The intersection of Delancey Place and 20th Street is arguably the best address in town. Down the block is the Rosenbach Museum and Library, up the street towards Rittenhouse Square are hip restaurants and at the center of it all is Jt Christensen’s studio: christensen. The designer has transformed the storefront into a decorator’s delight, the window constantly changing with aspirational furniture, decor, objet and art. Jt Christensen makes a big deal out of art, the Kyle Fisher show of astounding wood panels transcribing nature into abstract art with extraordinary detail and level of craft mashed with a futuristic vibe of the design the artist extracts from the wood is just beautiful.
studio: christensen participates in the Center City Fourth Friday art crawl and has a Third Thursday fashion photography night, it’s so fun to watch from the street and see the photographers working with the models and a reminder of the natural sophistication of Philadelphia.
studio: christensen
333 south twentieth st
philadelphia pa 19103
Tuesday-Saturday 12-7
or by appointment
2673866036
jtdesigns2@mac.com
The reason DoN is promoting Kodak is because they are an American manufacturing company in Rochester, NY, USA, Planet Earth, Milky Way, they invented digital photography and they recently declared bankruptcy. Kodak has a long history, “Kodak has made it easy to enjoy your pictures. The expression ‘You Press the Button, We do the rest’ was a common advertising slogan in the 1890s. This familiar expression was also set to music. Visit our interactive history of Kodak products to listen and see some of today’s latest digital products and our early film and cameras from the 1880s.” Kodak website. DoN used a Kodak Brownie camera growing up and still relies on the reliable quality and customer support of Kodak for his Kodak Easyshare Z981 14 MP Digital Camera with Schneider-Kreuznach Variogon 26xWide Angle Optical Image Stabilized Zoom Lens and 3.0-Inch LCD Sreen to create images for DoNArTNeWs Philadelphia art blog and Side Arts Philadelphia art blog. So, did DoN pick a loser in Kodak as an advertising affiliate? Coffee did shoot out DoN’s nose as the news of Kodak’s bankruptcy crawled across the bottom of Morning Joe brought to you by Starbucks.
DoNArTNeWs is using affiliate marketing, peppering the text with hyperlinks and ads, to generate revenue to move to an improved WordPress platform; clicking links and ads may take you to website for companies like Kodak which DoN personally uses in his art or blogging or to related resources like artist’s websites. If you buy a product as a result of clicking a link in the art blog or the DoNArTNeWs sidebar a commission is generated for DoNArTNeWs.
Downstairs Gallery at the Plastic Club features the work of Sylvia Fine, Phyllis Weldon, Irma Shapiro, Naomi N. Rubin and Alden Cole. Artist, Alden Cole makes sure he dedicates time in his life to be surrounded by Nature. Born and raised in New England, Cole makes several trips a year to the Northeast, lugging his paintbox and canvas’ on the train to visit his family farm or the homes of his friends, always returning with a reminder of the beauty and tranquility of the land he came from.
Richard Harrington, 1956 T-bird , gouache on paper at The Philadelphia Sketch Club“The Annual Domenic DiStefano Memorial 2012 Juried Works on Paper Exhibition”.
Lisa Lawinski Buchler, Acacia Tress and Bleeding Hearts, mixed media, The Philadelphia Sketch ClubWorks on Paper 2012
Lisa LawinskiBuchler, Acacia Tress and Bleeding Hearts, The Philadelphia Sketch Club“The Annual Domenic DiStefano Memorial 2012 Juried Works on Paper Exhibition”
Judy Engle,Loft Life with Ginger Cat, mixed media collage with tape at Philadelphia Sketch Club“The Annual Domenic DiStefano Memorial 2012 Juried Works on Paper Exhibition”.
Judy Engle’s tape collage, Loft Life with Ginger Cat, has a depth and density that is confusingly 3D. Judy told DoN that friend’s told her that tape would deteriorate but the artist has found just the opposite. Ignoring the negative feedback, Judy Engle had both of her entries accepted into the exclusive exhibition and took home an Honarable Mention award.
Judy Engle, Philadelphia Sketch ClubWorks on Paper 2012. The reflected light is from the large window over the Winner’s Wall, you may even notice the model ship on the sill and the skylight which makes the gallery/studio so appealing for making art.
