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.
Tecu’Mish Munha’ke, Put on Your Big Girl Panties and Cowgirl Up, threeassemblages at The Plastic Club.
Tecu’Mish Munha’ke submitted three assemblages for the New Members 2012 exhibition, Put on Your Big Girl Panties and Cowgirl Up, Out of Order (a large assemblage sculpture that grabs your attention) and Feed Me. Take that all you Untitlers out there!
At first glance DoN thought this languid landscape was by Robert Daniel Bohne’ but then DoN overheard someone say that she, Cary Galbraith, painted with Bohne. The cross influences artists have on each other is one of the best parts of being involved in an art group like the Plastic Club and is a hallmark of the Philadelphia art scene.
“Leon Graff was born in South Africa and was trained in South Africa and London. He has lived and exhibited in London, Seattle, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Montreal, Boston, Philadelphia and New York City. His paintings hang in many private collections in New York City, Philadelphia, Canada, Florida and Europe.” - Fine Art Liasons website
Leon Graff’s paintings capture the vibrancy and fun of the thriving Philadelphia art scene. Congratulations to the New Members of The Plastic Club. Learn more about the art club in DoN’s interview with Bob Jackson on the PhillySide Arts blog. Member’s of the Plastic Club looking to expand their web presence and consolidate their social networking links may consider an artist portfolio page on Side Arts.
DoNArTNeWs finally appears on page one in Google for the search term “Philadelphia art blogs“, thank you very much! DoN has written more than four hundred reviews, interviews and promotions about the Philadelphia regional art scene for DoNArTNeWs. The most frequently accessed pages include the term “Philadelphia art” in the web site statistics, “art” is the number one search term. Philadelphia art is a search term that thousands of people are investigating because the Philly art scene is, as Mayor Michael Nutter stated at the West Collects press conference, “Strong!” Great art has become synonymous with Philadelphia because of the high end cultural institutions like PMA and the innovative neighborhood artist enclaves, clubs, alliances and collectives that pervade the city and the region, creating an amorphous idea of what is Philadelphia art? Is it the great art speak that PAFA teaches it’s students? Is it the gritty allure of Fishtown, Northern Liberties or Germantown and the satisfaction of getting in early on something bohemian, eclectic, outrageous or controversial? Is Philadelphia really the sixth borough of NYC?
Art is strong and vibrant in Philadelphia with wonderful resources but DoN has heard institutional leaders say the majority of public dollars get directed to the top tier while smaller groups compete for shrinking grant money and must endure its grueling paperwork. Rachel Zimmerman of InLiquid, one of the oldest artist profile websites of its kind in Philadelphia, told DoN this past Summer that artists have three jobs: making art, selling art and the job to pay for buying art materials. Artist Gregory Prestegord told DoN there are more like seven jobs to get to what he calls “a state of meditation“, the time he actually gets to spend making art, a broad circle of activities, many unrelated to art production, must happen to get to the moment of meditation when art appears out of seemingly nowhere. Art and the creative economy is enormous in Philadelphia, the competition for money is daunting, yet artists keep pushing against the obstacles and work hard to be known as a Philadelphia Artist, the second most popular search term for DoNArTNeWs‘ Philadelphia art blog.
Search Philadelphia art, who knows what you might discover?
Eileen Eckstein, President of the Photographic Society of Philadelphia sat down with DoNArTNeWs to share some of the exiting events taking place October 2011, the society’s 149th year. The Photographic Society of Philadelphia is the oldest photo society in the USA and the third oldest in the world. The society is presenting a special month long exhibition of Photographic Society of Philadelphia members works on all three floors of The Plastic Club Art Gallery, 247 South Camac Street, Philadelphia. Each Sunday in October a photographer reception will be held between 2:00 - 5:00 PM. The next PSoP member’s meeting is Tuesday, October 18th, 2011, 7:00 PM with guest speaker Harvey Finkle.
Ann Koivunen is the Director of Studio Tours and Exhibitions for Philadelphia Open Studio Tours, one of the top art events of its kind in the USA. Ann offers great advice on what to do and what not to do to have a successful, fun event. The clip is nine minutes, so get a cup of coffee and sit a spell, Ann has a wonderful perspective on POST. DoNBrewerMultimedia is participating in POST 2011, October 1 & 2, 12 - 6:00PM, check the awesome on-line resources for information on neighborhoods and events at the POST website.
