Encaustic Crowns
Category Archives: design
Me & My Membership
I am a member of the Rochester Contemporary Art Center (137 East Avenue, Rochester, New York 14604. My encaustic & collage painting, “Girl”, is there (above). It is from my Fan-Girl series.
The Rochester Contemporary Art Center’s thirty-fourth Member Exhibition is in full swing through February 14, 2026. There are over five hundred pieces of art in this show and it is AMAZING!
All artwork is for sale with a portion of the proceeds going to the gallery. This exhibition is a must see! I think what happens is you will be drawn to a few things at eye level then you’ll step back and see that there is so much more. Sculpture, ceramics, paintings, photographs, abstracts, realism – it is the most eclectic mix of talent.
To the volunteers who erected this art show- I commend you! It must have been a giant puzzle to solve to place everything in such a way that each piece gets the respect it deserves. It is a glorious achievement.
The gallery hours –
Wed. – Sun. 12-5pm
Fri. 12-9pm
- It is $2 per visit and free for members.
From their web-site:
RoCo was founded as the Pyramid Gallery
In 1977, a small group of artists led by Tony Petracca, John Kavanaugh and Albert Robbins joined together to exhibit their artwork, present an alternative to museums and commercial galleries, and expand the cultural offerings in the region.
Early on, the crew faced considerable obstacles. Only days after the grand opening there was a significant fire that left the small Monroe Ave. storefront and many artworks damaged. Fundraisers were held and walls were rebuilt. Thanks to the perseverance of the founders and their fellow artists, the Rochester art community has been the beneficiary ever since. After formalizing the organization began to receive New York State and foundation funding and soon began to play a significant role in the artist-run space movement of the era. Still there was uncertainty and challenges. The Culture Wars and shifting foundation priorities altered the funding landscape. Through the decades and several different locations, RoCo’s individual members have provided a stable base for the organization. This significant community support has enabled RoCo to survive and thrive when other small art centers have struggled and even closed their doors. In recent years RoCo’s membership and stature has grown significantly. Now as we celebrate our 40th Anniversary, we’ve achieved outright ownership of our facility and are approaching 1,000 members for the first time in the organization’s history.
Betsy Menson Sio
On a recent visit to Cazenovia Artisans, 39 Albany Street, Cazenovia, New York, 13135, I met co-op member Betsy Menson Sio, a former art teacher in the Jordan-Elbridge School District, now working as a full-time artist and jewelry designer. She is selling earrings made of vintage tins that speak of recycling paired with sterling silver.
The pieces are whimsical, meant to be worn for fun with everyday casual gear. She calls her business East Street Tins.
This is a materials driven art form. She must first find the vintage tins – soda cans, candy or coffee canisters, perhaps even motor oil containers – then decide on the shape and cut forming two symmetrical bespoke pieces.
She also creates necklaces and bracelets when not taking her weekly turn as salesperson at the gallery.
As mentioned, Cazenovia Artisans is a co-op. Artist members must be voted in with the understanding that they will commit to retail sales as well as providing cohesive artwork for sale and paying a monthly fee. There are other avenues as well – offering work on consignment or being considered as a guest artist. All information is listed on their website.
Current hours of operation:
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Mon |
10:00 am – 06:00 pm |
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Tue |
10:00 am – 06:00 pm |
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Wed |
10:00 am – 06:00 pm |
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Thu |
10:00 am – 06:00 pm |
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Fri |
10:00 am – 06:00 pm |
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Sat |
10:00 am – 05:00 pm |
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Sun |
10:00 am – 04:00 pm |
Mia Galletta Home & Design
The Yard, at 604 E. Manlius Street, Manlius, New York 13104, is a conglomeration of shoppes, cafés and such built on the site of a 19th century lumber yard. They have a brewery on-site as well, and often schedule festive musical events.
The newest resident of The Yard is Mia Galletta Home & Design. This shoppe is located at the top of the compound, next to Café Jarosz and adjacent to the parking lot. Open from noon-5:00 PM Wednesday – Sunday, Mia Galletta sells an eclectic mix of furniture, home furnishings and women’s accessories while also offering her services as a real estate agent for Howard Hanna. This includes home buying and selling, and home staging with some custom design options.
