From her window as a child, Robin Braun could look beyond the grassy yard out to the Chesapeake Bay. The water, its tides and artifacts, would fascinate her from then on. Today an accomplished artist, Braun is best known for her fine, small paintings of the ocean, rivers and marshes, and the insects and bees that live in their grassy midst. She also paints scenes of farmland and rivers viewed from her studio in Southern Albemarle County, Virginia. “The water and high tides were deeply embedded in me at an early age,” says Braun, … Continue reading Art by Robin Braun→
I could argue that there is, in fact, an art to the garage sale – I’ve certainly claimed more than a few cheap treasures – but I wouldn’t imagine scouting for such in the hushed halls of the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA). Tell that to MoMA curators who recently launched “Meta-Monumental Garage Sale” in the museum’s open and noisy atrium. Here donated items were browsed – and bought – as they might have spilled from a friend’s front porch or wide backyard. Had I been an art participant all these years and never known … Continue reading In Your Own Backyard→
Charlottesville performance artist Avery Lawrence recently claimed the Grand Prize of Art Takes Miami 2012 competition. The “edgy,” contemporary SCOPE art fair was held in early December concurrently with Art Basel. Lawrence’s interactive, winning show, Arranging Suitcases, is an imaginative mix of painting, film and performances based on “personal memories” turned into “visual yarns.” His first daily performance, Assembling the Instrument, was inspired by his paternal grandmother “who picks up with a new man and a new life after her husband’s death (from a brain aneurysm).” Lawrence reenacts a video scene dramatizing his grandmother’s … Continue reading Art by Avery Lawrence→
Streetlight Magazine is going global. We are now pleased to be receiving readers and art submissions from abroad. Among them, are artists Fabio Sassi of Bologna, Italy and Eleanor Leonne Bennett of Manchester, England. Sassi has been a self-taught, visual artist since 1990. ”I’ve been influenced by Andy Warhol and the Pop Art movement, the Arte Povera (literally Poor Art) movement mixed with a bit of Wabi Sabi,” he says. Besides photography, Sassi also works in acrylics, stenciling on canvas, board or vinyl records. “I use the stencil technique and have cut more than 100 patterns. Recently, I am tending to use real … Continue reading Art Imports from Abroad→
Streetlight’s third issue features the work of Charlottesville painter Cynthia Burke and photographer John Grant. They talk here about the progression and process of their work. Cynthia Burke SL: Cynthia Burke, how did you come to paint birds and animals, especially ones often dressed in such imaginative finery? CB: Coming from New York City, I didn’t know anything about animals..I didn’t have a chance to be around them…I think I’ve always been a little scared of animals. A lot of my animals are dressed up, maybe to make them humorous and a little more friendly. Some … Continue reading Art in Albemarle and Beyond…{issue no.3}→
“The Art of the 15th and 16th centuries is a gold mine of inspiration for me as well as the lithographs of the early Naturalists. I am also drawn to textiles and often have backgrounds resembling rich fabrics. The diversity of the natural world yields a never-ending supply of subjects for my paintings, however I never place my subjects in their natural environment. It seems far more interesting to give them a little of ours. The result is sometimes humorous and, I hope, often thought provoking. The accessories in my paintings which seem … Continue reading Art by Cynthia Burke→
“In my photographic work I seek to distill and dramatize natural elements, transforming them into symbolic metaphor. I embrace the often clichéd or sentimental botanical portrayal, presenting objects in ways that infuse them with an enigmatic quality that expands expectations and tweaks the imagination. In my career, I’ve now come full circle, back to my original interests and instinctive love of photography. Experimenting with new technological tools and techniques, my work most often focuses on botanical imagery. My work featured in Streetlight ranges from 2006 to 2012. It reflects my continuing … Continue reading Art by John Grant→
“The ceramic vase is 5 years young, a complete improvisation, based on the seed crystal of a female model saying that this session was her last, that she would be flying away. Thus I drew the flying female figure thema. This vase is from an exhibition called Deep In Shallow Thoughts. “The Bucketus Ignobilus is from an exhibition last autumn called Long Winded Short Stories, and the drawing is to be a plate in an upcoming book of drawings. The image is a double self-portrait actually lifted from the back side of … Continue reading Art by Robert Bricker→
“These drawings were done during an experimental period when I was drawing from reality and from my projected photographs (slides). I loved the idea that I could juxtapose images…like a location and geese in a pond with something floating above them. I think the images relate to poetry in that you can have a line in a poem saying one thing and then another saying something else that’s associative. It leaves a lot to your imagination.” Chica Tenney’s work explores themes of ritual, human connection, a sense of place and the evolution of … Continue reading Art by Chica Tenney→
Artists Chica Tenney and Robert Bricker Streetlight’s second issue features the work of Virginia artists Chica Tenney and Robert Bricker. Tenney, a painter and multi-medium artist, and Bricker, a sculptor, generously share their thoughts on the philosophy and evolution of their work with Streetlight. SL: How has your work evolved over time? Robert Bricker: I have always been a figurative artist, whether it be drawing, sculpture, poetry, lyric or literature. My sense of composition has developed a lot. I do not let traditional proportion and anatomy interfere at all with the Rhyme Scheme of a … Continue reading Art in Albemarle and Beyond… {issue no.2}→
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