Category Archives: art resources

art, art education, art exhibition, art gallery, art resources, Karen Tashkovski

Mayer on Cloth

Image February 23, 2017 Karen Tashkovski Leave a comment

At 6:00 p.m. tonight, Jeffrey Mayer, Associate Professor of Fashion Design at Syracuse University, will be presenting a talk on the Art for Every Home: Associated American Artists exhibition at the SU Art Gallery. He will be focusing on the clothing and textiles that are in the back gallery.

I took these pictures when I was at the opening reception.

Here is more info taken from their Facebook invite page –

Join Jeffrey Mayer for a thrilling discussion focusing on the costumes and textiles featured in the current exhibition “Art for Every Home: Associated American Artists,” on dislay through March 19th in the galleries!

Post World War II fashion, with a new silhouette and a new appreciation for the designer as an artist, created the perfect opportunity for Associated American Artist to team with textile manufacturers to produce art based fabric prints. Creating series of textiles for both home decoration and clothing use these prints were marketed as being created by ‘fine artists’. The collaboration with textile manufacturers would only last for a very few years before AAA designed print fabrics would cease to exist. This lecture will include additional textile print examples from the Syracuse University Sue Ann Genet Costume Collection which document how the trend became popular and what contributed to its demise.

Jeffrey C. Mayer is Associate Professor and Program Coordinator of Fashion Design in the School of Design, SU CVPA, as well as the curator of the Sue Ann Genet Costume Collection for which he has designed many historic costume exhibitions. He is also author of ‘Vintage Details; A Fashion Sourcebook’ published by Laurence King, London.

The show continues though March 19, 2017. The gallery is located in the Shaffer Art Building on Syacuse University campus. Gallery hours are Tuesday – Sunday 11:00 am – 4:30 pm. The gallery stays open until 8:00 pm on Thursdays. They are closed during university holidays. Call (315) 443-4097 for more information or email them at suart@syr.edu.

art, art exhibition, art for sale, art resources, Karen Tashkovski, painting, sculpture

Visions of Hope

Image February 20, 2017 Karen Tashkovski Leave a comment

I was able to take a quick trip to New Jersey – thank you, Mother Nature, for providing magnificent weather for a safe journey in February! Yesterday I visited the Novado Gallery in Jersey City (blog post to follow), and today I stopped at the Summit Medical Group in Berkeley Heights.

I went to pick up the eight paintings I had on display (from April until a few days ago). It is such a beautiful space and the people are so friendly. I just love it there! Now, space planner Elizabeth Wiech has installed a show of these brilliantly hued text-infused paintings by Susan Hope Shaffer.

Shaffer, a cancer survivor, created these images to empower herself and others on their healing journey. Through art, she has discovered a source of positive energy and this is such a beautiful and magical resource. The exhibit is incredibly cohesive and captivating.

Refreshments and entertainment will be provided at an opening reception on Friday, March 3, 2017 from 5:00 – 8:00 p.m. The gallery space is located on the basement floor of the Lawrence Pavilion at Summit – 1 Diamond Hill Road (07922). A portion of the proceeds from the sale of the artwork will be donated to Pathways Women’s Cancer Support.

For more information call (908) 277-8806 or visit their web-site – www.summithealthmanagement.com

art, art exhibition, art for sale, art resources, found object, Karen Tashkovski, mixed media, printmaking, quilting

Rage of Love

Image February 12, 2017 Karen Tashkovski 4 Comments

The artwork presented by storyteller artist and quilter Vanessa Johnson is an extension of her being. The outstretched arms of this humanoid fabric art are inviting, welcoming and loving, connecting the women they represent, the artist and the viewer in a heart-warming embrace. She is honoring women as she visually interprets their struggle while contemplating her own life journey as an African American with roots in Ghana.

Vanessa begins with the bodies – sewing cloth to cloth, much of it found in West Africa. This becomes her canvas and from it sprouts limbs, heads and the detailed decoration of meaning that produces emotionally-charged and animated floor-to-ceiling quilts.

Last night was the opening reception for Unwrapping Vanessa at ArtRage, 505 Hawley Avenue, Syracuse, New York. The art exhibition continues through March 25, 2017. ArtRage is a gallery that focuses on social issues. They hold several exhibitions a season and coordinate them with other events – lecture/discussions, musical performances and poetry readings, film screenings and theatrical plays. There is a pancake breakfast on Sunday, March 5, 2017 beginning at 9:00 am. On Wednesday, March 8, 2017, Vanessa Johnson will give an artist talk at 7:00 pm.

