DoNArTNeWs

Karen Schechter is a relatively new member of the Photographic Society of Philadelphia but she is enjoying the society debut show at their new permanent showplace, Café Twelve, 212 S 12th St, Philadelphia 19107, in the heart of the Philly’s famous Gayborhood, with great long walls to show art and an inviting casual vibe.  DoN asked Karen how she felt about having a PSoP show? “It’s very nice because it’s the first one I’ve had and I have another one coming up that I’m hanging next week.  One falling on the heels of the other is awesome.”  DoN commented on the style of the collection of photographs in the lounge area of the café, “I work primarily in black and white but do some color, the first half of this show, which isn’t up anymore was more color pieces.  I go from muted color to extremely vibrant.” Karen showed DoN a lovely close-up photograph of a hydrangea flower with its lurid red silkiness and delicate stamen.

Photographic Society of Philadelphia @ Cafe Twelve featuring Karen Schlechter 

“I used to do everything on film and sadly had to get rid of my dark room a couple years ago as I finally made the complete switch-over to digital; it’s sad but it’s convenient.  I can go though things a lot quicker, I can process things a lot quicker.”  Schlechter is working with Photoshop, the dark room experience gave her a grounded background for using the digital tools.  The collection of gear went to a friend’s daughter studying fine art photography.  “It’s so nice to be able to sit in a coffee shop and go through my photos and go from there.”

Karen Schlechter got involved with PSoP because she was previously a member of the Delaware County Camera Club, which had a different focus towards improvement of skills via competition as to the education bent of the Philly Society.  “I was missing the camaraderie and exchanging ideas.  And it was a wonderful gift from my boyfriend.”

Photographic Society of Philadelphia @ Cafe Twelve featuring Karen Schlechter

The Photographic Society of Philadelphia meets Second Tuesdays at Café Twelve; a wide array of photographs by Philadelphia fine art photographers and a solo show by featured photographer Karen Schlechter  is on exhibit with new work being installed every other month.  The evening DoN met Karen was rainy and miserable but sipping coffee and talking about photography with friends is worth wet feet.

Photos taken with DoN’s iPhone.

Erin Rose-Boyle, This is Not My Home - 3 Rooms 3 Views @ Hopkins House Gallery of Contemporary Art.  The gallery in the park on the beautiful Cooper River provides opportunities for artists to create site specific work like Erin Rose-Boyle’s installation of 3 sculptures occupying their own room.  Rose-Boyle mashes metaphors and memes into evocative constructions of simple materials like paper, foam and tape that speak of home, isolation and self awareness.  DoN asked Erin about the all the feet in her installation? “They’re mine, I made a mold…they ground me.”

Photographs & video by DoNBrewerMultimedia

HD Video - watch in full screen mode - DoN

Video by DoNBrewerMultimedia

Sarah R. Bloom, Totally Exposed, I Fall and I Rise @ Da Vinci Art Alliance Gallery 

Sarah R. Bloom, Totally Exposed, I Fall and I Rise @ Da Vinci Art Alliance Gallery

“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 65 Ego 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

Sarah R. Bloom, Totally Exposed, I Fall and I Rise @ Da Vinci Art Alliance Gallery

Sarah R. Bloom, Totally Exposed, I Fall and I Rise @ Da Vinci Art Alliance Gallery.

Photographic self-portraits taken in abandoned buildings

www.sadandbeautiful.com

DA VINCI ART ALLIANCE
704 Catherine Street
Philadelphia, Pa.

Photos by DoN.

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.

Downstairs Gallery @ The Plastic Club - Marion Loippo, Kim Martin, Karl Olsen & Jane J. Wilkie

Kim Martin, Painting #2, oil.

Karl Olsen , Quilt, oil , Downstairs Gallery @ The Plastic Club - Marion Loippo, Kim Martin, Karl Olsen & Jane J. Wilkie.

Marion Loippo, Swim in the Lake, silk & velvet, Downstairs Gallery @ The Plastic Club - Marion Loippo, Kim Martin, Karl Olsen & Jane J. Wilkie.

Jane J. Wilkie , Velvet Quilt, fabric & grapevines, Downstairs Gallery @ The Plastic Club - Marion Loippo, Kim Martin, Karl Olsen & Jane J. Wilkie

Marion Loippo, Downstairs Gallery @ The Plastic Club - Marion Loippo, Kim Martin, Karl Olsen & Jane J. Wilkie.

