DoNArTNeWs

Al Gury, Long Evening, oil, F.A.N. Gallery, Old City, Philadelphia. Al Gury: New Paintings, February First Friday.

Al Gury,  F.A.N. Gallery

Al Gury, Pennsylvania Hills II, oil,  F.A.N. Gallery

Al Gury, F.A.N. Gallery

DoN heard through the Art Educators of South Jersey that Al Gury was teaching a painting workshop for teachers and asked the master about the upcoming seminar.  “That is for educators in the South Jersey School systems and I will be there presenting a workshop on color, the history of color, how to use color, for educators.  That will hopefully help them not only with their work but they can use it in the classroom as well.”  Just South Jersey teachers?  “The advertising goes all over but the focus is lower half of NJ public school teachers.”

DoN gets starstruck around Al Gury, he’s a really cool guy, very approachable, but, the show at F.A.N. Gallery feels like an historical moment. The art show is a big collection of impressionist landscapes by a painting master.  DoN overheard collectors boasting to each other how many Al Gury’s they own and DoN could tell they were really, truly happy with themselves.  Another conversation eves-dropped on was students comparing the juicy brushwork and scratched away paint in the luminous canvasses, trying out the art terms and lingo PAFA is famous for teaching it’s students to speak.  DoN racked his brain for a salient question to ask the painter who teaches painting teachers how to teach - Tell me about the sky holes in the paintings?

“Well, I look at many different times of day because I like to travel around and look at the landscape at different times of day; mornings, daytime, early dawn, evening, afternoon to see the different kind of atmospheric stages and color changes.  And I particularly like the type of atmosphere where the silhouettes, the shapes and the colors all fit together, I enjoy that very much.”

F.A.N. Gallery

221 Arch Street
Philadelphia PA 19106

HOURS
Wednesday - Sunday (12pm - 6pm)

CONTACT US
phone: 215.922.5155
email: fangallery@verizon.net

More Al Gury at Side Arts Philadelphia Art Blog

DoNArTNeWs Philadelphia Art News Blog

Photos by DoN

Missing a super short video clip on Anthony C and Karen M YouTube channel is sublime, a word DoN doesn’t get to use often.  Anthony C and Karen M take their work to the street and see beyond the visual chatter interjecting their own thoughtful tags to the narrative of public art in Philadelphia.  Read more about the artists at Side Arts Philadelphia art blog.

Video clip and photo courtesy of Anthony C and Karen M

DoNArTNeWs Philadelphia Art News Blog

Yas Reven, collage giclee, Dan Eells, Riverfront Renaissance Center for the Arts

Untitled, Zach Whitehurst, ink on paper, Riverfront Renaissance Center for the Arts

Cube, Max Lefko-Everett, cast glass and found object, Riverfront Renaissance Center for the Arts

Lilliana Didovic, Something Red 1, Something Red 2, acrylic on canvas paintings, Sarah House, Mimic, porcelain, Riverfront Renaissance Center for the Arts

Wes Valdez, Blur, blown and mirrored glass, Riverfront Renaissance Center for the Arts

Raphael Fenton-Spaid, Ode to Bernini’s Rape of Proserpina #1, acrylic on mylar adhered to masonite, Riverfront Renaissance Center for the Arts

Raphael Fenton-Spaid, Ode to Bernini’s Rape of Proserpina, detail, acrylic on mylar adhered to masonite, Riverfront Renaissance Center for the Arts

Third Friday in Millville NJ is ten years old, the art crawl has become a nexus of art and culture in South Jersey.  A model for other towns using art to revitalize the downtown, Riverfront Renaissance Center for the Arts is a multi-use art space with galleries, gift shop and artist studios creating a hub of artistic activity.  Liz Nicklus, the interim Director of RRCA, and a founding board member said to DoN, “I was very honord when the board asked me to come back and be the interim director here and it’s working out to be wonderful so far.” Emergence is the first show at RRCA since Nicklus has assumed leadership, she says, “I have a wonderful Assistant Director who curated most of the show in the main gallery, Brandon Smith, a glass artist from Wheaton Arts so he has assembled a lot of artists that he knows.  Of course, we have Lilliana Didovic from Philadelphia, as well.  On the other side we have the center’s member artists and I think it’s a very successful show.  The artists in the main gallery are from all over from as far as New York and Philadelphia, in the other gallery are artists from all over South Jersey, they’re our Center artists, some are from Millville, some are from farther away.  This gives them an opportunity to show what they’ve been working on.”

“Benefits to joining include, besides getting to show, you have opportunities to take classes, reduced rates on entries to other shows, a reduced commission, there are a lot of benefits to being a Center member.  It’s a good place for people to get their feet wet if they’re just starting out in the art world.  Folks say ‘How do I get a chance to show my stuff?’  Well, here’s a place to start, and Center membership is not as expensive as being an associate member and also you don’t have to be juried in.”

