“Caw!” said the crow.
“Nevermore” said the raven.
“Boo!” said the blackbird.

Labor Day is past, daylight is lessening and the air is cool and crisp - officially it’s still summer, but fall is within sight. In celebration of all things autumn (and it’s never too early for Halloween, is it?) a few seasonal Cawing Cards have been added to the series. Block print blackbirds are embellished with small letterpress callouts in 9 point Old English type. Check out the new notecards in my Etsy shop.

A little bit of letterpress was added to a small block print of bare trees on this recent notecard design. Individual cards are now available in my etsy shop.

Several days ago the Art in the Square banners went up along West Market Street in Akron. As an additional element in this year’s outstanding publicity and promotion of the festival, each banner features the work of a Highland Square artist (ten this year, ten more to be added next year). The clean, contemporary look was provided by Ron Higgins of Cogneato.

The painting Ron used, Overnight Sensation, is of the bloom of an epiphyllum - and, although it looks fabulous in the sunlight, the actual bloom only appears in darkness, and only for one night. The fragrance is a lovely, otherworldly scent that disappears as the flower fades. Around here the appearance of the epiphyllum flower is an event worth the loss of sleep. Several late nights were the inspiration for Overnight Sensation and the more recent Nightbloom. The epi was also the inspiration for the box, Ephemera.

         
Overnight Sensation, watercolor
Nightbloom, watercolor
Ephemera, acrylic and mixed media box
all are in private collections

There were no inspirational blooms here this summer, only lots of hopeful starts that turned out to be leaves. In contrast, a friend’s epiphyllum had multiple blooms on several nights. She puts hers outside when the weather warms - something worth trying next year.

It was too hard to resist ‘borrowing’ this image from the exhibitors page on the Art in the Square site! Thanks to the photographer for a great shot of a familiar booth. Artists will be setting up early Saturday morning for this year’s Art in the Square, which opens at 10 a.m. and doesn’t close until 8 p.m.

Art in the Square
Highland Square
Akron, Ohio
Saturday, August 28, 2010
10 a.m. - 8 p.m.
www.ilovethesquare.com

The bromeliad that looked so lovely at Every Blooming Thing last June arrived at my doorstep in July and has added an exotic touch to the studio since then. The striking color and shape proved irresistable: first there were a few sketches, but brush and paint seemed inevitable.

In the interest of learning a bit of botany: Bromeliaceae is a family of monocot flowering plants numbering around 3,170 species. The pineapple (Ananas comosus) is more familiar (and probably tastier) than the Neoregelia carolinae ‘Raphael’ pictured.

Neither heat nor humidity dampened the festivities at the 5th University Park Art Fair and Music Fest, but the rain did bring it to an early close. Visitors ran for their cars and artists scurried to pack up amid thunder, lightning and a bit of a downpour. Thanks to friends old and new who attended and to the organizers who placed artists in large, commercial tents that are much more sheltering than individual canopies. See you next year!

Delivered, installed, reviewed and opened in less than a week - whew!
The gallery at Summit Artspace is now filled with artwork from six artists who, after their proposal was accepted, focused for over a year on work specifically for My Spirit Rises. Featuring fiber from Jean Evans, Ted Maringer and Carole Pollard, paintings by John Herring, mixed media paintings by Judith Salamon and clay by Bob Yost, the exhibit is filled with color, pattern and texture. True to the title, each artist has a consuming passion for creating art, a joyful seriousness evident in individual pieces and extraordinary when viewed together in one space.

Dorothy Shinn, the Akron Beacon Journal art and architecture critic, described My Spirit Rises as “a dynamic exhibit. . . The scale, complexity and ambition of most of the works is impressive, to say the least. But, most importantly, the imagery is fresh and ideas have been reworked in innovative ways.”  The entire review, including some praise for the gallery coordinator/exhibit designer :) can be read here. Keep up with shows and workshops at Summit Artspace and view additional images from the gallery on facebook.

My Spirit Rises
August 14 - September 18, 2010
Summit Artspace
140 East Market Street
Akron, Ohio
gallery hours: Thursday, Friday and Saturday, noon to 5 p.m.

postcard design by Liz Remmel, Immix Studio

Winding up the first year of the BOX are two shows:

Fire & Ice
Karen Pierson & Terry Klausman
art jewelry & acrylic mixed media wall hangings

and


10 to the negative 43
art by Rob Carpenter

August 13 - September 18, 2010
the BOX gallery
Summit Artspace 3rd floor
140 East Market Street
Akron, Ohio
gallery hours: Friday and Saturday, noon - 4:30 p.m.

the BOX gallery is a project of Artists of Rubber City

It’s expected that a typical Ohio summer contains a fair amount of hot weather, but this month has been positively steaming. Nightly thunderstorms and daytime temperatures in the 90s this past weekend coincided with the Akron Arts Expo. I spent only a couple hours at the Expo this year, as a visitor, not an exhibitor - quite a switch after twenty years as a participating artist. The decision was made last March, amid the late snows and chilly temperatures, so I can take no credit for being prescient about the rain, heat and humidity.

Next month there are a couple one-day festivals on my schedule. Coming up are the University Park Art & Music Fair at Grace Park, near downtown Akron, and Art in the Square, right up the street in Highland Square. I’m looking forward to catching up with fellow artists, patrons and friends at both of these events. . . let’s hope cooler temperatures prevail!

University Park Art Fair
Saturday, August 14, 2010
Grace Park, Akron, Ohio

Art in the Square
Saturday, August 28, 2010
Highland Square, Akron, Ohio

What a fine collection fionadesigns has put together on Etsy: the raven celebrated in a variety of media and styles!  Check out  the treasury here. My little crow has strutted his way into the company of some fine feathered blackbirds, and is available in my Etsy shop.

While on the subject of groups, collectively blackbirds are referred to as ‘an unkindness of ravens’ and ‘a murder of crows.’ Terms of venery, “those imaginative collective nouns that evolved in the Middle Ages when the sophisticated art of hunting demanded an equally sophisticated vocabulary” came into being partly because “our forebears also delighted in the  play of words, and so the use of such fanciful phrases became codified.” Many are listed and illustrated in the delightful book, An Exaltation of Larks by James Lipton, originally published in 1968.

Many thanks to fionadesigns for including my work - it’s very kind, despite being an unkindness!