artHound

out + about for Child Guidance & Family Solutions

September 30, 2012 in artwork, hanging around town | No comments

In recent years Child Guidance & Family Solutions, a behavioral healthcare agency in Summit County, chooses work by a local artist for its annual report. Rephrasing that: artwork is chosen for a poster – with the annual report printed on the back. What a super idea! The original artwork, if donated, is auctioned off at their fundraising event, Growing Up Akron. The posters/annual reports are distributed to their many supporters and associates.

For 2012 I created a new mixed media piece in the Imprints series just for CG&FS. In keeping with the agency’s mission and this year’s theme of community, I included a bit of childlike imagery and used a bright palette to keep things upbeat.

Imprints/Out + About
mixed media
2012

Child Guidance & Family Solutions poster (detail)

postcard pup

September 30, 2012 in artists, hanging around town | No comments

The first time I saw the gallery dog image was before photographer Robert Dill decided on his choices for last summer’s photo show, Life’s a Beach, at Summit Artspace. Although I thought he captured the feeling of life’s a beach, he went with a more traditional grouping of his photographs. Little did I know that he would print up a 4 x 6 version for The Postcard Show – and I must confess that it was the very first postcard sold. (There are advantages to being gallery coordinator!) I am in love with the gallery pup in the window – art and dogs, what can I say?!

Postcard art can find its way into even the smallest niche: here it is in the company of books, framed to sit in the bookcase.

Akron Bound from The Postcard Show

September 30, 2012 in artists, hanging around town | No comments

The Postcard Show, a celebration of the first decade of Summit Artspace, was a success on many levels: artists enjoyed supporting the gallery while trying their hand at some (very) small art; patrons enjoyed the variety of artwork and hoped that their favorites hadn’t already acquired a red dot; Summit Artspace benefited from the generosity of both the artists and the patrons; and, those of us lucky enough to purchase work are now able to enjoy it daily.

I was immediately drawn to Kathleen Harrington’s tiny painting, Akron Bound. Visit Kathleen’s site to see more of her expressive work.

Little did I know that I already owned the perfect frame for this piece. Akron Bound is displayed beneath an untitled photo by Charles Szabla. The two were made to hang around together!

studio update

September 29, 2012 in miscellany | No comments

Joan Colbert Studios at Summit Artspace has been open for a couple months . . . so far, so good! The walls are filled with relief prints and monotypes and the arthounds wheedled their way onto the postcard and signage.

Regular gallery hours are Friday and Saturday, 12:30 – 4:30 p.m., with additional hours during special events – like next Saturday’s Downtown Artwalk when the studio will be open until 9 p.m.

Cari Miller, artist and owner of Sunthing Special at Summit Artspace, took the following photo:

photo by Cari Miller

Akron Art Prize Finals

September 29, 2012 in artists, summit artspace | No comments

The first ever Akron Art Prize is now down to the top ~~ten~~ eleven! All of the finalists are now installed on the third floor of Summit Artspace, following a week of dismantling and rearranging artwork. The opening of the final round added to the Friday night festivities – around 360 people attended the gallery receptions.

Needless to say, voting for just one piece is going to be very, very difficult.

Mr. Midnight

Mr. Midnight, by Joseph Blue Sky, pondering the competition.

Artists of Rubber City Members Show

September 29, 2012 in artists of rubber city, hanging around town, summit artspace | No comments

An exhibit of work by members of Artists of Rubber City opened Friday, September 28, in the BOX gallery on the third floor of Summit Artspace. As expected from such an eclectic group, there is an incredible range of media and styles – artwork can be viewed in the album of exhibit photos on Facebook.

Artists of Rubber City Members Show
September 28 – November 4, 2012
the BOX gallery
Summit Artspace – 3rd floor
140 East Market Street
Akron, Ohio

37 days at Summit Artspace

September 29, 2012 in artists, hanging around town, summit artspace | No comments

. . . as of this writing it’s 35 days and counting . . .