The Philadelphia Sketch Club“The Annual Domenic DiStefano Memorial 2012 Juried Works on Paper Exhibition”, through January 21st, 2012, is an opportunity to immerse yourself in the variety of media, ideas and combinations of materials that constitutes art made on and with paper. Excluding photography, the show displays exquisite works by many of Philadelphia finest artists; the first place winner Harry S. Camarda’s In Thought, a magnificent charcoal drawing that recalls the era of Thomas Eakins, a PSC founder, and reaffirms the mission of the Philadelphia Sketch Club - where artists grow.
Beverly Kohn won Honorable Mention in the category of Fiber Arts, Glass and Fine Crafts at the Art Ability Exhibition. The gorgeous piece of a fiber wrapped deer feels so modern, like Jeff Koons or DuChamp, not crafty at all but using simple, nostalgic materials and shapes, the sculpture mixes media in a delightful and desirable design. Click the thumbnail for a close up.
Elizabeth Core at Art Ability International Juried Exhibition of Art & Fine Craft @ Bryn Mawr Rehab Center. The balance of color, hue, tone and textures mingled with sophisticated pattern and composition is exuberantly engaging.
Click the thumbail to check out Sriharsha Sukla, Bombay 01, collage. The artist lives in Cuttack, Orissa, India, and has been a part of Art Ability International Juried Exhibition of Art & Fine Craft @ Bryn Mawr Rehab Center for many years, submitting fascinatingly detailed collages, so painterly and naturalistic they appear photographic from a distance.
“The Art Ability Program at Bryn Mawr Rehab Hospital is a year-long program which serves as a showcase for, and celebration of, artists with disabilities. Through art, we hope to inspire patients to reach beyond their limitations, and to encourage people with disabilities to explore their own creativity.
Established in 1996, Art Ability includes the following major components: an annual international juried exhibition and sale of art and fine crafts produced by individuals with disabilities; community outreach and education opportunities including satellite exhibitions and interactive demo days; our permanent collection of artwork and the incorporation of artwork into the patient experience; and a corporate art acquisition program.
The Program’s goal is to foster a better appreciation of people with disabilities through the achievements and stories of our artists. As art enriches their lives, we hope their creativity, talent and exuberant spirit will enrich your life.” - Art Ability
Read DoNArTNeWs report about Allen Bryan, Art Ability Artist
The Art Ability International Juried Exhibition of Art and Fine Crafts show at Bryn Mawr Rehab Center in Malvern is an annual event that DoN looks forward to for many reasons. First, Art Ability is a great art show with outstanding work by hundreds of artists from 35 states and seven countries in all kinds of media from painting, drawing, collage, mixed media, sculpture and DoN’s personal interest, photography. Secondly, this is the third year DoN has been included in the show, “light beings (Lorraine and Charles)“, an abstract landscape photo dedicated to my late Great Aunt and Uncle, was selected by the esteemed panel of jurors from hundreds of entries. DoN is honored to be included in the annual exclusive art event, being featured in the excellent glossy catalog and to be treated to a wonderful evening of dining, meeting artists and collectors at the Patron’s Reception held November 5, 2011.
Photography is well represented in the show, when DoN delivered his piece to Bryn Mawr Rehab he got a sneak peak at the art intake and right away was taken with several large photographs by Allen Bryan. The wide aspect ratio and densely detailed dream-scapes have all the feel of reality but with unnatural elements, transitions and oblique views, kind of like waking up from a dream. Indeed, the photo collage Open Box Story won Best in Show, the Charles W. Hennessy Artist Award with proceeds from the Charles W. Hennessy Art Ability Endowment Fund, selected by judges Teresa Jaynes, John Ollman and Ingrid Shaffner. DoN spoke with the artist at the reception and he confirmed the surrealist work is created with his own photographs which he expertly manipulates with Photoshop, the large format print and subtle frame are exquisitely crafted. The photo above is not the winning piece but if you visit his website, or better yet go to the show which is free and open to the public daily through mid January 2012, you will experience a masterful artwork that will confound and intrigue the senses.
Read more about DoN’s Art Ability experiences at Philly.SideArts and watch for more reports about this expansive art exhibition.
