DoNArTNeWs

Beverly Kohn, Resting Deer, Art Ability International Juried Exhibition of Art & Fine Craft @ Bryn Mawr Rehab Center.

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

Read more at Philly Side Arts

Photographs by DoN Brewer shot exclusively with

Frances Galante, Overlooking San Miguel, oil at Artists’ House Gallery.

The exhibition at Artists’ House Gallery includes many fine artists and beautiful artworks, check the website or better yet go to the gallery, but when DoN walked in the front door of the well established gallery he was greeted with a group hug from old friends Frances Galante’ and Robert Bohne.  The gallery was packed on October First Friday, so Frances and DoN squeezed through the crowd packed in the hallway to see Clarissa Shanahan Schirmer’s ethereal encaustic compositions, to the quiet back room where we could sit and talk, having not seen each other in ages.  Frances Galante has been showing her atmospheric naturalist paintings at Artists’ House for twenty-one years, “I think they opened in 1990 and I was one of their first artists.  So, they’ve survived, I’ve survived; it’s a good gallery.”

Frances Galante teaches three painting classes per week at Woodmere Art Museum, “I like teaching as part of the routine because I get out of the studio and I learn things from teaching.  I like the energy and to be social and be around people who are enthusiastic about learning.”  After a sabbatical to paint on her own Frances realized she just needed to be with people again, “Share information and get feedback and energy from them.  I’ve branched out a bit, too.  I don’t know if that’s a result of teaching, the influence of some of the students, but my work has gotten more colorful than it used to be.  My colors used to be more muted.  This is something new for me.  It’s not so much about my work but what I see them doing, I pick up things, their interests and the things they’re exploring.  It gives me new ideas.  I teach adults, some of them actually exhibit, some are hobbyists but a lot of them are quite serious and quite good.”

Artists’ House Gallery, Frances Galante

Frances Galante, Musing, oil

Robert Bohne explained to DoN, “Well, I work my job with Amtrak and I do this.”  All DoN could say was, “Wow!?!”  “I work several jobs, more than two actually.”  “Really?”  “Well yeah, I work for Amtrak, I have a Union job which is related to the Amtrak job, I’m the Chairman.  I do a lot of auctions, that’s where I get most of my frames, at auctions.  So I do a lot of buy and sell at auctions and then I do this.”  This being painting modern realist artworks with a contemporary sensibility of descriptive atmospheric naturalism.  DoN asked when he has time to paint?  “There’s time.  I have everything set up in my house, so, when I go home there’s no set up involved, it’s all ready to go and I can paint.  That’s the way to do it, yeah.  It’s a mess, but it works.”  It is messy but worth it.

Artists’ House Gallery, Robert Bohne

Artists’ House Gallery, Robert Bohne, S.S. United States, oil on panel

“The S.S. United States is one of my most recent paintings, I worked on it this past Winter, the day after Christmas and and I set up across the street in the Chick-Fil-A parking lot.  And while I was working on the painting, they were plowing the snow.   The guy came running across the street to see what I was doing and he told me that his mother had came over on that ship.  He knew the entire history of the ship and he told me about the super-structure of the ship being made of aluminum, that’s how they kept the ship very light, it set speed records, it’s a fascinating story.  It’s interesting, the other day I was at an auction and I picked up this little silver-plate coffee pot and on the bottom was, The United States Lines, so, it’s from the ship.  A unique find.”

Artists’ House Gallery, Robert Bohne

Artists’ House Gallery, Robert Bohne, Turning, oil on panel.

Photos by DoN.

Eric Hall, Collimation No.40 (Harbor 3) @ 148th Annual Exhibition of Small Oil Paintings @ The Philadelphia Sketch Club.

Arthur Ostroff, A Patch of Spring @ 148th Annual Exhibition of Small Oil Paintings @ The Philadelphia Sketch Club on the Avenue of the Artists.

148th Annual Exhibition of Small Oil Paintings @ The Philadelphia Sketch Club.

Patrick Monaghan, Roses and Mango @ 148th Annual Exhibition of Small Oil Paintings @ The Philadelphia Sketch Club.  Monaghan’s presentation is among the best with the black wood frame and gold liner drawing the viewer into the moment, accentuating the painting with it’s own light, really tasteful and desirable.

