art, art education, art exhibition, art for sale, Karen Tashkovski, mixed media, painting

Half Mooning

Image September 30, 2016 Karen Tashkovski 2 Comments

I don’t know anything better – I certainly cannot think of anything better than when the owner of a business tells me that my artwork is a perfect addition to her venue. Thank you, Debbe Titus! I am so grateful for those kind words, grateful for the opportunity to share these paintings again. They are from my Talisman series of oil and collage works created in 2008. Fifteen of this series of twenty-four are represented here at the Half Moon Bakery & Bistro, 6500 East Seneca Turnpike, Jamesville, New York (13078).

I do love the way they fit into the space, and that was all thanks to my friend Bobbi Rock Petrocci who came to my rescue and helped me install the show. (gratitude times infinity – love you, Bobbi! <3) No measuring devices this time – just our old-fashioned spatial intelligence, lol, and a power screw-driver.

The artwork will be on display and for sale through the month of October 2016. If you are interested in purchasing them ($200 each), I have left contact information via my business cards.

There will be an artist reception for me on Thursday, October 20, 2016 from 3:30-5:00pm. Light snacks plus you can try the delicious cookies and cupcakes, coffees and teas or go for a meal instead. The quiche is out of this world! Today they were preparing apple pies and other treats for an upcoming wedding reception and it smelled soooo good in there! If you have never been there, please come out and meet me for a chat and a chance to fall in love with this gem of a place.

About the Talisman series – the paintings took months to create. I created thumbnail sketches first, as well as a list of the text I wanted to use. The titles of each painting created a personal narrative reflecting the trajectory of my life at that time. I layered canvas on canvas as collage then gessoed the surfaces, broke up the space into an 18″ square with six inches to spare at the top or bottom. I painted the latter in chalkboard paint. Then I drew the image in pencil and began painting in oils.

These paintings are sort of the thread that ties all of my interests in art-making together. I used abstract impressionist strokes, as I do in my watercolor paintings. Months later I added varnish to these paintings, which is something I actually tried for the very first time in my work and I really loved the result – how it contrasts with the matte finish of the chalkboard area. The chalk text is meant to eventually erase and/or be erased by the owner of the work, which might seem weird to a non-artist. But I like the idea that love is like that text. It comes and goes, grows strong or weak…and can grow stronger with help from the love of another. The painting’s owner can interact as well, by writing their own graffiti on the chalkboard creating a dialogue with me. I am especially fond of this idea. We are all in this together sharing our love of life and through that togetherness the art transforms/will transform. It’s all good.

The Half Moon Bakery and Bistro is open Monday through Saturdays. Monday 10:00 am-3:00 pm, Tuesday 8:00 am-3:00 pm, and Wednesday-Saturday 8:00 am – 5:00 pm. Call (315) 492-0110 for more information or visit their website, www.thehalfmoonbakery.com. I trust I will see you there!

art, art exhibition, Karen Tashkovski, mixed media, painting

Constructing Angela Fraleigh

Image September 26, 2016 Karen Tashkovski Leave a comment

So, this happened. ^^^^ Do you see the resemblance or is this just another one of my crazy thoughts – that I resemble this woman in the above painting? (Am I really a time-traveller or what?) It is the work of Angela Fraleigh, part of her exhibition in two galleries at the Everson Museum of Art in Syracuse, New York.

The show is titled Between Tongue and Teeth and, as the literature states, “co-opts the techniques, media, and styles of the European Old Masters to create monumental paintings of female figures that explore social constructs of gender, power and identity.”

These paintings are inspired by artwork from the Everson’s collections, as well as by other historical figures in the Arts & Crafts movement and from Central New York history!

It was such a pleasure to meet the artist (here I am in the above picture with Angela and sculptor Arlene Abend!) She is such an amazing talent.

She uses gold and silver leaf, and resin to create abstractions. The result are these divine modern takes on old world beauty.

Angela works in both Allentown, Pennsylvania and New York City. It is a wonderful thing to engage with a contemporary artist, find out how her mind operates and what inspires her. If you wish to do the same, she will be accessible via a gallery walk at the museum on October 13, 2016 at 6:30 pm.

Angela Fraleigh: Between Tongue and Teeth continues through December 31, 2016. You can visit the museum Wednesday-Sunday noon to 5:00 pm with longer hours (until 8 pm) on Thursdays.

art, fashion, Karen Tashkovski

It’s Happening

Image September 25, 2016 Karen Tashkovski 1 Comment

Trying to live my life the way I did in the summer has been a challenge. The first three days of last week – I went to work then did my two hour hike at Green Lakes and, subsequently, crashed on the sofa when I got home. But I made an effort to meet friends out in Armory Square in downtown Syracuse, New York on Thursday night. I parked the car and stumbled into a happening.

