Skies is the Limit

Skies the Limit

 Group Art Show at Wychwood Barns Gallery, Toronto

Last night I went  to the opening for “Skies is the Limit “, a group show at Wychwood Community Gallery in Toronto. What a treat of a place! Mike and Betty McGowan, two of my workshop students, are showing free spirited abstractions . Mike’s bold acrylics on Yupo and Teraskin Paper are framed under glass and Betty’s mixed media pieces are done on canvas. She brought also in some well executed watercolours,  http://www.mcgowanart.com/

The other two artists in the show are Linda Gidora and Marissa Sweet  http://marissasweet.blogspot.ca/ . The works are showing  great in a well light, high ceilings, new railing system space. The summery   atmosphere  brings in a long  arrow  of  visitors , all friendly  and sipping cool and  breezy wine .Mike’s and Betty’s grandchildren  are swirling around with beautiful smiles on their faces.

                                                "Skies is the Limit ", Wychwood Barns ,Show Opening , June 22 2012

Steping outside with my hubby and artist friend Ira Litinsky  and the Echinacea is lingering to sleep and bees are buzzing their last tours, while the sun is paling away. What an end to a wonderful Friday evening!

Studio Visitors

Studio Visitors

One of my secret pastimes - asides from people watching with my daughter in parks, malls or on tropical beaches- is gallery hopping. Not because I like to interact with the gallery owners, or curators , or assistants working there, no-no-no,  but because I am always trying to find that " je ne sais quoi " , that ineffable that will bring me to create new and exciting paintings.

It does not matter if the shows are of ceramics, textile art,  photography, or sculpture , I know that all of it will translate in my personal arsenal , my own interpretation of what I felt looking at things.All that  was decanted from it - no matter the city, country or continent -is  actually searching for Myself.

So goes, that every time a visitor enters My gallery/ studio, I know he/ she is not here interested in my work, but finding themselves.

                                          "Nebulae" by Bianka Guna Acrylic on Canvas 12"x12"

When  people  are entering my studio, my first question after giving them a minute or two to look around is : ARE YOU ARTISTS ? Sometimes it's obvious they are : observing brush work they have the nose into the painting, some are obviously observing compositions from far away, others are interested in the details of the "show", literature , catalogues, maps and cards that lay on small tables. Some are in a hurry, some take their time to observe even the other people around, the human interaction.

Sharing a building with other visual artists is  a matter a choice for passers- by, and a lot more convenient than we admit .The visitors divide themselves into representational, hyper realism admirers and non-objective art lovers very fast, and I know from the start that the ones entering my place are into really wanting to see my work and discuss it .

It is not a visit for the sake of entering, once they are "in " ,I know there is a reason they are touring the place. They are taking in all they want or need, and I am not there to take away the magic of the moment. It is so simple to ruin the atmosphere  , especially for sensitive souls like artists , I am not going to do it, I know better than that!

" Beautiful Me  "  Show Opening 

 June 16th 2012, at Bezpala Brown Gallery in Toronto

This was an intimate opening and   friendly organizers  , Lyudmila Bezpala and Fariz Kovalchiuk , gracefully were having conversations and cheering the crowds , over cold beers and wine, in a  warm  +26C  Saturday  evening in Toronto .

"Beautiful Me" ,the art show starting on June 16th 2012, at Bezpala Brown Gallery , on 17 Church  Street ,  is  ending on July 3rd  2012, http://www.facebook.com/events/388014877901817/

The show, an  yearly tradition in conjunction with Pride Toronto, is not disappointing again.

" Beautiful Me " is a declaration from those who are a product of combating and surviving self- acceptance.

What catches my eye are  a beautifully installed photograph sequence by Francis Luta, the whimsical  figure paintings by Zina Chmielovsky and an expressive drawing by Ramune Luminaire.

Animation creators, painters, musicians, art teachers , aspiring artists and families , are all meeting for a creative exchange of art news , in a relaxed , down to earth and no pretense atmosphere .

                                                                 "Beautiful Me "  Show's Poster

These are the kind of summer evenings worth spending in galleries , and these make you think : life is good !!

The Artscape Wychwood Barns (Toronto)

The Artscape Wychwood Barns

Yesterday I visited The Barns Art Market (BAM!)  in Toronto,    http://torontoartscape.org/barns-art-market/about  and loved the whole idea of it !!!

A wonderful combination of  community, art  and sustainability, what’s not to love ?

