in the University of Delaware’s art department adjunct gallery in the Crane Arts Center curated by Anthony Vega.

Troy Richards, The Hoarders II - Information Translated @ Crane Arts Center.

The University of Delaware faculty exhibit, Information Translated, is a futuristic trip into an art world where video projectors follow the actors around the room on a robotic platform (a movie called Knock by Lance Winn & Toronto artist Simone Jones), Legos and computers work in conjunction with movement and sound to create an experience design and normal appearing prints reveal underlying messages as if a computer memory kernel has exploded.  The show restores DoN’s appreciation of how video can be incorporated into an art show without seeming like a knock-off of Warhol.  By utilizing off-the-shelf components combined into innovative new forms, the UD faculty have created an inspirational, aspirational show that is sure to trigger new neural pathways for UD art students.  The space is an adjunct gallery for University of Delaware artists to display their work away from campus in the heart of one of Philly’s vibrant, emerging art centers.  The downstairs space is especially exciting with several video/robot installations that excite the eye and confuse the senses.  Check out the UD website for a statement about the show, but really, this show has to be seen to be believed.