The Downstairs Gallery @ The Plastic Club exhibits members work chosen @ random from a sign up sheet, the synchronicity of the current show with Karl & Kim, Marion & JJ is fortuitous.  Painting and fabric art meld with Karl Olsen’s expressionist paintings, Kim Martin’s strident drawings, Marion Loippo’s abstractions on silk and JJ Wilkie’s bold quilts as if a gallery curator selected the art for the show.  Check out all the artist links in this blog post, they all have portfolio websites but Marion Loippo has a cool YouTube video!

Photos by DoN.

Kyle Margiotta . . . empirical, real, metaphysical @ Philadelphia Sketch Club Stewart Room Gallery.

Kyle Margiotta’s paintings draw you in with exquisite technique and metaphysical content; faces emerge from the mist, beautiful women wade through pools of red, metaphorical flowers like bleeding hearts creating an intensely personal experience.  DoN has watched Kyle draw in the Philadelphia Sketch Club’s workshops, his depth of knowledge, skill with tools (his pencil lines are extremely fine) and focus is an inspiration to those who share the studio with him.  Margiotta’s paintings are illustrative but decorative, even though the subject is deep, the style, color and presentation are desirable.

Kyle Margiotta . . . empirical, real, metaphysical @ Philadelphia Sketch Club Stewart Room Gallery.

Kyle Margiotta . . . empirical, real, metaphysical @ Philadelphia Sketch Club Stewart Room Gallery.

Steve Iwanczuk. . . empirical, real, metaphysical @ Philadelphia Sketch Club Stewart Room Gallery.

Steve Iwanczuk is the Exhibitions Chair at The Philadelphia Sketch Club, for his own show in the venerable Stewart Room (members are chosen to show @ random), he has selected a group of drawings and photographs that are sleek, shiny, mercurially metallic and sexy.  The detail is intense, the pencil marks stream of conscience-like flow are surreal and fluid, each drawing a dream of it’s own but his photos are sensual contrasts of light and dark, shiny and smooth, real and unreal, Steve’s photography is recognizable as a style all his own.

Steve Iwanczuk. . . empirical, real, metaphysical @ Philadelphia Sketch Club Stewart Room Gallery.

Photos by DoN.

Bonnie MacAllister, Members’ Choice Art Show @ The Plastic Club.  Bonnie MacAllister’s tiny mixed media, Revery, is subtle yet slyly glamorous with gold dust illuminating the feminine figure, the piece softy glowing in it’s own light.  Bonnie’s blog is very cool describing all the wonderful projects she’s working on; she’s a world traveler, grant winner and educator with a fine eye, thoughtful manner and socially conscious personality - a DoN must read!  Coming soon - Bonnie MacAllister, The Dressing Room, Green Light Arts, Philadelphia Live Arts Festival & Philly Fringe @ The Plastic Club, 247 S. Camac Street, Philadelphia, PA 19107.  Show runs Sept. 3*, 4, 7, 10, 11, 14, and 17, 7 p.m. *followed by artist reception
Here is the link to tickets:
http://bonnie-macallister.blogspot.com/2011/07/play-dressing-room_31.html

This is the link to the press release:http://bonnie-macallister.blogspot.com/2011/07/play-dressing-room.html

BONNIE MacALLISTER: Play: The Dressing Room

Members’ Choice Art Show @ The Plastic Club.  Patricia Wilson-Schmid, Celebration, acrylic, Laura Pritchard, The Donors, batik on silk, Karen Frank, Strongman and Ballerina, mixed media, Theodore Amick, Jibber Jabber, watercolor and Bob Jackson, Mrs. Wildfowl and Tea, junk and stuff.

Sy Hakim,  Members’ Choice Art Show @ The Plastic Club.  Sy Hakim’s large landscape painting, Formations - Daylight, describes a beautiful yet challenging world, the small figure seems huddled against the power of the landscape, the outcroppings hang high above his head, a daunting climb but a great view from the top.

Members’ Choice Art Show @ The Plastic Club: Lois Schlachter, Guarding the Kingdom, giclee and Sixty, giclee, DoN Brewer, Iris of the Storm and Amy, Amy, Amy, digital photographs, archival ink prints and Mervyn Klein, Karate, collage.  Lois and DoN have been friends for years and Mervyn & DoN had a show together in the Downstairs Gallery earlier this year; the tones of this grouping are balanced and vibrant, there are tableau’s throughout the gallery where works speak to each other through color, technique and theme.  DoN priced his work at $4.3 trillion and $3.2 trillion respectively hoping to save the economy but the guide says NFS, oh well.

