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As Potent as . . . Poison, cont.

October 27, 2013 in artwork, miscellany, on page or screen | No comments

“Our fascination with poisons and toxins and venoms, I think, is very similar to our fascination with magic – these are mysterious things . . .”
Dr. Mark Siddall, Curator of The Power of Poison at the American Museum of Natural History

mad as a hatter block print

Call it serendipity – or coincidence – or synchronicity: paging through the Sunday New York Times came to a halt at the sight of Thinking About Poison, an article by Helene Stapinski about the new exhibit at the American Museum of Natural History, The Power of Poison. After all the ‘thinking about poison’ that took place here as the As Potent as a Charm series took shape, it was noteworthy to see that others were also engaged in the same subject matter – and on a much grander scale!

A visit to the American Museum of Natural History website yields some enticing information about the Power of Poison exhibition, on display now through next summer. So many of the now familiar specimens and characters that intrigued and inspired me are included, which begs the question, road trip or more prints?!

For more information on and images of the As Potent as a Charm series, visit my previous posts:
Garden Secrets
the Hare
Hot as a Hare
Blind as a Bat
Mad as a Hatter
Two to go
First Impressions – first review
As Potent as a Charm – statement + notes

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Sign Painters

April 5, 2013 in on page or screen | No comments

SignPainters_cover

The New York Times described the book, Sign Painters, by Faythe Levine and Sam Macon, as “A lovely paean to a vanishing art…a funky and necessary work of preservation” but, for me, just one look at the title and the cover was all it took: a copy of Sign Painters was quickly in my possession. The featured sign painters and accompanying photos actually caused a bit of nostalgia for the ubiquitous yellow labeled can of Sign Painters’ One Shot.

In March the documentary film, Sign Painters, opened at the Smithsonian American Art Museum. The trailer, expertly edited to the unlikely background of Edvard Grieg’s In the Hall of the Mountain King from Peer Gynt, makes me hope that there will eventually be a northeast Ohio screening.

 

women artists documentary

October 12, 2012 in artists, on page or screen | No comments

The visual used for the facebook event page for the world premier of Dr. Sol Haring’s film, No Time to Get Old, is a familiar one. The lettering was photographed in the hallway outside my studio in 2011 during the interview and filming. The quote, “life is serious, but art is fun,” is from John Irving’s Hotel New Hampshire. The upbeat message comes at a sad turn of events in the novel, reminding the characters and the reader to ‘keep passing the open window.’  For some reason I have never had the inclination to repaint the moulding – and now it seems unlikely to change anytime soon.

Sol, of Graz, Austria, focused on a dozen women artists, from Little Rock, Arkansas and Akron, Ohio, whose ages she described as circling 50. The group included musicians and visual artists. While each story is individual, attitudes and concerns were often similar. Appreciation for the sense of knowledge and freedom that comes with age was expressed by most of the artists. A feeling of gratitude for the ability to follow their passions further into the future was universal.

Interviews were conducted and filmed in Akron a year ago by Sol and her crew, Andrea Wildbein and Isa Hollauf.

photo courtesy of Sol Haring film

Sol returned to the states for the premier, presented in Akron, Ohio, on October 9, 2012. Following the film, screened in the auditorium of the Akron- Summit County Public Library, there was some friendly interaction between the artists and the audience.

photo by Daniela Jauk

 

No Time to Get Old has not yet been released to the public, but the stories and images are now online at videography – sol haring film. Included in her site are the formative ideas and background for the project and the stories shared by all of the women. Featured artists from Little Rock are Sherrie Shepherd, Shannon Boshears, Marjorie Williams-Smith, V.L. Cox, Delita Martin and Diane Page Harper. Closer to home are Peggy Coyle, Marti Jeffers, Amy Walker, Marilyn Dirrig and Connie Bloom, whose statement about time and aging became the title. Participating in this project was way outside my comfort zone. Meeting Sol and the other incredible, inspiring women was a memorable reward for trying something new.

photo from Sol Haring’s No Time to Get Old

 

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.

thurber

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.

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