Stephen working on his assemblage at SCC.

    This past weekend I taught a two-day assemblage workshop at Society for Contemporary Craft in Pittsburgh. Presenting contemporary art in craft media by international, national and regional artists since 1971, the Society for Contemporary Craft offers cutting edge exhibitions focused on multicultural diversity and non-mainstream art, as well as a range of classes, community outreach programs and a fine retail store. SCC is located at 2100 Smallman Street in Pittsburgh, PA’s Strip District.

Lisa adding "shoulders" to her assemblage doll made of a potato ricer, watering can, and a 1940's era cloth "head".

Sydney, the youngest member of the class, working on an assemblage version of herself using a variety of recycled materials.

    
    Pittsburgh’s Strip District, located on the Allegheny River at the north-east corner of the Golden Triangle,  was formerly occupied by warehouses and railroad installations. It is now the city’s wholesale market center and is a scene of lively activity in the early morning and forenoon, especially on the weekends. The Strip contains a variety of restaurants, shops, and street vendors, as well as the Wholesale Produce Terminal, the largest wholesale vegetable market in western Pennsylvania.

Lisa, Stephen, and myself taking a lunch break at Enrico Bicotti in the Strip.

    Two of the students and I grabbed lunch at Enrico Biscotti Company. We shared pumpkin linguini, greens and beans, and veggie marinara. Wow! Sooooo delicious! And on the way out we had to buy a few pastries. Hey, working on assemblages takes a lot of calories.

Renae, mother of Sydney, forming an armature for her bottle cap scarecrow.

    On a recent trip to Africa, Renae had taken photos of a large figure covered in plastic beverage bottle caps. She decided that she wanted to do something similiar (although a bit smaller) and use the finished work as a scarecrow in her backyard to hopefully ward off ground hogs.

    SCC has an arrangement with The Priory Hotel, enabling Chris and I to spend the night. A remodeled Benedictine monastery, The Priory Hotel is a boutique  hotel  located on Pittsburgh’s North Shore. The Priory has 24 rooms and business suites. Complimentary evening beverages are served, and continental breakfast and free parking are provided. The hotel is conveniently located near shopping, museums, and parks. That evening, Chris and I walked about six blocks to Legends North Shore, a small restaurant with great food and wonderful service.

The Priory, a Benedictine monastery turned into a hotel.

Entrance to the Priory.

Day II: Sydney and her "mini me", two-thirds complete.

Lisa's "doll" gives a new life to a variety of household items.

Stephen with his completed "mobile home".

The other side of Stephen's "mobile home".

 

Setting one of the stones into place.

    Two of my friends, artists Priscilla Roggenkamp and Keith McMahon, recently completed an installation for Galion Community Hospital in Galion, Ohio. Priscilla and Keith worked with artist Ken Arthur to create a garden space titled Body, Mind and Spirit.  Each of the three artists played a part in the design of the work: Priscilla created body (cast bronze), Keith created mind (steel),  and Ken, spirit (copper).  This was a new venture for the three of them.  Though Keith and Priscilla have collaborated (without doing serious harm to each other), having Ken Arthur) as a collaborator brought a fresh perspective to the mix and lots of technical know-how.  

    The stone is sandstone from the Killbuck, Ohio area. Atop the three stones are the three individual works. The proposal was accepted in August of 2008, and they spent nearly a year designing and creating the work. Below are two of the artists standing proudly next to their work.

Priscilla with her sculpture, Body.

Keith and his piece, Mind.

The completed installation.

    I was excited to receive word from the West Virginia Division of Culture and History that my piece, Deer Crossing, was awarded a Governor’s Award in the 2009 West Virginia Juried Exhibition at the Huntington Museum of Art. The exhibit features art works in the areas of painting, sculpture, printmaking, drawing, photography, mixed media and crafts by 74 artists. The exhibition will remain on display through Jan. 17, 2010. 

Deer Crossing, by Robert Villamagna, printed metal, plastic, nails, MDF.

    The 89 pieces of art in the exhibit, including the award winners, were chosen by jurors Julie Taggart, professor, dean, fine arts and foundation studies at Columbus College of Art and Design, Columbus, Ohio, and Vince Torano, professor at Western Michigan University, Kalamazoo, Mich. They also selected six non-monetary Honorary Mention awards. Taggart and Torano viewed more than 375 submissions to select the show. The awards money is made available through the West Virginia Commission on the Arts (WVCA) of the West Virginia Division of Culture and History from funds appropriated by the West Virginia Legislature. The awards constitute one of the largest endowments for any single juried exhibition in the country.

