Associated Artists Gallery closing, New ones opening

Photographer Bob Hageman and Dick Lawson try to explain why Associated Artists Gallery is closing in January: as the Southern Illinoisan reports: "[It] voted itself out of existence at its December meeting. . . .The gallery was formed in 1983 as the Carbondale Artists Cooperative . . . located on South Illinois Avenue next to the Kaleidoscope gift shop. . . ," but never recovered from the move to The Island, where it became more of gift shop.

". . . [A]rtists . . . intend to go on with their work and find new venues - maybe even a new association and new gallery -- including a symbiotic relationship . . . between Southern Illinois wineries and Southern Illinois artists."

Newly-found Rockwell sets record

Yahoo! News: Rockwell found behind wall sets record: "One of Norman Rockwell's most famous paintings, discovered hidden behind a fake wall in its owner's Vermont home, has sold for $15.4 million.

'Breaking Home Ties,' which 'Henry' comic strip illustrator Donald Trachte Sr. purchased from Rockwell when the two were neighbors in Arlington, Vt., was sold to an anonymous telephone bidder, Sotheby's auction house said Thursday."

Art Over Easy

Premiere Art Auction & Gala
Dec. 1, 2006
7-9:30 p.m.
Surplus Gallery @ The Glove Factory

Damaged Picasso repair

Wynn's damaged Picasso being repaired - Yahoo! News: "Casino mogul Steve Wynn lost $139 million, but got to keep one of his favorite paintings when he poked a hole in a Picasso last month. . . . Now it will cost Wynn $85,000 to repair the damage to the art work, if not his pride.

Honored ceramist to show works at SIUC

Honored ceramist to show works at SIUC: "A celebrated ceramist will showcase his work at Southern Illinois University Carbondale next week as part of the Visiting Artists program at the University's School of Art and Design, part of the College of Liberal Arts.

David Furman, professor of ceramics at Pitzer College in Claremont, Calif., will present a slide lecture and a demonstration on Thursday, Nov. 2 at 5 p.m. in room 161 of Lawson Hall. The event is free and open to the public. The fine arts activity fee funds the Visiting Artists program.

'Furman's visit will give SIUC students and faculty a unique opportunity to learn from this great artist,' said Jiyong Lee, assistant professor of glass and chair of the Visiting Artists committee."

Exhibit showcases young artists' creations

Exhibit showcases young artists' creations: "Creations by young artists will be on display at Southern Illinois University Carbondale's School of Art and Design from 10 to 11 a.m. on Saturday, Oct. 28, in room 102 of the Allyn Building. This event is free and open to the public.

The exhibit will showcase artwork produced during the 'Saturday Young Artists Workshop,' an eight-week series offered by the School of Art and Design's art education department. The school is part of the College of Liberal Arts."

Pokes Picasso Painting

U.S. casino magnate gives Picasso's dream the elbow: "Picasso's famed 'Dream' painting turned into a nightmare for Las Vegas casino magnate Steve Wynn when he accidentally gave the multimillion dollar canvas an elbow.

Wynn had just finalized a $139 million sale to another collector of his painting, called 'Le Reve' (The Dream), when he poked a finger-sized hole in the artwork while showing it to friends at his Las Vegas office a couple of weeks ago.

Director and screenwriter Nora Ephron, who witnessed and related the incident in her blog on the Huffington Post Web site (www.huffingtonpost.com), said Wynn had raised his hand to show the group something about Picasso's 1932 portrait of his mistress Marie-Therese Walter."

Fess Up

Making preparations for artist Steve Fessler's show The Shape of Things, at Art Lovers Trading Company gallery tonight. There was a nice photo/write-up in Flipside, the best online entertainment weekly in the region.

Art Biz Blog: Well Done Artist's Blog

Art Biz Blog: Well Done Artist's Blog

Fine Art Photography Organization's Innovative Marketing Makes Them a Top Google Find

Press Release: Fine Art Photography Organization's Innovative Marketing Makes Them a Top Google Find:

The Center for Fine Art Photography, occupying the third floor of the Museum of Contemporary Art in historic Old Town, Fort Collins, Colorado, this unique international organization and its gallery is best known on the world wide web than around its own state. According to Google statistics, with 61,000,000 returns, the Center’s website is ranked in the top fifteen for "fine art photography" searches. An incredible accomplishment in just over two years.

Art Blog

Local art mogul starts Art Blog

SIUC artist's work on display at St. Louis gallery: "A celebrated African-American artist from Southern Illinois University Carbondale is showcasing his paintings during the 'Show Me St. Louis Artists' festival at the Portfolio Gallery and Education Center in St. Louis.

Najjar Abdul-Musawwir, SIUC assistant professor of art, is among an elite group of artists selected to display their work at the Portfolio Gallery, a venue that is a haven for African-American artistic expression.

'I'm really honored to be showing my work at this gallery,' Abdul-Musawwir said. 'It has hosted some major events. This year the National Association of African American Museums will visit the facility. My work will seen by art enthusiasts from across the country!'

The seven Musawwir paintings in the exhibition are part of his 'Fatiha and Door of Return' series. In Arabic, 'Fatiha' means opening or door."

Paintings reveal pollution clues: "Paintings by Claude Monet could shed light on pollution in London at the turn of the 20th Century, experts say.

University of Birmingham researchers have pinpointed the dates and times of depicted scenes by analysing the position of the Sun in the sky.

The research also revealed the French painter's vantage point: a second floor terrace at St Thomas's Hospital."

Young and In Charge

Career Moves - All Business - Yahoo! Finance: "Being young and in charge isn't a typical scenario for the top brass of publicly traded companies. Of the companies on Wall Street's Russell 2000 Index, there are just eight chiefs age 35 or under."