Liz says, “I’m a big fan of mixed media and I love to see what people do with found objects.  That’s my first love anyway.  Every piece in Emergence you can walk up to and become absorbed in whether it’s because of the process, or just the reflections, or the detail, it’s a very captivating show.”

DoNArTNeWs Philadelphia Art News Blog

Photographs by DoN Brewer

Kodak Digital Cameras

Alden Cole, Down the Intervale No. 1, oil, Downstairs Gallery at The Plastic Club

Alden Cole, Down the Intervale No. 3, oil, Downstairs Gallery at The Plastic Club.

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.

Photos by DoN

Kodak

DoNArTNeWs Philadelphia Art News Blog

ps Alden Cole designed this book.

DoN Brewer is proud to announce the publication of his first book, Her Philadelphia Tales, The Art of Lilliana S. Didovic (Volume 1) available now on Amazon.  Paintings by Lilliana S. Didovic and a collection of blog posts by DoN Brewer on the Philadelphia art blog Philly Side Arts, a tech start-up web site for artists and DoNArTNeWs DoN Brewer Reviews the Philadelphia Art Scene art blog with an introduction by Professor Dexiang Qian, Her Philadelphia Tales, The Art of Lilliana S. Didovic (Volume 1) is more than an art book, it is an affirmation of love, life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.  Her biography, written by Lilliana S. Didovic and DoN Brewer, based on interviews, e-mails and conversations, is an unimaginable and fascinating adventure of one artist’s journey toward creative self-actualization.

Red, 48″ x 60″. mixed media on canvas, page 17 of Her Philadelphia Tales, The Art of Lilliana S. Didovic (Volume 1)

Philadelphia Loves Lilliana!

Cover of Her Philadelphia Tales, The Art of Lilliana S. Didovic (Volume 1)

Blogging for DoNArTNeWs and Side Arts is one of those opportunities people talk about when they say, “Do what you love,”  DoN loves writing about Philadelphia art, artists, photographers, designers, sculptors and cultural leaders of all stripes.  Helping the creative community get publicity is self serving and generative simultaneously resulting in the opportunity to publish this book.  Thank you to the Philadelphia art community for accepting DoNArTNeWs and DoN Brewer on Side Arts as a reliable art review resource .  Thank you to Philly Side Arts for helping DoN think bigger.  Thank you to Lilliana S. Didovic for trusting me with Her Philadelphia Tales, The Art of Lilliana S. Didovic (Volume 1).

www.lillianadidovic.us

www.DoNBrewerMultimedia.com

sidearts.com

Read more about Her Philadelphia Tales at Side Arts Philadelphia art blog.

LoVe

DoNArTNeWs Philadelphia Art News Blog

Sibylle-Maria Pfaffenbichler, Yes Indeed, acrylic & pastel, “The Annual Domenic DiStefano Memorial 2012 Juried Works on Paper Exhibition”, at The Philadelphia Sketch Club through 1/21/2012.

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 Club Works on Paper 2012

Lisa Lawinski Buchler, 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 Club Works 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.

Harry S. Camarda, In Thought, charcoal, The Philadelphia Sketch Club Works on Paper 2012

Harry S. Camarda, In Thought, charcoal, The Philadelphia Sketch Club Works on Paper 2012

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.

Read about New Wave Art Fine Art Products on Side Arts blog.

DoNArTNeWs Philadelphia Art News Blog

Photographs by DoN
Kodak Digital Cameras

Blick Art Materials

Tecu’Mish Munha’ke, Put on Your Big Girl Panties and Cowgirl Up, three assemblages 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!

Cary Galbraith, Frog Hollow, oil, at The Plastic Club New Members 2012

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, Parkside, acrylic, at the Plastic Club New Member 2012

“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 Philly Side 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.

Photographs by DoN Brewer
Kodak Digital Cameras

.

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

Download the West Collects Smart Phone App, available on iTunes.  DoN Brewer is grateful for the opportunity to present his photography for consideration for the prestigious and unique art collection, please vote for DoN and all your Philly favorite artists.  DoNArTNeWs and Philly.SideArts were first to report the announcement of a $100K award set aside for purchase of artwork by Philadelphia artists - we literally had Mayor Nutter’s speech on YouTube within hours.  DoN highly recommends Philadelphia artists take the time to enter their artwork at the West Collection website, it’s free and easy and they offer great tech support.

Out of Africa, digital photograph, DoN Brewer  ©2011, one of ten West Collects entries available to vote for on the Smart Phone App.

Find the perfect gift at the Kodak Store!

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.

Karen M & Anthony C,  Street and Free Art.

Read more of DoN’s art adventures at Philly.SideArts.

Photos by DoN.