European Adventure

This morning my wife and my mother and I are heading off to Amsterdam! We will be spending a few days there and at Maastricht, before going to Dresden, Germany. In Dresden, I am presenting a paper at the 21st Congress of the International Association for Empirical Aesthetics. This is a great group of international scholars (actually MANY from outside the United States) who study various aspects of art and design and psychology and perception. I will be presenting a paper entitled "The role of 'nostalgia' in the perception of artwork" (my student-- Tim Wilkinson -- is a co-author on the paper). I will try to do some posting on this blog site while I am away (so that a number of folks can read, if interested, rather than sending separate e-mails). I will be posting photographs upon my return! We're off!!!

Sculpture Space WIP

Sculpture Space is a local arts gem in Utica, NY offering residencies for contemporary sculptors from all over the United States and across the globe (see www.sculpturespace.org). Every several months, the work of the three or four current artists-in-residence is showcased in a "Works-In-Progess" Reception. The WIPs are wonderful events at which you not only see brand new works from accomplished artists from various places, but at which you will meet many local artists as well. The people I've met at Sculpture Space are wonderful and inspiring. Last month I attended a WIP and saw several artists' work including Jimmy Kuehnle's work (see www.JimmyKuehnle.com). He created this HUGE colorful, inflatable piece which can be "worn" (he walks around engulfed inside of this piece). Helping Jimmy in this photo is local collage/assemblage artist Frank Viola. I was also intrigued by the small sketches/paintings of Loren Ehrdrich (see www.okloren.com) as she takes advantage of her residency to explore new ideas. The next Works-In-Progress event is November 16th. I plan to bring my "Psychology and the Visual Arts" class there that evening. Enjoy!

Nora Reynolds' artwork

I am very lucky to be an uncle to 10 nephews and nieces. I should spend more time with all of them, but that's another story. Anyway, whenever they come to Uncle Steve's house for a visit, I often bring out the art supplies and get them involved with some sort of fun project. Recently my 12 year-old niece Nora visited and we did collages (4" x 4"). It was interesting to see her go from hesitant (about this novel medium) to actively and enthusiastically involved. After we were finished, I asked her what she wanted to entitled it. She said "I don't know"... but I insisted (because I think it's part of the process). I also think it is a cool title. I think she did a good job--it's just as good as the collages I do (hmm, I guess I'm not as special as I thought I was ;-). We had a great time together and she did a collage on her own when she got home. Cool! Enjoy!

MVCA Regional Exhibition

Wow... it has been WAY too long since my last post. To anyone who might regularly follow this blog, my sincere apologies. Not only have I been really busy (like we all are), but I tend to get a little cranky with hot and sticky weather. But anyway, I will hopefully be posting a couple of entries before I leave for Amsterdam and Germany next week.
The 2010 Regional Exhibit at the Mohawk Valley Center for the Arts in Little Falls (juried by Andrew Albertson from the Arkell Museum) is in progress from now until August 27th, with the reception on Sunday, August 15th. The theme for this year's exhibit is "Images of the Mohawk Valley". I was a little concerned that a collage inspired by this theme might turn out to look more like a promotional tourist poster than a piece of art, but I was motivated to try to get a piece accepted into the show. The image (8" x 18") above is my end product (and was accepted). I was inspired a bit by Julie Sadler's collage work which successfully incorporates strong tactile elements and decided to use pieces of birch bark, an arrowhead and several Herkimer "diamonds" (unfortunately, those are difficult to see in this image). Hope you get a chance to check out the show. Enjoy!