Bill Myers @ The Plastic Club.

Bill Myers photography is confounding yet simple; his Photoshop collages fool the eye when the artist mashes his own photography with found images, morphing the pictures into something different yet familiar.  Scary Scenario, photo collage, looks authentic with deep blacks and dark shadows but look closer and the foreground figure becomes impossible, the girl in the phone booth has two umbrellas, huh? - Bill Myers is good at that, that “huh?” moment.

Sy Hakim, The Cave-Night, oil, Members’ Choice Art Show @ The Plastic Club.

An art patroness becomes part of the art in the Shiekman Studio upstairs at the Plastic Club, her Summer dress extending the scene magically onto her person.  The art flanking Hakim’s painting is by Gail Zelikovsky, Rock Garden, painted silk and Rock Garden with Waterfall, painted silk.

Sy Hakim, The Cave-Night, oil, Members’ Choice Art Show @ The Plastic Club.

Sibylle-Maria Pfaffenbichler @ The Plastic Club’s Member’s Choice Art Show.  Sibylle-Maria Pfaffenbichler’s action paintings are not just fast in painting style like an abstract expressionist but the quickly painted figures are always moving, dancing, prancing - Ringa-Ringa-Reia, gouache & charcoal, is a joyful work of art.

Members’ Choice Art Show @ The Plastic Club.

Ted Gutswa,  Members’ Choice Art Show @ The Plastic Club.  Ted Gutswa’s charcoal drawings, Spring Mist & Sweeping Dream, explains all about what it means to be a member of the Plastic Club, simple materials, uninhibited application and beautiful presentation, raising the combined whole to a level higher than it’s minimalist components.  The Member’s Choice show at the Plastic Club represents each artist’s best work, the sum of it’s parts is elevated even more by the quality, style and variety of the work in proximity.  Downstairs Gallery at the Plastic Club is a lovely space featuring Kim Martin. Karl Olsen, Marion Loippo and Jane Wilkie; DoN will post some images and comments soon.

Photos by DoN.

Lauren Sweeney, Natures Bounty @ Geechee Girl Rice Cafe.

Bananas and Oranges, watercolor.

Lauren Sweeney, Natures Bounty @ Geechee Girl Rice Cafe

Ranunculus Bud and Budding Alyssum, watercolor by Lauren Sweeney.

Lauren Sweeney said, “This is a show I decided to include just watercolors that predominantly included what I call natures bounty: fruits, vegetables, shells from the sea and some of the man made objects.  Because it’s sort of a unique opportunity for me to focus more than I have for shows in the past trying to show a little of the diversity that I’ve done.  But, this is twenty paintings, so, it’s a lot of work.  The way this show came about is that they have a curator that goes around including Post Open Studio Tours and she liked my work and asked me on the spot if I would want to do a show here.  She’s the one that arranges the show, goes to the art openings…what she did was go through the POST listings and see which artists looked good to her and then she went around to them.  She invited me out here (Mt. Airy) to see this place and I love it, this space makes all art glow.  It’s a really good space and it allows you to really see the art.  It’s a restaurant so normally you can only see it when they’re open but tonight we’re having the first art reception.”  Lauren Sweeney said she got free publicity through a free networking service called Patch, check it out.  The website gives info and what’s going on in different Philly neighborhoods but it doesn’t exist in Center City yet.

Lauren Sweeney, Natures Bounty @ Geechee Girl Rice Cafe.

Geechee Girl Rice Cafe is operated by five sisters, DoN talked with chef/owner Val Erwin about art being part of Geechee Girl Rice Cafe’s business plan, “We do regular shows of artists. I have somebody on my staff that curates them, works with the artists and hangs the shows.”  Does art draw customers?  “Well, in the most ideal situation, yes.  I mean, that isn’t why we started it but hopefully it does.”

Lauren Sweeney, Natures Bounty @ Geechee Girl Rice Cafe.

Lauren explained to DoN, “I decided early on to use existing work and create new work focused on nature, the tomato painting I started at the Fitler Square Art Fair, while I was there.  This has been a great opportunity for me to expand into this neighborhood.  I’ve met some of the gallery owners, there are all kinds and it’s been a real motivating factor.  The show is two months long and runs through the end of August.”