There are three Governor’s Awards of $5,000, one of which is designated as the D. Gene Jordon Memorial Award, after the former chairman of the West Virginia Commission on the Arts who died in 1989. There also are seven Awards of Excellence of $2,000, all of which are purchase awards, as are the Governor’s Awards, and at the close of the exhibition these works will become part of the West Virginia State Museum contemporary art collection. In addition, there are eight Merit Awards of $500 which do not become part of the museum’s collection. 

     From its inception in 1979 until 2005, the West Virginia Juried Exhibition was presented at the Culture Center, State Capitol Complex, Charleston. In 2007, Randall Reid-Smith, commissioner of the WVDCH, decided to have the exhibition travel to Parkersburg, sharing the best in art with yet another community in the Mountain State. “One of my goals has been to touch every part of our state with outstanding cultural events. We are delighted to have the opportunity to expand our outreach to the community by placing the West Virginia Juried Exhibition 2009 in Huntington,” he said.

    “The Huntington Museum of Art has enjoyed working with the outstanding leadership at the Division of Culture and History to bring this exciting exhibit to the Huntington area,” added Layne.  The Huntington Museum of Art is open from 10 a.m. – 9 p.m., Tuesday; 10 a.m. – 5 p.m., Wednesday through Saturday; and noon to 5 p.m., Sunday. 

    The West Virginia Division of Culture and History, an agency of the West Virginia Department of Education and the Arts, brings together the state’s past, present and future through programs and services in the areas of archives and history, the arts, historic preservation and museums. Its administrative offices are located at the Culture Center in the State Capitol Complex in Charleston, which also houses the state archives and state museum. The Culture Center is West Virginia’s official showcase for the arts. The agency also operates a network of museums and historic sites across the state.

    And since I am on the topic of deer crossings, I could not help but notice a graphic in today’s USA Today. It listed the five states with the highest chances of hitting a deer with an automobile. And they are:

#5….Montana….1 in 104

#4….Iowa….1 in 104

#3….Pennsylvania….1 in 94

#2….Michigan….1 in 78

and #1

(Drum roll please!)

West Virgina

1 in 39!

     Yes, ladies and gentlemen, West Virginia is once again “numero uno”! And honestly, based on the number of deer I see on my drive to and from the college each day, it is no surprise that we are leading the nation in deer strikes. I try to drive carefully, because it is so dangerous both for the driver and the deer. Sometimes you see them walking out onto the highway, but other times they seem to dart out from nowhere.                                                                                                                         . Watching deer from our back deck is a lot less stressful than viewing them through one’s windshield.   Each evening, and again in early morning, about a half dozen deer stroll through our back yard and I continue to be awe struck by their gracefulness and beauty.

 

 

The students made me feel like a rock star!

    On October 30th I met with a group of Pittsburgh public school students at the Carnegie Museum of Art. The young ladies were there to to interview me regarding a piece of my work that is part of the Pittsburgh Public School collection. The students asked in-depth questions and really probed me about my work. In addition to the piece in the collection, we also discussed my current work in the AAP Exhibition which is in it’s final weeks at the Carnegie. These artist interviews are a project of the Pittsburgh Public Schools Friends of Art. Here is a questionnaire that I was asked to complete prior to my interview.

Questionnaire for Pittsburgh Public Schools Friends of Art Collection

1. What inspired you to make the work in the collection?

Each year I attempt to create works for specific exhibitions such as the AAP Exhibition. In 2008 I had created a work titled Union Leader, a piece based on Abraham Lincoln, to enter into the AAP show. Since artists are invited to enter two works, I started sketching a few cartoon-like heads in my sketchbook as a basis for a second entry. Through the magic of several pounds of flattened product containers and several hundred nails, one of those sketches morphed into Laughing Man with Green Hat. It’s funny how things work out in the art world, because Fearless Leader did not make the cut for the AAP show, but Laughing Man did. So I guess what really “inspired” me to create this work was a combination of my constant desire to make new work and my wanting to be a part of the AAP show at the Warhol.

