While Michaelagelo is credited with genius, we should also remember it was commercial "work for hire" for Lorenzo Medici and his family. A family that bought and bribed its way into the church and had Lorenzo's son Giovanni, a non- priest made pope -(Leo X). Michaelangelo's works were often decorations for Medici crypts or chapels and Not for the pure love of the human spirit and expression. Earlier works of the ancient world, "Winged Victory", "the Belvedere" and "Venus de Milo" were "public works" for the decoration of temples. Hokusai and Hiroshige did Ukito-e for commercial block prints and pillow books. Toulouse-Lautrec's most famous works were posters for the Moulin Rouge and Follies Bergere. It has been less than a century that the phenominon known as "art for arts sake" has existed, before that art was part of society and art was commercial, whether commissions from patrons, the church or commerce. There was no distinction of illustrator and artist, only artist. Prints were invented so that printers had something to sell to the poor who could not commission a painting. Shows, follies and circuses gave birth to the art nouveau movement. Mucha's great prints were for the sale of coffee, spirits and cigarette papers. Diego Rivera decorated schools and government buildings, William Morris designed book covers, Frank Lloyd Wright sold houses. The Arts and Craft Movement of the 1890's and then 70 years later, Warhol (and he was saying it tongue in cheek) came out with the statement that everything is art, that everything is an icon and beauty and inspiration happens to each of us in different ways. There is no such thing as sacred versus secular art, no true art versus illustration, no inspirational versus sensuality - it is all art. A delicately designed font used to sell soap is as much art as "La Pieta", only our perception is different.

LCA Update 3-15-09

Hello All,

What a nice day!! I hope everyone got out too enjoy it!
I thought I'd sit down and get the latest news out. The LCA has been ask by Midland Theatre to display art in the main lobby. There are 3 large shadow boxes in the lobby. Longaberger Co. decided to pull their display out of the middle one and we were ask if we would like to takeover the space. Susan and I went over and installed our first display and it looks great! So, we will be rotating work monthly. Another great way to get our members work and the LCA name out into the public.

The response from the public for the Newark High School art students show has been fantastic. People continue to stop in to view it. The show will be taken down this coming week to make room for the up coming members show, "Spring: renew, rebirth, refresh" Intake will start on the 20th and the opening is Friday the 27th 6 to 8pm. Members may submit up to 3 pieces and the cost is $15.

Today was the first class for Thomas Nelson's Life Drawing class. I stopped by the gallery earlier and they have a very nice turnout for the class.

The Art Print went into the mail this past Thursday, so with any luck it should be showing up in your mailbox later this week. It is also available online at: April-May Art Print

The board held their monthly meeting this past Wednesday evening. What energy!! Great ideas continue to flow. Russell Merritt our Outreach and Education chair filed the following report:

The educational opportunities for Licking County Arts are growing by leaps and bounds. We have been very busy and have already done several classes. As of now we have been very successful with the Sharonbrooke Home. Mary Woodward and Russell Merritt have held multiple classes there as well as our group demo day. Mary Helen has been working with a Sharonbrooke/Hospice resident. We also have been represented at the Granville Middle School's Arts Mania Day. Thomas Nelson has set up classes for our membership including life drawing classes, beginning this Sunday and has contacted Don Perone to set up a matting and framing workshop.

What we need now are more people to get involved. There are many upcoming opportunities. I am meeting with Babette Wofter, Assistant Director of the Library on Friday to plan our Summer Reading Program Outreach with the Library. We will need teachers and demonstrators for 5 age groups over 6 weeks - Thats 30 classes! The library also wants to set up a "Meet the LCA" day - probably the first week in May where we will be able to set up tables and do demonstrations of our artwork. We need at least 6 - 10 artists for this. She also wants to have a fabric demo and lecture. She would like 2-4 artist for this. We have also been asked by The Works to provide artists to teachers for Curious Kids Tuesdays and some of the YES Club classes. This is another 4-5 artists. So we have almost 50 classes and right now we have 4 education committee members and 3 other available teachers. We need more teachers, speakers and demonstrators. If you enjoy showing your work, speaking to others, sharing and demonstrating, we need you.

If you can help out with our outreach programs contact Russell at: banshuwa@yahoo.com

Mark your calendars. April 25th from 10am to 4pm will be the Arbor day celebration at Dawes Arboretum. The LCA will have at least 1 - 8' table set up. We are trying to get 2 tables. So bring a project out to work on and spend the day with us as we meet and greet visitors, introducing them to the LCA and our great artists. Dawes is expecting 4,000 visitors.

I think that is it for now. Remember, March 27 6pm is the next opening at the Gallery. Argyle Gallery also has an opening for Helma Groot a Columbus artist titled "Not my Baggage"

I'll leave you with an excerpt from a recent Robert Genn newsletter:

"No one likes the idea of sitting with a tin cup and a sign that says "I'm an artist. Feed me." Better to think about who we can feed. In this day and age there's a universe of possibilities. Believe me, when artists get into servicing their passions rather than shivering in the rain, good stuff happens."

