BE PART OF IT.

Posted on | Monday, September 26, 2011 | No Comments

Imagine. A little over one year ago there wasn't an art gallery in Crawfordsville solely dedicated to bringing local artists together in unison, promoting and selling their artwork with the ability of watching them work within a studio atmosphere. C'ville didn't have a door to walk through that upon entering you were immersed in the visual artistry of local artists no matter where you turned. There wasn't a place you could visit as well as volunteer to learn more about our own local artists.

Well there is a place in C'ville like that.

Right. Now.

Imagine. That art gallery no longer existing.

Really. Imagine.

I know if this gallery was gone, there would be a hole left in the community. As an artist, what an opportunity we have here. To be able to work in a studio and share and learn about the arts. To build relationships. To see outside regional artwork that this community would never have been exposed to before, showing in the special exhibit room.

As a person who appreciates the arts, what an opportunity to be able to ask questions to the very artist who created the piece of work that catches your eye. To collect an art piece and contribute to the community. To volunteer and learn about different mediums and creative processes.

Me? I would miss it. Tremendously.

So what's my point?

My point is to "BE PART OF IT." Be part of this awesome opportunity to grow, learn and support the arts. To help this gallery be a part of this community always - ever growing with new faces along-side the pioneers that originally made this gallery a reality.

How can you be a part of it? It only takes a visit. A visit to appreciate what is here. From there YOU can decide your next step in making this center a part of Crawfordsville for many years to come.

If you are an artist or simply appreciate the arts and you are not involved, don't miss this fantastic resource available to show your work or to simply volunteer, learn and grow.

For volunteer/donation or studio/gallery information -
visit: 113 North Washington St., Crawfordsville, IN email: athensartsgallery@att.net or call: 765.362.7455

- nc

The Way I Do Things

Posted on | Friday, September 16, 2011 | No Comments

“My thrift knows no bounds!!”

Thrift stores are where it’s at. (For everything) Plates, bowls, ceramic sculptures, statues, ashtrays, bolts, coasters, mirrors, basically anything that can be broken with a hammer, is fair game for me. I strongly believe that art has a different meaning and higher value (to myself anyway) if it is in some way made from something that has been discarded by another person. Eww!?! Trash you say? Well…yeah…kind of. You won’t find me diving in the dumpster, (most likely), but most of the boards I use are from left over, broken down furniture, or something my father (who is a carpenter) is throwing out. Left over scraps from the lumberyard, an old dresser I don’t want anymore and is beyond painting condition. Broken plates, busted knick-knacks, I’ve often called the supply stores in town for any cracked or broken floor tile. Creating something that is, in my mind’s eye, aesthetically pleasing from something that was previously ugly, beyond use, or no longer served its purpose is extremely satisfying…and cheap! Believe it or not, the term starving artist is here for a reason. (Could it be from spending too much of that hard earned cash on crap at Goodwill to just take home and break? Doubt it.) And telling the girl at the cash register that she doesn’t have to wrap that glass because, “I’m just going to take it home and break it,” is, I have to say, oh so fun.

When I shop I look for colors and patterns mostly, then a main focus for the piece. Next, LET THE SMASHING commence!! I use both randomly broken pieces as well as specifically cut pieces. Generally, I at least have a decent visual of what my mosaic will eventually look like. If I don’t have a certain plan, I use a color scheme instead, and see where it takes me. I incorporate circles in most of my mosaic pieces. I find the curves of the tile and glass all together in a pattern very pleasing to the eyes, but it gives the piece unity as well. Sometimes I sketch basic patterns, curves, or lines onto the board before I begin, sometimes I don’t. Beginning a piece with no guidelines or pre-conceived notion about what I want to do with it can be exciting and challenging. Unlike painting, where sketching your subject matter prior to getting the brushes out is almost a must, mosaics can just sort of take you where they want to go. Because random broken shapes are being placed closely together onto the board, the tile just sort of fits together like puzzle pieces. Playing with shapes or color Scrabble.

Patterns and symmetry are often my best friends.

Chaos and error are pals of mine too.

Grout. Sand. Seal.

The general feeling one gets while looking at one of my pieces is my ultimate destination. I want the viewer to have a strong emotional response, whether they are pleased, curious, amused, or disgusted, I want them to feel something.

Reach out and touch it, feel the rough, winding surfaces.

Look at your reflection in the mirror.

See how the light plays upon the gloss and color of the tile.

Smile.

----

Sasha Johnson is a studio artist at Athens of Indiana Arts Studios & Gallery

Stop in to see her work on the upper level of the gallery.

Jody Franklin - September Featured Artist

Posted on | Sunday, August 28, 2011 | 30 Comments

Art Speak - Meet the Artist September 11, 2 - 4 pm

Jody will speak about his work featured in the special exhibit room.

Artist Statement: “Organic Surrealism”

Arriving in Indiana in 1995, shortly after receiving my Bachelors Degree in Fine Art and my Masters Degree in Science in Art at Texas A&M University, Kingsville, I made the decision to make Crawfordsville my home. 1995 was also the year I ended my military career with the U.S. Navy/Navy Reserve. I served in Operation Desert Storm in 1990/1991, where I received the Navy Accommodation Medal for my duties in Kuwait & Iraq.

During college and to the present day, my influences go back to many artists and art styles in history. The works of Van Gogh, Dali, Picasso, Max Ernst, Otto Mueller, Antonio Gaudi, Vermeer, Surrealism, German Expressionism, Pre-Raphaelites and Cubism, I would have to say, spark many of my artistic inklings. Specifically, I do not copy their styles but use bits and pieces of each in order to achieve my vision of what I am trying to do. For me, true art is the application of self to any medium no matter what your specific style is!