The Artscape Wychwood Barns( 601 Christie Street, Toronto)  is one of a new generation of functionally diverse multi-tenant centres designed to promote synergy and collaboration. Unlike a traditional community centre, the Barns operate on a self-sustaining model, without requiring ongoing operating subsidy after the initial capital investment. Tenants of Artscape Wychwood Barns pay affordable rents and contribute to the programming of the building and site.

Artscape Wychwood Barns is comprised of four programmed components: the Studio Barn, the Covered Street Barn, the Community Barn and The Stop Community Food Centre’s Green Barn.

The Studio Barn provides 26 live/work studios and 15 work-only studios to professional artists as well as host a Community Gallery. The Studio Barn provides an alternative to traditional housing and creates a sense of community where artists can live, work and interconnect with their neighbourhood. The Community Gallery component features the work of artists living and working in the Barns and artists from the local community as well as international artists.

The Covered Street Barn provides affordable community use space, including year-round access for community events, exhibitions, festivals, etc. The Covered Street Barn provides an area for vendors to create a hub of economic activity in the neighbourhood while the artist studios and community groups in the adjacent barns have their entrances open onto the space.

The Community Barn provides affordable programming, rehearsal, office and meeting space to not-for-profit community arts and environmental organizations. Access to affordable, long-term and appropriate space is a key capacity issue for not-for-profit organizations. The Community Barn enhances the capacity of not-for-profit arts and environmental organizations.

The Stop Community Food Centre’s Green Barn is operated by The Stop Community Food Centre and houses a year-round temperate greenhouse, sustainable food education centre, sheltered garden, outdoor bake oven and compost demonstration site. As a leader in sustainable food systems education, The Stop Community Food Centre brings hands-on programming to the Green Barn component of the Artscape Wychwood Barns. Children and community members of all ages will learn about ecological growing practices and healthy eating through classroom visits, workshops, community kitchens and volunteering in the year round temperate greenhouse and sheltered gardens. It is a place where people of all ages and backgrounds can grow, eat, celebrate and learn about healthy, sustainable food

http://www.torontoartscape.org/artscape-wychwood-barns/barn-barn

1000 Tastes of Toronto Luminato 2012

1000 Tastes of Toronto- Luminato 2012

One thing leads to another when it comes to food festivals! Happened  especially when the food was created by chefs that are all known around Toronto foodies, and the culinary delights are coming from their  best childhood experiences .Luminato 2012 in The Distillery’s 100 Tastes of Toronto,  had  it all. Susur Lee , the renowed chef and cook book writer ,owner of two of the infamousely expensive Lee Restaurants on King, prepared mini vegetarian spring rolls burgers. Tom Fillippou, Executive Chef at PC Cooking School , prepared pooled pork sandwiches, the chefs at The Street Bakery served an assorted basket of macaroons , Dufflet Pastries served melted marshmallow on chocolate brioches ...The Mill Street Brewery served their Organic Beer in assortments of blonde lager, coffee  or dark malt , all cold and foamy .

Most of the ingredients for the foods were supplied by PC (President Choice Corporation) , one of the biggest sponsors of the Luminato 2012 Festival , and L'Oreal was the  another big sponsor, advertising heavily all over the media their involvement with the event.Seems like the perfect marriage of health and beauty , so why worry ? Hmm, let's think again!

For once ,the malpractice of Foods Corporations crushing small farms  and farmer's families by forcing them to buy genetically modified seeds , are very disturbing news of Canadian agriculture .

And secondly , what about L'Oreal scary anorexic and photo “enhanced “ models, advertising cosmetics tested on animals?

Both  these thoughts had let me less "hungry" for the 1000 Tastes of Toronto than planned , so I decided to have an organic beer from the Mill Street Brewery on my way back to the studio.

Just when I was thinking my happy decision will get me more optimistic about the whole event, I heard , loud on the speakers , an interview taking place live in The Distillery with the organizer of the event , German born Jorn  Weisbrodt( engaged to Canadian musician Rufus Wainwright and living now in Toronto  ).

With the European ,typical ,American hatred , he was bashing the " American Art Corporations" , for "crushing " everything around.

Really , Jorn? Like we need outside corporations to hate, we don't have PC and L'Oreal, our own demons to blame, we need American ones?

 Our Canadian corporations  or the Europeans ones are better ? Just because you ,grew up in hatred indoctrinated Europe doesn't mean that we Canadians are as anti- American as you are !

 Look around you  carefully,  because  50% of the tourists buying foods around you, or visiting Luminato  Festivals in Toronto are , yes, from the USA not form far away "old Europe "!

