Art House Gallery : The Canvas Project 2

I have been watching The Art House Gallery and its programs for a while now. They are doing some really interesting & current project shows. After doing the collaboration Eye to Eye for the Zendai MoMA, I feel more drawn to group/community art projects and also art give-aways (like mail art). Also I am in a playful place where I am trying new ways of creating and showing.

I decided to give one of their shows a go and I signed up to do The Canvas Project. Which will have two shows......one at the the Art House Gallery and one at the The Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport's Atrium Gallery. There will also be a book printed.

So the project is you get 5 3x3 canvas and 5 words to interpret. FUN! I received my in the mail today....my words are .................Parthenogenesis, liberation, optical, malignant, & target. I have some thinking to do :-)

Gallery Info.....
Art House Gallery is located in downtown Atlanta, Ga in the Castleberry Hill art district.
The gallery holds shows for our projects as well as emerging local artists. With every show we curate, an emphasis is put towards viewer interaction in some form.

Art House is about family.
Art House creates massive, nationwide art projects that tie hundreds of artists together.

We started two years ago with the goal of bringing art to the masses. Since we started, we have interacted with thousands of artists from around the world, all brought together with the common goal of creating art and sharing it with each other.
We host many of the exhibitions for our projects Atlanta, Ga. In an attempt to give artists as much recognition as possible, as well as providing the opportunity to see the exhibition that they're a part of in person, we have started taking select projects to guest galleries around the country.

A brief history of Art House
Art house was started by Steven and Shane back in Spring of 2006 while they were undergrads at Atlanta College of Art. The idea originally started as a group of artists all getting together to have a show at a local venue. Steven and Shane were just the organizers. They quickly got cocky and decided they were going to open up a store front even if it meant pouring all of their hard earned cash into it and living on the street.
They first opened their doors in December of 2006 in a little complex in Decatur, Ga. That space started as a pay-to-play gallery, but quickly lost it's spark. Steve and Shane wanted to create an idea that would spread their name, as well as create a community of artists. They crafted together the first ever "A Million Little Pictures." Sign-ups were slow for awhile until they got picked up by the Yahoo Daily Wire newsletter and soon received over 150 sign-ups! Though that was exciting for the boys, it still didn't pay the rent. One hot summer night, as a last minute effort to get enough money to pay their rent at the gallery, they started "The Sketchbook Project." Well, apparently people liked sketchbooks because it quickly took off. The first ever sketchbook project had just over 500 participants. From there, they created more projects and spruced up some old ones.
They now reside in Castleberry Hill - the main arts district in Atlanta, Ga. Since it's inception, Art House has interacted with over 5,000 artists from around the world. Art House currently consists of Steven, Shane, and their beloved intern Katherine.

Studio Update : Dick Blick Canvas Order Arrives & New Work

Dick Blick has a great canvas sale in August and January usually around 80% off if your buying bulk.........I missed the last two and couldn't wait for August to order for my next few projects. I was looking for the 3inch x 3inch gallery wrap canvas but could never find them so I re-evaluated my artistic vision and went with 4 inch x 4 inch canvas instead. I actually got a really great deal on them they were selling packages of 9 for around $16. and then they give you a +5 price and then I found a coupon on line for money off and low cost shipping....I ended up paying 1.60 a canvas...Not too bad~
I am hoping to get into the studio this weekend and really PAINT!
I have been playing around with photography - Xerox's - and acrylic transfers.

This is the piece I brought to my critique group this past weekend. I didn't realize the impact it had until it was hung in the spacious gallery at Hampden. This piece moves and vibrates with interesting optical illusions. It was radiating the divine energy I have been thinking about. I am not really sure where this work is taking me......I do plan to paint on it but the artists who have seen this series feel that these stand on their own without more work....hummm? Well for now I am just getting my visual vocabulary down for this series and working out my process......experimenting ....having fun.......The only pressure I feel is the show in May where I really don't have a new piece that feels done. I hope to get a few pieces finished to show this month. I have also been working on a new artist statement for the new eye/hand work. Writing an artist statement is my least favorite thing to do as an artist......at least for my own work....but I get by.

