“Honoring PAFA” – Philadelphia Painters Propel Forward at Artists’ House
Despite all the images of Hurricane Sandy that have pervaded the media outlets worldwide this week, Philadelphia painters/sculptors seem to be still arching forward and unstoppable. Honoring the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts: Faculty and Alumni opened to a near capacity-filled Artists’ House Gallery preview in downtown Old City last evening. This exhibit has…
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allTURNatives: Form + Spirit 2012: Collaborators in Craft
Excitedly walking through downtown Philadelphia’s “First Friday” gallery crawl this past weekend, I stumbled upon an exhibit of dedicated and extremely gifted artists showing at The Center for Art in Wood. This exhibition celebrates the Center’s seventeenth year of hosting the International Turning Exchange Residency (ITE) program; seven artists/scholars travel to Philadelphia to create new…
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Honesty and Elegance of Derek Au
Last Friday evening, I was excitedly hurrying into the city during peak rush hour to catch the opening of Derek Au’s work at The Clay Studio in downtown Philadelphia. American-born of Chinese descent, Au lives and maintains his studio in Jingdezhen China, a region historically known for its ceramic traditions. Au’s pieces are made from…
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One Lovely Blog Award
Thank you, Jeannette of French Paintings, for nominating art does matter for the “One Lovely Blog Award.” I’m thrilled to be chosen especially on this week that marks my seven-month anniversary of starting this blog. The rules of accepting this award are pretty simple to follow. First, you must thank the person who nominated you;…
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Making New Work, My Older Work…and Pinterest
The last few days have been challenging to my patience for me as a maker: metalsmith and jeweler. I’ve placed an order for sheet metals from a trusted supplier, and I’ve started a new body of work that I expect to be fairly different content-wise from any of the metals’ work I’ve done in the…
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Karen Freedman’s Decorative “Musings”
Walking through downtown Old City, Philadelphia last Friday night – I became quite mesmerized by a small-scale group of Karen Freedman’s paintings I discovered at Muse Gallery’s 2012 Invitational. Freedman works entirely in encaustic, the process of working that incorporates warmed beeswax and powdered pigments into compositions, which are sculpted into definitive geometric forms; in…
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Inside “The Clay Studio”: New MFA Graduates Shine
So much of the art scene in downtown Philadelphia comes nearly to a halt during the late summer months, as residents scatter throughout the tri-state area to the New Jersey, Delaware and Maryland beaches. However, the contemplation of and dedication to craft is alive and well in Olde City Philadelphia’s The Clay Studio. Last Friday,…
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“New Faces of 2012” – Oil Paintings Intrigue at Artists’ House
This past weekend, I felt compelled to view in-person some of the newer works that Philadelphia-based oil painters are conjuring up inside their studios as of late. New Faces of 2012 currently at Artists’ House Gallery, in downtown Olde City, showcases eleven regional artists who seem to approach the oil painting medium as a self-unique…
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Ani Kasten: Refined “Offerings”
Ani Kasten’s delicate ceramic vessels were a sheer delight to see at Philadelphia’s The Clay Studio last week, as her solo exhibition, Offering, opened on Friday evening to a bustling area of “First Friday” art gallery visitors. As I walked around the airy and open front rooms of the exhibit space, I couldn’t help but…
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