Rochester, NY

I drove out to Rochester, NY last night to attend the opening reception of the exhibit "Saints Preserve Us" at The Yards Gallery, to support my friend and fellow artist, Tom Nettle, who had two (and a half?) pieces in the show. I hadn't been to Rochester in a number of years. As I drove to the gallery, I was very impressed with the public art (e.g., sculpture, murals) that I saw throughout the city neighborhoods. It was so nice to see. I couldn't help but think "Why can't Utica be more like this, as a city"? I mean, Utica has a very active "arts scene" in a variety of small and larger galleries. But the "vibe" across the city is quite different than what I experienced driving in Rochester. Although the exhibit at The Yards was fairly small, it was interesting and impressive in terms of the quality and thoughtfulness of the works. I was happy to see that the exhibit included a number of collages and assemblages. Here are some photos from the evening...

These are Tom Nettle's works. I said two (and a half?) pieces because of the red bowling pin. If you look carefully, you will find that Tom has included an image of the red bowling pin within the paintings. 

So cool!

"The Lats Judgment" by Nancy Radzik

"No Other Knowledge is Purposeful" by Laurie MacFarlane

"The Universal Salty Taste" by Laurie MacFarlane

"A Reliquary for a Visible Woman" by Jim Herrmann

"Cobbled x200" by Michelle L. Miller

"Night School" by Erica Bryant

This was a cool interactive piece.

I feel badly that I did not get the artist information for this VERY cool piece.

Reminiscent of Marcel Duchamp's Étant donnés, when you looked through the eyepieces, you saw

other images. In this case, images including minataurs. VERY cool; and technically intriguing.

Frank Viola

I had the pleasure of going to the opening reception for my friend and fellow collage/assemblage artist, Frank Viola, last Friday at SUNY-POLY's Gannett Gallery (in Utica). Frank is a retired art teacher from the Utica School District. He has been an inspiration for me, and has encouraged my artistic journey over the years. I don't have any photos of the gallery and people during the reception; but I did take some photos of some of the works in the exhibit. Bravo, Frank!

Tim

One of the most common questions I get about my collages is, "How long does it take you to do a piece"? I've written about this before. In a way, it's an impossible question to answer in generic terms. I have some half-finished pieces in my studio that are years old. And it's difficult to factor in the collection time for all the vintage magazines and the days, months, years, that some elements sit around "collecting dust". I did a 9/11 memorial piece once that came together in about 20 minutes. This piece, entitled "Tim was distracted by thoughts of holiday travel" (8" x 12"), came together fairly quickly. I had had the train station element sitting around the studio for a while; but the swimmer element was one that I JUST came across last week when paging through a 1951 LIFE magazine. When I put the two elements together as a quick "experiment", I realized that they were "meant for each other". The two green orb additions strongly integrate the two elements. I also carefully and deliberately worked on the detailed placement of the two elements, so that the crowd over his head, sort of suggests a continuation (integration) of the lower element with the upper element.

Ben Garlington

I REALLY enjoyed the opening reception at The Other Side gallery (Utica, NY) last night, for the sculptural/mixed media work my friend and fellow artist Ben Garlington. Ben integrates collage elements in his wood sculptures, and presents them exquisitely with mono-colored background that accentuate the structure, and beautiful frames. Bravo Ben!

 

Seeking a Brain

I finished this piece last night. It's the latest in the "Seeking a Brain" series that has emerged from my studio. Each of the pieces in this series includes an image of Ray Bolger, the actor who played the scarecrow in The Wizard of Oz. Years ago, I came across a full page of small images of him (needing lots of micro-cutting) in various dance poses in Life magazine. This piece is small format (obviously from the size of my thumb), and I have framed it without a mat (for effect). The piece is entitled, "Finally Arrived at The Emerald City Laser (Seeking a Brain #9)". The title is collage-like itself, as the strike out of "city" is intentional (an allusion to The Emerald City, of course) and the inclusion of a subtitle. It'll take some effort to inform a curator about the intentional nature of the entire title. 

I think it's worth mentioning a couple of technical aspects of the creation of this piece as well. This is the interstellar base image that serves as the background of the piece. As you can see, the "laser" is actually a green line that was part of the original image (I think it indicated the area that was enlarged in a later photograph... not sure).

 

When I used the entire intact image, it resulted in an area in the lower right hand portion that was too "bright" for the composition, in my mind. So I had to carefully cut that portion out and replace it with a darker area of the same interstellar image. But I also thought it was important to maintain the reddish-orange aspect of the image. Here's what it looked like before I "doctored" it to give a darker image in the lower right "window"...

And again, the final piece...

Details are important ;-)

Finished?

 A couple of posts ago, I claimed that I had finished this piece. And I was quite pleased with it. BUT, when I sprayed it with the UV varnish I use on my work, somehow it created two tiny bubbles (I think). I tried to gently fix it, but it just didn't work.

Here's the blemish; just above the green semi-circle on the right...

Was it really that noticeable to the viewer? It was to me. My friend and fellow artist, David Oster, saw it immediately. SOoo... what to do. I knew if I tried "fixing it" by picking at it, I would make matters worse. I was bummed. So I played around with some "cover up" elements that I might add. Here's how I ended-up covering the blemish. It changes the composition quite significantly. I like it though. I'm just a bit concerned now, that the balance isn't quite right. But I have it matted and framed, and will probably leave it the way it is.

Here's a photo of it framed in the "bulky" black frame that I think is good for the piece. I wish the photo of the collage turned out better. Not sure why the glass made the artwork so much out of focus. BTW, the dimensions are 10" x 6.5".

Art and mortality

On December 31, 2014, I posted an entry for this blog about the concept that every artist will create a "last piece" before they pass away. It was prompted by the sudden passing of an artist friend of mine from a massive heart attack on Thanksgiving day while making dinner for his family. I was reminded of that post again this week, because there was an estate sale of an artist acquaintance of mine -- Sandra DeVisser -- who had passed away last year. Her house was absolutely FULL of beautiful artwork -- mostly hers, but others' art as well. Sandra was such a prolific art creator. I had previously bought a piece of hers, and was always impressed with her beautiful mixed media work. She was SO talented and had a beautiful artistic "voice". She touched many lives as a community art teacher at Munson (formerly Munson Williams Proctor Art Museum). Today was the second day of the estate sale, and there were still hundreds of her pieces hanging on the walls and stacked in various rooms. It is sad to think of what will become of all these creations. Here's just a small sample of what was in the house...

In addition to purchasing a number of metal frames, I ended up buying a small piece of hers, and another piece by John Loy, who also recently passed away. John always came to my openings, and he was always encouraging of my artistic efforts. May both Sandra and John rest in peace... knowing that they both had such a positive and beautiful impact on me, and the entire artistic community in central New York.

Sandra DeVisser

John Loy