1. Why did you choose this media for the work?

I love working with metal cans, found objects and materials. There is something about taking this stuff and giving it a new life, a different life, than the one for which it was originally intended. In this piece I used printed metal from various product containers (“tin cans”), metal signs, and metal doll houses. I divide these materials up into groups based on color and value, similar to what a painter does with a palette. In addition to the great colors that the metal provides, I love the various textures that are the result of text, patterns, and images that might printed on the surface of the metal. This gives my finished work additional depth, and at the same challenges me to make good visual decisions. I love that challenge.

1. Do you work in other media at other times? Why?

When I am not working with cut metal or found objects, I may  be found working in collage. On occasion I also work in various paint media, drawing  media, and hand built clay. Working in a variety of media keeps me on my toes, keeps my creative juices fresh.

1. Can you put the message of the work in the collection into words?

The message is have fun, be creative, laugh, and reflect on the past occasionally.

1. Do you generally have a particular focus to your work?

I must say that about 50% of the time I do have a particular focus, while the rest of the time I work in such a way to give the piece an opportunity to “design itself”.

1. Do you have another occupation to support making your artwork?

Yes, I am an Assistant Professor of Art at West Liberty University in West Virginia. I teach 2D and 3D design; sculpture; painting; and crafts. I often say that I teach for 8 months so that I may make art for 4 months.

1. What would you tell young students about being a professional artist?

I am not sure if you mean “being” as in one becoming an artist, but I will answer it that way first. Make as much art as you can. Draw, draw, draw! Regardless of the direction of your art or media, I feel drawing is the foundation, the core of making visual images. Keep paper, a sketchbook, a journal nearby at all times. Get your ideas down on paper even if you work digitally. For every minute you spend text messaging, spend equal time drawing and you will be GREAT! Look at a lot of stuff, not just art, but eveyrthing. Really look at your surroundings. Look at the world. Pretend you have arrived here from another planet and you are seeing this world for the very first time. Go to art exhibits, zoos, galleries, small towns, museums, big cities, woods, rivers, and places where artists work. And keep making art. As for me being an artist, I will refer to a quote I love by Chuck Close: “Inspiration is for amateurs. Artists just show up everyday and work.” It is the second part of that quote that I am really referring to here.

1. Why are you an artist?

Good grief! How could I be anything else? It seems to be in my blood. Seriously, I feel I have been an artist all my life even though I have had to do many “non-art” jobs. During those periods when I was working at other occupations, I still kept art making an active part of my life. I worked for 13 years in a steel mill, but I was always drawing, always making some kind of art when and where I could. I painted steelworkers helmets sometimes. During lunch breaks I used spray paint to create a series of huge portraits in a mill building called the stock house. The portraits were of my fellow workers, and that part of the building became known as “the hall of laborers”. It was this kind of activity that kept me sane in an environment that was not conducive to creativity. Making art is so satisfying. I love making art, seeing art, looking at books about art, talking about art making with other artists. I still get excited walking into a gallery, art museum, an artist’s studio or even an art materials store. These places pump me up. My exposure to them makes me want to go back into the studio and make MORE ART!

Laughing Man With Green Hat by Robert Villamagna, purchased for the Pittsburgh Public Schools Friends of Art collection in 2008

 

    I was recently commissioned to create a fish. This fish is to be a gift for a writer named  David Kinney who recently wrote a book titled The Big One.  I took a series of images that show how the fish came to be. I hope you enjoy seeing the process.

I began with a few thumbnail sketches of fish, and then cut a 20" oval out of MDF.

Using one of my thumbnails as a guide, I roughed in the fish on the board using a Sharpie.

 

I decided that the fish would itself would be make up of a primarily blue palette.

I keep pulling metal from my "blue bin" and keeping what I think is working. At this point I am only driving the nails in part way in case I need to make some changes in color, shape, or value.

 

I tried several background choices: orange, red, simulated wood prints. I finally settled on white which seemed to show off the fish the best. Here you can see I am starting to lay in the white metal.

At this point I have a little better than half of the negative space filled in with white.

The white background is complete and I am finishing the nailing of the fish itself. The "tag" just below the fish is for the title.

I have finished the nailing, including the title, and am now ready to paint the exposed edges of the MDF.

