Tag Archives: mixed media

Joy is in the Library

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Joy Engelhart was the January and February 2020 artist exhibiting at the Community Library of DeWitt and Jamesville. (5110 Jamesville Road, DeWitt, New York 13078). I caught the tail end of the show on Sunday.

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She is a “signature” member of the Central New York Watercolor Society.  These pieces are watercolor and mixed-media, a combo of portraits and still-lifes.  I am assuming that she will take down today.  The library opens at 10 AM.  Call (315) 446-3578 for the deets.

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Library Hours

Monday – Thursday
Friday
Saturday
Sunday

*Summer hours:

Saturday
Sunday

Services limited 15 minutes before closing

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Garden of Eddie

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Eddie Dominguez transports us to his version of the Garden of Eden in his show at the Everson Museum of Art‘s Robineau Memorial Gallery.

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His vision is one that reflects a heritage in which landscape and religion play vital roles.  He is from New Mexico, although his art education took him to Ohio and New York, which is why we are able to fall under his spell here in Syracuse, New York.  This show was curated by the Columbus Museum of Art and will be on exhibit until Sunday, July 28, 2019.

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Dominguez combines ceramics and found objects to create his irreverent world.  It is a playful, fantastical and thoroughly original body of work. <3

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*** from the Everson Museum of Art website

The youngest of eight children, Eddie Dominguez grew up in Tucumcari, New Mexico, between Albuquerque and Amarillo on historic Route 66. He came to national prominence in the mid–1980s for highly stylized dinnerware sets that also stack into sculptural forms. In his work, Dominguez frequently references his home state’s vegetation, landforms, weather, and Hispano–Catholic culture. The dual nature of Dominguez’s objects, which inhabit the gray area between utility and art for art’s sake, reflects his personal experience as a New Mexican who studied ceramics in the Anglo–dominated East: whether we see “art” or “craft,” local Hispano or melting pot American depends completely on the immediate context.

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The Everson Museum of Art is located at 401 Harrison Street, Syracuse, New York, 13202.  Call (315) 474-6064 for more information.

EVERSON MUSEUM OF ART HOURS:

SUNDAY 12-5
MONDAY CLOSED
TUESDAY CLOSED
WEDNESDAY 12-5
THURSDAY 12-8
FRIDAY 12-5
FIRST FRIDAY EACH MONTH NOON–8:00PM
SATURDAY 10-5

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Dozens

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I thought it would be fun to create trompe l’oeil donuts.  We made them from an armature of aluminum foil, paper towels and masking tape.

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Students then applied Mod Podge with a brush to paper towel bits, adhering them to the armature.  They really looked like glazed donuts – so cool!

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Cell-u-clay was next.  It is a paper pulp that is applied wet in a sort of oatmeal consistency.  This was the frosting.

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Each student (in two of my 8th grade art classes) created a dozen donuts.  Because I didn’t think six was enough, lol.  They painted the Cell-u-clay with acrylics and added decorative details.

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Some students glued their finished pieces to foamboard and others placed them in boxes provided by the local Dunkin’ Donuts.  The projects are currently on display in the library at Chittenango Middle School, Chittenango, New York.

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I just loved this project.  I think everyone loved it!  Students in the 9th period B day class even came in during their study hall to become “donut fairies” – they helped the A day group!  Everyone helped each other and it was truly magical.  So fun! <3

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Angels

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Friend, 2017, encaustic on masonite, 8″ x 10″ (mounted on 11″ x 14″ chalkboard), $111
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Message, 2017, encaustic on masonite, 8″ x 10″ (mounted on 11″ x 14″ chalkboard), $111 (sold)
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Sunny Side Up, 2017, encaustic on masonite, 8″ x 10″ (mounted on 11″ x 14″ chalkboard), $111
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Master, 2017, encaustic on masonite, 8″ x 10″ (mounted on 11″ x 14″ chalkboard, $111

I tweaked and re-worked/finessed/finished twelve more angel paintings.  It is such an incredible feeling to complete this project.  It is Futura, the painting series I have been talking about making for many years.  Now I must manifest the perfect venue to display all twenty-four of them. They are encaustic and mixed media on masonite mounted on chalkboard (the chalkboard was edited out in these pics).  They are 8″ x 10″ mounted on 11″ x 14″ board.  Priced at $111. <3