It was after the war that I began to develop my own visual style. My oil paintings depict images of brightly colored, fragmented, yet organic flowing figures in a surreal landscape. To best describe my work I would have to say that each figure represents the feelings I had during the war, that all of us are fragmented; from each other, from nature, from the great creator - God!

This current showing is about a play on one word, Trinity, and through that word, exploring my war experience. I found it odd that in the early years of our development of the nuclear bomb that the code name for the first atomic bomb test, was called, “Trinity”. My thoughts then turned toward a higher definition of the Trinity which is of God, Son, and Holy Spirit. The extreme nature in the use of this one word (trinity) seemed perfect for my thoughts on fragmentation. Fragmentation grew from a single thought or series of thoughts, which were and still are manifested throughout my artistic style.

What many do not know is that I love to create in any form. One of my favorites is writing. Accompanying each painting I have included a poetic piece in this series. My intent is to explore my own thoughts and feelings in both the painting and poem. The enrichment and exploration of the work is yours to ponder.

Example of what you will see in the current show.

The Resurrection Garden

A shadow of evil

Approaching the forgotten soul.

The light

Burning brighter than a lump of coal.

Dark wanderings

Intent and purpose fail.

Enlightenment flowers

Beneath heaven, above hell.

Yesterdays crashing

Alone, cold, and bewildered.

She cries to her knees mashing

Resurrection with a word.

This light

Away from dark entities.

Away from dark enemies

In the warmth of Gods might.

Jody / 2011

art.for.art's.sake.

Posted on | Thursday, August 18, 2011 | No Comments

Do you remember drawing or painting as a child? Do you remember simply creating because you liked the color or the shape? I know that I haven't thought of my childhood for a while - especially the artistic aspects of it until this past Saturday.

Last Saturday a few artists gathered outside of Athens Arts Gallery to create. A few of us painted on the sidewalk, literally with chalk. I grew up in a rural area without sidewalks and you know what? I had never done this before. Sure I drew lines for hop scotch once or twice in my life but that was the extent of my sidewalk chalking experience. So, at age 45 I set out on a new adventure. Another youthful spirit decided to create along with me and we joyfully chalked in the sun. How simple this was yet I couldn't help but think that I wasn't that child of 5 who simply creates because she likes the color - there was more to it. I wanted my picture to make some sort of sense and I even solicited another artist to give me tips on shading. She asked me "where is your light source?" and honestly, I don't often think of where my light source is. In a way I may be more childlike than I thought, which I believe, may be a good thing.

Too often the attached responsibilities, rational thinking and creating art to "sell" makes artwork a little stale at times. Don't get me wrong, I desperately need to know where my light source is and the technical aspects of creating something correctly is needed. It's just every once in a while,

I would like to take art

not.so.seriously.

It can and is serious business especially if that is our only source of income and even when it's not, we can become so serious in projecting the meanings of our art that we lose the joy of creating.

We can become intimidating to others and feel a need to explain in terms of articulated rhetoric that ends up just sounding silly and rather fluffy. I read in a post by Keith Garrow "…it's not an essay it's a painting. It encompasses and expresses things in a language that is unique to the medium of paint."

Maybe we should let our art speak for itself? I go back and forth on this concept. I do believe that the creator of the art has a purpose whether the purpose is to convey a deep, emotional hurt that hasn't healed or just to show a new color that they mixed that looks lovely against another. Complex or simple it still has a meaning but let's focus on the simple for a moment. Just a short moment. Simplicity - like a child not tainted by life - creating art for art's sake.

I love that a child can tell you the reason they created a painting was simply because they wanted to or that they liked the color. There is a joy to the simplicity of creating for beauty. Beauty for the one creating. For the artist.

As we grow "up" we start knowing when things are "not right" technically and we even question - "is that art?" We then create with a mind set of too much knowledge instead of trusting our own intuition and simply expressing our emotions and thoughts. We try to create something correct or what may "sell".

But every once-in-a-while we should just create art.for.art's.sake.

Picasso said it best I think…"it took me four years to paint like Raphael but a lifetime to paint like a child."

-nc

August Featured Artist: Mike Byers

Posted on | Monday, August 1, 2011 | 2 Comments

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July Featured Artist: Mary Thomas Firestone

Posted on | Wednesday, July 6, 2011 | 20 Comments

Opening Reception July 8, 6-8pm

Meet artist Mary Firestone at the opening recepton for her featured exhibit at Athens Gallery.

Mary combines a background in botany and experience as an Advanced Master Gardener with her creative vision to produce functional and decorative high-fired stoneware and porcelain.
Mary's leaf embellished pieces will be on display at Athens Gallery throughout the month of July.

Mary Firestone was born and raised in North Carolina, where at a young age, she discovered her medium while playing with the indigenous red clay in her own backyard. She set her art on the back burner, however, while she pursued a botany degree at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and moved to Indiana to garden and raise her family.

Mary is an Advanced Master Gardener, spending many volunteer hours “helping others grow.” Her love of plants and nature is evidenced in her choice of motifs and glaze colors in her pottery. As her children became more independent, Dirty Hands Pottery evolved from a hobby to a business, giving Mary a way to express herself and help send those kids to college! She participates in several art shows each year and is a member of Artists’ Own Gallery and Wabash Valley Potters. She juried into the Indiana Artisans program in 2011. Her work consists of mostly functional items for the home and garden created in high-fired stoneware and porcelain. She encourages collectors of her pieces to enhance their lives by using art on a daily basis.

Artist’s Statement:
My work consists of functional and decorative items for the home and garden, created in high-fired stoneware, and often embellished with leaf motifs. I encourage collectors of my pieces to enhance their lives by enjoying art on a daily basis.

www.dirtyhandspottery.com