 You are here to talk about your job as an art director of a Canadian art festival and not bashing the USA !

As Canadians , we  frankly, have much more in common with our southern neighbour -the English speaking, emigrant country , peaceful for 200 years ... - the US, that you so love to bash, than with Old Europe that drove us all Canadians here, to make a new country over the ocean !

I am sipping  from my beer   – which is  one of the few strictly veggie and organic foods around, with minimal carbon print-   and I am looking around at the people who smile absent at the " nationalist disturber" , does anybody have energy for the "eloquent orator" to question or challenge  him?

The sun is strong, the beer is tasty, I guess nobody is up to the task of explaining to him that 80% of our trade is with our neighbor, the USA , and we are obviously happy with it!

                                              "Alice in Wonderland" Acrylic on Canvas 30"x40"

We are  more than economically sound and lucky than if we were to deal with any other neighbors.

So I am leaving the busy crowds , heading to my studio passing an endless array of happy dogs, kids in strolls , grandparents with preschool grandkids without front teeth, ...all hazy from too much food and drinks  .

The next thing I know is that up  there ,in my Studio #211 , my  Boston visitors await ,  they  were coming from the Picasso Show at AGO and eager to speak about art .Young and educated , these  Americans   are the only ones really interested in art , a wonderful couple .And I secretly  and  luckily  hope they didn't hear the shameful ranting outside !

Luminato Festival 2012

Luminato 2012

The enlightening festival Luminato 2012    ,www.luminato.com , didn't disappoint this sixth year .It had it all to excite our senses, from listening, and seeing ,to smelling  and tasting .

An incredible artistic spectrum of events from film, music, visual art, architecture, light shows, ballet , literature, TV, magic and culinary art were organized here in Toronto and " battle" for our attention for ten days.

This year the participants span from authors like Michael Ondaatje and Annie Prolx, to musicians like Montrealer pianist Tom Memier or Ernest Ranglin ( the father of ska) , from opera to film  , from ballet by Israeli dance company Batsheva to classical music by Shostakovich .

The Distillery Historic District , where I have my studio, was the hub of a tasty food festival called 1000 Tastes of Toronto. The city 's best chefs( Susur Lee, Tom Fillippou,..) assembled treasured recipes from their childhoods , each culinary delight priced at just $5. The long array of distillery chefs and restaurants included  Boiler House, Cafe Uno, Oyster House, A Taste of Quebec, Dufflet Pastries and of course drinks from our own Mill Street Brewery , well known for organic  and fragrant beers .

Austrian artist Rainer Prohaska presented an installation/ performance which explored our relationship with food , using large and colourful  sculptures  made of food charts transformed into  mobile kitchens.

The distillery area had also a book signing event,  with two well known food writers , Calvin Trillin ( 40 Years of Funny Stuff)and the Montrealer Adam Gopnik( The Table Comes First: The Family, France and The Meaning of Food).

 Luminato 2012  saluted the bicentennial of the War of 1812  with a temporal village of 200 tents at the York Fort and the signing of Alan Taylor book " The Civil War of 1812 : American Citizens, British Subjects, Irish Rebels and Indian Allies".

                                                   "Dreams 100" Acrylic on W/C paper , Framed (22"x30")

When so  many good intentions , from the part of the sponsors and volunteers, and so  much talent , from the part of the artists involved , are mixed , only good things can emerge .I know I am grateful to live in such a lively ,artsy epicenter like Toronto !

SpeakEasy Spring Art Fair : The 10% Percent

SPEAK EASY SPRING ART FAIR : THE  10% PERCENT

Last night  I  attended  the opening for the 16^th  SpeakEasy Spring art Show at the Gladstone Hotel on Queen West, Toronto, on the second floor  .The one night gathering started in 1996 and  transformed into a one week long juried show open to emerging and established artists.

The opening  ,Thursday night ,was well attended  and I had to meet old and new artists friends  I knew from other shows,  some of them  my neighbours in Case Goods Warehouse, in The Distillery District.

This year 37 independent artists were juried in and they came from all the creative backgrounds: photography, illustration, installation, painting, crafts.

Here is the 10% that caught my eye:

1.Pavel   Zablocski, etching, www.vilk.net/zablocki

2.David Brown, encaustic,  www.encausticollage.com  

3.Bill  Philipovick, painting, http://www.philipovich.com/GALLERY_1.html

4.Kimberley Lillyhite , illustrator, www.kimberleylillyhite.co

                                                  The Gladstone Hotel, on Queen West  in Toronto

On my way out, a summery rain spelled the magic that is certainly worth checking this week, between 5th to 12th of June 2012 . SpeakEasy , a show not to be missed, Toronto  !

