Category Archives: Philadelphia Artists

Philadelphia’s art scene is vibrant, ever-changing, combining technique and technology for new visions of reality, creating a transformative influence on life-style in the urban community and beyond.

Women of Vision: 2012 Lilliana S. Didovic at Hidden River Gallery

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Women of Vision: 2012 Lilliana S. Didovic at Hidden River Gallery

Women of Vision: 2012 Lilliana S. Didovic, Philly Abstract, at Hidden River Gallery

Women of Vision: 2012 Lilliana S. Didovic at Hidden River Gallery

Women of Vision: 2012 Lilliana S. Didovic, Night, at Hidden River Gallery

“I knew Debra Leigh Scott years ago since she was running Enclave Gallery and she picked me as one of the Da Vinci Art Alliance artists to show in an exhibit.  Since then we keep seeing each other at different events and she sent me an e-mail and invited me to be part of this show.  I submitted some of my pieces, there is nine pieces all together here, which is good.”  Lilliana S. Didovic is prolific, working multiple canvasses with paint and mixed media, DoN wondered what she’s working on now? “Just last night we had a fabulous book party at Smile Gallery for Her Philadelphia Tales, The Art of Lilliana S. Didovic!  It was a really great success.  My new pieces are related to South Street, some sparkling with mirrors and rhinestone.  Now I’m having a related exhibit at the Lantern Theater related to love and loss, Romeo and Juliet.  Recently, in Millville NJ, I’m part of HERSTORY 2012: Ladies of Leonardo.”

Women of Vision: 2012 Lilliana S. Didovic at Hidden River Gallery

Women of Vision: 2012 Lilliana S. Didovic, Day, at Hidden River Gallery

DoN commented that Lilliana has two Women’s History shows running simultaneously.  “I think all month’s should be dedicated to women!”, said Lilliana laughing.  “They have such an important part of history of the world.  Taking care of everybody in the world. Ha, ha, ha!”  DoN persisted, “As someone who’s seen a lot more of the world than most Philadelphian’s, our people are famous for never leaving their own neighborhoods, you have lived in many, many places what do you see from women artists today?” Lilliana said, “Women are just as productive as a man, there is no difference, to be motivated in different ways.  I’m not just separating women from men because a lot of men’s art is not different than the women.  Women in their mind are being men and men in their mind are being women and then men do with men in their mind and women do with women in their mind.  Everything is all around, whatever way you’re motivated, you’re making your art.”

Women of Vision: 2012 at the Hidden River Art Gallery and Salon, 525 South 4th Street, Philadelphia hosted by Debra Leigh Scott through April 30, 2012.

DoN will be posting stories about the other featured artists Pamela Peitzman, Barbara Gesshel, Madeline Bates, Lauren Acton and Maria Lourdes Soloman on upcoming DoNArTNeWs Philadelphia Art News Blog posts.

Read more about Women of Vision 2012 at Side Arts Philadelphia Art Blog

Photographs by DoN Brewer

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Women of Vision: 2012 Lauren Acton at Hidden River Gallery

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Women of Vision: 2012 Lauren Acton at Hidden River Gallery

Women of Vision: 2012 Lauren Acton, Violated, at Hidden River Gallery

Women of Vision: 2012 Lauren Acton, The Agreement, at Hidden River Gallery

Women of Vision: 2012 Lauren Acton, The Agreement, at Hidden River Gallery

Lauren Acton explained to DoN, “I brought a bistro scene, I’ve done a lot of bistro women in a series, colorful women in bistro scenes because I lived in Paris.  And it’s reminiscent of drinking a lot of wine, or having coffee or tea.  My most recent pieces though are based on Roger de La Fresnaye who based a lot of work on nude women with business men, it’s so intriguing, the opposition of those two together that I’m focused on right now and the wine is introduced, I like somewhat abstract figures now with figurative pieces.  They’re broken down spaces, then broken down again with color and treatment of layers, glazing, it’s just what I’m doing at this point.”

Women of Vision: 2012 Lauren Acton, The Girls, at Hidden River Gallery

Women of Vision: 2012 Lauren Acton, The Girls at Hidden River Gallery

DoN asked if this is a response to the male gaze?  Lauren Acton responded, “I’m not sure, this is a show with all women but Debra Leigh Scott picked the pieces, I thought that was appropriate for an all female show.  A woman’s point of view to maybe, um, the waning feminist era we find ourselves in after the sixties.  Debra and I had a big conversation about what happened to our feminist movement, I’m only 52 but I lived through the sixties and I know about Gloria Steinem and those girls.  It’s important to understand a woman’s point of view and how a lot of successful business women are still fighting a lot of prejudice, even just being female in the working world there’s prejudice, it’s still an upward battle for a lot of women.”  DoN asked about how Lauren Acton reacts to the current political discussion surrounding women today?  “There’s still prejudice, that’s all I’m going to say.”

Women of Vision: 2012 at the Hidden River Art Gallery and Salon, 525 South 4th Street, Philadelphia hosted by Debra Leigh Scott through April 30, 2012.

