Made in Detroit, with Love

I‘ve decided to devote the entire blog this month to one of my passions, art. I want to tell you about some of my favorite exhibits, artists, curators, educators, lectures and venues that I’ve discovered over the past month.

Love Talk: I’ll begin with a timely and thoughtful project Let’s Talk About Love, Baby by artist [...]

Chido Johnson’s  “Let’s Talk About Love, Baby”

The Art of the Artist’s Book at the Oakland University Art Gallery through April 4, 2010
Valentine’s Day Event! Special informal talk with collaborating artists, Sunday, Feb. 14 from 2 to 4 p.m.
Fahrenheit 450 (Homage to Bradbury and Orwell), 2000-2010
by IAIN BAXTER&
Not one of those touchy-feely people? Don’t like to talk about love? Well, JUST [...]

Shooting Yoga Dan

I recently had the pleasure of photographing and getting to know Daniel Aaron Gottlieb, aka “Yoga Dan.” Full of inner and outer beauty, he revels in sharing his grace as a skilled yoga teacher and “yogi extraordinaire.” Daniel attended art school, and was ready for a career in professional basketball when his life turned toward [...]

On Longing

When I was a little girl my dad traveled. Every week he’d make his way to a work destination that was five hours away. Monday mornings before we got up for school, he would leave me, my mother and my two brothers and reappear on Thursday or Friday evening for the weekends.

In the ‘60’s [...]

Joseph Winterhalter: “Painting/Paperwork” at the BBAC

Closing Reception Thursday 11 February 2010, 5 to 8 pm
F.o.R. # 14, 2009, 24″ x 20″
Latex, acrylic, chalk, powdered graphite, oil, wax on canvas.
Photo: Steve Paszt
Joseph Winterhalter’s exhibit “Painting/Paperwork” could easily be called “Architecture/Poetry”; words that filled my mind as I viewed Winterhalter’s large scale canvases and ‘Text Works’. Putting industrial materials to [...]

‘F’ Word Project Updates

The ‘F’ Word Project is gaining momentum, thanks to some dedicated artists and curators. My friend and talented artist Julie McDonough came to me recently with an idea for a photo shoot which she calls “Forgive.” The shoot came together with the help of Tess Garoon, who did the hair and makeup and helped with [...]

Negative Space

It’s interesting to me how Design terms can reflect life as metaphor. For example:  The term Positive/Negative space, also known as Figure/Ground in the picture plane of a drawing or painting, employs the ratio of space between figure and background to create various compositional elements.
“By understanding and manipulating the interaction of positive and negative areas, [...]

Art And Science: A Powerful Exhibit That Expands Visual Boundaries

At Cranbrook Institute of Science Through January 3, 2010
Four Taxidermied Heads
T’is the season to forge new territories, expand your horizons, leave the everyday behind and I know just the place to do it: The Cranbrook Institute of Science (http://science.cranbrook.edu). You can become reacquainted with a favorite place while attending an exciting new [...]

Truck Stop and 17th Century Painter Influence Thalhammer

Second Show at Butchers Daughter: Cutting-Edge work by Lisa Marie Thalhammer
Artemsia-Gentileschi,
self portrait
At a young age artist Lisa Marie Thalhammer drew from her personal life experience to create
unique artistic expressions. It’s no wonder that one of her first influences was the 17th century painter Artemisia Gentileschi. At a time when women were not allowed into [...]

Revisiting The ‘F’ Word

By Dale Sparage
Like many female artists and photographers, I’m interested in the concept of the “female gaze”… how women look at women.  For centuries it’s been men on the other side of the canvas or, more recently, the camera, interpreting us. Women were not allowed to express themselves creatively or artistically until the middle of [...]