Art Calendar Magazine : Michelle Manley : The Artist and the Shaman

I really got a lot out of the latest Art Calendar Magazine.

It had a great listing of the National Park Residencies. An artist friend Janet Morgan, NYC, who has done many park residencies has a Quote and Image in the article. Congrats Janet!

I dream of painting in the Grand Canyon or Sedona, AZ sometime........ Actually I just watched a movie about an artist painting in Sedona called The Artist and the Shaman from Netflix. It was a wonderful journey in spirituality and personal transformation about and artist who is painting the sacred vortexes while contemplating the death of his father.

Back to Art Calendar...........It also had information about Grant writing (I've done a lot of this but its great to get a new perspective), and I was introduced to a new artist whose work I loved!

The article "Pursuing the Impossible" is about the NY Artist Michelle Manley who won a Pollock-Krasner Grant. Her work included rocks and dramatic storm clouds.
The cloud paintings were especially wonderful with titles like Heightened Alert. I couldn't find a website for her but found this picture and a review of her work on the blog Oly's Musings. Here is

the link to the article.

http://olysmusings.blogspot.com/2009/03/definitely-not-in-kansas-anymore.html

Leyden Citizens for Equal Internet Access

Tonight I am going to a Leyden Citizens for Equal Internet Access Organizational Meeting.

I am hoping we can rally together, make some noise, and get Verizon to finish running the DSL lines in Leyden. I will also be starting a Blog for this group to publicly document our intent to get Fair Internet Access. It will also include important links and address for consumers to use who are having similar situations.

Leyden Photo by Alicia Hunsicker

POSTSCRIPT - Blog at http://LeydenInternetAccess.blogspot.com
The meeting was good with about 12 people and more interested in comming to next meeting.

C.J. Lori: Brush Art Gallery: ALL Art Gallery, Lowell

I went out to Lowell Sunday to the Brush Art Gallery Reception with a few artist friends.
There were several openings happening around the same time. First we enjoyed the varied work at the opening at the ALL Art Gallery :"Buying Locally" The collection of Jack Moynihan and Carolyn Walsh . Collectors who show their support of the local Art Community on a regular basis now show their collection to the community at large. Show runs March 21, through April 5, 2009. Next we were off to the Studio Opening of Kathleen Cammarata. I really loved her new prints. Lastly we attended the opening of Massachusetts Artists 2009 at the Brush Art Gallery.

I had a wonderful conversation with Raquel Bauman, President of the board at the Brush. She was very welcoming to our group. Marcia Wise's work looked great and she was pleased we came to support her. The work in the show was really good and I felt connected and inspired by some of it. The best part of the day for me was meeting the artist C.J. Lori . I have been a fan of her work for a long time. I first saw her paintings when I was working with the Lyman-Eyer Gallery in Provencetown, MA where she is represented. Then I was looking into the Woman's Caucus of Art in Boston and I was impressed by C.J's involvement. Ever-sense I have watched her career blossom and I continue to find her work inspiring. It was great to finally connect with her.

Hampden Gallery Critique Group

Tomorrow I am meeting with my monthly critique group at Hampden Gallery where I had my solo show last April (2008)....
Could a year have passed already ?? Wow where has the time gone!


This is a photo from that show (Between the Darkness and the Light) at Hampden Gallery.

The artists in the critique group are a delightful bunch. I always enjoy the interchange we have at these meetings. Strong Work!
We will be having a group show at Hampden together this May called
Group Dynamics. I will post more details soon.

Nature's Patterns : Replication

Fellow blogger and Artist Nancy Natale pointed out to me the similarity of the structure of this painting as compared to my Orchid photo. Its funny because I have always wanted to paint Orchids or do work inspired by Orchids. My work often references the patterns in Nature which can also be found in the human body. I find these structures fascinating and enjoy the image play that can happen as I explore the connection.

