Sending Hope (and Peace) in a Box

October 2006 | BY The AmericanStyle Staff | Issue 52 | NO COMMENTS

In an effort to help the world rethink its approach to daily life, abstract painter Franck de las Mercedes sends hope, trust, peace and every other spectrum of human emotion to various recipients across the globe. Instead of trying to contain these emotions, he lets them run free by painting the outsides of “Priority Boxes” in brilliant colors, labeling them “Fragile: Contains…” and sending them off, free of charge.

The impetus behind the project is not just to make art public, to reinvent the exhibition space (from the pickup at the mail box to the recipient) or to give away abstract ideas for free, but it’s to ask each and every person to stop and reflect on how they live.

This revolutionary series is a nonprofit art project that is funded by art sales and people who purchase “Handle with Care” T-shirts. To request your own box or to fund the ongoing effort, visit www.fdlmstudio.com.

Count ‘Em: 999 Design Classics

October 2006 | BY The AmericanStyle Staff | Issue 52 | NO COMMENTS

The encyclopedia of design is finally here. Three years of work and more than 50 experts later, the editors of Phaidon Press have rolled out three solid volumes that chronicle industrially manufactured products, from the 1600s to the present, that have withstood the test of time. It is the first definitive illustrated book on the evolution of design to include such a wide scope of objects in detail.

Phaidon Design Classics (Phaidon Press, $175) covers everything from bottle openers to helicopters. The encyclopedia’s editors don’t merely salute design; they celebrate every aspect of each item with original blueprints, prototypes, never-before-published anecdotes and a complete description of how it reflects the marriage of form and function. They’ve even provided indexes in the back of each volume to search by product, designer, category or chronology.

More than 3,000 pages and 4,000 images fill in the gaps of the history of design, taste and culture. If you’re a design nut, this is the perfect set to reference and relish for many years to come.

A Toast to Sculpture and Wine

October 2006 | BY The AmericanStyle Staff | Issue 52 | NO COMMENTS

Will Robinson, a sculptor represented by Foster/White Gallery in Seattle, will have three basalt stone sculptures represented on the labels of Chateau Ste. Michelle’s 2003 Artist Series Meritage Wine. Now in its 10th year uniting oenophiles and art connoisseurs, the Columbia Valley, Wash., winery has also honored artists such as Dale Chihuly, William Morris and Dan Dailey.

Robinson, influenced by the Pacific Northwest, began carving at age 18. “While I seek to achieve visual impact with my work, equally important is the experience of actually touching the work,” he says.

Although you can’t actually touch Robinson’s work, you can wrap your hands around the wine bottles and let yourself savor the blend of Cabernet Sauvingon, Merlot, Malbec and Petit Verdot in the 2003 Meritage that rests inside. To order a few bottles of your own holiday cheer, visit www.stemichelle.com.

Palette

October 2006 | BY The AmericanStyle Staff | Issue 52 | NO COMMENTS

The artist’s friend Kara posed for “In the Chair by the Window.” Goodwin says her friends enjoy “playing dress-up” to help her.

Just over a decade ago, Lindsay Goodwin was in middle school drawing covers for her twin sister’s book reports. Today, amidst the whizzing world of Los Angeles in which she lives, the artist paints timeless subjects and compositions with a sophisticated eye for detail. “I’ve always been drawn to representational art,” says Goodwin, who admires the work of John Singer Sargent , as well as the idyllic scenes in Norman Rockwell’s illustrations. “I love Rockwell mostly for his subject matter—I’d love to be there and live there,” she says.

Incongruously, Goodwin hails from Topanga, a hippie-drenched area of Los Angeles tucked in a canyon a few miles from the Pacific at Malibu. A haven for reclusive nonconformity, Topanga embodies tie-dye clothes sold in a parking lot and riding stables across from a high-end organic restaurant. The contrast with Goodwin’s formal paintings is unmistakable.

Subject matter notwithstanding, the 20-something artist is decidedly 21st century: she paints from a photograph displayed on a notebook computer next to her easel. The computer enables her to zoom in to, she says, “see what’s going on.” She also hears what’s going on, which perhaps gives her work a vitality to which viewers respond. “As I paint a cafe scene, I hear wine glasses clattering, a laugh cracking out, the murmur of conversation,” she says.