It is a powerfully vibrant space – fuchsia and lime walls, tangerine chairs, floral motif pillows and colorful resin chunky jewelry abound. If you are looking for bright options, this is your jam – but you will need to be quick because it is mostly bespoke and my thought is the store will look different each week due to sales. She’s only been in business for two-weeks so far and has already had to redecorate due to sales. The merchandise is very reasonably priced. It’s a fun shopping experience!
I hadn’t seen Mia in over forty years – we graduated high school together. Since then she has graduated from FIT and worked in the fashion industry, mainly in accessory design, in New York City (where she still keeps an apartment) and oversees, even working in China for a time! She recently returned to this area to be closer to family and will remain here at least a year – the duration of her store lease.
Welcome back, Mia!
Connected
My 8th grade accelerated Studio in Art students completed an intense nine weeks of creating these peace posters for the Chittenango Lions Club. The Lions sponsor an international peace poster competition for middle school aged children with a grand prize of $5,000.
It is an illustration lesson/editorial design project with some limitations – no words or characters of any kind, no trademarked items or advertisements. We used 16″ x 20″ white tagboard and Prismacolor colored pencils. The Lions Club generously donated enough sets so that my students could each have their own 48 color set. Thirty-eight students competed this year.
Students spent additional hours on these posters at home on the weekends to complete them in time for the contest deadline. The winning poster will go on to the regional competition and possibly the state one as well. The theme for this year is “We Are All Connected”. Now that we are all back in school full-time, this sentiment is truly apropos. <3
Tenting It
The AmeriCu Arts & Crafts Festival is celebrating its 50th year in downtown Syracuse, New York. Located on the streets surrounding Columbus Circle, there are about 150 artisans and crafters represented in this three-day event. It ends around 4pm today, July 25, 2021, so there is still time to check it out!
There’s food trucks, drinks and music too. My sister and I were there for two hours yesterday. So fun!
This is a juried exhibition. Lula Castillo’s booth at the festival won an honorable mention award. Her work is incredible. She uses plants, nuts, seeds and organic dyes to create exquisite pieces of jewelry. I’ve never seen anything like this!
The colors are so vibrant and fun. I loved everything about her sustainable materials collection.
She comes to us from Long Island, New York (formerly Columbia!)
Booth A17
I thought Erin Primerano’s presentation of her handwoven fine art clothing was wonderful. Her tent looked like a real store! The pieces are one-of-a-kind looks, using a mix of fibers from silk to cotton, to wool and can be hand-washed.
Her company is called Haute Made and you can find her on Etsy! She lives in Syracuse, New York.
Booth A4
I met Ted Greenfield from Chittenango, New York, last week at his City Market booth. These wood charcuterie boards are gorgeous! His company is called Bayside Wood Products.
Booth E15
It’s always a pleasure to see the effervescent Barbara Conte-Gaugel (Syracuse, New York) and her mixed-media handbags and satchels. Everything is handmade from recycled fabrics (including leather and old flour sacks). The larger bags are among my favorites with whimsical patterns that inspire positivity. She is selling these bags at the festival but she is also a fine artist – paintings and assemblages.
Devin Mack from Baltimore, Maryland, creates these fun wire sculptures of animals. He was in the process as I photographed him, said he does not use photographs, just whimsy, and the results are stunning!
Booth F13
Kathleen Scranton from Coventry, Connecticut, creates vintage book purses under the logo BeeZ. She comes to us from the business and marketing world. A chance rendezvous with a library eliminating old books sparked this plan to turn their covers into handbags. Purses come with a paperback version of the book.
Booth C12
Michelle DaRin, Pompey, New York, is a rock star around here. Her face is on billboards, as she is currently represented by Cazenovia Jewelry! I noticed that everyone who walked by Montgomery Street was a customer, including me (I was wearing three of her bracelets!).
Michelle DaRin Jewelry is a one person operation – she is the face of the brand. She selects the stones, cuts the metal, does all the metal-smithing and strings the leather.
The look is upscale Bohemian-chic/’70s vibe meets the new millennium.
Wildflowers Armory is a co-op – artisans who share in the responsibility of selling their wares in their store in downtown Syracuse (217 S. Salina Street). Co-owner Michael Heagerty posed for a few pictures with Kathy and me. He is an amazing person who has single-handedly changed the view of the local art scene in Syracuse – a beautiful person inside and out! <3
They have a double tent set-up on Montgomery Street at the festival with an eclectic mix of items for sale.
Merchandise includes clothing (like the awesome Everson is for Lovers shirt!), soaps, notecards, crafts, and artwork.
