Lucky Numbers

For our final First Friday “Leave your Mark” Question of the Month (henceforth known as FFLYMQOTM…or not) I asked the question:

If you could add a 13^th day to the 12 Days of Christmas, what would it be?

 

A few brave souls left some options. As human behavior would have it, if there are fewer slots to be filled, then fewer people will participate despite extra boards for more answers. I guess the overflow boards must equate with being on the children’s table of importance. I am not going to repeat the first 12 days, we all tend to know the song from #6 on down, and fake our way through the other 6. Maybe your subconscious will substitute one of these choices during the church carole sing and everyone will give you a stink eye of condemnation.

13 painters painting        13 skaters skating

13 strippers (and a question mark)  (are you like 12 and can't figure this out?)

13 bees a buzzing             13 chicks a clucking

13 gardeners planting    13 drunks a drinking

13 turtles snapping          13 bakers baking

13 dogs a humping          13 shelters accepting birds

13 horns a playing            13 artists trying!

13 willows weeping         13 hamsters shaking

13 cats a singing                13housekeepers cleaning

13 reindeer flying             13 ducks a quacking

13 stores a selling             13 orphans finding a home

13 children sweeping     13 Hoovers sweeping  (maybe 13 Hoover children sweeping?)

13 beers a brewing          13 AP students crying

13 cats a purring               13 hearts a loving

13 reporters writing        13 Brown’s fans a’crying

And some kid that took up three spaces learing to write…..

Our Memorial tree did very well and is still up in case anyone wants to add a bulb and some names. The next FF will be February when the new Journey Studios/ Snarky Art …the studio, reopens as a different type of destination. There will be a Community Project of some type, I am still working on that idea but we will definitely expect you to come play as always!

One final note on the promotion that was held last month, the one where people spend $20 on art and can then turn in the receipt for $10 back in cash.  The intent is to get these folks to then go spend that cash right back in the District. However, I bet most of those people headed out to the Strip or the mall and spent that cash someplace else (or just put in the pocket to tip the sitter). Now I am not an expert on marketing, but I gots me some good old fashioned common sense…..what if….    Patron A spends $20 on art or whatever as intended, then turns in the receipt for a voucher or certificate or coupon worth $10 (of “free” money) that is good at the establishments in the District only, for perhaps 30 days. When used, the Owner of the biz who is honoring the coupon keeps them all then turns in all collected coupons after 30 days for the cash from the organization who is giving it away in the first place. That way the cash stays in the pockets of the people whom it was intended to help in the first place and we don’t look like we have to bribe people to come downtown and shop. This method also serves as a way to keep track of where people are going in the District. Chances are that if Patron A gives the coupon to a friend, Patron B, she may come downtown and buy a $50 dollar item for only $40. Then the artist/owner will get the $10 back therefore making more money than he would have before.  Just seems logical to me. All those convoluted story problems with doodles in the margins may have paid off after all! I just don’t like the idea of money donated to support the arts being handing out in the form of cash to people on the streets.

Have a very Merry Christmas (or whatever PC saying you wish to insert, but I am sticking with this one for my own post).  May there be Peace on Earth.

Stark County Artists Exhibition 2015 MassMu

Envision the scene in all the Frankenstein movies when the doctor screams out “it’s alive!!!”  Next shot is on the monster, breathing once again, and in our version, the creature is wearing a T-shirt emblazoned with the word “Realism”. Yes folks, realism is alive and well and well represented in this year’s Stark County Artists Exhibition currently on view at the MassMu.  (Full disclosure: my Daily Doodle Diary Dress from Hoard Couture Wearables is included in the show.)

To better understand the voice of this show, for once, I actually looked up the jurors and their backgrounds. Not making any judgements here one way or the other, as the overall show is better than the past view years (even the clunkers kicked it up a notch), but one can see why the creature is alive and kicking. One juror has no hands-on visual arts background that I can find, the person is an administrator. One is an independent studio artist/instructor of realistic oil paintings. The third juror has a background in psychology before getting another degree in photography.  I will let you draw your own conclusions. I am sure they are all really nice people and very good at what they do. And for once, this show was not overwhelmed with photography , the few included stand out for a reason.