El la Richardson, owner of Ella Walton Richardson Gallery in Charleston, S.C., asked her to do a one-artist show immediately after seeing Goodwin’s portfolio. “I absolutely was in love with her work,” says Richardson, who adds that her show last December “was the most I’ve ever sold in an opening in one week.”

Goodwin, who graduated from Academy of Art University in San Francisco in 2004, is dazed by her initial success. “It’s a huge compliment that someone is willing to buy and live with your painting,” she says. “Being a painter was a pipe dream.”

How did this Topanga child come to be a formal painter of traditional subjects? By staying in the neighborhood. Goodwin’s first teachers were Virginia and Katie O’Neill, mother-and-daughter co-owners of O’Neill’s Fine Art Studio, on a back street in Malibu, just fifteen minutes from her home.

In 1998, the studio needed a teacher. Goodwin’s stepmother, a friend of Virginia’s, suggested that Goodwin drop by. At that interview, Virginia asked her to draw, and Goodwin composed grapes and a candelabra—” I’ve always been attracted to luxurious things,” Goodwin says, grinning. Virginia, sitting next to her, drew the same picture, explaining how the teenager was making the mistakes of a self-taught artist.

The criticism stung Goodwin, and inspired her to learn. She got the job after agreeing to take lessons. Katie O’Neill taught Goodwin to press lightly, to use the whole arm, to see shapes and tones, to see light and dark, to look and look again. For three years, Goodwin received solid classical training in drawing and painting for free.

“She was incredibly reliable and responsible,” says Katie, “and she was enthused. I find that’s the most important thing about great artists.”

Goodwin completes each canvas before the oil dries, a classical technique called alla prima (“at once” in Italian). In contrast to slowly building layers of color, alla prima requires a quick, sure hand that imparts vitality to the painting.

Life is moving alla prima for Goodwin, who, since graduation, has signed with four galleries, received commissions from celebrities, exhibited in the Peppertree Art Show, spent six months in Paris, had three one-artist shows and scheduled two more.

“I have to strike while the iron is hot,” says Goodwin, a self-described workaholic. “Every day I ask, ‘What’s wrong with this picture?’ ” Happily, she’s finding the answer.

Forging Ahead

October 2006 | BY The AmericanStyle Staff | Issue 52 | NO COMMENTS

Joseph and Georgia Pozycinski’s cast and fabricated bronze “Three Teapots.”

Google the word “metal” and within a second, thousands of references to heavy metal music pop up. Even after adding keywords like “artist,” “magazines” or “books,” the musical hits keep coming. How is it that the medium that changed the course of civilization (remember the Bronze Age?) takes a back seat in cyberspace to Metallica and Megadeth?

With perseverance, of course, more appropriate references surface. Albert Paley is featured prominently, and according to Jim Wallace, longtime director of the National Ornamental Metal Museum in Memphis, Tenn., that’s only right. “Albert is without a doubt the most important artist blacksmith in the second half of the 20th century,” Wallace says. “More than anyone, he’s raised the consciousness level of collectors and curators.”

Other veteran metalworkers include Deborah Butterfield, best known for her sculpture capturing the quiet, gentle motion of horses; Michael and Maureen Banner, dedicated to creating silver hollowware and sculptural jewelry for almost four decades; and Aaron Macsai, recognized for his intricate one-of-a-kind gold jewelry embellished with precious stones.

For more of “Forging Ahead,” pick up an December 2006 issue of AmericanStyle today!

