What's happening at The Word is ART

March-April 2013 Newsletter

What’s happening at

The Word is ART Gallery

9349 Venice Blvd.

Culver City

With March already well on its way, I decided to add April events into the mix.  On Saturday, the 16^th, from 6-10 pm Jennifer Goyette is hosting an event “Define the Moment” featuring 3 artists.  Here’s what’s interesting about this event…

Join us for a unique art event where you get to Define the Moment. Normally, we look to the artist to explain their work, but this time we want you to decide what moments you think three different artists are capturing in their art. 

The 3 artists are Patrice Springer, Landscape Painter

                     Gonzalo Algarate, Bronze Sculptures

                     Rick Robinson, Pop Metal Sculptures

http://www.cuspassociation.com/Pages/Artists.html

Also on our March calendar is an Art Doll Exhibit, “Dolls as Art”, starting on the 25^th through April.   These handmade, one of a kind dolls are made from a variety of materials ranging from fabric, polymer clay , air dry substances such as PaperClay and taxidermy.   These are not dolls for children to play with but sculptural in design making them art treasures.  We will be hosting a “meet the artists” event on March 30^th from 4-8 p.m.

In April we start some of our many art classes at the gallery.  The first 2 of which will introduce 2 forms of doll making in honor of our doll event.  Both these classes are on the same day, Saturday, April 6^th, back to back.  These are enormously fun and you come away with a finished product.  The sock creature class will be fun to take your  child or grandchild to.  I’ve done it with my 8 year old grand daughter and had a memorable time.

Paul Murray will be teaching his “Vintage Tin Can Dolls” from 10:00 to 1:00 for $85

http://www.paulmurray.typepad.com/

Joe Carrion’s Sock Creature class is from 2:00- 5:00 for $60

http://www.vromansbookstore.com/joe-carrion

All you have to do is show up for these classes as all materials are included in the fee.

For more information, please go to our website here http://thewordisart.com/events/upcoming/

Or, you can stop in The Word is ART Gallery, pick up a flyer and sign up there.

On April 15^th, we are excited to have LEK Namnath who transforms her love and talent of fine art into one of-a-kind wearable fashion apparel.  Her fabulous hats alone will have you indecisive as to which one looks the best only to purchase more than one.  I know from experience.

Go here to see more…

http://thewordisart.com/event/one-of-a-kind-handmade-hatspurses-accessories/

Lek will have a trunk show on Friday, the 19^th from 4-8 so if you want to meet this wonderful artist, mark your calendar.

On the 21^st, Carrie Imai will be teaching us the art of Italic Calligraphy.  If you have always wanted to learn how to beautifully address your Christmas cards, birthday cards or perhaps you are getting married this year, there is no better teacher than Carrie Imai.  Being a professional calligrapher myself can tell you that this is an opportunity you really shouldn’t pass up.  See more information here…

http://thewordisart.com/event/calligraphy-class-for-beginner-or-experienced/

If all this wasn’t enough, we have one more guest spot to announce.  Our very own Karrie Ross will be our featured artist staring on April 15^th and will be featured in our windows.  See Karrie’s vibrant art here….

http://thewordisart.com/our-artists/karrie-ross/

We are in for a full month of art my friends.  I do hope I’m not scaring you away with too much art activity.  I sometimes over do things but I’m also trying to be fearless and take advantage of opportunities coming my way. 

I'm sure some will say "What, is she crazy?!" and some will say that I am brave to take this on.  Depending on the day, I've said those exact words about being crazy to myself.  And, some days I feel brave and proud.  

I guess it's all relative.  I just want it all to get easier.  At least, that is my intention.  I figured 2 intense years of learning curves, falling down and picking myself up, feeling scared and feeling fabulous will be the norm and maybe all in one day.  All I know is, that in the end, I will be able to say, "I did it" and hopefully with no real regrets.

I hope see some of you at the gallery...

Last night at the gallery, Lisa's event was incredible.  So many people showed up.  The online Meetup group we are working with is a great networking system and helped us have a fabulous turn out.  Click the link to see how some photos from the event.  I think The Word is ART needs it's own meetup group.

Lisa Holtzman is one of our founding members at the gallery.  She is one hell of a calligrapher and creates beautiful water color and acrylic paintings, not to mention her charming  jewelry designs that are attractive to most peoples taste.  Here's a look at some of her wonderful art.

Charm Necklace on ball chain 1

Charm necklace on ball chain 2

Charm Necklace on decorative chain

One of Lisa's pet rabbits, Maddy in water color

Lisa's water color and calligraphy

Acrylic Painting

Acrylic painting of a landscape

I couldn't tell you how much I admire this wonderful woman.  I am proud that Lisa is part of The Word is ART Gallery.  She is truly an inspiration and I am proud to call her my friend.

What's New

It's been so long since I've posted, I've almost forgotten how.  Since pulling the Gallery together and getting it opened in an ungodly time frame, I fell very ill, I believe due to the stress.  I don't think I've ever worked so hard in my life and....there really wasn't a tremendous amount to do.  Just time consuming details.