Vanessa has been creating art quilts for over twenty years and has exhibited her work all over Central New York. She displayed work at the Chittenango Middle School library a few years ago! Since then her work has evolved considerably.

There is so much raw emotion to be discovered. Of the love of identity, of the power of friendship and of the joy of knowing a world where so many women of color are respected in their achievements. She is certainly inspired by these women and by the strength of the community in which she lives.

The artwork is combined with stories, text in quilted books and woven into the tapestry. In addition, pouches of soil from her homes here and in Ghana are lovingly added as a type of talisman. She calls them “gris gris”. It is this narrative that blurs the lines between artist and artwork, iconography, environment and inspired action. So much beauty in the richness and flavor of her life! ❤

ArtRage is open Wednesday, Thursday and Friday 2:00 – 7:00 pm and Saturday noon – 4:00 pm. They are available for school tours as well, and are always seeking submissions from artists for future exhibitions. For more information, contact info@artragegallery.org. Their website is www.artragegallery.org.

art, art exhibition, art resources, fashion, found object, jewelry, Karen Tashkovski, mixed media, sculpture, Syracuse University

Army of Thieves

Image February 10, 2017 Karen Tashkovski Leave a comment

According to the literature for this exhibit of sculptures by Vanessa German, “when assembled together, these power figures resemble an army of women on the march”. German creates them from a plethora of found objects. The mannequin parts are plastered and tarred then assembled and dressed via wiring, sewing and gluing the objects in place, adding jewelry and dress that evokes some form of armor.

They become modern soldiers lined up in effect, like those terra-cotta figurines found at the tomb of Emperor Qin Shi Huang in China. It is incredibly breathtaking and powerful to witness. The work is in the Sculpture Court and in the Wampler and Robineau Galleries on the first floor of the Everson Museum of Art (400 Harrison Street, Syracuse, New York).

Tonight was the art reception for this exhibit titled de.structive dis.tillation (a nod to the chemical construction of tar), as well as for the Bradley Walker Tomlin retrospective. I will be attending an in-service for teachers in March that focuses on the latter. I titled this post Army of Thieves because the German sculptures stole the show, which is totally ironic in that the upstairs galleries are full of local artists work and that has ALWAYS been my dream for the Everson, lol, and includes my colleagues and former S.U. professors in its mix. Vanessa German is a product of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

German’s dolls are meant to tell the story of/create a dialogue about the social injustices of the African-American experience. It’s to do with destructing in order to construct. Rebuilding a world and giving voice to a type of commitment to peace, joy and love in spite of challenges. The result is the whimsical and harmonious sound of texture, a cultural heritage-based beauty and personification that has the potential to resonate for everyone in our community.

It is the flavor of intense joy. There is so much to see here! Flea market finds that take your breath away. Attention to detail with regard to fabric and fibers. The sculptures are skateboarding and riding tricycles, standing on soap boxes and rejoicing as they stand for one’s tears and for the healing hope of a better future.

You need to see them! I really ought to plan a field trip for my Studio in Art students. We just finished creating sculpture/mobiles of paratroopers using plaster, found objects and humanoid forms, so, this would be right up their alley.

The exhibit continues through May 7, 2017. The Everson is planning a day camp for students during the week of Mid-Winter recess (that starts a week from today). Go to their web-site for more information or call them at (315) 474-6064. They will also be doing a Saturday workshop for children, and in addition, several events such as family day and docent led tours of the exhibitions. ❤

art, art education, art exhibition, art resources, illustration, Karen Tashkovski, landscapes, printmaking, Syracuse University

Educational Camaraderie

Image February 2, 2017 Karen Tashkovski 1 Comment

The gist of the art exhibition currently residing on the walls of the SU Art Gallery at Syracuse University in Syracuse, New York is the sense that art matters. It was a factor in business in the 1930s, as artists worked in tandem with corporations to promote products and lifestyles. A mutual admiration society of people helping people.

Thomas Hart Benton is at the core of this show, an artist a bit more well-known than others (with the exception of Grant Wood; he is now a household name to most of my students). They used Benton’s clout to generate sales for all the artists in the stable of a company called Associated American Artists. Prints were sold to customers to bring art to every wall in American homes with lesser known artists being carried along for the ride of capital gain. The company closed shop in 2000.