Jon Redmond & Sybylle-Maria Pfaffenbichler,  148th Annual Exhibition of Small Oil Paintings @ The Philadelphia Sketch Club

Jurors James J. Himsworth III, Julien Robson & Alexandra Tyng managed to include two thirds of the submissions with a mind blowing presentation of contemporary regional oil painters represented in a wide variety of styles; the exhibition committee is to be commended on the wonderful narrative the show communicates with vignettes, groupings and highlights.

Peter Schnore won a special abstraction award in The 148th Annual Exhibition of Small Oil Paintings @ The Philadelphia Sketch Club.  DoN found the minimalistic, boundary busting, in your face simplicity of this simple block of color to be true genius.

David M. Stallings, Summer’s Last Eve @ 148th Annual Exhibition of Small Oil Paintings @ The Philadelphia Sketch Club.

Albert Tacconelli, Daniel’s Dilemma (Reflections on 9-11) @ 148th Annual Exhibition of Small Oil Paintings @ The Philadelphia Sketch Club.

The award winners of the spectacular 148th Annual Exhibition of Small Oil Paintings @ The Philadelphia Sketch Club; it’s like the American Idol of the Philadelphia Art Scene - who’s your favorite painter?  DoN often jokes that when a Susan Barnes or a Doris Peltzman painting is entered in a show then you know where at least one prize is going; DoN has observed these fast friends grow from art class buddies into accomplished Philadelphia artists with gallery shows, awards and sales, it’s so cool to see them winning!

Philadelphia Sketch Club president Bill Patterson takes great pride in this show, it’s his baby; DoN eves-dropped on a conversation Bill was having with a visitor and heard him say, “I’m interested in helping these artists sell their work.”  DoN saw some red dots, too; awards are great but sales is the ultimate reward and compliment for an artist.  Patterson is generous, supportive, energetic and business oriented assuring the stability of a major Philadelphia art institution many artists rely on for exposure.

Faith Corman @ 148th Annual Exhibition of Small Oil Paintings @ The Philadelphia Sketch Club.  Faith is not a painter, she’s a loyal art patron and accomplished jewelry designer, Faith Corman is selling her custom “Sun earrings” to benefit Japan relief efforts.  She didn’t want her picture taken (pretty women never do) but DoN thinks she’s fabulous!

Photos by DoN.

Pat Wilson-Schmid works at being an artist full time, a tireless volunteer, and art advocate; the Philadelphia Sketch Club relies on Pat because she always makes the extra effort to keep the team on task.

Edna Santiago told DoN the painting is an uncle who moved to Philly to raise his family, she said he would be proud to know his visage is being shown in City Hall.  The acrylic on plastic painting is unique, confounding and bold, the narrative takes us to a time and place that is old Philadelphia yet very contemporary and urban, the passages of dark and light are deeply moving.  Chicken Louis, acrylic on plexiglass, Edna Santiago.

Piety Choi, Manna, mixed media on canvas.  The splashy painting paired with the intensely decorative tile work mixes time lines, metaphors and ideas on what is beautiful in contemporary culture.  Choi continues to surprise, inspire and challenge the Philly art-erati to step up their game, her works continuously win awards and draw people together to talk.

 P.J. Foster, Unexpected Journey, acrylic & egg shell @ The Philadelphia Sketch Club Member Exhibition @ Art in City Hall.

Art in City Hall featuring the Philadelphia Sketch Club’s 150 Anniversary members show is the oldest art club in America’s first show at the world famous City Hall and it’s 20 year old public art in City Hall program.  The shown is immense with hundreds of art works by many of Philly’s best artists.

Photos by DoN.

Reta Sweeney’s Passages in Paint exhibit at Twenty-Two Gallery includes several paintings from a trip to an island off Puerto Rico as a guest of Glenn Curry, editor of Art Matters Magazine.  The deal was to help spruce up a guest house and then have time to paint, a cool gig especially when your friends like Doris Peltzman, Betz Green, Barbara Keogh and others are there to help.  The glow of light in her tropical paintings is a lively counterpoint to the woodsy East Coast landscapes.  The body of work on display pays tribute to Sweeney’s trained eye and finely skilled hand, just beautiful.

