Spring has Sprung

Spring has sprung all over our Lobby Gallery.   Please join us for our reception

on Friday, May 18th from 6-9 

Thinking Inside the Box

Yellow Springs author and artist, Kathy Verner Moulton has been invited to participate in a mixed media exhibition, "Inside the Box," at the Expriencenter at the Dayton Art Institute. Kathy's 3-D collage, entitled "Inside Thinking Outside," is tied to her children's story, "Six Small Rabbits," in which the rabbits decide to explore the world. The opening reception will be held from 1:00 to 4:00 p.m. on April 28 in conjunction with a “family day." The exhibit will run through April 7, 2013. Kathy is a member of the Village Artisans cooperative of Yellow Springs.

According to the Dayton Art Institute, "INSIDE THE BOX is an exhibition that explores creative expression and problem solving using that simple container we call a box. Although boxes are primarily functional, throughout history artists have elevated the box from something ordinary and mundane to something beautiful.

"With that premise as the basis for the exhibition, INSIDE THE BOX will demonstrate the beauty of the box as seen through the eyes of artists from various cultures as represented in the museum’s permanent collection. The exhibition will also include the creative work of 25 area artists who take a simple box and respond to the question: What would you do with an empty box to change it from ordinary to extraordinary?"

"When I first spoke to Arlene Branick after receiving the invitation," said Kathy, "I asked her how she knew my art. I was assuming me saw my show at the Fifth/Third Bank Building in Dayton. She said she had seen my work in the Yellow Springs Artist Studio Tour brochure and that she had followed the link to my website www.kavooom.com. She noticed my children's illustrations and thought I would be a good fit for the show.

"My piece for the "Inside the Box" Show is tied to my children's story 'Six small Rabbits.' The rabbits in my story decide to explore the world and to stretch themselves beyond their normal activities. The box in my piece becomes a rabbit's burrow. I covered the outside of the box with a layer of dirt made of cork. The top has a grassy garden and a little picket fence. An easel and some paintings are standing in this garden. Inside is a beautiful home, with a pebble floor and of course carrot wallpaper. Sitting in the front room is a very comfortable stuffed chair and lying next to it, open, is a copy of 'Six small Rabbits.'In the background you can just catch sight of the rabbits' bedroom with a tree poster bed, a lamp table with a top hat waiting for some magic to happen, and a guitar case in the corner. Returning to the front room, you find a ladder leading to the ceiling, which is covered with clouds. Perched on top this ladder is Rabbit number 1. His elbow is outside of the burrow and his chin is resting in his paw. He is holding a paintbrush and thinking about what adventure is next. He is 'Inside Thinking Outside.'

"Each bit of my piece was handmade by me. The rabbit was sewn from a pattern of my own. The chair was also designed and sewn by me. I drew the wallpaper on my computer and printed it out on watercolor textured paper to give it that wallpaper look. The pebble floor was glued together piece by piece. I built the ladder and created the tufts of grass. The little book is an exact copy of my real sized book printed very small. The bedroom beyond the archway was painted on my computer, the bed, the table and the lamp all created on separate layers and fit into place."

Access more information on the Experiencenter and the exhibit at :

http://www.daytonartinstitute.org/learn/youth-family-programs/experiencenter

We're not clowning around.

Sue Brezine's Retrospective has been held over.  She's having her second reception 

Friday April 20th from 6-9pm.  

If you can't make it Friday you still have until the end of the month to check out this great exhibit.

Sue Brezine Retrospective

Sue Brezine brings "March Mindfulness" to the Village Artisans Event Gallery, 100 Corry Street in Yellow Springs, March 1 - 31. Inspired by Fredrick Fanck's "Zen of Seeing," Sue presents a retrospective of her work "to the viewer's quiet place of recognition" in watercolors, pastels and abstract acrylics.

Sue is a native Daytonian, and as a child, she studied at the Dayton Art Institute. Her teaching career began after a trip to the University of California, Long Beach to study with Betty Edwards, author of "Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain."

Sue taught this method at Riverbend Art Center, Dayton, Kettering Adult School, and many other venues, and these classes let to the creation of the workshop, "Sketching Your Spirit," which has been presented to countless religious and professional organizations over the years.