The conscious acknowledgement of and respect for artists is what I walked away with from this exhibit, a system that worked and should continue to work. I would love to see artists promoted by local businesses in this way – perhaps a group showing of work based on local and regional products that would catapult said products into the national spotlight. It’s a mutual win-win. Artists would maintain their stye and sense of freedom in the creation of the art and still create work that represents a company’s point of view.

Syracuse University does an outstanding job curating this gallery. It is remarkable how different it looks from the last show they had and how well more than one hundred thirty objects of art fit into the space. I like to think I am well-versed in art history but … I learned so much tonight. A truly educational experience. I would expect no less from my alma mater! Loved it!

This show, titled Art For Every Home (Associated American Artists, 1934-2000) came from Kansas State University, Manhattan, Kansas. It will continue through March 19, 2017 with a gallery talk by one of the curators, Elizabeth G. Seaton. Ph.D, curator of the Marianna Kistler Beach Museum of Art at Kansas State University, scheduled for Thursday, March 2, 2017 at 6:00 pm.

Sascha Scott, Ph.D., Associate Professor and Director of Graduate Studies in the Department of Art and Music Histories at Syracuse University, will give a presentation on Thursday, March 9, 2017 at 6:00 pm.

The gallery is located in the Shaffer Art Building on SU campus. Gallery hours are Tuesday – Sunday 11:00 am – 4:30 pm. The gallery stays open until 8:00 pm on Thursdays. They are closed during university holidays. Call (315) 443-4097 for more information or email them at suart@syr.edu.

art, art education, art resources, Karen Tashkovski, mixed media, paper collage, photography

American Gothic-eee

Image January 12, 2017 Karen Tashkovski Leave a comment

This lesson is inspired by Grant Wood’s American Gothic.

Students had to conceive an idea for the composition. I had planned to have them draw thumbnail sketches, as well as lists of what props they would need – but after showing my accelerated Studio in Art kids the ones done by my students in 2012 and 2013 via my school web-site, they just knew what they were going to do. It was the craziest thing and really phenomenal the way they all collaborated with one another.

Each student planned the day for their picture – we had two weeks before Christmas break and it was a tight schedule for the twelve of them. They all brought their costumes, props and their A games with them, lol!

I just loved how they were able to count on each other and how responsible everyone was for their respective part in both their own work and that of their friend(s). Models allowed the artist to direct them. The poses replicated the ones in Wood’s painting with the person on the right looking straight into the camera and the other one gazing in the distance. I placed the school’s green screen against a wall for the photo shoots, printed the pictures then cut and pasted them to foamboard.

They created the backgrounds using a variety of mixed-media including tissue and decorative papers, toothpicks, beads, glitter and more. The border was done in metallic paint to act as a frame. A picture from the internet chosen to convey a theme was selected as reference and they attacked the canvas panels with vigor. It was so exciting to see them work. There was so much confidence amidst the chaos of all the materials.

Once the background was finished and dry (everything attached with Mod-Podge and/or hot glue), we placed 3-D Os on the back of the foamboard and poppped the pics on top. The result – twelve very different, very cool mixed-media pieces that are currently on display in a glass case in the atrium of Chittenango Middle School in Chittenango, New York.

art, art education, art resources, Karen Tashkovski, painting, sculpture

Going Greek

Image December 21, 2016 Karen Tashkovski Leave a comment

This was a fun lesson – another one of my inventions: Greek urns. They are made of Pariscraft, not clay. We used the plastic water bowls as molds, so it was a stagger start since I don’t have very many of them.

Students placed 4 layers of plaster of Paris on the bowl. In the following class, they were in a déja vu re-run because we needed two bowl molds for the armature. Next, they added plastic cups (from Subway, Wendy’s, and various cottage cheese varieties). I cut the hole at the bottom of the top cup and at the top of one of the plaster bowls. They added plaster to the separate pieces then taped the bowls together with masking tape and went back to the plaster station to complete the step. (Aluminum foil for the handles.)

This was followed by painting the urn one solid color and then applying Greek patterns – and more color.

They are stunning. I love them! Really substantial two and three feet sculptures. I want them to write a note to their future selves and store it inside the vessels. I am always thinking about my thirteen-year-old self. Is she proud of who I have become? (I know she is!) The note would serve as an artifact, the way Ancient Greek urns found in an archeological dig teach us about the culture that once was. So fun!

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Visual Artist