Left to right: Newly Wed (Tumbler Set) by Benjamin Cirgin, awarded honorable mention; Pitcher by Matt Schiemann, awarded Best in Show; Puzzle Tea by Joan Ulrich, awarded honorable mention; and Petrified Teabowl by Tina Gebhart, awarded third place.
“Tabletop”: A National Ceramics Exhibit
June 6–July 1, 2013
Opening Reception & Juror Talk: Saturday, June 22, 2:00–4:00 pm
47 ceramics artists from 20 states and Canada are represented in “Tabletop,” this year’s edition of The Art League’s annual national juried ceramics exhibit. This year, juror Linda Christianson, a Minnesota potter, selected functional art such as teapots, pitchers, and cups for the show.
The porcelain Torn Edge Tray Set by Lynda Ladwig, was awarded second place.
“Tabletop” opens next week, Thursday, June 6, with an opening reception and juror talk to follow on Saturday, June 22 at 2:00 pm. See below for more preview images, and be sure to see these works of art in person next week! Continue reading Preview: “Tabletop” Ceramics Exhibit
Details from some of the photographs in “Yellowstone Abstracted.” See the full images, below.
Bob Tetro: “Yellowstone Abstracted”
June 6–July 1, 2013
Opening Reception: Thursday, June 13, 6:30–8:00 pm
You may have been to Yellowstone, but you haven’t seen it like this.
Opening next week on Thursday, June 6, photographer Bob Tetro’s “Yellowstone Abstracted” finds beauty in the textures and abstract shapes of the national park’s natural wonders.
Tetro’s stunning photographs are printed at 45 by 30 inches and mounted directly to clear PVC board, resulting in an experience unlike any other landscape or photography exhibit. More preview images are below, and you can see the exhibit in person next week! Continue reading Preview: “Yellowstone Abstracted” in Photographs
For our third and final interview with the award-winning artists in May’s juried group exhibit, we turn to Susan O’Neill, whose oil painting Thomas’s Gift was awarded second place. (The juror, contemporary art curator Lauren Dickens, awarded best-in-show and third place to two other still life paintings — those interviews are here (with Leigh Culver) and here (with Paul Zapatka.)
Susan O’Neill was also recognized last spring for a collage in our “Earth” exhibit (you can read our earlier interview here), and last fall, her proposal for an exhibit of work on the human figure was selected by a panel of jurors for a 2014 solo show at The Art League.
Susan told us more about that exhibit, her influences, and the gift that spawned the still life — it’s all in our Q&A, below.
Thomas’s Gift by Susan O’Neill. (Click for full size.)
How did Thomas’s Gift start?
Susan O’Neill: This particular still life was inspired by my seven-year-old son, who brought me some daffodils that he picked in our garden. I was so touched that I told him that I would paint them. I could not let him down and wanted to keep my promise, so I had to quickly capture them in paint before they lost their vitality and sparkle. He put them into a vase and I wanted to paint them just as he arranged them, without any alteration.
See below for information on exhibits and residencies with upcoming deadlines. You can click the banner above to view past opportunities posts. Good luck!
Foundry Gallery
Deadline: June 1, 2013. Foundry Gallery in D.C. is calling for artists to enter its August juried show, open to artists 18 and older residing in the greater Washington area. Works submitted may be paintings, drawings or mixed media of originality and power, traditional or experimental. For more information and to enter, click here.
If you’re still wondering what art class to take this summer, how about sculpture? We stopped by the Madison Annex on Saturday morning to ask the sculpture students what they’re making — watch the results above!
This class, Wood and Stone Sculpture with George Tkabladze, is only one of our sculpture classes. Beginning/Intermediate Sculpture, Metal Sculpture, Figure Sculpture, and more are starting later this month and continuing throughout the summer — here’s the full list in our catalog.
“One Man’s Trash,” Noah Williams’ exhibit of sculptures made from trash and found objects, was featured Sunday in The Washington Post’s KidsPost section. In the interview by Moira E. McLaughlin, Williams talks about being inspired by Jean-Michel Basquiat and Diego Rivera, and being encouraged by his mother.