And here is the completed "Big One". Now I keep my fingers crossed that both Rick, who contracted with me to do the piece, and David, who is receiving it as a gift, will like it.

 

Robert Villamagna and Nancy Tirone.

    Nancy Tirone my colleague at West Liberty University, and I have work in the Associated Artists of Pittsburgh 99th Annual Exhibition at the Carnegie Museum of Art, Pittsburgh. Associate Professor of Art Nancy Tirone has two mixed-media works in the exhibition, Expectations and I Have No Illusions, I I Lost Them In My Travels. I have two works in the exhibition as well, 22nd at Smallman, Looking Up  and Bluesman II., both of which are printed metal on wood composite panel.

    The works were chosen for the 2009 exhibition by curator Doryun Chong. 
Doryun Chong was raised in Korea and studied art history, anthropology, and comparative literature at the University of California at Berkeley, where he earned his B.A. and M.A. and completed doctoral studies in art history. He began his curatorial career at the Asian Art Museum of San Francisco and has also worked for the Berkeley Art Museum and Korean Pavilion at the Venice Biennale (2001). He has been with the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis since September 2003, where he holds the title of assistant curator of visual arts. At the Walker, Chong has developed artist residency and exhibition projects with a range of artists, including Puerto Rico-based Jennifer Allora and Guillermo Calzadilla, Thailand-based Rikrkit Tiravanija, and Chicago-based Catherine Sullivan. With Philippe Vergne, he curated “House of Oracles: A Huang Yong Ping Retrospective,” the first mid-career survey of the Paris-based Chinese artist and co-edited the first comprehensive monograph. Currently he is co-curating an international group exhibition titled “Brave New Worlds,” scheduled to open in October 2007. He has also organized several group exhibitions in other sites, including “Time After Time: Asia and Our Moment” (2003) at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, San Francisco, and the Busan Biennale of International Contemporary Art in South Korea in 2006. 


I Have No Illusions, by Nancy Tirone, mixed media collage on panel.

    Founded in 1910 and incorporated in 1930, Associated Artists of Pittsburgh is one of the oldest continuously exhibiting visual arts organizations in the country.  AAP is a non-profit artist-run organization that exists to support regional artists through contemporary visual arts exhibitions and educational outreach programs, contributing to the vitality of the community. AAP past membership has included such well-known artists as Andy Warhol, Samuel Rosenberg, John Kane, Mary Cassatt, Philip Pearlstein and Louise Pershing, just to name a few.

Expectations, by Nancy Tirone, mixed media collage on panel.

    A primary goal of the Associated Artists of Pittsburgh is to bring its members’ work before the public eye, for purposes of education and recognition. Since 1911, AAP has mounted this major Annual Exhibition in prominent galleries in Pittsburgh, most often at the Carnegie Museum of Art. 

        The AAP Annual is juried by distinguished artists, museum directors, scholars and nationally known art critics. Monetary awards made possible through individual, group and corporate contributions are provided each year. Each year, the organization invites artists living within 150 miles of the city to submit work for this survey exhibition. The 99th Annual will be from August 29 through November 8, 2009 at the Carnegie Museum of Art.

22nd at Smallman, Looking Up, by Robert Villamagna, printed metal, plastic sheet, nails on MDF.

    My entry, 22nd at Smallman, Looking Up, came about one day this past summer when my wife, Chris, and I were in Pittsburgh’s Strip District. Chris was getting some groceries at Right By Nature and so I just killed some time walking up Smallman Street. At one point I looked up at one of the power poles and was intrigued by the near silhouette of the wires and arms of the pole against the blue sky. I rarely go anywhere without a digital camera and so immediately started snapping photos. It was about a week later that I took at look at the photos and realized that this might make a good subject for one of my metal works. The rest, as they say, is history.

Bluesman II., by Robert Villamagna, printed metal on MDF.

    Bluesman II. was created as a possible promotion design for the 2009 Heritage Music Bluesfest in Wheeling. It is the third piece I have done based on blues music.

     On October 2, 3, and 4, I was exhibiting my art work at the Artist Market at Oglebayfest in Wheeling, WV. Rick Morgan, a former student of mine at West Liberty University and a kick butt clay artist, is the director of the Artist Market. Rick took it over last year and has been working toward improving the diversity and the quality of the arts and crafts exhibited at the event. My friend Kyle Hallam, Green County’s clay ninja, and I did the Artist Market last year when we found out Rick was the then new director.