Geechee Girl Rice Cafe - This weekend’s specials:

• Corn chowder
• Geechee Girl house salad with herb toasted brie, candied pecans and fresh peaches
• Fried okra & jalapenos w/ herb sour cream sauce
  
• Roasted marinated beets garnished with Lancaster County goat cheese
• Geechee Girl crabcakes with herb sour cream sauce.  Jasmine rice and Asian slaw
• Chicken gumbo garnished with Carolina gold rice.  Served with sauteed greens
• Individual peach cobbler served warm and topped with vanilla ice cream.

Brunch specials

• Peach lemonade: lemonade topped with fresh peach nectar
• Orange-currant scones with white icing
• Geechee Girl crabcakes w/ herb sour cream sauce.  Jasmine rice and heirloom tomato salad
  
• Grits souffle with oven roasted tomatoes.  Thick sliced bacon and herb scrambled eggs
• Buttermilk pancakes with peaches and whipped cream

    World’s best fried chicken every Wednesday this summer.  Get there early ’cause when it’s gone, it’s gone!

Photos by DoN.

Amy, Amy, Amy, DoN Brewer @ The Plastic Club

Hello my Little DoNsters, DoN is always surprised and amazed when he is invited to participate in an art event, the excitement and preparation is engrossing and involving attempting to produce objects worthy of being called art.  The Plastic Club always strikes a creative chord for DoN, with the upcoming Member’s Choice show for August creating an opportunity to show new work in a welcoming, inclusive group show of like-minded artists.  DoN submitted two new pieces, Iris of the Storm, a shot of the remnants of the tragic Mid-West tornadoes passing over Philadelphia that gave us green sunlight and scarey scudding clouds and Amy, Amy Amy, an abstract landscape photograph of a dim light glowing against a stuccoed wall layered with attempts to cover up graffiti tags.  DoN listened to Amy Winehouse’s Back to Black back to back on his iPod for months, the music incorporating all his favorite genres mashed together into fabulous pop, her passing a sad reminder to live for today.

Heliotrope, DoN Brewer @ Hopkins House Gallery.

DoN received an awesome invitation to exhibit at the prestigious Hopkins House Gallery on the beautiful Cooper River in Camden NJ.  DoN got the message from director Bruce Garrity through a Facebook instant message, he will be showing Abstract Landscape Photographs in an upstairs room in the historic space.  One of DoN’s first art shows (many moons ago) was at Hopkins House; to be able to curate his own space in a gallery is DoN’s dream come true.  The show opens Saturday, August 13th, DoN will post reception info soon.

The same day DoN received the Hopkins House confirmation he received this email, “Dear artist, If you are receiving this email, congratulations – you have had one, or more, pieces of artwork accepted into Bryn Mawr Rehab Hospital’s 2011 Art Ability exhibition. The decisions were extremely difficult this year as the show has grown immensely from year to year. We had more than 300 artists send over 1,330 submissions! We have narrowed that down to the best of the best, and only accepted approx. 350 submissions from nearly 200 artists.

A formal acceptance package (noting which pieces were chosen) will arriving at your home via the U.S Post Office in the next week. The package will include all required forms, dates, information that you will need in preparation for the exhibit opening Nov. 5^th.  Thank you for sharing your work with us and for participating in our exhibit. Your participation makes this exhibit the largest of its kind in the nation.

Sincerely,

Heather

—————————————————-

Heather Zoumas-Lubeski

Director, Community Outreach & Special Events

Bryn Mawr Rehab Hospital - Main Line Health

414 Paoli Pike

Malvern, PA 19355

(484) 596-5607 NEW

Zoumas-LubeskiH@mlhs.org

www.brynmawrrehab.org/artability

www.brynmawrrehab.org/cnb“

Cool, huh?  Although, this year’s acceptance into the final cut of the prestigious international art event is bitter sweet since best friend Arnie Segal has recently transmogrified into a light being.  Arnie’s magical sculptures and his endearing personality will be sorely missed at this year’s party.  Arnie Segal introduced DoN into the world of art opportunities for disabled people including the fabulous Art Ability show, Very Special Artists @ Kennedy Center for Performing Arts and ArtFirst @ Princeton University Medical Center.  DoN urges you to support the tremendous effort the team at Bryn Mawr Rehab puts into this expansive exhibit of art created by people facing personal challenges finding happiness, solace and a voice through the making of art.

light being (Lorraine & Charles), DoN Brewer @ Art Ability this Fall, 2011.  This image is an update to my original post, DoN received the info today and this is the image the jury choose; DoN is very happy from an artistic standpoint and emotionally because Aunt Lorraine and Uncle Charles loved DoN unconditionally (8/11/11).

Art by DoN.