It was all part of Syracuse Fashion Week. There was a fashion show on Walton Street the night of the curriculum open house at school earlier this month that I had to miss. I think I missed it last year for the same reason. Models walked the runway of the 100 block, which had been closed off to traffic.

This event was the Landmark Theatre Window Project. The building is home to several vacant businesses, and so, this was the result – human mannequins as window dressing displaying fashions for the event today at the Marriott Downtown Syracuse (formerly the Hotel Syracuse). It is called Fashions at The Persian Terrace and that fashion show starts today at 11:30am.

In addition, the windows advertised other local businesses in the area including the Empire Brewing Co. and Painting with a Twist. The latter is located at 3179 Erie Blvd. East in DeWitt, New York and was the only one to supply me with literature. I love the idea of generating friends and family, as well as people of all ages to come together for a night of art making. Call (315) 447-2733 to schedule a visit soon!

I love that Syracuse is becoming more artsy. That people are coming up with fun and innovative ways to get involved in the community. We all need to get out more and explore our world, because something great is always happening right in our own backyards if we take the time to notice. It is only a hop, skip and a jump away. <3

art, art education, art exhibition, fashion, Karen Tashkovski

Dressing the Part

Image September 17, 2016 Karen Tashkovski 1 Comment

img_20160913_085417 — BCBGMaxAzria dress, Guess sandals

img_20160914_194958 — BCBGMaxAzria dress, BCBGeneration sandals

I am back to work and school! It is fun getting dressed up, not so fun going into a building with no air conditioning, but I adjusted to it within days. And today – it actually felt cold in here!

img_20160906_131036 — Trina Turk dress, BCBGeneration sandals

img_20160908_085325 — Michelle DaRin jewelry, Trina Turk top and skirt, BCBGeneration sandals

I spent the summer in exercise clothes, bikinis and shorts. I hiked seven miles a day and did pilates twice a week or so. Working on fitting teaching into my exercise schedule, lol.

img_20160909_084902 — Vintage necklace, Bailey 44 top and skirt, BCBGeneration sandals

img_20160907_093232 — BCBGMaxAzria top, Trina Turk skirt, BCBGeneration sandals

As for artwork, I took down my art show at the Sullivan Library in Chittenango, New York, and I plan to exhibit the Talisman paintings in October at the Half Moon Bakery and Bistro in Jamesville, New York. Eight paintings are still on display in the Lawrence Pavilion at Summit Medical Group in New Jersey. They will be there until January, I think, unless the show gets extended.

img_20160915_093635 — BCBGMaxAzria dress, Coach booties, Honora necklace

Penny Santy is showing her paintings in the Chittenango Middle School library! She will give a presentation about them on November 15, 2016. I am planning to do some projects based on her work. Four classes will be doing oil pastels or paintings of cows and bulls as part of my SLO tests.

In addition, I’m planning lessons on George Rodrigue, Jasper Johns, Keith Haring, Wolf Kahn, Japanese wood block prints and Greek mythology. So fun!

img_20160912_092245 — Bailey 44 top, BCBGMaxAzria skirt, Nine West sandals

img_20160916_092827 — Banana Republic top and skirt, Michelle DaRin jewelry, BCBGeneration booties

Karen Tashkovski

Building a Narrative

Image September 1, 2016 Karen Tashkovski 3 Comments

When Penny picked me up to go to Linda Bigness’ art reception, I thought we were going to Oswego, New York. But it turns out that SUNY Oswego has a campus annex here in Syracuse, New York at 2 Clinton Square.

It’s called the Tyler Art Gallery at the SUNY Oswego Metro Center and it is there that Linda Bigness’ paintings grace the walls. They were installed on August 26, 2016 and will be on display until October 22, 2016. Tonight was the art reception and artist talk.

These are new works painted in her studio at the Delavan Center, some painted during that heat wave last month when the temperature climbed to one hundred four degrees Farenheit inside the building. She persevered by maintaining a vision of beauty.

Beauty in the sadness of a man searching for the last drag of a discarded cigarette butt, beauty in the darkness of the homeless organizing what little they have in a series of compartments under a bridge. Beauty in the urban landscape she sees out her window or photographs on walking excursions in and around the city of Syracuse.

Linda gave a talk answering questions posed by Professor and fellow artist Amy Bartell. She is influenced by Kandinsky, Klee and Warhol. The abstractions are landscape-based – you can piece together a narrative of rooftops, windows and stairs in some, bicycle tires and roads leading to a colorful path in others.

She works in encaustics and oils. My favorite piece in the show is the dyptich utilizing both media. I would love to see more of this type of experimentation in her future artwork and I am sure I will.

She said she is more about having an art life and not a career, per se. That she hasn’t yet peaked as an artist and the best is yet to come. In the true spirit of an artist, she makes art because something inside her moves her to do it. It is a journey of self-discovery and joy on blessed borrowed time, having fought a battle with cancer back in 1998.