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Crystal Clear, 2017, encaustic on masonite, 8″ x 10″ (mounted on 11″ x 14″ chalkboard) $111
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Manifest, 2017, encaustic on masonite, 8″ x 10″ (mounted on 11″ x 14″ chalkboard), $111
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Blushing Bride, 2017, encaustic on masonite, 8″ x 10″ (mounted on 11″ x 14″ chalkboard), $111
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Starlight, 2017, encaustic on masonite, 8″ x 10″ (mounted on 11″ x 14″ chalkboard, $111
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Keys, 2017, encaustic on masonite, 8″ x 10″ (mounted on 11″ x 14″ chalkboard), $111
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Confidante, 2017, encaustic on masonite, 8″ x 10″ (mounted on 11″ x 14″ chalkboard), $111
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Twilight, 2017, encaustic on masonite, 8″ x 10″ (mounted on 11″ x 14″ chalkboard) $111 (sold)
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Worthy, 2017, encaustic on masonite, 8″ x 10″ (mounted on 11″ x 14″ chalkboard) $111

Genesis

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Karen Tashkovski, Presence, 2017, encaustic on masonite, 8″ x 10″ (mounted on 11″ x 14″ chalkboard), $111
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Karen Tashkovski. Magi, 2017, encaustic on masonite, 8″ x 10″ (mounted on 11″ x 14″ chalkboard) $111

I did not use any silver paint this time, but I did turn my house into an art factory (Warhol reference) this past week.  I went at it full speed, tackling masonite boards with a sort of crazy frenzy.  I guess I should have put a drop cloth down on  the floor and on my great-grandmother’s old kitchen table, but it was wax and ended up coming up pretty easily with a heat source and a crap load of elbow grease and an inordinate amount of time.

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Karen Tashkovski, Source, 2017, encaustic on masonite, 8″ x 10″ (mounted on 11″ x 14″), $111

Seriously, now my kitchen does not look like like anything had happened in there at all and yet, I have three dozen completed encaustic paintings floating around my living room, dining room and back porch.  It’s just nuts.

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Karen Tashkovski, Abundance, 2017, encaustic on masonite, 8″ x 10″ (mounted on 11″ x 14″ chalkboard) $111
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Karen Tashkovski, Purpose, 2017, encaustic on masonite, 8″ x 10″ (mounted on 11″ x 14″ chalkboard), $111 (sold)

Futura was born.  It is this series of angel paintings.  They are 8″ x 10″ encaustics.  They are mounted on 11″ x 14″ chalkboard painted masonite but I cropped them here to show the detail.

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Karen Tashkovski, Princess, 2017, encaustic on masonite, 8″ x 10″ (mounted on chalkboard), $111
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Karen Tashkovski, Aphrodisiac, 2017, encaustic on chalkboard, 8″ x 10″ (mounted on 11″ x 14″ chalkboard, $111

I absolutely love the texture of the wax.  It has the consistency of frosting.  The house still smells of beeswax, so encaustic is this amazing phenomenological experience, affecting all senses.  I am in love with this body of work.

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Karen Tashkovski, Tapestry, 2017, encaustic on masonite, 8″ x 10″ (mounted on 11″ x 14″ chalkboard), $111
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Karen Tashkovski, Lucky Duck, 2017, encaustic on masonite, 8″ x 10″ (mounted on 11″ x 14″ chalkboard), $111
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Karen Tashkovski, Futura, 2017, encaustic on masonite, 8″ x 10″ (mounted on chalkboard) $111

I created a dozen angels.  There are a dozen more on deck.  I won’t get to them until the summer unless I spend another weekend yanking out the supplies and cordoning off that room from my cat.  These paintings will eventually be available at Syracuse Yoga.  I will let you know.  It is opening sometime next month.

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Karen Tashkovski, Camaraderie, 2017, encaustic on masonite, 8″ x 10″ (mounted on chalkboard), $111

It feels beyond amazing to have given life to these pieces.  Sooooo incredibly satisfying!  I will upload pics of the finished horseshoes soon.  I must go back to work tomorrow and this Saturday from 1:00-3:00 pm is my closing party at Half Moon Bakery & Bistro.  Hope to see you there!  There will be cupcakes! <3

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Karen Tashkovski, Path, 2017, encaustic on masonite, 8″ x 10″ (mounted on 11″ x 14″ chalkboard), $111

In a Blanket

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Here are the pictures from my art exhibition at Chittenango Middle School, Chittenango, New York.  I’ve combined the Messages from the Other Voice series with the Pompano Revisited series to saturate the yellow walls of the school library with my personal narrative.

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They will be up through April 2017.

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The work looks better in person – the lighting is not great in the pics, but that is because the artwork is so high up on the walls.  I do love the way the library looks soooo fresh and different with each show we install and everyone’s artwork ends up looking great.  The captive audience thing always works for me, but it is funniest when I ask students if they have been to the library – if they have seen my art and they say something like I didn’t notice.