The Second Friday art crawl in Center City offers several destinations, Twenty-Two Gallery consistently presents interesting installations featuring local artists. Reta Sweeney’s drew a crowd of Philly artists and friends in support of her one-woman show of  paintings; Reta’s core group of friends are all dedicated artists who enjoy taking trips to study and paint.  Diane Podolsky curated the show with Shawn Murray, the installation is subtle yet utilizes and activates as much space as possible, even hanging paintings back to back in the window.

Meeting of the Board II, oil, 16 x 16″, Reta Sweeney @ Twenty-Two Gallery.

Kumquats, oil, Reta Sweeney @ Twenty-Two Gallery, 236 South 22nd Street, Philadelphia through September 3rd, 2010.

Photos by DoNBrewerPhotography.

Karl Olsen lights the subject of an impromptu critique of Yeoun Lee’s paintings during the monthly Salon des Plastiques @ The Plastic Club on the Avenue of the Artists.  Lee took up the challenge from a previous meeting to bring out a few paintings on the sweltering Summer evening to stand up to the observations of Anders Hanson, Bob Jackson, Mike Quinn, Alan Klawens - the guys behind the on-going series of exhibitions at one of Philly’s premier artist clubs.  DoN couldn’t help to harken back to the days when air conditioning was a dream yet to be realized.  Yeoun explained the cosmological influence on her current work with light being represented by a subtle rainbow of color.

Yeoun Lee @ The Plastic Club’s Salon.

The Casual Summer Show @ The Plastic Club showcases artist favorites.

Members of the Plastic Club are showing works not directed by a theme allowing for a salon like diversity of styles and medium; curators Alan Klawans and Bob Jackson filled the main galleries with a spectrum of light and color.

Marlise M. Tkaczuk, 3 Big Monkeys, silk screen in The Casual Show.  The Plastic Club has long represented printmaking with a great print room and print shows; Marlise’s confrontational funky monkeys are part clever and engaging, jumping off the wall.  Check the clubs website for info and links to events.

James Dean Erickson, Portrait of Douglass Carr, oil on board.  The model in cap & hoddie can be found wheel-chair bound outside St. John’s, a diabetic, a friend recommended the artist invite him into the studio to pose at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Art.  James relayed to DoN, “Portraiture can be a vehicle for therapy, highlights the dignity of the individual, and be a channel for excitement and energy.”

Rachel Constantine, Fifteen, oil.  The title says it all.

Richard Coach, The Fish of Delos.

Like time traveling to a lost and ancient city, this painting could be anywhere in time and space.  Seething with hunger for life, referencing work, culture, taste, serving up skills acquired with trial & error, the exquisite painting and substantial frame is right here in Philly in America’s oldest art club, the Philadelphia Sketch Club.

Kyle Margiotta, Blow, oil.  This would be a great picture for a house with kids, imagine how this masterful painting would elevate the taste of growing minds, simple mark-making telling long stories playing out like fairytales, set in the real world, incredulous expressions speaking volumes.

Mark Brough Goodson, Tom Csaszar/Eye of the Critic and Neysa Grassi/Eye of the Critic.

The pair of pairs of eyes, attractive and expressive, are superb examples of how small paintings capture moments in time, filled with emotions, thought and empathy in a medium which will last for centuries.  Hundreds of years from now the oil paintings being produced now will still transmit stories from our time, the present, to the future, their past.

DoN overheard a man say, “Why don’t they say where these places are?”  DoN pointed out the title does name a place, “Snow Melt, Sand Island“, by Sandra Corpora, it just doesn’t give GPS coordinates.  The man asked DoN what he liked about the painting? “The restraint of using the one thick pure white stroke of paint to represent the most distant point in the painting.”  He looked hard @ DoN & disappeared into the crowd.

147th Annual Exhibition of Small Oil Paintings is through April 24th with 170 of the best oil paintings in the city hanging together, continuing a long history of excellence in contemporary oil painting.

2010 Philadelphia Open Studio Tours -  pdf

Register @ http://www.philaopenstudios.com/Opportunities.aspx

Sibylie Pfaffenbichler, Sailor on Leave, oil.  The artist explained to DoN her inspiration came from the forties and the famous images of sailors returning home.  The painting is so exuberant, vibrant and distinctive it really makes you wonder why we don’t dance in the street when our soldiers make it home.  Pfaffenbichler is chair of The Philadelphia Sketch Club’s Annual Flower Show.