DoN will be posting stories about the other featured artists Pamela Peitzman, Barbara Gesshel, Madeline Bates, Lilliana Didovic and Maria Lourdes Soloman on upcoming DoNArTNeWs Philadelphia Art News Blog posts.

Read more about Women of Vision 2012 at Side Arts Philadelphia Art Blog

Photographs by DoN Brewer

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Women of Vision: 2012 Pamela Peitzman at Hidden River Gallery

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Women of Vision: 2012 Pamela Peitzman at Hidden River Gallery

Women of Vision: 2012 Pamela Peltzman, Before the Celebration at Hidden River Gallery

“My artwork is inspired by some time I spent in Africa doing a film there.  I’m a makeup artist by trade.  So after I got back from my year in Africa I decided to start looking into the tribes and how they painted their faces, these three are representative of Polynesian, Papua New Guinea, and the Omu tribes.  I use my own creative license as well in decorating them.”  Pamela Peltzman spent a year in Africa shooting two feature films.

Women of Vision: 2012 Pamela Peitzman at Hidden River Gallery

Women of Vision: 2012 Pamela Peltzman, The Young Bride at Hidden River Gallery

“I got to work as a makeup artist on what possibly is the worst movie ever made called Alien From L.A. starring Kathy Ireland, the model.”  DoN was incredulous, how could this be the worst movie ever?  Visually it was beautiful and the makeup was fantastic, I must say.” Pamela said, laughing.  “It is on DVD.  It costs more to ship it than it does to buy it.”  OK, DoN is not used to hearing himself laugh out loud on tape – transcribing this conversation is becoming painful. “It was worth it for going to Africa, visually we had a great production designer, costumes, makeup, the production designs were fantastic, so whatever, I don’t write them.”   Pamela Peltzman is on IMDb and has a website www.pamelapeitzman.com.  “I was on 50 or so features, a lot of work.  I was in Los Angeles for twenty years.  Now, I’m based in Philadelphia, my home town.”

Women of Vision: 2012 Pamela Peitzman at Hidden River Gallery

Women of Vision: 2012 Pamela Peltzman at Hidden River Gallery

Women of Vision: 2012 at the Hidden River Art Gallery and Salon, 525 South 4th Street, Philadelphia hosted by Debra Leigh Scott through April 30, 2012.

DoN is posting stories about the other featured artists Laureen Acton, Barbara Gesshel, Madeline Bates, Lilliana Didovic and Maria Lourdes Soloman on coming DoNArTNeWs Philadelphia Art News Blog posts.

Read more about Women of Vision 2012 at Side Arts Philadelphia Art Blog

Photographs by DoN Brewer

Pamela Peltzman worked on some really cool movies:

The Hitcher
Conan the Barbarian (1982)
Rock N’ Roll High School

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Bruce Kravetz, Photographer

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Bruce Kravetz, Photographer, The Mills Artist Studios, Manyunk

Bruce Kravetz, Photographer, The Mills Artist Studios, Manayunk

Bruce Kravetz and DoN walked along the tow path in Manayunk along the canal, part of the bike trail that leads from Locust Street to Valley Forge, after having coffee at La Colombe on Main Street.  Bruce’s photography studio is in The Mill Studios at 123 Leverington Street, an artist’s studio space since the late 1990’s, and the discussion was around his pending presentation of a new work at the Philadelphia Photo Arts Center in Fishtown.  Geese swam in the low greenish water of the canal, the roar of cars up on the expressway echoed across the valley. “It’s a place you can show your work and talk about it, it’s the first time I’m showing that eighty-five year old nude.”

Bruce Kravetz, Photographer, The Mills Artist Studios, Manyunk

Bruce Kravetz, Photographer, The Mills Artist Studios, Manayunk

“So, it should be kind of interesting.  It’s the first time I’m showing it in public, I’ve shown my wife and my friends and I got their feedback but I’ve never shown it to a group of people.  So, this is going to be kind of interesting, I don’t know how they’ll react.  The size of the print is actually 44″ by 135”, shot with my Canon EOS 5D Mark II 21.1MP Full Frame CMOS Digital SLR Camera with EF 24-105mm f/4 L IS USM Lens, I printed it myself on my Epson Stylus® Pro 9880.”  DoN spoke up like one of the squawking geese, “That’s a lot of paper!  And ink!  Is this a one shot deal, it must be expensive?”

Bruce Kravetz, Photographer, The Mills Artist Studios, Manyunk

Bruce Kravetz, Photographer, The Mills Artist Studios, Manayunk

“Well, no, I think the ink figures in at fifty cents a square foot and the paper is about a dollar a foot, it’s not that expensive.  If you don’t count the price of the printer.  If I can’t be good to myself, be big.”  DoN asked about the subject of his project, aging nude female models, posed classically, “I always find for some reason young models are a dime a dozen, and they’re over done..I always find that older people have something to say, they’re not vacuous.”

Bruce Kravetz, Photographer, The Mills Artist Studios, Manyunk

Bruce Kravetz, Philadelphia Homeless #2, archival pigment print, (photograph courtesy of the artist), the photograph is included in the Photo Review 2011 Competition website.