    In addition to Kyle and myself, West Liberty colleagues Nancy Tirone and James Haizlett also exhibitied in this years market. Nancy exhibited her mixed collages, while Jim and his son, Will, presented their wood furniture, sculpture, and musical instruments. Jim was also selling his home made maple syrup, which according to Jim is “made with love”. Chris and I purchased a couple bottle before it was all gone!

Will Haizlett, Jim Haizlett, Nancy Tirone, Kyle Hallam, Chris & Robert Villamgna. In front is Jessica "Superstar" Leach, who helps make sure the Artist Market runs smoothly.

     Kyle had the booth next to mine and decided not to bring any of his fabulous clay pieces with him this year. Instead, he took somewhat of a risk and created three large mixed-media wall works for the show. Kyle’s work was a big hit with market visitors, but there were several people who just did not know what to make of the mixed-media works.

Market visitors checking out Kyle's work.

The man, the myth, the legend.... artist Kyle Hallam with one of his works.

 

Another one of Kyle Hallam's large wall pieces made of a variety of recycled materials.

    This was Nancy Tirone’s first time exhibiting her work at an art fair! Her work looked great and she was excited to get her feet wet as a festival artist. Nancy’s work is primarily collage with a variety of other media, especially Oil Bar. Nancy uses phrases and quotes in most of her work, and she weaves these words through her pieces. The statements become ingrained in the work both visually and in content.

Nancy Tirone's mixed-media collages.

 

My wife, Chris, purchases rolling pin from Will Haizlett as a gentleman tries out one of Will's mandolins.

 

Jim Haizlett working on a wood bowl in front of his booth.

Part of the Saturday crowd at the Oglebayfest Artist Market. Obviously "kettle corn" is a big hit!

 

Suz Pisano excited to go home with a Villamagna piece!

    I tried something this year at Oglebestfest that I have never done before at any art fair. I devoted one half of my booth to a “studio clean-up sale”. I was recently attempting to clean my studio and realized that in addition to all the assemblage items and tin cans, I also had a lot of old art work stacking up. This was work that was left over from previous theme shows, group shows, experimental pieces, and a few pieces that for some reason just did not find a home. I drastically reduced the prices of these pieces and, well….. the response was great! I moved a lot of older work out of my studio and made a lot of people happy in the process. In addition, I also sold several new works. 

    I was surprised to discover that it was not just Wheeling area people buying my work. My stuff went to homes in Cleveland, Chicago, Pittsburgh, and Lancaster, PA! How great that Oglebayfest is attracting people from far outside our community.

    I did some trading with fiber artist Suz Pisano. Suz got my “Heart With Dagger” (see above) and my wife Chris was excited with two funky purses. Trading with artists is an added benefit to doing an art fair.

Will Haizlett working on one of his stools.

    Friday had a little activity in the early afternoon, but once the rains moved in only the artists were on the festival grounds. Saturday was warm and sunny, and the people came out in big numbers. Sunday was dry, but a bit cooler and cloudy. All in all it was a good weekend.

The smell of fried potatoes reaches all parts of the market area.

 

Bring on the onions!

 

This is Kim, one of the new clay artists in the market, holding the Count Dracula I purchased from her.

 

Nancy packing up her new panels on Sunday evening after finishing her very first art fair.

    Over the weekend Chris and I kept track of some quotes we heard from people passing by. Here are a few of them:

“Three of my crafter friends are not here…. and the show is smaller. What does THAT tell you!”

Guy on cell phone: “I’m at Oglebayfest. It’s a bunch of tents full of stuff that women like, and I’m just waiting around.”

“This must be the arty section.”             “There’s some different stuff here!”            ”I don’t believe it! NO SLATE!”

Two women walking in front of Kyle’s booth: “What is THAT?” says the first woman. “JUNK…” says the second woman, who then sees Kyle and I, “….err,…PAINTINGS.”

    I think I can speak for all the artists in our “neighborhood” and say we had a great time! Next year we hope to get more of our art friends to come to Oglebayfest and join our “fine arts row”. Hey Kimster and Susan, are you reading this?

Leftover from my tattoo show at Gallery on 43rd. Street in 2006, and is just one of my SALE pieces.

