Opening Night at Edwardsville Arts Center

It's always a thrill to have something accepted into a juried show and now I have an honorable mention to boot.  I had the opportunity to shoot some photos of the exhibition the night before it opened as I happened to be there for a meeting--but the wall tags weren't up yet.

Deirdra Burnside did the large painting in center

Then on Friday night I got some crowd pics and my husband took a photo of me standing next to the piece that won.  There was a great turnout for the reception.  At one point I could hardly move there were so many people in the gallery.  Lots of unfamiliar names among the artists.  I'll have to go back for another look and read some of the artist statements.

It's a fine show.  Robin Hirsch of Art Saint Louis did a fantastic job of selecting art and Dennis Detoye of EAC did a great job installing the 60 works of art that were chosen by Robin.

Juror Robin Hirsch (L) & Pat Quinn, gallery director. 

 

This was an all media show.  Much of the work was 2-D.  Lots of paintings and mixed media.  I think mine was the only fiber art in the show.
(Andrew Dobson took this photo and the one below on opening night. I know Andrew through Jacoby Arts Center.)

The great thing about openings is that you get to see all your artist friends and spend some time schmoozing.  The bad thing  is you rarely get a chance to really look at the art.  But there are a few stand out pieces by acquaintances that I'd like to share with you--not award winners this time--except in my book. 

Quote the Raven by David Yates (photo courtesy artist)

David Yates and I have known each other for several years through the ArtEast event every fall.  You can see more of David's fascinating paintings at his website.

Painting by Patricia Badman (photo courtesy artist)

Patty Badman is another ArtEast artist that I've gotten to know over the years.  I visited her studio a few years ago and was blown away by her work.  This piece is a stunner, although I forgot to ask her the title of the piece.  She's on facebook at Patricia Badman.

Morning Coffee by Mike Mason.  Mixed Media--digital photo, acrylic and collage (I took this photo myself and hope the color is close to reality.)

Mike Mason is retired from the University Museum at SIUE and he is also a fellow ArtEast artist.  In fact the very first studio/exhibition tour I participated in (I think 2002) my work hung along side Mike's.  His work with digital manipulation is fabulous.  Unfortunately he doesn't have a website.  He began printing on canvas a few years ago and this piece is one of the largest I've seen of his work.  I think it must be at least 5 feet wide. I love it!

My piece Dawn of Life is on the left.

This piece was more of a challenge than I bargained for because of its width.  I measured off a 60" length of fabric and unlike my vertical pieces the selvedge was on the top and bottom leaving my zigzagged sides rather ragged looking.  Dupioni ravels like crazy.  Didn't look nice--so I was forced to hem the edges and by some miracle I managed not to stretch the fabric and it hangs perfectly straight.  Whew!

Here I am trying to look "arty" with Maze of Life that was awarded an honorable mention.

Rejected by Andrew Dobson

Sorry for the reflections in Andrew Dobson's photo at right.  Awfully difficult to photograph something under glass.  I was immediately reminded of a series of photos I saw in the 1980s.  There is a book:  The Red Couch--Portrait of America (check out Amazon) and a video (probably no longer available) that aired on PBS.  I used to show the film to my photo students when I taught high school.  They were all fascinated by the concept as I was.  I love this photo!