In the Right Light

October 2006 | BY The AmericanStyle Staff | Issue 52 | NO COMMENTS

Artists showcased in the living room include Toshiko Takaezu, Bente Hansen, Karen LaMonte, Gutte Eriksen, Eva Hild and Gordon Baldwin. Photography by Ray Strawbridge

These pieces have spirit,” Dudley Anderson says of the monumental glass sculptures in his home gallery. “It’s spiritual, but not religious, work.” After 35 years in Wilson, N.C., the Connecticut-born, Yale-educated physician has a penchant for pithy local expressions. “Sorry work doesn’t speak to you,” he says, shaking his head. “Spiritual work grows on you.” Art that “grows on you” fills the Anderson home. As a young mother, Dudley’s wife, Lisa, who earned an art history degree from Mount Holyoke College in South Hadley, Mass., saved pennies to buy pottery mugs. Her love for art inspired Dudley’s, and the couple’s collection evolved as their resources grew. One fateful day in 1985, flush with funds from the sale of a beach house, Dudley drove four hours to Maureen Littleton’s Washington, D.C., gallery to buy a Harvey Littleton piece—and brought home a Dale Chihuly Macchia bowl as well.

Since 1988, the couple’s collection has centered on abstract glass sculpture by internationally renowned Czech artists Stanislav Libenska and Jaroslava Brychtova. “The Andersons seriously study the provenance and acquire Libenskahtova works from all periods; that’s real collecting in depth,” says Doug Heller of Heller Gallery in New York, who has been a friend and mentor to the Andersons for years. “Their risk-taking and generosity go beyond being collectors.”

Spirit pervades the Anderson collection, which embraces glass, ceramics, fiber, wood and metal. In addition to Libenskahtova work, they focus on mature ceramic work by Ruth Duckworth, Peter Voulkos and, most recently, Danish artists. “We’re drawn to the interplay of surface and form, the purity and abstraction,” Lisa says.

For more of “In the Right Light,” pick up an December 2006 issue of AmericanStyle today.

Natural Rhythms

October 2006 | BY The AmericanStyle Staff | Issue 52 | NO COMMENTS

The Hunters’ love of nature shows throughout their oceanside home. Bill’s wood helix “Infinity’s Echo” and a bronze figure by Armando Amayo reside just inside from the deck.

The road to William and Marianne Hunter’s home along the edge of the Pacific Ocean outside Long Beach, Calif., suddenly becomes uneven and bumpy. Traffic slows as asphalt ripples. Signs warn of landslides and “constant” ground movement. While boating, Bill, who fished the same waters with his father, looked up to the homes set into the bluffs and wondered about them. “I grew up working on fishing boats along this coastline, so it feels very comforting to me,” he says. The whalers who settled Portuguese Bend, this section of Rancho Palos Verdes, were definitely risk-takers. It seems only natural that Bill and Marianne, both risk-takers in their own lives and individual artworks, settled here in 1998.

“We’ve encouraged each other’s risk-taking. Bill encouraged me to go beyond grisaille [black and white] and to start using stones and gold,” says Marianne of her storytelling enamel jewelry. While he once carved functional smoking pipes, each new series of turned-wood vessels from Bill has grown more sculptural and contemplative.

“We met in 1970 at the first indoor craft show in Los Angeles in a movie studio in West Hollywood,” remembers Bill. Those were exciting times, the formative days of the contemporary craft movement. Shows, he notes, were “free-form” and “earthy, grassroots” affairs. Booths consisted of a blanket thrown over a table. “For me, it meant I could be in control of my life,” says Bill. “I could make what I wanted, and it was well received. That was my confirmation.”

For more of “Natural Rhythms,” pick up a December 2006 issue of AmericanStyle today!

Editor’s Note

October 2006 | BY Hope Daniels | Issue 52 | NO COMMENTS

The festive “Five Bags,” created by husband-and-wife team John Littleton and Kate Vogel, is part of the extraordinary collection of art and craft works assembled by North Carolina collectors Dudley and Lisa Anderson. Photography by Ray Strawbridge

Christmas will be coming a little early this year for a handful of visual and performing artists, thanks to the generosity of four American philanthropic foundations and a new nonprofit organization called United States Artists.

Launched in September 2005 with $20 million in seed funding provided by the Ford, Rockefeller, Prudential and Alaska-based Rasmuson foundations, United States Artists (USA) will announce the recipients of its first 50 $50,000 USA Fellowships— with no strings attached—at a gala celebration at Jazz at Lincoln Center in New York City on Dec. 4.

Why am I excited?