Powerful words when put into action!!

Everyone have a great week!

Gallery Video

Below is the first of hopefully many videos made on work in the gallery, shows, short instructional videos, events, as well as promotional videos.

Tony

Greeting Cards --Fun and Cheap and Original

I don't know about you folks, but I'm not real good about visiting people in the hospital when they're sick. I'm always too busy, or it's the wrong time, or... you know. I have a million excuses. But lately, I've been making collaged cards. We're not talking high art here; just plain warped fun. The recipients know I make weird stuff and I really think they appreciate the effort that goes into my homemade greetings, even if they are strange.This card was for a friend who had lung cancer. I found the vintage ad for oxygen treatment, which was appropriate, then added the bull dog, which is the pet she has. The AOX sticker (anti-oxidants) was from a green tea box.This one was for a friend who is Catholic, sort of. A very proper and correct nun is going to tell her to get well. Soon. Now. I'm almost embarrassed to show you this one, but I have a reason for putting this silly thing in cyberspace. I love to use recycled papers and images for my collages. Do you get free greeting cards from organizations soliciting donations? I used to throw them away, but not any more. This one started out as a free card from an environmental organization. It was a perfectly respectable manatee. Since the birthday boy would turn 83, that number had to appear somewhere.... and the manatee really had to sing "Alleluia" to him. The derby is one of his "trademarks".
Another friend had major skull surgery. I knew he'd feel as if he'd been run over by the proverbial truck, so the card had to include that. This is just the inside cover of the card, but you get the idea. The sillier, the better. I want my friends to laugh out loud when they open the card. Laughter is the best medicine, after all.Finally, I just finished this one this weekend. A 45 year old friend is having quadruple bypass surgery. She doesn't share my warped sense of humor, but she'll definitely need some grins after that ordeal. To free my creative side a bit, I decided to do a collage, not folded card. That way I wouldn't be restricted by size. That was a wise move in this case, because I could use larger images. This is 7" x 7" on cardboard. Isn't that plumbing diagram just perfect?!? And the "heart opening" words were from an article on yoga positions.

So, what are you waiting for. Go back to kindergarten, get out your scissors, papers, paste and PLAY!!!

Better Photography on the Cheap part II

OK, in the last installment we learned how to take nice jitter free photos with good DOF. So what's next? Lighting and backdrops. We've all seen them, photos with bad white balance, shot with a wrinkled sheet or towel as a backdrop. Ugh!! Both of these problems can be fixed on the cheap. Lighting is easy. Go to your local home improvement store and pick up a 500 watt quartz halogen shop light on a pole. This light's spectrum is down in the red zone around 2500 degrees Kelvin. This is a very warm looking light, giving your photos a red cast. The fix is easy. Most point and shoot cameras have a white balance setting. Set this to tungsten, and your camera will automatically make the white balance correction for you. Better digital SLRs usually have a feature to allow you to shoot a white card under the lights and set this shot as the exposure to use to correct the white balance. Check you cameras owners manual for further information, as the details are beyond the scope of this post.

On to the backdrop. OK...., if you insist on using a sheet, please take the time to iron it! Nothing ruins a photo faster than a wrinkled backdrop, it draws your eyes right to it. Better yet, you can build a photo tent on the cheap. I made mine from scraps of wood I had laying around from a past project. You could also pick up some 3/4" or 1" PVC plumbing pipe and T and elbow fittings from the home improvement store when getting your light. Using the PVC allows you to make the frame so it can be easily disassembled for storage when not in use. If going this route, you can make hooks from heavy wire or large paper clips to attach the foam or poster board side and top panels. On mine I simply stapled the foam board to the wood frame. The backdrop is made from photo backdrop paper sold by the roll. Most specialty camera shops will carry this. You could also use a roll of banner paper available at most office supply stores. The idea is to hang it from the top of the back panel allowing it to flow down forming a nice curve to the bottom front edge. This is what is known as an infinite background. You can't tell in the photo where the floor and back panel ends or begins. If you're shooting dark colored objects a white backdrop allows the objects to pop as the center of attention. Like wise, if shooting light colored objects a gray or darker colored backdrop has the same effect.

The next item is light placement. The idea behind a photo tent is to give you the ability to control your lighting. A light shining directly on an object will result in the object casting hard shadows. By bouncing the light off the top or side panel you achieve an indirect softer lighting resulting in more even lighting and softer shadows. You don't want to eliminate the shadows as this makes a photo look flat and lifeless. This takes trial and error to come up with a pleasing light placement, and can vary depending on the type of object being shot. Glossy items are the toughest, as you then are dealing with hot spot reflections and trying to eliminate them.

Well that's it. Granted, not a lot of step by step details, but good sound ideas to pursue on your way to taking better photos of your work. Experiment and find what works best for you, after all that is what's so great about digital, it gives you immediate feedback.

Tony Reynolds