My studio tends to get cluttered and I take a lot of ribbing about it from friends and family. I admit my workspace does get clogged with stuff, but as assemblage artists will tell you, it is the nature of the beast. Years ago, when I was concentrating on watercolor and color pencil, life was simpler and my workspace much less hectic. Recently I made one of my semi-annual attempts to clean the studio and hopefully make more work space available. While my tin cans, old metal, and miscellaneous collage and assemblage stuff takes up a lot of my studio space, I discovered something else. I have way too much “old” art work that is also taking up valuable work space. These are pieces that are left over from various exhibitions, parts of past themes of work, or works that just do not fit in with what I am currently exhibiting. So, I have decided to have a “sale”within a sale!

I will be exhibiting my work at Oglebayfest Artists Market in Wheeling, WV on October 2, 3, and 4, 2009. About one half of my booth will be devoted to my Studio Clean-up Sale: older work that has been taking up space in the studio and will be sold CHEAP! These include assemblages, collages, mixed-media paintings, and some older tin work. And as those pesky used car dealers keep telling us, “When they’re gone, they’re gone!” (The other half of my booth will be current work that WILL NOT be discounted.) I have never done this before, so in a future blog I will let you know how this works out!

 

Only in West Virginia!

 

    Last Saturday Chris and I were walking to Wheeling’s Centre Market to grab some late afternoon lunch and we stumbled upon the sign shown above. Now I am not exactly sure what a “redneck yard sale” is, but I sure was curious. However, we looked down the alley in the direction the arrow was pointing, but no yard sale was in sight. Perhaps the sale was already shut down for the day. Bummer!

    Although I missed the redneck yard sale, I did drive over to Pennsylvania to visit the Bull Creek Fleatique on Sunday morning. It was that kind of cool, crisp morning that lets you know fall is right around the corner. As I walked around I heard dealers mumbling about forgetting their gloves. The kettle corn booth smelled especially good this day (do aromas travel more easily when the air is cool?), and I began salivating for the sweet ‘n salty snack even though it was only a little after 7 AM. Here are a few pics:

 

The morning sun comes up on the flea market early birds.

 

Got gas?

Time to make art! These clocks were just begging to be part of an assemblage.

More odds and ends to stimulate the artistic mind!

Two "incomplete" Brownie Soda signs waiting to be adopted.

How about your own siren?

 

A beautiful morning for a flea market!

 

Packed and ready to head to St. Louis on Thursday morning.

    This was my first time doing the St. Louis Art Fair. Chris, her mother Pat, and I headed out early on Thursday morning. I had recently purchased a used cap for the Sport Trac, but still did not have enough room for everything. Two days prior to our departure I purchased a cargo carrier at the local Tractor Supply store. It fit right into the trailer hitch and easily held a few more bins.

 

Entering St. Louis.

    Ten hours of driving time got us to St. Louis and we had great weather all the way. Those sunny, 80+ degree days would last all the way through the weekend and even on the way home to West Virginia. We arrived at our hotel at about 8:15 PM and in plenty of time for the kickoff of the Steelers-Titans game. (Go Steelers!)

 

The famous Brown Shoe Company.

    On Friday morning I walked to Clayton City Center to register for the art fair. Along the way I passed the Brown Shoe Conpany, home of Buster Brown Shoes. In front of the company entrance is a wonderful sculpture of a high heeled shoe by sculptor Victoria Fuller. 

 

Victoria Fuller's "Shoe of Shoes".

 

A detail shot of the sculpture.

        Our hotel was only a block and a half from our assigned booth space which was quite nice. We were able to park our truck close to our booth for easy unloading. Set up went well, but it was warm and I was a sweat ball by the time the show opened at 5 PM. I was thankful that the rain predicted earlier in the week was no where to be seen!

 

A portion of my booth at the St. Louis Art Fair.

    My next door neighbor at the art festival was Minnesota potter Robert Briscoe. Chris and I purchased a few of Bob’s bowls to take back by home with us. These squarish bowls have a chunkiness that I really like and I am looking forward to eating out of them.  Chris and I loved the big platters Bob had for sale, but they were a little out of our spending range for this trip. Bob is part of a group of potters who put on an annual studio tour and sale in the Upper St. Croix River Valley and we discussed the event at length.