I discovered, I have a hard time asking for help or delegating chores.  I think I can do it all or better than anyone else so why ask.  Well, when I ended up in bed for going on 3 days and the darn pain wouldn't go away, I knew I wasn't going to have a choice.  Off to the hospital I went leaving my new born, just opened gallery, in the hands of all the other artists showing at the gallery.  I was suffering from a bowel obstruction.

It's hard to describe what went thru my mind when I was hooked up to all kinds of tubes and told you ain't going anywhere for quite awhile honey.  Thank God for pain meds because, not only did it take the pain away around the clock but it allowed me to sleep my troubles away. 

After several days, I started to feel better and Dec. 1st (my Grand Opening Event) was just a few days away.  I wanted nothing more than to get the hell out of there and be at my opening.  So I did leave and went to my opening against better judgment because I really wasn't well and I knew it.

My Grand Opening was spectacular with over 100 people showing up throughout the night and it was raining.  Here's a link to our YouTube video...take a peek.
I was definitely holding my breath the whole night hoping I would hold up till the end.  I can only say looking back, that I would have done it again and again in spite of the way I felt.  It was worth seeing my vision come true.  A week later I was back in the hospital hooked up again and feeling if it were possible, worse. 

I really don't want to bore you with my medical plight since I left the hospital on Christmas Day till now.  I'll only say that although I am feeling much better, I'm still not out of the woods yet.  My pancreas is now my enemy it seems.

With all that said, I want to focus on what makes me happy and that's art and my gallery.  Here's a photo of how it appears today...

The Word is ART...the beginning

Just rented

Isn't she beautiful!  This is the front of my brand new artist gallery.  It's right on a busy corner where the sun shines on it all day.  This is a morning shot where the sun is coming from the east, rounding south and by the afternoon will light up the entire space.  I have 3 high windows along the left side of the building that allows the light in towards the back of the space.

The larger window will be where each artist will have a chance to shine.

I have so many windows that I need to be creative and come up with ideas for the the others.  The 3 windows over the display window has matching windows on the other side of the door.  I'm going to add lights around them and keep them lit at night.  The sign will be in the window over the door above the address and the windows along side will have some stripes for more visual attention.

This is a view facing the rear from about 1/3 the way

Standing well into the space, I took this photo facing the rear.  Where the items are will be my studio area and where I will provide teaching space. Above that is for storage and doors will be built to provide coverage for that.  Curtains will be hung in front of the studio area for privacy. The door to the right leads onto a wonderful patio.

The patio facing west showing a view of the bathroom

A view facing east but you can get a feel of how large it is

I purchased 3 lovely round tables and will put a variety of  chairs around them for art events or even sit out there to have lunch.  So many plans, too many to mention right now.  I will eventually have planters all around, umbrella's and maybe even some graffiti on the walls.  Ah, the world is my oyster right now....all I need is time and a larger budget.

I am going to post the other photos I took as I progress when I have another moment.  I was so anxious to share at least the beginnings of my new adventure, The Word is ART Artist Gallery which is located in Culver City, California's art district. Yay!

I am currently seeking artists to show their work so if you are interested, please contact me at thewordisart@gmail.com or call me at 310-428-1544.  I would love to share my dream with you.

Stay tuned as the gallery develops...

I'm Leaving The Gallery

My space at Ten Women Gallery on Montana

It's been just about 4 years since I joined Ten Women.  We were located on Abbot Kinney in Venice when I started with them and I loved it.  Part of the excitement was because we were located in Venice and at the time, it was just starting to develop into what it is today. 
If you googled it, you would read that it's the hottest spot in Los Angeles.  The place to go to walk the 6 or 7 blocks of wonderful clothes, art, eateries, antiques, galleries, etc. etc, that just keeps expanding and enticing people to want to experience it.  It just keeps evolving into this developing area where celebrities go and probably own half the real estate because they are, I guess, the only people who could afford the properties or rent at the moment for that matter...which is why Ten Women had to leave.

The new gallery location on Montana in Santa Monica, is a very nice area where there are a variety of stores along the avenue, some decent restaurants and was, at one time, a lovely place to take a stroll, shop and have lunch.  It went through a hard time of recent years when lots of the stores closed due to lack of customers, etc.  For some odd reason, it just went South.  It's just starting to change during the past few years, so my guess is that it's a good place to be, with giving it some time to develop and pick up business again.  This is not why I'm leaving the gallery.

Ten Women is a womans artist cooperative where the art is juried in, the artist pays their rent for the space they are given and once a week, does a shift at the gallery, joins a committee and attends as many meetings as possible.   The meetings are held once a month unless there are urgent issues, there is an agenda to follow where the current issues are discussed and voted on and/or anything else that a member may want to discuss on a personal matter.  For the most part, this works out quite well.  Every one gets a say, a vote is taken and things get decided based on the majority.  No one is suppose to be in charge......Not True! It's also a pain staking process to get a group of women to decide on lots of issues.  We all think we are right after all and things that are not decided on get put off till the next meeting...and so on.  Could take months, maybe never, to get a final vote.

Without getting into who did what, who said what and what I think is terribly wrong with some of the "rules" and "strong opinions" of some members, suffice it to say that I am not happy with the negative and limited mentality of some of the senior members. 