In looking at the list of 362 artists from 48 states who were nominated for the 2006 fellowships, the Crafts and Traditional Arts category contains 31 nominees working in ceramics (11), basketry (6), jewelry (3), Native American crafts (2), glass (1), furniture (2), book arts (2) and multi-media (4). Hooray for craft artists!

The nominees range from 21 to 100 years of age and were nominated by 150 anonymous arts leaders from around the country. And it gets better. Just listen to what USA has to say about its mission:

“USA’s long-term vision is to create an organization dedicated to the unlimited promise of our finest artists. Our horizon is not three, five or 25 years but rather 100 years and beyond. Building on our base of private funding, our aspiration is to be permanently endowed. Distributing significant grants to a diverse array of our nation’s best artists quickly, efficiently and with minimal expense is our top priority.”

The new organization was spurred in part by a 2003 Urban Institute report, “Investing in Creativity: A Study of the Support Structure for U.S. Artists,” that documented the plight of working artists since the mid-1990s and confirmed that while 96 percent of Americans value art in their lives and communities, only 27 percent value artists. It also pointed out that although many artists enjoy success in commercial markets, significant numbers of American artists live on the economic margins of society with inadequate support systems.

USA has wholeheartedly thrown its support to working artists. Now let all the rest of us—craft collectors, craft lovers, art buyers, arts enthusiasts, arts educators and friends—throw our support to United States Artists. Check it out for yourself at www.unitedstatesartists.org.

Hope Daniels
Editor-In-Chief

Banner Day for Big Art

October 2006 | BY The AmericanStyle Staff | Issue 52 | NO COMMENTS

Too poor to own an original Van Gogh, but not so cheap that you’ll throw a reproduction of “Sunflowers” on your wall? Consider an exhibition banner. The large-scale vinyl banners, primarily mounted on city light poles, have become so popular that a business has been created to sell them to the public.

Husband-and-wife team Nick and Nora Weiser obtain the limited-edition banners from their partner museums. Those that haven’t suffered from their extended outdoor exposure are cleaned and offered for sale at BetterWall.com. A portion of the retail price ($295 to $1,495) is returned to the museum.

BetterWall has arrangements with more than 20 art museums, including New York’s Museum of Modern Art.

Given the demand for the banners, some institutions go it alone, pocketing all the profits. The Museum of Fine Arts, Boston offers its banners through its gift store. Banners from its David Hockney exhibition retail for $500, and the museum next will sell banners from its “Americans in Paris” exhibition.

Arts Travel: Dishing Up the Best in Art and Craft

September 2006 | BY The AmericanStyle Staff | Issue 51 | NO COMMENTS

Photo Credit: Matt Flynn

Now’s the time to start plotting your fall calendar, and AmericanStyle is here to help.

We’ve sifted through the listings for major upcoming shows and exhibitions all over the country to highlight the best of the best in every medium of contemporary craft, and whether you’d prefer staying close to home or hitting the road, there’s bound to be at least one blockbuster exhibition or retail show that sets your gotta-see-it juices flowing.

Whether you’re looking to brush up on your art history (we recommend “Americans in Paris—1860-1900,” a traveling exhibition organized by the National Gallery, London and the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston) or focus on your favorite medium (“Glass: Material Matters,” at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, for instance, or “Sam Maloof— Dean of American Furniture Makers,” at the Mingei International Museum in San Diego), there’s something on the Fall/Winter Arts Calendar for just about everyone.

Read on, but be sure to keep a sharpened pencil and your Day-Timer nearby.

Museums Roll Out the Shows

Fall exhibitions run the gamut from painting and drawing to the funkiest of funky art furniture. Here’s a sampling:

“Americans in Paris: 1860-1900″ at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (through Sept. 24) travels to the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York on its next stop (Oct. 24-Jan. 28, 2007). The exhibition examines paintings by artists, including James McNeill Whistler, John Singer Sargent and Mary Cassatt, who found inspiration in Parisian education and culture.

“Transforming Chronologies: An Atlas of Drawings, Part Two” at the Museum of Modern Art in New York (through Oct. 2) features late-19th-century to present-day drawings, inviting the viewer to draw new meaning from the artworks’ positioning next to one another.