Jury Duty : Call Me Not !

Jury Duty: Call  Me Not!

Once in a while, local art groups call me to be "the one" or  one of the usually , two or three person jury committee , for their juried shows , anniversary or  annual /seasonal ( spring, fall) .It's thrilling to be called an " expert" but it's not an easy task.

There are many factors to be taken into consideration when a juror.One being you have to really blend in taste with the  other members do the jury , and to create the " consensus" atmosphere.

Each society/group has it's own criteria( following the theme of the shows, selection of original work only, number of paintings selected conform the gallery wall space, prizes to be offered...).Some are represented national , other internationally, and first you have to understand the group intentions with the show, their credo and reasoning in order to make a final decision.

After many years of curating my own shows and being the show chairman for different artist's  groups around GTA , I have  issues with the selection. First and foremost  I am rooting for high  quality of work , secondly I am looking for originality of  subject matter and then, of course, I am limited by the  number of works to be selected, which is a given.

Usually there is a limited number of spaces in a gallery, a certain number of pieces , of a certain range size. My issue when selecting ,is that ,no mater the number of potential works probably to be accepted in a show ,there is always a very limited/ finite number of good ones presented to the jury , so your hand gets " forced" into accepting less valuable pieces, for the sake of filling the space .I prefer quality to quantity, but somehow every time, I am finding  myself in a situation when I need to explain that this is not an " elitist" issue, and even if I  want to be " inclusive " of as many possible participants( for bigger crowds at the openings, more visitors ...) in order to spark lots of interest , a very good show has to be the  most important  goal.

When I chose I have in mind great technique , but when two works are equal in good technique  , I prefer the most original one.

Of course I  have an issue with the "winner of the 7th place " , like in the comedy  "Meet The Fockers"  . Why not have only a winner and two honorable mentions for all?

Why is that , that there is always a need to have best , second, third...in show, then best, second....acrylic, best, second...watercolor...., Oy ! Everybody needs to win something , the family members are going to be all happy, pictures taken,then  the monthly group's  newsletters filled with pages upon pages of " people's first, people's second ....third awards" .

Then , first thing you know, your name is attached to these awards , and local newspapers are called to report  at the opening, and , of course , you are invited too, asked to give away all the awards for works you didn't in fact ,even wanted to accept into the show , and your photo is ending  up in all the family albums .

                                                 "Nebulae 113" Acrylic on Canvas , 10"x10"

Last and not least ,after the show is taken down ,  there are the "angry " phone calls or e-mails  , from the people who were not accepted into the show , or didn't won any awards, yes, believe it or not I got these asking " Why not? Why our works were not accepted ?" - some people have some nerve , and this is " the glamor" of being a juror !

Narrow Alleys

Narrow Alleys

 

I am afraid sometimes to walk the alley up to my studio , I have to confess.

 In February , Max the widower pigeon, was mourning the loss of his wife , Martha, on the sideway   .She was nesting  before that, under my window, and I could feel the sadness when cold weather sank in again ,and the egg was abandoned.

Later in March , two small black-cap chickadees were fighting on the pavement for a juicy worm so hard , that I was almost sure they will kill each other.

And what's up with the phony " sounds of birds" that are so " cleverly" put up on speakers , too loud to be credible ? They are so fake and annoying that all the suit cladded hipsters in The Distillery, are looking up in disbelief .

Everybody is  acting funny around the alley. The riders on  bicycles are using  places where there is not enough space even for kids to get through , SEGWAY freaks are almost run you down , unleashed huge dogs jump on small kids in pampers , rude cafes  owners block the alleys with their ever extending outdoor patios , furious teenage students ,in visiting groups, are a constnt remindiner of the  Italian " furbo".

Am I getting old and tired of this circus ? Did I lose my sense of humor and  cannot see the half full glass anymore ? I don't know, on the way to the studio I am looking for some innocence, benevolence and genuine beauty -passed the manicured bed flowers in wooden barrels, that  the CityScape corporation planted around.

I will have to look harder around me , in order to find inspiration .

                                              

                           "Dead Languages" 2011 Series Acrylic on Paper (30"x22"

Lately I  recall why I  started in the first place to invent it , rather than observe it !