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That actually doesn’t matter to me – no, not one bit – because I know that they have noticed it, if only in a smidgen of a subliminal fashion.  It doesn’t take but a glance to place a positive aesthetic into someone’s visual cortex, lol.  And then you can sit back and witness the processed results.  It’s kind of amazing.  And I really LOVE that.  Art benefits people in so many ways in which they are not even remotely aware. It is everywhere.  All around us.  That’s me being subversive – in a good way.

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Blanket of love, people.  Blanket of love…. <3

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American Gothic-eee

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

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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.

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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!

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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.

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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.

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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.

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Road Trip

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I drove to New Jersey on Monday.  Visited with friends in Jersey City and Morristown, and stopped in to see my art exhibition at Summit Medical Group in Berkeley Heights.  I love how easy-peasy it is to find your way around the country via Google maps/GPS, by the way. It is clearly the greatest invention to eliminate fear of travel.  It was an effortless, fun-filled journey!

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This place is so beautiful!  Space Planner Elizabeth Wiech did a magnificent job installing this show.  I feel lucky to be a part of it.  It turns out that my work is the most abstract of the bunch.  I picked up the artwork I had delivered that wasn’t used – actually my friend Anne had delivered it for me originally, and so this was my first time there.  Everyone was so nice and helpful from the valet parking attendants and security people to the reception desk ladies and maintenance.  Thank you, everyone!  I am just so incredibly grateful for the experience.

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The art exhibition is in the basement floor of the Lawrence Pavilion building in the complex at 1 Diamond Hill (Berkeley Heights, NJ 07922).  Each artist is represented with an artist statement and information on how to contact them in order to make a purchase.  A portion of sales will go to a pet charity – this is an animal-themed art show.

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Eight of my paintings are there – from my 18″ x 18″ oil & collage Echolalia series.

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The exhibition will continue through November 2016.

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Contact Elizabeth Wiech at (908) 277-8806 for more information.  This is a medical office building – she will know the building hours.  The show is open to the public and can be accessed through a separate entrance with stairs leading to the basement floor or through the main entrance using the elevator.

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OZ & Me

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Twelve of my Talisman series paintings are hanging in the Community Room of the Sullivan Free Library in Chittenango, NY.  I installed the show yesterday and the work will be there until I go back to school in September (2016).

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I love my connection to the Chittenango community and with Karen Fauls-Traynor, who pops me into the calendar every July!  The Community Room can be rented out for events and so, there are always people in there.  It is part of the library but is accessed through a separate door at the entrance.  I heard there will be a graduation party in there today!  They also have afternoon movies (free) every Wednesday at 1:00pm.

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The paintings are $200 each.  They are 18″ x 24″ mixed media pieces comprised of oil & collage and chalkboard paint.  I created them in the summer of 2008 in a studio space on my front porch while the television in the living room played Harry Potter videos 24/7.

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It is pretty fascinating how positive energy and the idea of magic can create magnificent outcomes in our lives.  One of my friends told me I need to immerse myself in painting again, but I don’t feel ready to go back to that type of isolation.  I would need to sell quite a bit of art to fuel that inner motivation again.  That seems to go against the grain of how other artists see themselves – as though art making is a desire that surpasses all consequences of the act.

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Oh well.  It is what it is.  The idea of someone else valuing what you do, what I do, is what I crave.  My friends in Florida have several of my paintings in every room of their house.  I visited them last month – I hadn’t been there in thirteen years, so seeing my presence in their home filled me with so much gratitude and love.  The idea that I matter to people.  I don’t know how else to explain it.  I just don’t want to make a bunch of art that sits in a pile in a closet somewhere, unable to breathe or see the light of day until I am gone or something.  That just seems yucky to me.

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If you are interested in purchasing one of these paintings, contact me.  I can sell it off the wall and replace it with another.  There are twenty-four pieces in this series.  And they all need homes…. <3

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The Sullivan Free Library is located at 101 Falls Blvd., right off Route 5 in the village of Chittenango, NY.  It was the former State Bank of Chittenango.  Click the link at the top of this post for hours of operation.

 

T Minus Sixty

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In about an hour, Chittenango High School opens its doors to the public/community for the annual school fair. It takes about three hours to install the middle school artwork on the walls in the halls between the two gyms.  I will be back later tonight to take it all down.

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Here are pictures of 5th, 6th, 7th and 8th grade art –  from my students and those of my colleagues Gina Fargnoli and Katy Conden.

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Chittenango High School is located on Route 5 in Chittenango, NY.  The school fair is a visual representation of our entire school’s curriculum with elementary school stuff in the large gym, middle school stuff in the small gym and high school stuff all around the two story building.  It will take place from 5:30 – 8:00 pm tonight!

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