“Paul Klee: New to the Djerassi Collection” at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (through Oct. 9) consists of 23 handselected Klee works, collected by Dr. Carl Djerassi since 2000.

“Sam Maloof—Dean of American Furniture Makers” and “Martha Longenecker— Designer Craftsman”
at the Mingei International Museum in San Diego (running concurrently through Oct. 15) provide in-depth explorations of Maloof and Longenecker’s work in their respective fields of studio furniture and ceramics.

“Henri Rousseau: Jungles in Paris” at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., (through Oct. 15) explores the artist’s fantasy landscapes, portraits and jungle paintings.

“Feeding Desire: Design and the Tools of the Table, 1500-2005″ at the Cooper- Hewitt, National Design Museum in New York (through Oct. 29) explores the evolution of Western dining since the Renaissance through the museum’s flatware collections.

“Cai Guo-Qiang on the Roof: Transparent Monument”
in the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Roof Garden in New York (through Oct. 29) is a site-specific installation overlooking Central Park. Four works present the artist’s take on present-day issues.

“Splitting the Rainbow: Cut Glass in Color” at the Corning Museum of Glass in Corning, N.Y., (through Nov. 1) showcases 19th- and 20th-century cased glass from Europe and the U.S.

“Life INsight: The Human Experience” at the Kentucky Museum of Art and Craft in Louisville, Ky., (through Nov. 4) features ceramics, jewelry, metal, glass, fiber, studio furniture and mixed-media pieces inspired by the personal passages of life.

“Garry Knox Bennett: Call Me Chairmaker” at the Bellevue Arts Museum in Bellevue, Wash., (through Nov. 26) presents 52 of the artist’s one-of-a-kind colorful chairs that push the boundaries of studio furniture.

“European Works on Paper: Rembrandt’s Etchings” at the Blanton Museum of Art in Austin, Texas, (through Dec. 10) marks the new museum’s opening and also celebrates Rembrandt’s 400th birthday.

“Glass: Material Matters” at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (through Dec. 10) is the first exhibition of contemporary glass organized by the museum, and incorporates more than 100 works.

“Decades in Glass: The ’60s” at the Corning Gallery at Steuben in New York (through Jan. 6) explores the early years of the American Studio Glass movement.

“Out of Time: Contemporary Art from the Collection”
at the Museum of Modern Art in New York (through April 9) features work in all mediums that addresses time as experienced through cinema, dreams and memory, including works by Cady Noland, Mona Hatoum and Bill Viola.

“Ruth Duckworth, Modernist Sculptor” at the Smithsonian’s Renwick Gallery in Washington, D.C., (Sept. 1-Jan. 15) is a comprehensive retrospective containing 80 ceramic works in a variety of forms, many from the artist’s private collection.

“Woven Worlds: Basketry from the Clark Field Collection” at the Mint Museum of Craft + Design in Charlotte, N.C., (Sept. 9-Dec. 31) showcases 125 19th- and 20th-century North American Indian baskets drawn from the permanent collection of the Philbrook Museum of Art in Tulsa, Okla.

“Simply Droog: 10 + 3 Years of Creating Innovation and Discussion” at the Museum of Arts & Design in New York (Sept. 21-Jan. 14) explores how the international design collective uses low-cost, industrial and recycled materials to transform everyday objects.

“Georg Jensen Silversmiths” at the Philadelphia Museum of Art (Nov. 17- March 2007) focuses on the work of the renowned group of designers who helped establish the Jensen company.

East Coast, West Coast, Best of Show

Line up your itinerary and pack your bags—it’s time to hit the craft show circuit! This list includes some of the best retail craft shows in the country and will see you straight through the beginning of 2007.

The Alexandria Festival of the Arts, Alexandria, Va., annually attracts more than 80,000 people and features artists working in Northern Virginia (Sept. 9-10).

Now in its 32nd year, Common Ground Sanctuary Art in the Park, Birmingham, Mich., boasts 190 artists and a silent auction (Sept. 16-17).

