DoNArTNeWs

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.

P. J. Smalley, Girl on Toilet, oil/digital print @ The Plastic Club.

Donna P. Collins, Our Love Dissolved, photograph.

Donna P. Collins, One Way Out, photograph.

Julianna Struck, Untitled, oil @ The Plastic Club New Members Exhibition 2010.

Karen Frank, Effervesence, acrylic.

New Member Exhibition 2010 @ The Plastic Club.  Corel Topel, Baby #1, pen & ink, Armand Scavo, 101 Walnut Street #1, photograph and Karen Freeman, Modiglianni Girl, ink.

Serena Perrone, Dreaming of Flying Fish, oil/charcoal/graphite.

Welcome to the 24 new members of the Plastic Club; the current show is super-strong with technical virtuosity, broad variety of styles, big personalities and aspirational contemporary ideas from established and new members of the Philly Art Community.

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!

Veronica Schmude @ Mirror Image in Old City.

The First Friday vibe in Old City can be frantic, there is so much to see, people to meet and ideas to think about that it can all become a blur.  Not only are there galleries, shops and restaurants, the alternative venues are numerous and varied from street vendors selling paintings, prints, crafts and photos to businesses like Mirror Image, a graphic/web design firm on Market Street with lots of wall space to share exhibiting art work.  Photographic Society of Philadelphia photographers Veronica Schmude and Rocco Agrippa, appropriated the long wall to display their photographs, brought in friends to play music and transformed the office into an art happening.  Veronica’s signature photographs of peeling paint in old buildings and Agrippa’s landscapes brought energy and style to the desk filled space - there were plenty of spots for Shoshka (in her gorgeously inappropriate gallery-hopping boots) to rest while DoN chatted with Veronica.  Recently, Schmude organized a field trip to Eastern State Penitentiary so photographers could shoot in usually off limit spaces and she’s organizing another trip to Pennsylvania Hospital to photograph the historic healing center.  The PsoP (the second oldest photography club in the world) holds monthly meetings with presentations & lectures by member artists @ The Plastic Club on Camac Street.

Rocco Agrippa @ Mirror Image.

Veronica Schmude, PSoP photographer @ alternative art venue Mirror Image.

The American Color Print Society is celebrating their 70th anniversary with their 70th member exhibition at The Plastic Club which is coincidentally 70 years old.  The exhibition includes not just color prints (the group came together because many galleries only allowed black and white prints) but many excellent examples of black and white prints.  Like many other art forms, the boundaries have expanded to include mixed media, collage, textile and more.  With works submitted by artists from all over the country this show is a mixture of styles, tastes, techniques and ideas from abstract expressionism to atmospheric naturalism to impressionism to pop incorporating every type of printmaking imaginable.

Marlene Grolnic, Ancestral Headgear, collagraph/collage.

Elaine B. Rothwell, Poker Cross. 4 plate color etching.

Ron Wyffels, Untitled, etching/drypoint/drawing.

Carole J. Meyers, Check It Out, monotype.  Meyers explained to DoN how she paints an image on thin plastic sheets with water-based inks then pulls them through a roller to produce her expressionistic prints.

American Color Print Society 70th exhibition @ The Plastic Club on the Avenue of the Artists.

Carole J. Meyers, Holding Court, monotype.

Thelma Grobes, Acrobat And Horses, etching.

Lois M. Johnson, (The Cowgirl in the City), was awarded the lifetime achievement award by The American Color Print Society.  Johnson has taught printmaking at The University of the Arts for 40 years and is preparing to retire.  A native of North Dakota she has made a great impact on the art scene in Philadelphia by helping aspiring print-makers realize their potential.  DoN asked Lois how she reacts to the popular skate-punk esthetic so prominent with today’s youth and she responds that she doesn’t judge but reacts to what is put before her, helping her students improve technique and style, the substance is up to the artist.  The American Color Print Society sponsors a printmaking scholarship for students attending UArts, DoN’s sure the school is going to miss Lois Johnson’s influence and tenacity.

Lois M. Johnson was honored with a solo exhibition in the Board Room of the Plastic Club; Johnson’s prints mix photography, drawing, scribbles and metaphorical references to her western roots and metropolitan style.

The American Color Print Society was awarded with a certificate of appreciation from Philadelphia City Council on their 70th anniversary and exhibition.  Congratulations!

Wednesday evening @ The Plastic Club, Anders Hanson hosted a lively discussion of how artists should price their art.  Many familiar faces were present in the Tea Room, all with the same concerns - how do artists price their work.  Off the Wall Gallery @ Dirty Frank’s curator Jody Sweitzer shared lots of good advice from deciding how much you should pay yourself to pricing works in a range that is reasonable yet profitable.  Ben Cohen shared a great idea from his last one person show - he priced figure studies done in workshops at really low prices with a raffle coupon attached for one of his framed paintings valued at around $300.  Ben found that people bought more than one drawing with hopes of winning one of his paintings and he earned enough to cover the “loss” of the painting and generated good will.  Other ideas included pricing by the square inch (Francis Tucker, the great painter and teacher does this - he charges $5 per square inch, you do the math), keeping track of hours and material costs, not giving away work to friends, no undercutting yourself when a client asks the price, keeping your price consistent (don’t price it one way for New York and another for Philly), think like a business person and pick up on buying cues, be present at your openings and follow up, follow up, follow up.  On a recent show on PBS called Craft in America, one of the artists said to not count on your gallery to promote your work and keep your own mailing lists (snail & e-mail).