Paul Davis Jones, Enigma, acrylic.

Gail Morison-Hall, The Burning Bush, mixed media & Elise Arnold, Untitled One, acrylic.  With 199 works of art, Small World @ The Plastic Club would have been even bigger if more artists understood that presentation is half the battle, the exhibitions committee refused several pieces (DoN spotted a few suspect entries who passed muster).

Nick Brown, Orange Juice Cup & Mug, stone ware.  Brown brings unfired pottery to life study workshops at The Plastic Club and sketches directly onto the clay, often you can hear him scratching grooves into the design to prevent the glaze from spreading when applied.  The resultant objects are like ancient vessels found at an acheological dig - future meets ancient.

Lee Mamaluy, Popping Blooms, oil, Kathryn Russo, At Ease, mixed media and Jeanne Chesterton, Dots, oil.

Robert Stauffer’s photograph, Thorazine Can Kill The Human Spirit, with broken glass in a mirror lined shadow-box frame is like a history of modern art all mushed up like DuChamp meets Warhol meets Ansel Adams.  The broken glass reads like disaster, the desert scene feels like being stranded and the infinite reflections on all sides have secret hidden images to uncover.

 Alden Cole, Now n Then #3, Mother & Child, wax/clay, 2010 & 1964.

Bob Makoid, Avian Capers,markers.  Makoid told DoN this drawing is extra special to him because his kids surprised him by having the design made into a stained glass window.

Michele Jenkins, New Glasses, oil.  DoN LoVeS this painting!  Timeless, super-fun, nostalgic, funny, happy and executed with aplomb.

Anders Hansen, Earth Goddess, ink/watercolor, Lois Schlachter, Queen of the Night, acrylic and Joseph De Fay, The Cafe’, ink-jet print.

Lois Schlachter, Balloon Release, acrylic.  DoN appreciates Lois’ combination of real & unreal, abstract & illustrative, signs & significations - cool.

Alan Clawans, Small Shed, photograph, DoN Brewer, light being (Farrah Fawcett), photograph (it’s not DoNArTNeWs without some DoN news), Sylvia Schreiber, White Flower, acrylic, Susan Wierzbicki, Saim, acrylic and Elise Arnold, Cats, acrylic.  DoN is so pleased to have his entries placed so strategically in the beginning, #3, and the end, #196 - the magic of 3.

Photos by DoNBrewerMultimedia Photography.

The 14th Annual Art Ability Exhibition & Sale at Bryn Mawr Rehab Hospital’s Patron’s Preview Party on November 7th was a sensational event kicking off the extensive art show featuring more than 400 art works by 128 artists from 23 states and 10 countries.  The hospital on Paoli Pike is an excellent venue with high, long walls, a fine hanging system, great lighting providing a wonderful stroll or roll along a meandering path to wander and take in the wide array of fine art.

Photographer Linda Fry Goschke was honored with the catalog cove, a beatific portrait of a “Crested Caracara“, a raptor she spent time with in a bird sanctuary.  The photograph is poignant, strong and sensitive; at first glance it appears to be a painting with golden light brushing the elegant bird’s feathers, the dark head contrasting the ochre beak and the glint of disinterest in the eye, a perfect metaphor for the theme of the exhibit.

Goschke told DoN that in order to capture her images she had to wait for new technology to catch up with her vision - the lustrous flower photograph is actually created on a flat-bed scanner, then enhanced with Photoshop.

Linda Fry Goschke, Barred Owl, photograph @ Art Ability.

Sal Panasci was commissioned by Bryn Mawr Rehab to create the design for a mural leading to the admissions center, formally along stark hallway to what could be an uncomfortable experience.

Now, the hallway is a colorful, exuberant scene welcomes people to what may be an extended stay to rehabilitate the body, mind and spirit.  Panasci’s painting was transformed into wallpaper creating a warm, sunny vista.

Sal Panasci, Late Autumn Palette, oil.

Ken Smith, Blue Flower, photograph pigment ink on paper on board, encaustic.  Smith’s serene composition won honorable mention, The Mary Armitage Green Memorial Award presented by Heather and Damien Lubeski, the wax finish means the print will survive for a very long time.