That all being said, there are some truly fabulous works of art in this show and many that reach the bar I personally have come to expect from area artists. And….there are some pieces that have been around the block a few too many times and a few that should have been left on the curb. No sense beating a dead cow (I like horses) and stating the obvious again so if you don’t know my peeves by now, I’m not wasting the word count. On to the works that I want to call out for your eventual viewing pleasure…..

In no particular order, the stars of the show are Anna Zotta’s digital “Leifeng Pagoda” , both paintings by Tina Myers “Cats in the Window” and “Living in the Trees”, Carol Mendenhall’s “Fires of Summer” and Lindsey J. Bryan’s “Swan and Fox”.   Zotta’s small piece is sophisticated and proportionally perfect down to the frame, capturing the vib of classic 50’s/60’s advertising.  It is gem hidden on the massive wall but a better location than another piece by Lindsey Bryan entitled “Ghost Kids” that I walked right past several times, mounted alone on a column.  Bryan’s Honorable Mention digital print “Swan and Fox” is beautiful in its delicate rendering but also disturbing as the featured creatures are dead. The composition is both reverent in how the animals are presented and a bit grotesque in that they are perhaps being offered up for a feast. I liked that juxtaposition…or I completely missed the point, but I came back to it several times. Tina Myers has two large acrylics with abstracted forms (so realism still counts in this case as some objects and elements are recognizable). They have good bones and she is a talented painter, sort of an Alexandra Nechita-esque technique with a bit of trendy zentangle tossed in. Finally, Mendenhall’s “Fires of Summer” which has no realism whatsoever, but whose reds and golds are a perennial favorite of many. I found myself torn between wanting to view it on the horizontal as it is displayed (giving me the impression of a spectacular sunset reflecting off of a wet sidewalk) or wanting to turn it 90 degrees to the vertical and capturing the same sunset reflected off of a window. Both ways would work and both would be equally successful.

Other pieces in the show that one should not miss are Brain Robinson’s pastels “Simple Waves” and “Hocking Cathedral”. He is a master of his craft in both use of media and knowledge of composition. The tilt of the trail captured in the latter piece with its expertly placed lower left sunspot is amazing to see (having worked in pastels myself).  Tom Migge has three wood-works in a showcase dedicated to his pieces and to single out just one would be wrong as each is so unique.  L-64 got an Honorable Mention however and I would guess it is because of the oh so delicate change of grain and grade on the “sides” that one would overlook if savoring only the obviously difficult parts. Three other noteworthy entries include Nancy Matin’s “Frostbite” which really pushes her abstraction skills with fresh layers of paint.  William Bogdans’ “The Doe Lay Dead in the Field of Asters: No”, a woodcut that is bold in scale and incorporates the overall format and composition as part of the imagery more so than before.  And finally, a dimensional, sculptural work by Diane Belfiglio entitled “Fleeting Fall II” which really has her (I have to do it, I’m sorry) thinking outside the box.  Oops…one more….Bruce Humbert’s “Emerald Beauty” with its “just a bit too big eyeball” on the bird, I kept going back…acid green vs traditional black…intriguing to say the least.

Some general comments are warranted for this show. Comment one: The MassMu staff did a wonderful job hanging the show and providing an overall visual experience that makes each entry just as important as the next (except to the Ghost Kids thingy).  Comment two: Do not paint over a previous signature in order to update a piece and leave part of the old signature showing….or use outdated and scratched up frames.  Comment three: Beware of the ‘one more thing’ monster that kills many a good work. Know when to stop, when to step away…sometimes that one element is what you are trying to “say” but often the whole conversation is far better than the point itself. Comment four: This show left me wanting to get back to painting again, to end my self-imposed hiatus away from the canvas, but sometimes one needs to just play in order to reevaluate purpose.

I give this year’s show an A-.  What would make it an A or an A+?  A few more daring pieces to savor over rather than just some pretty pieces that do not require much observational thought. Overall, great job Stark artists! Now get back to work for the upcoming May Show.

I wanted to also see and review the CAL show on exhibit in Studio M but there was a meeting going on and I could not access the room….maybe in the weeks to come.