Drawing led to painting in watercolor, and she has received numerou awards for her work, including recogniztion from the Western Ohio Watrcolor Society and "The Artist Magazine."

Sue is presently president of Fairborn Art Association, a member of Dayton Society of Painters and Sculptors, and past president of Western Ohio Watercolor Society. After a long and successful career of teaching, Sue is retired, except for membership in the Village Artisans in Yellow Springs. "Thank goodness artist never need to really retire," she says.

You may view her paintings at shopvillllageartisans.com or call 937-767-9457 for further information. A reception for Sue will be held at the Village Artisans Event Gallery on Friday, March 16, from 6:00 to 9:00 p.m.

Big Birthday Plans for Ann

Eighty-Year-Old to Celebrate Her Twentieth Birthday with Exhibit at The Cannery

"The planned celebration came about," explained Ann, "when I realized that this year is Leap Year and I would, indeed, HAVE a birthday this year, and it would be my 20th; and ZAP!What was that? My God, I'm 80! Well, a milestone must be acknowledged, and I didn't want to wait until my 21st (too chancy - four more years), so I came up with this idea to gather together the many wonderful people I've met over the years and celebrate."

"The Cannery gallery," adds Ann "is managed by two friends, Marsha Pippenger and Christy Jennewein, and they are graciously allowing me to hang some of my recent work (as well as old favorites) and display my handmade books which rarely get to see the light of day. So it's a party/exhibit all in one, and I named it 'Exuberance' because I'm pretty exuberant about making it to 20! (80!)"

Included in the calligraphy exhibit, Ann says, will be a framed version of 'Exuberance is Beauty - Energy is Eternal Delight,' a quote by William Blake. "I'll also have 2 pieces inspired by Wendell Berry, the Kentucky farmer/poet whom I love. And two large pieces from a year-long study of "The Song of Amergin" - a 9th-century Irish bard's ongoing essay on one-ness, and some 3-D pieces: 'Homage to Timothy Ely' (a pyramid book), 'Metamorphosis Wheel,' and 'Recycled Resurrection,' which was built from pieces of writing left over from the book that I showed at the Dayton Philharmonic Orchestra's performance of Leonard Bernstein's Mass.

"I have always loved books - I must have been a scribe in another life," says Ann, "and I have found calligraphy to be an enriching discipline in my life for the past thirty-some years, and it continues to grow into ever-new areas."

Eighty-year-old Ann Bain, Springboro calligrapher and member of the Village Artisans of Yellow Springs, will celebrate her twentieth birthday with an exhibit at the Cannery Art and Design Center on February 26 from 2:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. (snow date, March 4), 434 East Third Street in Dayton.

Congratulations Pete

We know things have been quiet on the blog front for Village Artisans, but that's only because our artisans have been busy doing what we do best....MAKING ART. 

We are extremely excited to share some exciting news about artisan, Pete Mitas. He took the award for the Most Creative Use of Paper at the Rosewood Arts Center's Annual Dayton's Area Works on Paper exhibition. 

"Urban Scrawl" won the Most Creative Use of Paper award at the 22nd Annual Dayton Area Works on Paper exhibition. The exhibition is open to the public until March 9th at the Rosewood Arts Centre, 2655 Olsen Drive in Kettering.

 

Pete Mitas, a member of Village Artisans in Yellow Springs, hand colored both sides of artist trading cards with bold patterns and built the structure to enable the viewer to see each side of as many cards as possible. The design on each side of a card took 20 to 30 minutes to do and the structure was completed on and off over a period of three months. The work was completed only when Pete ran out of clips he used to connect the cards together.

 

Congratulations Pete!

Dare 2B Square

Have you been by to check out our Dare 2B Square exhibit yet?   You still have 10 days to check it out.  Don't forget we'll be having our reception for the show Friday Oct 21 from 6-9pm at VillageArtisans. ( Yeah, we stuck to the actual Third Friday this month. We're rule followers.)

It should be lots of fun. Maybe we'll have a square dance. You never know!

Hope to see you there!