Inspired by the beautiful northwestern Pennsylvania countryside of her youth, Wendy Wolf uses a distinctive multi-layered color wash technique with acrylics to paint colorful, yet tranquil pieces.  Almost 15 years ago, Ms. Wolf began her art career as a muralist, creating hundreds of unique pieces for private, corporate, and institutional clients.  In addition to murals, her artwork has expanded to include commissioned portraits and paintings, with many of her images being licensed to various companies to be used in products ranging from (more…)

South African artist William Kentridge produces works that exist somewhere between film, drawing and theater and sometimes as a combination of all three. Kentridge’s drawings and stop-motion videos often have a subtle but reflectively political undertone, investigating the cultural dualities of South Africa and the artist’s birth city of Johannesburg.

Along with Jeff Koons, Cindy Sherman, John Baldessari and Carrie Mae Weems, Mr. Kentridge will be featured in season five (more…)

“Hello Laughing Dog” — That’s the title of this work by Kim Robertson, also in the exhibit at the Riverrun Gallery (see previous post about Rachel Bliss).

“I paint the moment,” she writes on her web site. “My world is raw, visceral and emotional. My marks are sure, angry, confused, and free. They reflect the confluence of my daily life, personal interactions, turmoil, love, dream and demons. My acrylic and mixed media paintings on canvas, wood and found objects are a diary of my personal travels through personal pain and growth.”

Back in 2002, I discovered the amazing artist, Rachel Bliss, in a show at the Ruth Morpeth Gallery. I’m excited to see that her work is returning to the area at Lambertville’s Riverrun Gallery, July 3-26.(Pictured at left is “Jumping Bunny.”

Here’s what I wrote about her Morpeth exhibit:

At the Ruth Morpeth Gallery in Hopewell, all the eyes in the paintings (more…)

and that I had a spare $26,500 to top the final bidder on this Grueby extremely rare tile incised and embossed with a family of elephants, covered in polychrome matte glazes.  It is aperfectly fired example of matte painting, according to the folks at Rago Arts & Auction Center in Lambertville.

Arts & Crafts enthusiasts turned out en masse for Rago’s June 13 (more…)

This summer, the Princeton Public Library,65 Witherspoon St., Princeton, will screen a series of films about artists: Beautiful Losers will screen July 1 (you can read my story about that film in TIMEOFF this week); June 29, Surviving Picasso (Merchant/Ivory); July 6, Vincent and Theo (Robert Altman); July 27, Who the Bleep is Jackson Pollock; Aug. 10, Frida; Aug. 24, Basquiat (Julian Schnabel); and Aug. 31, Vicky Cristina Barcelona (Woody Allen). All screenings are at 7 p.m. 609-924-9529; www.princetonlibrary.org

Hollywood’s portrayal of the art world will be the topic of a talk at the library July 13, 7 p.m. Caroline Harris, the Princeton University Art Museum’s curator of education and academic programming, will address the way filmmakers depict the unique personalities of visual artists.  She will focus on two of the most influential personalities in the history of art.

Last weekend, my son Everett and I went to Brooklyn to shoot the bridge. My father, who lives in Florida, wanted a picture of his favorite marvel of engineering and Everett came up with the brilliant idea of going there to take the picture.

We were able to park on Court and Bergen Streets, ate lunch at a favorite Lebanese restaurant on Atlantic Avenue, then (more…)

In the 28 years he worked at the Johnson Atelier, Rory Mahon helped to cast the work of some of the world’s most important artists. He also operated his own foundry in the 90s and has demonstrated his techniques all over the world.

“My pieces are oriented with reference to the plight of the planet,”  Mr. Mahon told me while the Atelier was still active. “I use stone to represent the planets with a focus on environmental concerns, such as the devastation that could be awaiting our planet. The cast metal represents man’s intervention.”

One of his bronze works looks like a world sliced in half, the hemisphere resting on its curved side, offering a view of its rich lumpy core. Another looks (more…)

I admired one of these little bronze figures by Kate Graves at Ellarslie Director Brian Hill’s house last year, and now I’ve learned that Mercer County College Gallery Curator Tricia Fagan has bought one, too. If anyone reading this is thinking about what to give me for Winter Solstice ‘09 — or better yet, a nice July 4 gift — don’t hesitate!

You can see Kate Graves’ bronzes at Artworks while signing in for the Mill Hill Garden Tour — see post below.

And speak of Tricia Fagan, she’s just started her own blog:

www.artallover.blogspot.com – a little friendly competition!

Artworks, Trenton’s downtown visual arts center, will become a lush garden of art with an exhibition of work by artists whose work features a garden theme or is made for placement in the garden. It’s all part of the Spring Garden Art Show held in conjunction with the Mill Hill Garden Tour June 13, noon to 5 p.m.

Participating artists include Eric Botbyl, Gail Bracegirdle,  Jim Doherty, Annelies van Dommelen, Vanessa Fenton, Colleen Frendak Furnari, Kathryn Jennings, Kate Graves, Wm. Coleman Mills, Glenn Moore, Lauren Otis, Jo Robinson, David Robinson,  Robin Robinson, Ashley Shochat, Suzanne Stevenson, and Andrew Wilkinson. (more…)