Abraham/Hicks Daily Quote for today......

Take the worthiness that is yours, and let the "Fairies of the Universe" assist you. Stop taking so much responsibility upon yourself, and live happily ever after. Shorten that crevasse between where you are and where you want to be, on every subject, to now, now, now, now, now. Ride the wave. Just pluck the fruit... You don't have to be the one who puts it in the ground any more. You can just skip across the top of things and pluck the fruit of all of the things you want. "Oh, fruit. Oh, delicious this, delicious this, delicious this, delicious this." In other words, it's all right there for you; it's ready for you to receive it as fast and as soon as you will vibrationally let it in.
Excerpted from the workshop in Boston, MA on Saturday, May 21st, 2005
Our Love, Jerry and Esther

The Divine: Manifest

The concept I am exploring in my new work which is characterized by eyes and hands is that of Divine: Manifest. How we as humans are on the edge of the unfolding universe, expressing our individual divine sparks. We are the vehicles of creation existing to express the Divine which is continuously moving forward and outward.

In my work the Eye is the divine....the seed of the Soul which connects us to the Divine ..the hand is the vehicle through which it is expressed. As a painter this is a profound image to me.

This concept also leads me to think of how a tree branches out....how we humans reproduce making the family tree..... the hand in this case would be the leaf...the forefront of expression for the tree....its divine manifestation.

I am still working out this concept inside myself and in my art but it is interesting how images come to us as we learn. This is a photo I took in China at the Temple of the City Gods in the Old section of Shanghai. Its kinda hard to see but the little hands have eyes painted on them.

Ask and it is Given : A New Studio Companion

I have been feeling so thankful and prosperous lately.

Maybe its because I read Esther and Jerry Hicks everyday and it is really sinking in.......and with good results!!

They wrote a book "Ask and it is Given" I signed up for their daily quotes about a year ago. This is one of many

that I find inspirational:

You are magnificent beings, in the perfect place at the perfect time, unfolding perfectly, never getting it done, and never getting it wrong. Be more playful about all of it. "Today, no matter where I'm going, no matter what I am doing, and no matter who I'm doing it with -- it is my dominant intent to look for that which I'm wanting to see. I'm wanting to find thoughts and words and actions that feel good while I'm finding them. For in doing so, I am, in the moment, practicing the art of allowing all that I've been telling the Universe I'm wanting, for all of the days of my existence.

http://www.abraham-cks.com/lawofattractionsource/index.php

I have always wanted an orchid and yesterday I was gifted this beauty!

What a wonderful addition to my studio.

Life is good! ..... And New Brushes too!!

Marcia Wise: Brush Art Gallery, Massachusetts Artists 2009

This past fall I visited artist Kathleen Cammarata's
X-O Studio in Lowell, MA where I noticed the Brush Art Gallery across the corridor.

The Brush gallery is hosting a juried show Massachusetts Artists 2009 (wish I had seen the call!)
It is sn overview of work by artists who live in Massachusetts. This show, the third biennial organized by the Brush Gallery, has been juried by Nick Capasso, Senior Curator, DeCordova Museum and Sculpture, Lincoln, MA.

This exhibition will run from March 22 to June 13, with the opening reception to be held on March 22 from 2 to 4 pm.

The Brush Art Gallery & Studios are located at 256 Market St.,
Lowell, MA. For more info go to http://www.thebrush.org/

I hope to attend the opening to support a fellow artist and friend Marcia Wise. She will be showing 2 of the portraits in a series she has been working on.

(including the one pictured at left)

Marcia has a unique palette and process and her work stands out. To see more of her work go :

http://www.marciarwise.com/

My congratulations to you Marcia! and also to the other artists who were accepted into the show...