 

Robert Briscoe and his ceramic work.

    Another artist in our row was Michael Bauermeister, whose wood vessels were breathtaking. You could not help but stop at his booth and stare in amazement at his sculptures.

 

Michael Bauermeister and his sculptures before the opening of the festival.

    Now as if the art festival itself was not enough action, there was a bonus. I was meeting my half-sister Diane for the first time. It was a couple of years ago that she contacted me and told me she was living in the St. Louis area. When I found out I had been accepted into the festival we agreed to meet. Diane and her daughter, Jasmine, came to the festival all three days. We tried to catch up on each others lives the best we could in between my talking with potential art buyers.

 

Jasmisne, me (holding a photo of myself at age five), and Diane.

    The reunion weekend did not stop here. Chris’ aunt Cetty, cousin Jane, and Jane’s husband, Tom, came to the festival on Friday night. They live in nearby St. Charles, MO. 

 

Jane, Pat (Chris' mom), me, Aunt Cetty, Chris, and Tom.

    On Saturday evening I was approached by part of the festival committee and congratulated on being selected for an award. Within minutes, an “Award Winner” banner was installed on my booth. The award, First Place in 3D, was presented along with a check for $1000. at an artist’s breakfast on Sunday morning. The award also means I am entitled to return to the St. Louis Art Fair in 2010 without having to go through the jurying process. Considering all the talent at this event, I was quite surprised to be selected for one of the awards.

 

My award banner gets installed.

 

Painter Michel Delgado from Key West, FL.

 

Chris with our "State College friend", Florida photographer Gary Seidel.

 

Painter Tim Hooper who we first met at Pittsburgh's 3 Three Rivers Arts Festival a few years back.

 

Painter Michael Pomerantz of Lakewood, OH.

    I first met Michael at Pittsburgh’s A Fair in the Park several years ago and at that time he was living in Kent, OH. We discussed the possibility of Michael having a show at West Liberty University during the 2010-2011 exhibition season.

 

Artist Bryan Cunningham of Michigan.

 

Florida artist John Whipple.

 

Assemblage guru (and painter) Lynn Whipple.

    Chris and I first met John and Lynn Whipple at the Winter Park Arts Festal about ten years ago, and had last seen them at Atlanta a year or so later. It is hard to pick up a contemporary art publication that does not contain the work of work of either of these talented artists. Chris and I own a couple pieces of Lynn’s assemblages, so it was great to do some trading and take home a piece of John’s work.

 

Lynn and John Whipple with my "Bunny with Bling".

    The St. Louis Arts Fair proved to be a well run, highly professional event with exceptionally talented artists. The work in this festival is some of the best I have ever seen at an outdoor art event. It was great to be a part of it!

 

Toronto Power Plant partially dismantled.

My wife, Chris, and I were heading to Rodgers’ Flea Market earlier this summer and as we were driving through Toronto, Ohio, I noticed that the old power plant was being dismantaled. I reflected on the many hours that I spent fishing next to that plant when I was a teenager. And then my mind raced back to my earlier childhood when my grandfater, Joseph Batcho, worked at that power plant. Both my grandfather and that now defunct plant would actually play a role in my life as an artist.

I was about five years of age when “Grandpap” (as I referred to him back then), would bring me home tablets of paper printed with a quarter-inch light blue grid. For much of my early childhood, these gridded sheets of paper would be my most often used surface upon which to draw. In those days the only opportunity I had to use a drawing surface  that did not contain lines or a grid was when Grandpap got a new shirt. Inside each of those shirts was inserted a piece of white card stock, and I treated those sheets like gold. No lines! Wow! I believe it was not until grade school, at age six, that we were given sheets of blank, cream-colored paper with what seemed like little chunks of real wood still in it. That paper was so dry and brittle that it easily tore with the slightest wrong move.

I was nine years old when my Aunt Mary gave me a set of pastel pencils and my first real sketchbook for Christmas. It only had eight pages, but oh, that paper was thick…. and line free! Still, whenever I see a sheet of gridded paper I think of my grandfather, the old power plant, and me, laying across the living room floor drawing on those pads of blue lined paper.

1930's era postcard of the power plant in the the north end of Toronto, Ohio.

PS  To see some video of the dismantling of the power plant,click here: Toronto Power Plant