See below for calls to artists and fellowships with upcoming deadlines. You can click the banner above to view past opportunities posts. Good luck!
Street painting festival
Deadline: May 25, 2013. Announcing Battle of the Artists, a street painting festival being held on Battle Street in historic Old Town Manassas, VA. Artists are being sought to create art on the pavement using chalk pastels. There is no entry fee, and all art supplies are provided. $200 will be awarded to the “People’s Favorite” painting. Participating artists are also invited to exhibit and sell artwork during the festival. For details and to apply, click here.
The second of three still lifes recognized with awards in the May All-Media Exhibit, the tall, colorful Cherry Blossoms by Paul Zapatka (below) is the third place award winner. The artist, Paul Zapatka, told us about his influences, his approach to still life, and using a tall canvas to “stop time.” Read about it in our Q&A, below.
Cherry Blossoms by Paul Zapatka
What’s your goal with a still life, and with this one in particular?
Paul Zapatka: My goal with a still life is to allow the viewer to take the time and appreciate things (whether fruit, vases, glass objects, or in this case nature/flowers) in a special way. With Cherry Blossoms, as well as other flower still lifes in the past compositionally, I chose a tall or sometimes thin canvas to stop time (as the title of a short story book I read in college is titled) and to stand for the “joie de vivre” I find when painting nature. I would hope the viewer could feel this as well as the beauty of its warm light colors contrasting with the darker background color. Continue reading Q&A with Award Winner Paul Zapatka
This month’s unofficial theme in the Gallery seems to be the treasure of the everyday, including Noah Williams’ “One Man’s Trash” exhibit and the watercolor below, Picnic Treasure. The painting was selected for the Amelia T. Clemente Family Award for Best in Show in the May 2013 All-Media Exhibit, with juror Lauren Dickens praising its “amazing” color.
The artist, Leigh Culver — “a color person” and a watercolorist — told us about the accidents of watercolor, skipping the planning stage, and her teachers and inspiration. Read our Q&A below!
Picnic Treasure by Leigh Culver.
How did Picnic Treasure come to be?
Leigh Culver: It originated from one of Deborah Ellis’ fabulous still life set-ups in her Tuesday Art League class. I had been looking at Sargent’s watercolors of friends lounging in the Alps — the tilting picture planes, bright light, and tumbling fabrics against brilliant green grounds. I thought maybe this could be an incidental napkin of picnic treasures that could have been of or in that world. Continue reading Q&A with Award Winner Leigh Culver
Don’t miss two talks for artists next Thursday, May 23 in The Art League Gallery: one is a guide to creating exhibition-quality inkjet prints at home, and the other is an introduction to Photoshop for artists. Photographers and digital artists should be sure to sit in on the exhibition prints lecture for tips on accurately reproducing colors and what equipment to use.
A 2012 Art Camp intern works with students. (Watch the video here.)
The Art League is looking for summer interns! The internships at Art Camp, our Development Office, and the Gallery are great ways to get experience with teaching, working with children, fundraising, working with databases, and gallery operations. See below for details on the requirements and perks of each position and how to apply! Continue reading Interns Needed: Art Camp, Development, & Gallery
See below for details on upcoming exhibits. You can click the banner above to view past opportunities posts. Good luck!
July 4th show
Deadline: May 30, 2013. On Friday July 5, Capitol Arts Network will open “Born on the 4th of July.” Photography, painting, and mixed media will be considered for this gallery show at Capitol Arts Network. Show us your favorite iconic images, splashy red, white and blue watercolors, oils and acrylics, and the work that calls to mind the stars and stripes for this juried show. For details and to enter, click here.
Noah Williams’ “One Man’s Trash” — creatures, masks, and more made from found metal and knickknacks — has been eliciting gasps since it opened Thursday morning. Get a sneak peek and hear the artist talk about his work in the video above. (Or watch it on YouTube here.)
The large-scale sculptures, including an elephant, a fish, a helicopter, and a bike, are made of everything from soda cans to seashells to hair. To hear more from Noah, watch an awesome video made by his cousin, here.