37 Days
Ephemeral Sculpture
curated by Don Parsisson

September 28 – November 4, 2012
Summit Artspace

Fifteen artists are participating in the ephemeral sculpture show, best described by Don Parsisson: “Ephemeral sculpture is intended to have a short life span; in this case the duration of this exhibition. The pieces in this show are temporary in nature, some being created just for this gallery space, others self-destructing over time, and still others never to be assembled or exhibited again in exactly the same way. Check it out, day after day. . . ”

Items on the ingredients list include: feathers, paving bricks, brick gravel, yards of fine fabrics, tree roots, wood, newspapers (whole and cut), insects, a variety of electronic media, tea, muck, a tree and gelatin – lots and lots of gelatin.

photo by Diane Chambers

Don with the first day of his installation, 24-Hour News Cycle.

Akron Art Prize

September 17, 2012 in hanging around town, summit artspace | No comments

Akron Art Prize entries on the third floor of Summit Artspace

On September 1st the Akron Art Prize made its debut in downtown Akron. Modeled after similar events in other cities, notably Grand Rapids, Michigan, and Seattle, Washington, the Art Prize competition consists of 138 pieces displayed in five venues. The public is invited to vote for their favorites and determine the winners of cash prizes funded by The Margaret Clark Morgan Foundation. The Downtown Akron Partnership is presenting this event as part of the new Downtown Art Works Series.

Nearly half of the artwork is at Summit Artspace. Other sites include Millworks Gallery, Red Light Galleries, We Gallery and outside the Akron Art Museum. The final weekend of first round voting is coming up – all of the galleries will be open Friday and Saturday, 5 – 9 p.m. Additional information is available at the Downtown Akron Partnership site.

more vinyl

September 16, 2012 in artwork, miscellany, on page or screen | No comments

Years ago, while working on the Pictures at an Exhibition print series, the background music in the studio was often . . . Pictures at an Exhibition by Modest Moussorgsky. There were many different versions to choose from including orchestral, piano and brass. The piece varied as different conductors added their personal style and interpretation to the music. Leopold Stokowski actually eliminated two of the pictures, Tuileries and The Market Place at Limoges, feeling that they were more French than Russian. Quite a few CDs of Pictures found their way onto my shelves.

Since then several vinyl versions have also joined the collection, enjoyed mainly for the album art:

1961 album with cover art by Josef Albers

1967 album, side one – Vladimir Ashkenazy, side two – Zubin Mehta

1971 Emerson, Lake and Palmer
plenty of info on Wikipedia here

and, saving the best for last:

1972 Vladimir Horowitz, piano version and Toscanini conducting Ravel’s orchestration of “Moussorgsky’s masterpiece that inspired Emerson, Lake and Palmer’s hit!”
It’s hard to decide which is most amusing, the groovy cover art or the album notes headlined by:
Keith Emerson
Modest Moussorgsky
Carl Palmer
Maurice Ravel
Greg Lake
Victor Hartmann. . .
It’s just a guess, but this is probably the only time you’ll ever read that combination.

More information on the print series, Pictures at an Exhibition, is available on my website.

the other arthound

September 16, 2012 in miscellany, on page or screen | No comments

There are actually two arthounds and Thurber has been sulking since he found out Dylan made the first post of artHound. Again.

Okay, not really – Thurber only pouts if he’s missing out on something a bit more tangible, like food or a walk or a ride in the car. Most of the time he’s as exuberant as the hounds created by his namesake, James Thurber. Born in Columbus, Ohio, in 1894, James Thurber, a prolific writer and illustrator, created stories and line drawings that could be found in the pages of the New Yorker and within the many books he wrote and illustrated.

Thurber’s work was adapted for other media, too. A Thurber Carnival opened at the ANTA Theatre in New York in 1960. This original cast recording came from Square Records, a local record shop. (Square Records’ specialty is new music from independent artists and labels, but their vinyl inventory covers a wide range of genres.) The album opens to a foldout of Thurber’s quirky drawings, including The Last Flower, A Parable in Pictures, a cautionary tale from his 1939 book, Alarms and Diversions.

September 2012