The first annual Fine Furnishings Milwaukee Show, Milwaukee, Wis., offers extraordinary custom furniture made by American artists (Sept. 23- 24).

The 16th annual Sedona Arts Festival, Sedona, Ariz., showcases more than 110 artists from all over the country plus ongoing live entertainment (Oct. 7-8).

Wheaton Arts and Cultural Center Festival of Fine Craft, Millville, N.J., hosts more than 160 juried artists (Oct. 7-8).

Paradise City Arts Festival, Northampton, Mass., holds its 12th annual show of fine art and events for the whole family (Oct. 7-9).

Bayou City Art Festival, Houston, Texas, showcases more than 300 artists in all mediums, set against a backdrop of the downtown skyline (Oct. 14-15).

Craft Fair of the Southern Highlands, Asheville, N.C., offers work by 200 craft artists on two floors, plus demonstrations and live entertainment (Oct. 19-22).

Westchester Craft Show, White Plains, N.Y., now in its 13th year, offers work by 115 juried artists in all mediums (Oct. 20- 22).

Kentuck Festival of the Arts, Northport, Ala., features more than 250 juried artists, plus continuous performances of blues, bluegrass, folk, country and gospel music (Oct. 21-22).

The 11th Annual Fine Furnishings Providence Show, Providence, R.I., offers custom furniture and handcrafted accessories at the Rhode Island Convention Center
(Oct. 27-29).

American Craft Council Show, Charlotte, N.C., features work from the finest artists of American crafts (Nov. 1-3).

Autumn Festival—An Arts and Crafts Affair, Omaha, Neb., highlights hundreds of artists from more than 30 states selling handmade wares (Nov. 2-5).

International Quilt Festival, Houston, Texas, offers a wide selection of artists’ booths, lectures and classes
(Nov. 2-5).

Philadelphia Museum of Art Craft Show, Philadelphia, Pa., celebrates its 30th anniversary this year with an exhibition of works by 195 juried artists (Nov. 2-5).

SOFA Chicago, Chicago, Ill., an international exposition of galleries and artists, is coupled with an extensive lecture series on art and craft topics for collectors, enthusiasts and arts professionals (Nov. 10-12).

Best of the Northwest, Seattle, Wash., features regional artists in all mediums (Nov. 17-19).

Paradise City Arts Festival, Marlborough, Mass., includes some 175 artists exhibiting museum-quality contemporary and fine art (Nov. 17-19).

Washington Craft Show, Washington, D.C., presents 185 of the nation’s leading craft artists at the Washington Convention Center (Nov. 17-19).

CraftArt 2006, the annual Florida Craftsmen exhibition in St. Petersburg, Fla., takes place indoors and outdoors at the historic St. Petersburg Coliseum (Nov. 18-19).

The 43rd Piedmont Craftsmen’s Fair, Winston-Salem, N.C., held annually since 1963, showcases work by more than 150 craft artists from across the Southeast
(Nov. 18-19).

Sawdust Art Festival, Laguna Beach, Calif., is the original holiday festival, now in its 16th year
(Nov. 18-19, 24-26; Dec. 2-3, 9-10).

Celebration of Craftswomen, San Francisco, Calif., is the city’s largest holiday fine crafts retail fair
(Nov. 25-26, Dec. 2-3).

American Craft Council Show, Sarasota, Fla., promotes collectors and contemporary craft artists alike (Dec. 1-3).

The 21st Crafts at the Castle, Boston, Mass., sets up for its second year at the Hynes Convention Center
(Dec. 1-3).

Tempe Festival of the Arts, Tempe, Ariz., includes more than 400 artist booths lining Mill Avenue and the surrounding streets (Dec. 1-3).

Best of the Northwest, Portland, Ore., features work in everything from metal to photography (Dec. 9-10).

PalmBeach3, West Palm Beach, Fla., is three shows in one, providing contemporary art, photography and decorative arts (Jan. 12-15, 2007).

Celebration of Fine Art, Scottsdale, Ariz., presents a wide variety of art in all styles, housed in big white tents where participating artists set up working studios
(Jan. 13- March 25).