Apama Agrawal (Cambridge), Kathleen Cammarata(Lowell), Christine Corcel-Lippeveld (Belmont), Jane Goldman(Somerville), Terry Gips (South Wellfleet), Margery Hamlen (Wayland), Mary Tinker Hatch (Wayland), Mary Hughes (Boston), J. B. Jones(Watertown), David Leblanc (Lowell), Heather Lenz (Wendel Depot), C.J.Lori (Brookline), Rachel Mello (Somerville), Carlotta Miller(Worcester), Joel Moskowitz (Sudbury), Erik Pettersen (Malden), DavidPhillips (Cambridge), Peter Pizzi (East Boston), Edward S. Porzio(Quincy), Trina Sears Sternstein (Hawley), Roberta Stone (JamaicaPlain), Sand T (Malden), Pamela Wamala (Lowell), Marcia R. Wise(Deerfield), Therese Zemlin (Andover.

3 x 3 inch Gallery Wrap Canvas???

Help! .....I need a source for 3"x 3" gallery wrap canvas or panels.
The closest I can find is 3 x 3 inch with a 3/8 edge (dick blick). I would love to find a bigger side width from 1 to 2 inches....without having to make my own.

I hate it when I get this vision of what I want and it seems like its going to be sooooooo easy!...
but then......NOT........

Can it be that no company makes this size?
With my ultra slow connection I have spent all morning trying to find some to order.

I need about 50 or so....so making them myself would be very time consuming and not ideal.
Thanks in Advance for any leads.

Top Secret Art Project

Keep an Eye out for some cool News.....

I am excited to be working on a TOP SECRET art project at the moment......
Can't wait to reveal it!!!

painted eye tag by Alicia Hunsicker

Maple Sugar Season: A New England Tradition

The Sap is flowing and the Sugar houses are open! Every year I try to go to one of the local farm/restaurants to get...waffles with sausage drizzled with maple syrup. I'm not a pancake person like most. This year we went to Davenport's Farm In Shelburne.

These are jars of maple syrup in the window of the sugar house barn. What wonderful colors! Just my palette.

Sugaring is very big in Leyden, my home town. My neighborhood is full of sap buckets and lines. We look forward to smelling the sap boiling down as we go on our spring walks. Two years ago my neighbor Kristin Nicholas and her farmer husband Mark tapped our trees and made there own syrup which had a wonderful smokey flavor.

A Surprise Birthday Party

This weekend my friends and family gave me a birthday party. My birthday was last month so I was not expecting to walk into a room of people yelling Surprise! Happy Birthday....... a little shocking. Everyone seemed to have fun. I was touched by it all. Thanks to everyone who planned and came to my birthday celebration and especially to my mom who made all the beautiful center pieces for each table.

IN THE STUDIO....
I'm making progress on my eye paintings....started another image today and will hopefully have something to post soon. I have also had a number of small graphic design jobs to work on as well. So I have been busy.


Here is a button I did for Deborah Garner a tribal art dealer, artist friend, and fellow Eye to Eye collaborator.
I took this photo while visiting her last fall.
Check out her blog at:
http://tribaltales.blogspot.com/








Leyden update: For those of us in the hill towns we can't tell if we are in spring's mud season or the in the throws of winter with all the snow fall. My road was almost impassible with 2 foot mud ruts this weekend.....6 inches of mud where we park our cars.... we put boards on the path to the house only to wake up to 3 inches of snow this morning with 2 additional inches throughout the day. This was taken this morning outside my studio.

Jim Doubleday of Doubleday Studio

I spent a delightful evening with the Doubleday's of Pelham, who won my Precious Jewel Nest paintings. I met Jim, who is a sculptor, in a critique group I belonged to that met in Amherst at Hampton Gallery. I was impressed with his work and his studio which I toured during our visit and he enjoyed a small slide presentation I gave about Eye to Eye and my trip to China.

He states about his work "As an abstract artist creating objects of contemplation for the house or garden, I aim to open a fourth dimension for each sculpture, whereby their mysterious form and meaning evoke viewers' memories and emotions."

Copper Spirit Vessel is one of the pieces I admired when I saw it in person. I borrowed the photo from Jim's website. All of Jim's work is rich in color, spirit, and material.