Also now open: the May All-Media Exhibit, featuring artwork by Art League members and juried by Lauren Dickens, assistant curator of contemporary art at the Corcoran Gallery of Art. She selected 115 works of all kinds, both contemporary and traditional, and three paintings for awards — look here for interviews with the award-winning artists in the weeks to come.
<em>Buoy Shallow Water</em> by Bobbi Pratte Buoy, Shallow Water by Bobbi Pratte. Bobbi Pratte and Penny Barringer teach the two-day workshop, Plein Air Landscape Monotypes, later this month.
In our Artful Links feature, we share articles on the arts we think you’ll find interesting or useful. This time around, the reading includes information on 3-D printing for artists, art materials that last, and the road in Norway immortalized in The Scream. Click away!
SOHO (Space of Her Own) is looking for mentors for the Old Town program, which meets Tuesday evenings. Read more for details on attending an orientation session: Continue reading Be a SOHO Mentor
See below for calls for artists and other announcements. You can view past opportunities posts by clicking the banner above. Good luck!
Free lectures: Photoshop and Exhibition Prints
May 23, 2013. Photographer John Burgess will give two free lectures at The Art League on Photoshop for Artists and Exhibition Prints with Inkjet Printers. Please RSVP if you’ll be attending. Click here for full details.
Aerosol murals
Deadline: May 10, 2013. The DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities (DCCAH) in collaboration with the DC Department of Public Works (DPW) seeks graffiti artists and artist teams to design, create and install aerosol murals that inspire the various communities in which they will be placed. For details and to apply, click here.
Ceiling as the Sky by new visiting instructor Nick Raynolds. His three-day workshop, Drawing and Painting Architecture in the Landscape, is July 26–28.
Summer is the perfect time to try something new. Last week, we stopped by Marsha Staiger’s abstract painting class to videotape the students loosening up and trying new painting tools: Continue reading Try a New Art Class This Summer!
Out with the old, in with the new! The Art League’s classroom 213A in the Torpedo Factory is looking snazzy and clean with new carpeting!
Our generous donor, Douglas Struck, helped underwrite a brand-new carpet for the classroom which was installed today. The refreshed space is now ready to see countless hours of creativity unfold!
If the portraits in “Everyday Gods & Goddesses” seem almost alive — if you think you see their eyes wink as you turn your head, and you wonder if they visit each other, Harry Potter-style, at night — well, that’s just your imagination. But these paintings do have stories, both ancient and modern, behind the canvas. Today’s tale: Bacchus.
Self Portrait as Bacchus, oil on canvas, by Linda Lawler. 36″ x 28″.
“I love a good time, fine wine, and Caravaggio.” — Linda Lawler, placard for Self-Portrait as Bacchus
If the portraits in “Everyday Gods & Goddesses” seem almost alive — if you think you see their eyes wink as you turn your head, and you wonder if they visit each other, Harry Potter-style, at night — well, that’s just your imagination. But these paintings do have stories, both ancient and modern, behind the canvas. Today’s tale: Persephone & Minerva.
Persephone and Minerva, oil on canvas by Linda Lawler.
“The Goddess of Wisdom, Art, and Science. That pretty much sums up Rose.”
“Another beauty, frequently seen as she goes about her work here at The Art League, Erica’s determined and focused expression could easily be misinterpreted as sadness.”
— Linda Lawler, placards for Minerva and Persephone
These portraits bring to life two familiar Art League personalities: Communications Director Erica Fortwengler and Gallery Director Rose O’Donnell as the classical goddesses Persephone and Minerva, aliases Prosperpina and Athena. Continue reading “Gods & Goddesses” Revealed: Art League Edition
Photographer John Burgess will give two lectures Thursday, May 23.
Join photographer John Burgess in The Art League Gallery on Thursday, May 23 for two free lectures for artists: one on creating inkjet prints at home, and one on editing and saving images of artwork for digital submission. See below for details, and RSVP to [email protected] to reserve your seat! Continue reading Free Lectures: Photoshop for Artists & Inkjet Prints
