In, As and For Community Through Art

Here we are again in AZ, preparing for our 15th year at the Celebration of Fine Art, and re-united with our community of artists.  We spend three full months every year with these people - that's more time than some of us spend with our own families.

As we hundred or so artists, plus mates and helpers, hustle and bustle around the big tents, hammers and paint brushes in hand, building individual studio spaces which reflect our personalities and our approaches to presentation, we holler our hellos across the aisles - "Hey Ken! Deb! So glad you got here safe and sound!  Talk later!" - "Heather!  I'm so glad you're back this year! Can't wait to see the new work!" - and we each continue on pounding and measuring, cutting and painting.

We are excited to see old friends, anxious to get our work hung - will it look as good on this color wall as I imagined it?  Are there too many pedestals in my space?  Oh no! I forgot my sign! - We are one hundred souls focused on one thing - coming together in a community of artists, as a community who makes art, for a community who loves art.

So, what does all this mean - this very special way of communicating our passion?  In all this rapidly shrinking world that often seems to be escalating in violence and divisiveness, it means that there are still people in the world who care deeply about conveying beauty as a means toward peace and understanding.  When artist and audience stand before a work of beauty, whether it is a monumental bronze capturing the grace and strength of a mountain lion, or an abstract forest of falling leaves in glass, an exquisite opal ring, gardens sculpted from gourds, paintings of abstract color fields or ones of delicately rendered real fields - it doesn't matter, because in that space of time, we do not argue to defend or attack, we merely come together and know a moment of calm.  We don't do it to prove that it can be done.  We do it because that is what art does.

So, come and see what this art business is all about.  Experience for yourself how it can open possibilities for something for not just your wall, but your soul.

P.S. Visit me again.  I'll be posting pictures as soon as the show opens on Saturday, Jan 11.

Dramatic Glass Work by Syed Ahmad

As we work our way across the country to Syed's next show in nashville, I watch him sketching ideas for new series based on weather and another on trees.  The drawings are very much in the vein of graphic design.  The color is in his head until he gathers multiple sheets to begin the cutting and layering process.  I try to cut curves and get shards.  He cuts curves and gets undulating forms, moving liquid, rippling light!  You can see him at www.SyedArtGlass.com.

"Weather" One section, approximately 20" x 11" - May be used singly or in series for larger installation.

"Schooling" 15" x 15" x 4" each piece Ten pieces in the series.  May be hung in horizontal line or randomly spaced as a larger installation. 

"Flame" 10" x 24", relieved from wall 3"

The $12 Million Stuffed Shark

Oh, the grim reality exposed in The $12 Million Stuffed Shark: The Curious Economics of Contemporary Art by Don Thompson! 

Are you an artist? A collector? A lover of art? Or do you just like an occasional expose?  If you are interested in how the contemporary art market works, this is the book for you. 

A word of caution – if you are an artist with aspirations of fame and fortune this book might 1) depress you, 2) discourage you, 3)stimulate your more cynical side, 4) completely alter your style, technique, raison d’etre, 5) save you tens of thousands on art education. 

On the other  hand, if you are, like me, someone who has made a modest living for a few decades on art, this may be 1) an incredibly refreshing dose of truth, (heretofore hidden in the private conversations of fellow artists) made public, and thereby validating many of our opinions previously referred to as “sour grapes”, 2) an opportunity to thank those who have collected your work out of love for what you do, 3) a chance to reconsider just why you do what you do, and perhaps to rekindle your own passion, because, after reading this book you may re-evaluate “value”.

Art and Sales at the Celebration of Fine Art

Congratulations to Donna Bernstein on the sale of her large diptych!




 








And now, let me introduce a fellow artist, Mark Carroll, sculptor of metals, stone, wood, and whatever else he has in his hands!  Mark began the Celebration of Fine Art while living in Buffalo, NY, so is it any surprise that he now lives full time in AZ?  His powerful stone and metal combinations would enhance both traditional as well as contemporary surroundings.  Head to the NW corner of the tent and you will pass through Mark's studio.  His work is both inside the tent and out in the courtyard.