How long have you been working on this project?  “Well, I’d say about three months now.  I get some interesting comments when I approach people, I have to be very careful when I approach women, reassuring them that they can have somebody accompany them.  I’m having trouble getting models, I like people who look their age.  I’m not looking for body-builders, I’m just looking for normal, everyday kind of people, normal wrinkles and normal things that happen to the body as it ages, I find it interesting and exciting.  You can intellectualize it up the wazoo; a blank wall or a brick wall that’s old, with moss on it and stuff like that.  I feel about it that same ways, it’s a body that has lived.”  As Bruce Kravetz and DoN started the steep climb up Leverington Street back to the Mills he said, “And they say things to you with wrinkles and crevices, sagging parts that are certainly more interesting than a Photoshopped young twenty year old.”

Bruce Kravetz, Photographer, The Mills Artist Studios, Manayunk

Bruce Kravetz, Photographer, The Mills Artist Studios, Manayunk (photograph courtesy of the artist).

DoNArTNeWs Philadelphia Art News Blog

Photos by DoN except where noted.

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Her Philadelphia Tales, Book Party

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Lilliana Didovic, Of South 2, Smile, Her Philadelphia Tales Book Signng Party, 2/25/2012

Lilliana Didovic, Of South 2, Smile Restaurant, Her Philadelphia Tales, The Art of Lilliana S. Didovic Book Signing Party, 2/25/2011, Instagram.

A brisk north wind bit into DoN‘s face as he walked up 22th Street to Smile Restaurant on a Saturday night for his book signing party.  Lilliana and Joseph reserved the dining room upstairs and invited all of our friends to celebrate the publication of Her Philadelphia Tales, The Art of Lilliana S. Didovic.  The creation of the book was an adventure in itself, DoN is a blogger, publication in print is not a goal for DoNArTNeWs.  DoN is into page impressions, rankings and search engine optimization results and the effects of reporting on Philadelphia art in Google.  But Lilliana said DoN‘s writing uses “nice words”.

Lilliana proposed collecting reviews from DoN‘s blog posts with her art in book form, an art book to sell and use to further her career as a painter.  Writing a book and writing a blog are not the same thing, page layout in a column is very different from designing a book.  A blog you can always go back and fix, a book is a one shot deal.  No pressure.  The book is published by CreateSpace on Amazon.com.  The 98 page book is full color, 9.5 x 11″ glossy soft cover with beautiful prints, even now when DoN thumbs through it feels surreal that an actual, tangible product has emerged from his writing.

Beyond Lilliana and DoN‘s wildest expectations, right at 6:00pm people emerged from the freezing Winter evening to crowd into the dining room made ready with a table full of beautiful Thai appetizers by chef Ken and Lilliana‘s own famous Bosnian chicken salad.  The wine flowed and people actually lined up to buy books and sit with the Lilliana and DoN to have their copy autographed.  C. Todd Hestand the mastermind behind the Side Arts blog platform which enabled the bulk of the material used in the book was there chatting with artists, gallery owners and educators…Lola Z, Spike, Ted and Ona (the Ona-bomber), Carl and Liz, Regina, Steve, Chris Z, Rachel, Kathryn, Dr. & Mrs. Dunn, Gordan’s liver transplant doctor…OMG – it was so crowded and the roar of conversation was so loud that Chris Z yelled in DoN‘s ear, “I think there are a lot of Bosnians here!”  The evening was wonderfully cosmopolitan, so many languages, so many people from all diverse backgrounds, artists and entrepreneurs, all together in the middle of down town Philadelphia for something as East Coast elite and snobbishly intellectual as a book signing party.  DoN LoVeD IT!!!  The night will always be one of DoN‘s most memorable moments.

Thank you so much to Lilliana and Joseph for hosting a beautiful evening.  This fantastic team of husband and wife, who have been through so much, have shown hospitality towards DoN that has always been exceptional.  Telling  Lilliana‘s amazing story with DoN‘s writing and information design is an accomplishment DoN has only dreamed about until now.

Lilliana Didovic, The City, Smile, Her Philadelphia Tales Book Signing Party, 2/25/2012

Lilliana Didovic, The City, Smile Restaurant, Her Philadelphia Tales, The Art of Lilliana S. Didovic
Book Signing Party, 2/25/2012.

Her Philadelphia Tales, The Art of Lilliana S. Didovic by DoN Brewer, Lilliana S. Ddovic book signing

Her Philadelphia Tales, The Art of Lilliana S. Didovic, Lilliana S. Didovic book signing party, February 25th, 2012.

Other stories about Lilliana S. Didovic: Lilliana Didovic @ TRUST, Lilliana’s Tales, Her Philadelphia Tales, Structure and Gesture

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Leap Year!  DoNArTNeWs Philadelphia Art News Blog achieved a new milestone for page views topping 2000 unique visitors on one day, February has seen a consistent climb in page views achieving the highest rankings for the blog so far.  DoN is also a Contributing Writer to Side Arts Philadelphia art blog and is participating in a demonstration on how to write a blog post on the Side Arts platform at the Corzo Center for the Creative Economy at the University of the Arts, March 24th, 2012, 1 -3:00pm.

Get tickets http://corzocenter.ticketleap.com/side-arts-demo/