I believe I have just out grown the venue and feel held back.  For the most part, I've done very well in Venice and am 7th in sales on Montana.  There are 23 artists at present so that is doing pretty well I have to admit.  I mostly make my rent each month ($200) plus, and my shift is an opening shift on a Thursday morning for 2 1/2 hours which works out well for my busy schedule.

Why not stay?...you might ask...  The decision was made based on my passion, my dream to have my own and to experience freedom in what I sell and how much I sell.  I do not have that potential at Ten Women.   I was originally juried in for my mixed media art, then I started making a lot of jewelry and was juried in for it, but I can only exhibit 10 pieces in my space at a time.  These are the rules and they do not want to change the rules as they do not want to be known as a jewelry store.  There are only 3 jewelers allowed at any one time except for this limited amount another artist may want to sell.  The truth is, jewelry sells and brings in customers.  However, this is not an issue that the members want to discuss as they are tired of me bringing it up.  I stopped.

In any case, this is just one obstacle I've encountered and I am no long willing to experience the frustration of being held back.  I truly believe that when one door closes, another opens.  I also believe I am ready to fulfill my dream.

Today, I saw the modest gallery/studio space I believe is meant to be mine.  I've inquired by leaving a message and hopefully, I will find out more details tomorrow.  So, with that said, this story will continue....

Wish me luck ;-)

Birthdays and Just Because gifts

A brass cuff I made for Lisa, one of my favorite people in all the world.  It's hand written and etched with the quote by Nelson Mandela made famous by Marianne Williamson and framed by wire wrapping sparkly beads and lined in thin, soft suede.

This piece was a request and I made it with particular influence inspired.  I hope she likes what I created for her.

A birthday gift for a dear friend with the same quote by Nelson Mandela written out on aged muslin, rolled and tucked away in a soldered vessel made from copper pipe and metal ephemera.  It was presented as a necklace worn long.

A small brass cuff with an old watch face embellished with a pewter heart and hot pink glass glitter resined inside and wired onto the cuff for my 8 year old beautiful grand daughter.  I'm not sure she got it but maybe some day she'll appreciate altered art.  She's very artistic, so hopefully she'll see the elements that were put together for this piece.  It was sweet and tiny and I love when I can create with purpose.  It makes all the difference.

Art Unraveled

Susan Lenart Kazmer's Figurative Sculpture...her class was based around where you can take jewelry making.  This piece actually holds a variety of jewelry which enhances the overall look and concept.  It's just brilliant!  The figure itself is made from ICE resin which was casted from a mold that she taught us to make first.  The entire 2 day class was exciting and filled to the brim with techniques.

A student's work from SLK's class.  Had too many photos to post.  I'm just glad to blog about these.

From Diane Cook's class "Framed" we made necklaces with photos framed with Mother of Pearl buckles which were in our kits for class.  I actually learned how to drill holes in the MofP under water.  What a thrill to be able to do it.  This is one of Diane's pieces that I admired.  A photo below taken with Diane, I am wearing what I created in class.

These are student pieces made in Lisa Pavelka's "Framed" class using Art Clay which is created using torch firing.  I particularly like the ones that have the black and white stripe edge.  My piece did not as it just didn't work out.  I was however, thrilled beyond belief to be able to create with Art Clay using the torch.  At one time you could only finish with a kiln which I wasn't willing to purchase know my "moving on to other things" attitude.  I first learned of Lisa when I was working with polymer clay which she is proficient in.  It was a good class.

My final class was with Debbi Simon teaching casting and making pieces from originals that I love and am selective about what I want to do with it.  The technique taught feed me to create another into resin and make it look like a bronze metal piece as shown here.  These are actually resin with bronze metal powder mixed in.  It was fascinating and I was filled with ideas by the time I left the class.  Debbi is a great teacher as are they all.  She teaches for Beaducation and is very knowledgeable about so many different techniques.  I am glad to have discovered her.

Diane Cook and me wearing what I happily created in her fabulous "Framed" class.

Susan and I at the end of her 2 day class.  Look at that smile on her!  She is really like that all the time...bubbly, happy and puts out an enormous amount of energy teaching.  She has an enviable career well deserved.  I don't know any other artist quite like her and her incredible designs.  Love, love, love!

Susan is holding what I created in her class.  I have plans to change some things and add to it.  It was very challenging for me to create such an expressive piece of work in just 2 days.  Usually it takes me weeks to make something a lot less involved.  I was proud of my attempts.

Art Unraveled is one of my favorite teaching venue because I can drive there, it has fabulous classes/teachers, it is well organized  by Linda and Chuck and I get to visit with lots of old and new friends.

Speaking of friends, I once again stayed with my wonderfully brilliant and creative friend, JoAnna Pierotti and her sweet and loving husband, Ron.  Each time I stay with them, I get to know Jo and Ron better and better and they have added to my life experience with gracious hospitality and friendship.  I just love them both...and my puppy face, Willow too.  I am blessed to call them friends.  I look forward to seeing and sharing time with them again, hopefully next year.