“Totally Exposed, I Fall and I Rise, is titled because obviously I’m exposed, I’m naked but it’s also about being exposed to the elements, the effects of time.” Sarah R. Bloom, a beautiful fresh face, says with a sigh, “I’m coming to grips with aging, thinking about cycles of aging, for me, it’s been this sort of non-linear pattern of resistance and acceptance. I came to the stages of grief, not exactly but similar to, fearful denying…” DoN interrupts her and complements her youthful beauty and questions why the artist is experiencing Erikson’s sixth of the seven stages of life: Middle Adulthood: 35 to 55 or 65Ego Development Outcome: Generativity vs. Self absorption or Stagnation? “People keep saying that to me but I am 42. Just knowing other women at this age and while I felt I had a lot of time left, there are a lot of hormonal changes that start happening that I’ve noticed in myself. Being interested in self portraits maybe I’m more hyper-aware of myself and changes I’m going through that other people might be. And being in recovery, maybe, I’m more self aware because I had to go through a whole set of processes to start fixing things. So all those things combined that when it just so happened I was getting into the abandoned thing when I turned forty.”
Sarah R. Bloom understands other photographers shoot in abandoned buildings, or shoot models but Bloom shoots self-portraits with a DIY attachment to her camera that allows her to set-up remotely, take the picture and the camera will delay, then take several shots; genius. The result is a gallery filled with emotionally raw, sexually charged, deeply personal representations of one woman but she represents all women who watch the world crumbling around us. “I struggle to show the similarities; I’m still vain, somewhat. Obviously. But this last year struggling to shoot, while be more raw in my poses and still create a nice image but not worry so much about, do I look pretty? Because that’s not what it’s about.” So how did you not fall into despair when the choice came to be generative? “I think recovery started that, I never really thought about that until now. I guess I started despair way early maybe, I mean my whole twenties were a wreck, pretty much, so then being in recovery, almost sixteen years sober, and also part of age is accepting things and having that self awareness of processing a lot of stuff. I recognize that this age is a time when I would have physical feelings of feeling different, the body doesn’t bounce back as quickly from things. I dunno, um, it was either it was a choice to decide, I don’t want to be in that place anymore. And part of it is I feel like I’m running out of time.”
Sarah R. Bloom, Totally Exposed, I Fall and I Rise @ Da Vinci Art Alliance Gallery
DoN has been bustling around the studio getting ready for POST, Philadelphia Open Studio Tours 2011. While painting walls, rearranging furniture and making new works, DoN has been absorbed in implementing suggestions made by Todd Hestand @ The Corzo Center for the Creative Economy. DoN is improving his social networking by having DoNArTNeWs art blog synergize with the various communications options available like FaceBook (DoNArTNeWs - DoN Brewer Art Review), YouTube (DoNArTNeWs - DoNBrewerMultimedia) and Twitter (@DoNNieBeat58). By simply consolidating the information on DoN’s homepage, DoNBrewerMultimedia, visitors now see all the options to connect with DoNArTNeWs and DoN’s art work. writing, information, promotions and videos in one place.
The DoNArTNeWs FaceBook fan page has been a particular challenge with interesting rewards. When DoN posts a blog on DoNArTNeWs or Philly.SideArts, part of the process is “advertising” the story on Facebook, promoting the story on as many relevant art “fan pages” and “group pages” as possible. The DoNArTNeWs fan page automatically posts a tweet on Twitter and already DoN is trending with new followers. DoN has a major photography show at the Hopkins House Gallery of Contemporary Art, the FaceBook events feature is an easy way to contact all your “friends” and estimate how many people will actually show up at the event. Here’s the rub, you may have to contact each page and person individually to “like” your page, or reciprocate your link, or comment on a post. DoN asked Todd Hestand how much time he spends per day promoting Philly.SideArts on social networks, “About two hours.”
Video will be a big part of future DoNArTNeWs reports making YouTube integral to the whole. With HD quality video built into most digital cameras and smart phones, it makes sense to take a little time to make a movie, especially now that iMovie is so easy. DoN has a cache of unseen footage that has been languishing since last Summer when he had to disassemble his video suite due to unforeseen forces. But with POST forcing a studio clean-up, soon some major stories will include video clips as well as photographs and reviews.
August turned out to be a busy, creative time for DoN, making new work, participating in art shows, published in two art books, Da Vinci Art Alliance Then and Now: 1931 - 2011 (available on Amazon.com) and 175 Years of Reflection, Laurel Hill Cemetery 1836 - 2011 (available in the Laurel Hill Cemetery gift shop, really, there’s a gift shop), well received articles at the Philly.SideArts blog and a record number of page views on DoNArTNeWs. It is such an honor to be included in two books documenting art history in Philly and to be recognized as “the press” by so many galleries and artists. Thank you so much to all the fans of DoNArTNeWs, the support and feedback inspires DoN to keep it up. Look for new and improved DoNArTNeWs and Philly.SideArts stories and if you’re on FaceBook please “like” the fan pages of the organizations you support, these pages are good resources for what’s happening on the art scene in Philly and opportunities for you to participate in our burgeoning creative economy.
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.