They also have an online presence – https://wildflowersarmory.com/
Finally, I want my Superintendent to buy these metal bear sculptures for our school (We are the Chittenango Bears!). And I want the cardinal sculpture for my back yard.
OMG, Dale Rogers! His work is exceptional. The sculptures are crafted from stainless steel in his studio in Massachusetts.
Booth C1-2
Road Trip Fashion
Here are my #ootd Instagram pictures from the last few days. Elaine and I were all over the place – Clay & Cicero, New York for a concert and ice cream, Watkins Glen and Hammondsport, New York for a state park hike and a winery visit, Camillus, New York for a shopping experience and lunch, Jamesville, New York for trivia and a sunset view on a farm/restaurant…
It was so much fun to discover places together. I dropped her off at the airport yesterday morning. She lives in Florida. We have been friends since the sixth grade. I was maid of honor at her wedding. We go long stretches without texting or calling then just pick up where we left off and catch up on our lives. I am so lucky. So grateful for our friendship. Grateful for the new memories we created this past week. Thank you, Elaine!!! <3
Mini Time
I did a mini skirt/dress week. It is getting warmer outside here in Syracuse, so, why not? Ten weeks left until summer vacation.
Pairings
I bought this dress (above) to wear on my birthday two years ago. It is a BCBGMaxAzria with keyhole top and cutout at the waist. I’ve only worn it twice, so, I decided to wear it to work by pairing it with a matching cashmere sweater, as well as leather pants. Next time, I will lose the pants – it was an experiment – details to follow.
Elaine is coming to visit in July. We were talking about the way airlines charge – luggage is extra these days, so, is it less expensive to ship your clothes UPS? Lol – I said, why not just wear all your clothes on top of each other?
That is sort of what these recent outfits represent. I wore the above look on Thursday. We had a two-hour delay/freak snow-storm thingy and it was cold. I dressed in my BCBGMaxAzria turtleneck dress with the uneven hemline then decided to throw on cropped pants and the matching cropped wrap sweater. It was strangely comfortable/oddly satisfying. I think I look like a Punky Brewster-esque monk and yet, I got a lot of compliments that day. Fashion is perplexing when a miss becomes a hit.
These next two looks (above) are adding a skirt and leather pants to my AllSaints leather dress. The skirt look felt genius until I went on errands after school that day. I came home with six inches of rain wetness on the hem of the maxi! Still, I felt fabulous in it. The leather on the dress and pants is lamb – very soft and stretchy.
I’ve tried to get this Rebecca Taylor denim dress into circulation by pairing it with pants and sweaters, but I don’t think it works or at least it doesn’t photograph well. 🙁
I bought this BCBGMaxAzria dress (above) three years ago to wear to my 55th birthday party. I like using it as a tunic paired with more BCBG stuff – sweater, pants, sandals.
I love this Joie leather dress, but it is one of those pieces where you think people will say – oh there’s that dress again. I experimented with it as a jacket and with a top underneath with moderate success. I mean – it is such a beautiful piece, it can’t look bad no matter what you wear with it! Yes, finally! The perfect item. Think I will wear it again next week. 🙂
On the Fringe
I am currently in a post St. Valentine’s Day love affair with the home goods/home decorating/interior design firm and store Fringed Benefits. It is a manifestation of clever, inspirational design and good taste.
The brainchild of Interior Designer Amy Burns, who has established herself in the business locally for over twenty-years, and her partners Michelle O’Connor (business) and Kate Burns (designer), this venture is a stunning array of home decoration brilliance.
The store is located in the plaza adjacent to Wegman’s DeWitt (6825 E. Genesee Street, Fayetteville, New York 13066). It is closed on Sundays but operates every other day of the week. (Check their website for more information)
The venue is set up like a one-bedroom studio apartment with living-room, bedroom, office and dining-room decor supplemented by areas of small accessories, art, floral arrangements, gifts, candles and plenty of pillow options.
Retailer Glory took me on a tour including the back room, which is Burns’ design studio and offers personal assistance in home decorating including selecting fabrics and wallpapers. Glory’s enthusiasm for the products and budding business acumen made me want to make a purchase. It was a wooden heart ornament (pictured below) that I will cherish.
I had been a Facebook “Top Fan” of this place, but had never wandered in until today. It is an amazing store! You must go to there. Bonus if you tell them I sent you. <3
