Category Archives: Art

Fine Feathers: Miniatures by Dina Brodsky


 

    Birds in residence are the stuff of metaphors and dreams for New York City artist Dina Brodsky. Mysterious feathered fowl — from crows to blue jays — land in unexpected interiors, their residencies somehow natural as well as disturbing. “The current series — One More Shelter — shows abandoned places, buildings given over to decay and entropy, yet still containing the memories of its former inhabitants,” says Brodsky. “Albuquerque is a painting based on an incredibly formal, beautiful, and unusable dining room I saw in a New Mexico house. I imagined what the room and the objects would look … Continue reading Fine Feathers: Miniatures by Dina Brodsky

Aviary Wonders by Kate Samworth

Lithium
 

    Imagine a world without bird song. A world without bird beaks, long, sharp and charmingly curved. A world without feathered wings red, gold and green. Artist Kate Samworth did, in fact, imagine such a future world and came up with her own creative solution. In Aviary Wonders Inc., Samworth offers environmentalists and bird lovers of all ages, a mail order “catalog” from which to choose a colorful array of anatomy parts to assemble into unique and beautiful birds. Readers also can teach their fledglings to fly and choose the perfect chirps, whistles and … Continue reading Aviary Wonders by Kate Samworth

Allen Forrest: Berlin in the 1920s


 

      “I have an attraction to Berlin, especially the 1920s, when it was an art and science haven for the best and the brightest. I am also fascinated with German Expressionism, and many of the artists who were in residence in Berlin during the 20s,” says Allen Forrest, a Canadian artist whose work spans drawing and painting as well as computer graphics, film and video. “Music and dance were a very big part of Berlin in that era. Berlin was also in turmoil in the 1920s. The Nazis were still in their fledgling … Continue reading Allen Forrest: Berlin in the 1920s

Sam Abell: Cuba Up Close


 

Photographer Sam Abell is a seeker, camera in hand. A National Geographic staff photographer for 33 years, Abell has traveled from Japan to Newfoundland, from Australia to Russia discovering and shooting life’s “staying” moments. He continues to explore and photograph destinations of his own choosing. Most recently, he joined a dozen photographers on an invitation trip to Cuba honoring the 81st anniversary of Walker Evans’ photographing in Havana. Here too, Abell found dramatic scenarios, vibrant colors and easy camraderie. “I would say the number one ethos, sensation or emotion that you feel on the streets … Continue reading Sam Abell: Cuba Up Close

Up Close in Color and Black & White: Katherine Minott


 

  Western photographer Katherine Minott moves in close in color and black and white. Her closeups — abstracts as well as things recognizable — explore “the beauty hidden in every day objects, the sacred hidden in the mundane.” Her subjects from broken eggs and weathered wood to purple kayaks and hot pink splattered paint, highlight intense contrasts and intimate observation.     Minott equally enjoys shooting in color and black and white. “Often black and white lends itself     to capturing the ‘soul’ of something, like a tree with sunlight streaming through leaves,” she … Continue reading Up Close in Color and Black & White: Katherine Minott

Art Notes by Elizabeth Howard


 

Charlottesville’s Les Yeux du Monde Gallery is presently exhibiting a solo show by mixed media painter and landscapist Anne Slaughter, profiled earlier in Streetlight. Slaughter is known for her layered sculptures and earthy, semi abstract landscapes, works that show the effects of weather and time’s relentless passage. Her present show, Connections, is dedicated to figures, although faceless, for the first time. Slaughter’s show will run until November 16th. Visit https://www.lydm.co/ to read more. The McGuffey Arts Center’s Sarah B. Smith Gallery is now showing samples of the Charlottesville area’s quality pottery, fiber art, furniture, jewelry, glass, leather and … Continue reading Art Notes by Elizabeth Howard

Blake Hurt: “Gears are forever…”

Excess Power by Blake Hurt
 

  Machinery and tools—their design, operation and production—were early interests that would shape Blake Hurt’s professional and creative life. “I picked a field of engineering that would be relatively durable over time, where the current knowledge was unlikely to change. Computers change with the year, gears are forever,” says Hurt, a Virginia artist who earned degrees in mechanical engineering and business management from The Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Hurt worked briefly in New York finance before returning home to Charlottesville to establish his own building company. “When I started working in the building business, I … Continue reading Blake Hurt: “Gears are forever…”

Picasso, Lydia and Friends by Lyn Bolen Warren


 

Lydia was larger than life. Her paintings, installations, lectures and scholarship were all intertwined, embodying her probing and profound intellect and her far ranging quest to decipher modern culture through the art of Pablo Picasso and other artists. Born into a Jewish family in Focsani, Romaniain 1926, Lydia Csato survived the German occupation of her country during World War II and went on to study art and the law at the University of Bucharest. By the 1950s, she was one of the most successful painters working in the Social Realist style mandated by Romania’s Communist … Continue reading Picasso, Lydia and Friends by Lyn Bolen Warren

Roman Sirotin: Abandoned Beauty…


 

  Roman Sirotin, a native of Saint Petersburg, Russia is a multi-media artist drawn to beauty in many realms. A dancer, painter and photographer now living in Columbus, Ohio, Roman moved to America over a decade ago. In 2010, he began a creative collaboration with Columbus artist and dancer Jennifer Gordon. Together, they dance, paint and photograph dramatic images, many of abandoned buildings and stark spaces in the U.S. and abroad. “Abandoned places appeal to me due to the beauty of its decay and the atmosphere it gives off. They allow for moments of transcendence … Continue reading Roman Sirotin: Abandoned Beauty…

Subject to Change: Paintings by Richard Crozier

painting of Woolen Mills dam
 

  Artist Richard Crozier’s works are subjects of change…change of seasons, change of light, change of landscape and skyline. Over the past four decades, he has produced more than 3000 “portraits” of the Charlottesville area in transition. In 2011, Crozier retired as professor of studio art from UVa’s McIntire Department of Art, where since 1974, he’d taught beginning drawing and advanced painting and became known for his encouraging and engaging style. He continues to paint daily, producing up to five scenes a week. “The thing that interests me a lot are landscapes that are in … Continue reading Subject to Change: Paintings by Richard Crozier