Michael Jameson, Charlois Bull, oil painting on birch panel

Sheryl Yeager, pastels.  DoN talked with Sheryl about her inspiration for the delightful pig and zebra pastels, she explained that she portrays lots of different animals because they make her feel free, at one with God & nature and the art heals her past.  A self described high functioning autistic, her most popular drawings are of elephants and she’s more than willing to accommodate her customer base.  This is Sheryl Yeager’s 5th year with Art Ability, she has been accepted into the Pastel Society of Little Rock and has exhibited her work at the Andrews Art Museum in North Carolina.

The big fish are by Arnie Segal, the drawing is by Mari Newman, Dick Wexelblat created the menagerie and won honorable mention for Fine Crafts presented by Sal & Linda Panasci, the sculpture in the right forefront is by blind artist Tara Arlene Innmon.  This tableau is very popular with visitors with the vibrant animal forms delighting the eye and lifting the spirit.

Arnold Segal was a true art star at the Art Ability Patron Preview, selling most of his collection of sculptures and earning commissions - a mixed media artist, Segal uses plaster, paper mache and electronics to enliven his sculptures which often have hidden surprises.

Liam Kennedy, Dreams, bronze, winner of 2nd prize for sculpture, the Sarah Hair Shearer Memorial Award.

Kathy Harris, Double Self Portrait & Winter Bride.  Harris created the portraits from life masks - the double self portrait is from 30 years ago and the Winter Bride is a recent mask.  Kathy told DoN that the younger version is dreaming of the future and the elder shows aging through time, either way she’s beautiful with a wonderful spirit and wicked wit, we had the best time chatting about her career making paintings, ceramic tiles and pipes.

Michael Tavani, Winter in Chadds Ford, oil.

Jack Beverland, Happy Trails, acrylic & plastic.

Clif Anderson, The Last Rose, oil.  Clif told DoN this was literally the last rose in his garden last November.

Beverly Strohecker-Yablin, Favorite Teacup, oil.

David Gerbstadt is one of the famous Philadelphia Dumpster Divers, his mixed media paintings are super-pop, perfect for a hipster’s pad or austere modern interior.  DoN was recently in the Dumpster Diver gallery on South Street and a patron bought 27 of his $1.00 drawings as Christmas gifts.

Marilyn Lavins, 40th Anniversary 1969-2009, Moon Landing, collage.

Photography by Jim Knisley @ Art Ability.

Gregory Gans, Spirit Over Waters, photograph, winner 3rd Prize for photography, The Denise Fraunfelter Memorial Award.

Photography @ Art Ability Exhibit in Bryn Mawr Rehab.

Gregory Gans, Forest Cathedral, photograph.  DoN had the opportunity to chat with Greg’s biggest fan, his wife, who offers constant support and encouragement and agrees with DoN that if you don’t have something nice to say don’t say anything.  Gans’ has been a working photographer for 45 years, creating hundreds of images - now many of his photos have Biblical & spiritual references reflecting his faith and strength to battle the epileptic seizures he endures after having a benign brain tumor removed.

The Art Ability show has so much to see it’s impossible for DoN to share it all - Evan Gozali’s brilliant digital Asian style scroll is transcendental, Elizabeth Core’s imaginative large painting, Christine Severson’s jewelry…the point is that even though the art is all created by artists with disabilities there are no boundaries, no style, no medium that is exempt from an artist with the will to create from painting to drawing, photography to sculpture, fine art to crafts, an artist is an artist even if they have to hold the brush with their mouth, work from a wheelchair, try to hold steady until the tremor passes or struggle to articulate because the words won’t come.

DoN was so happy to see so many red dots indicating sales - 80% goes to the artist and the remainder is used to improve the facilities to aid people who need rehabilitation everything else is provided by volunteers including the wonderful sales team.  DoN had the pleasure of meeting Ellie Pfautz, a volunteer sales rep who absolutely loves Bryn Mawr Rehab since they helped her recover from a brain aneurysm; the two of us marveled at the new Lokomat suite - a robot which helps train muscles & nerves by reminding the body of motor pathways, building new neural networks and strengthening the body without manual manipulation by a technician.  To see a short video clip - click here.

Lokomat Robot @ Bryn Mawr Rehab Hospital