Jody visits artist studios to learn more about the artist and their body of work, picks works she feels will sell, learns the background of the work, techniques, materials, style…so when a patron asks she’s armed with info to share.  Off the Wall has a terrific sales record and does great promotion with posters, cards and parties.  Rick Wright shared that he has a range of product priced from very low for his famous cell phone photos (phone-to-grams) to higher end large scale works.  By selling some works cheap he makes friends and collectors who return and often buy more.

Sweitzer recommended the book “How to Survive and Prosper as an Artist: Selling Yourself Without Selling Your Soul” by Caroll Michels.  DoN recommends “I’d Rather be in the Studio” by Alyson Stanfield and “The Artist’s Way” by Julia Cameron.  As a former sales manager, DoN has a few tips: watch for buying cues (how much is it?, how did you make it?, how long did it take?…)  Use the acronym QRISP - quality, reputation, innovation, style and price.  Notice price is last not first - don’t spend your collectors money for them, after all, you don’t know how much they have to spend.  In this feverish economy, it’s important to remain thick skinned, engage your customers, pick up on cues, have a story to tell, value yourself and stick to your price.

The enormous photographs of football players by George Krause in the Plastic Club’s Tea Room are thoroughly engrossing.  The tough stares emitting from the players eyes, the sweat and grit on their faces, the glossy texture of their uniforms offers the viewer the opportunity to examine up close the epitome of masculinity, competitive aggression and stolid determination to win at all costs.  DoN spoke with Krause as he installed the works and learned that the prints were created by scanning film negatives and printing the photographs on huge sheets of matte paper.  Rick Wright, another great Philly photographer, pointed out how each of the photos are not exactly black and white but saturated with purple, green and maroon giving the images a lively glow.

As you enter the front door of the historic art club, a large book of over-sized portraits is splayed out on a table.  At first DoN thought it was a unique way to present some photos that didn’t fit on the wall but instead discovered a book filled with intensely personal portraits of a wide variety of faces from hippies guys with earrings and greasy hair to stern women in power suits.

The exquisite gelatin silver prints beautifully presented answer the question of whether photography is true art is answered with a resounding,”Yes.”

George Krause was born in Philly, attended PCA, received the first Prix de Rome and the first Fulbright-Hayes Fellowships ever awarded to a photographer, two Guggenheim Fellowships and three grants from the National Endowment for the Arts.  The entire Plastic Club is filled with Krause’s photos including an extraordinary group of life-sized nudes in the newly refurbished gallery in the basement - it’s hard to believe such a treasure is so easily accessible to all at the low, low price of free.  The exhibit is on view through October 24th, make the effort to wander over to the Avenue of the Artists and experience a truly unique exhibit of world class photography.

Collaborative paintings by Kim Martin & Karl Olsen in the upstairs gallery/studio of the venerable Plastic Club allowing the large scale unmounted paintings pride of place.  Many visitors to the club remarked how the space looked so chic, like an atelier in Paris.

Kim & Karl worked together for eleven months to produce the fantastical installation of paintings; the first floor gallery is dedicated to works created by the artists as individuals with the room split right down the middle.

 Al Gury said he liked this collabo the best because of the composition.  Even though the distinct styles are visible, the two halves work together as a cohesive whole.  The simple materials, limited palette, fast hand and apparent mind-meld produced this trippy drawing.

This painting was one of the duo’s latest collaborations with no restraint, no bumping elbows, no hard feelings even if one painted out the others favorite patch, it’s also one of the first collaborations they started.

Karl Olsen’s self portrait is reminiscent of Ralph Stedman, Hans Bellmer and Thomas Hart Benton’s prediliction to distortion, confusing perspectives and introspective investigation.

Karl Olsen & Kim Martin having been doing daily self portraits for 30 days.

Curator Alan Clawens insisted all entries must be work created outside of the historic art club on Avenue of the Artists, Camac Street, the theme being still life in any media; the Plastic Club artists reached deep into creative reserves to bring work that represents they’re own style yet meet the criterion of the show.  There’s nothing like listening to an artist explain how they’re work meets the rules - it would make a great reality show but in this case everyone seems sincere in bringing their best.

Marie Davis Samohod, Parting of Ways, acrylic.

Elizabeth H. MacDonald, Tin Can, relief print.

Michael Kuncevich, Facets, monotype.  Kuncevich took first prize in the Philadelphia Sketch Club’s Miniatures Show.  The delicate coloration and high concept of this print is a master class in composition, technique, style and skill.

Debra Campbell Goodyear, Lemon Aid, photograph, Veronica Schmude, Wheel, digital print and Alden Cole, …And Delicious, mixed media.  Isn’t this a beautiful tableau?  DoN LoVeS that Veronica & Alden are hanging together since they’re both DoN faves.  DoN’s looking for Ms. Goodyear.

Mina Smith-Segal, Terracotta Head, watercolor.

Anders Hansen, Wild Onions, ink & graphite.

E.S. Holmes, Pipes, acrylic, Thelma Segal, Mexican Paper Flowers, watercolor, Paul Perez, Artist, photograph and Dom Loschiavo, Lunch at Le Magnolie, color print.

DoN Brewer, light being (David Arneson), digital photo.

The Plastic Club is an oasis of creativity, friendship, camaraderie and support; not just a club, it’s a think tank, a hide-out, a studio, a gallery, a place to learn and experiment without fear.  Fear is the mind-killer.