DoN had the photos and the interview from a Second Thursday art crawl September 8th, 2011 at the Crane Center for the Arts in Fishtown. But, DoN could not find the artist’s name!?! By chance, Jerry KaBa’s business card surfaced and DoN can now share with you the scariest Halloween costume design - ever!
Karen M contacted DoN prior to the start of the Philadelphia Open Studio Tours East weekend to tip him off to drive by the baseball field on Wharton Street near Geno’s and Pat’s Steaks. Karen and DoN talked recently about the economic situation of artists, the unreliability of sales and income to cover the expense of making art. Art costs money, usually. Karen M and Anthony C have been tagging the city, graffiti style, with their own collectible paintings. Using the same technique as their high end paintings on canvas, the pair uses found cardboard and posters to paint their iconic portraits, like Wisdom Kid, with stencils and spray paint, then install them where people can steal the art. During the recent Philadelphia Open Studio Tours West, they stapled a beautiful portrait on glittery paper to the bedraggled knit-bombed telephone pole at the end of DoN’s block. Luckily while walking KaTy the ArT DoG and Lady Doofus, the geriatric St. Bernard / Chihuahua, DoN was able to carefully retrieve the piece, the scars torn into the paper from the staples a secret prize of provenance. Collectors across South Philly follow their messages, like the one DoN was texted, to go to a particular spot for some prime art loot. It’s all the fun of stealing without any of the guilt. Karen M and Anthony C prove that art can be free and fun, provocative and intellectual, thoughtful and carefree in a public arena with no fees, no charges, no costs, no juries, dealers or committees or money. Free Art = Free Money.
Tim McFarlane’s studio in the heart of Old City Philadelphia is the archetypical artists’ loft, a steep climb up three pea green flights of stairs to arrive gasping into a high ceilinged loft space overlooking Third Street right off of Market. The old industrial space is divided into three studios: Carol Royer’s figurative work greets you at the end of the epic climb, John Gatti has a spacious room in the middle and Tim McFarlane’s studio has windows overlooking the street. John was painting while lola, Spike & DoN luxuriated in Tim’s studio filled with his exuberant stylized abstract paintings arrayed from floor to ceiling, paint splattered everywhere, outlines of canvases layered over years of work, brushes and paints poking out of cubbies - just like you imagine an artists’ studio to be. Tim McFarlane has participated in the Philadelphia Open Studio Tours for many years, this year he was a cover model for the catalog, allowing the public to see the progress he’s accomplished in his art over the years. The light shining in from being near the river glows into the space activating the color fields vibrating in the paintings, DoN thought about how this is the way a true artist lives, in a bright airy studio right in the hub of the lively contemporary arts scene in Old City with the energy and time to think big.
The swirly cellular structures from Tim McFarlane’s memorable abstract paintings are still present and prominent in his new work but now layers of patterns from stencils are laid in then painted over and into, deep layers of color, shape and contrasts make his individual canvasses vibrate. A room full of Tim’s works in various stages of progress is really a privileged experience because his work is usually seen only in art galleries like Bridgette Mayer Gallery on Walnut Street. In fact, Tim McFarlane’s work will be included in the upcoming show, Karmic Abstraction, November 15th through December 31, 2011 - “The show’s title reflects gallerist Bridgette Mayer’s “interest in the idea of the karmic cycle of an artist’s history of painting and ideas.” The selected works, by sixteen nationally- and internationally-recognized artists reveals, “how, at a given moment in time, standing in front of a work of art, the viewer is faced with the multiple layers and concepts that create a painting as well as a lifetime of ideas, actions and history that make up the career and art history of a contemporary artist.” (Bridgette Mayer Gallery website).
John Gatti. DoN loves this picture of the artists’ studio, comparing and contrasting the shapes, tones and marks on panels against one another creates an energy field of color.
Author and art-marketing consultant Alyson B. Stanfield, of ArtBizCoach.com, focuses on sharing the artwork directly with potential buyers through electronic and traditional communication outlets—in a manner that is comfortable, not artificial. Artists match Internet marketing strategies with sincere personal skills to take charge of their art careers.
The book includes online worksheets and downloads.
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