CEO'ers visit Art Lovers

The group from SIUC's "Camp CEO" visited the Art Lovers gallery yesterday... and they got an eyeful of art, as well as a brief demo of the gallery's computer systems for inventory sales and management. 

Guggenheim in UAE with no Nudes?

Art News Blog: Guggenheim in UAE with no Nudes?: "The United Arab Emirates will soon have the largest Guggenheim museum to be built. The New York based Guggenheim Foundation currently has museums in New York, Bilbao, Venice, Berlin, and Las Vegas.
The American architect Frank Gehry will build Guggenheim Abu Dhabi (GAD) which will be located on a Gulf island (Saadiyat) near the United Arab Emirates capital. It is expected to be 30,000 square meters or 322,800 square feet and will be completed within five years.

The interesting thing about such a grand museum for contemporary art is that there will be no nudes or works that are confrontational in any way, which includes works of a religious nature."

Artwork by young students

Artwork by students on display at SIUC: "Local middle and high school students are showcasing their artwork at Southern Illinois University Carbondale's University Museum as a part of the 'Art Fusion' exhibit, which opened July 5 and runs through Aug. 8."

Sand Painter Victor DeGraff and Carbondale Community Arts assistant Teresa Fix have put up 20 of Victor's finest paintings on display at Carbondale Civic Center for the month of July.

Next First Friday

The gallery at Art Lovers Trading Co. will be taking the summer off from First Friday events until September, when the nudes of Larry Bernstein will be featured.

1 painting every day

1 painting every day: " Jeremiah Palecek of the Czech Republic set out with the intention of making a painting a day on may 8th 2005 after seeing Duane Keisers painting blog. One year later [he] had created 154 new paintings. All paintings are for sale."

Painting sells for $135,000,000

Klimt painting sold for record $135 mln: report - Yahoo! News

Art gallery loses its head, displays plinth - Yahoo! News

Art gallery loses its head, displays plinth - Yahoo! News: "One of Britain's most prestigious art galleries put a block of slate on display, topped by a small piece of wood, in the mistaken belief it was a work of art.

The Royal Academy included the chunk of stone and the small bone-shaped wooden stick in its summer exhibition in London.

But the slate was actually a plinth -- a slab on which a pedestal is placed -- and the stick was designed to prop up a sculpture. The sculpture itself -- of a human head -- was nowhere to be seen.

'I think the things got separated in the selection process and the selectors presented the plinth as a complete sculpture,' the work's artist David Hensel told BBC radio."

Local boy makes art prints

Segura Publishing thrives in topsy-turvy business:

"The print art world can be a risky place to invest your dollars. Sometimes you win and sometimes you can be financially devastated. Joe Segura, a master printer, artist and owner of Segura Publishing Co. of Mesa, has experienced both the ups-and-downs of the print art industry."

Segura attended SIU in Carbondale.

Dimensions and Dreamscapes for June

Christa Barnell is the First Friday artist for June. Opening June 2 (5:30 - 8:30 pm) at Art Lovers gallery at 201 E. Main St., Barnell's show "Dimensions and Dreamscapes" offers clever and colorful paintings that take her viewers on an "out of body experience" or regress them into the magical state of childhood.

Christa is an established fine artist who holds a BFA from the School of Creative Arts in Fort Wayne. Growing up in the woods of rural Indiana, Christa tuned into her spiritual connection with nature, and turned to painting as a relief from chronic headaches.

Christa has been displaying her whimsical art at juried exhibitions and galleries across the Indiana state and winning various awards. After taking Second Place in a National Contest, her painting, "My Life on a Shelf" was exhibited at the John Hancock Building in Chicago. "Post Angel" took Best Work, First Time Exhibitor, Contemporary, at the 80th Annual Hoosier Salon
in Indianapolis. Recently Christa's story and her art was featured in Angels On Earth magazine, a Guidepost publication. The artist is at the beginning of her career and currently lives here in Carbondale, Illinois with her husband Todd and their two cats.

Her web site is ChristaGallery.Com

Makanda Fest Success

Reported in The Southern Illinois:
Makanda Fest Success: "Tom Horn, a sculptor from Cobden, said Makanda's mellow atmosphere makes for a perfect way to soak in the season.

'It's nice to kick off the spring with some good music and food,' Horn said. ''I just love it here.'"

Friendship Plaza Sculpture

Statue unveiled at Friendship Plaza.

Christler's Mother

If the face looks familiar, that's Christa Barnell's mother pictured at left. If the foot on Christa's painting looks familiar, it's because mom's feet provided the model for the painting. 

OOps

The recent show of prisoner art at the Carbondale Civic Center by Carbondale Community Arts resulted in one piece being removed, since there were some complaints about the subject matter. This is it. We at Art Lovers understand the need to keep exposed breasts out of public buildings. At this writing, no paintings of exposed breasts can be found on the walls of Art Lovers gallery either, but it might be fun to hang this one on the wall for a week or two, or put it up for auction on the new Ebay store.

Make Way for Jane Plain

  

Mr. Sandman

 

Who is Jane Plain?

Art Lovers Trading Company, 201 E. Main St. Carbondale, is proud to present "Jane Plain" Eclectic Accessories to wear with blue jeans and boots. Jewelry, hand bags, and clothing for any ho who dares to design their own style.

Jewelry is created by using silver, natural stone and beads. Clothing and purses are made with natural fabrics.

Who is Jane Plain? Here's a clue: Jane attended school in Silverton, Oregon and is a self-taught artist.

Jane says "if you obey all the rules, you miss all the fun."

What's New?

Some new items were added to the Art Lovers inventory today. To the left, Fran Jaffe's gourd masks; in the middle tapestry by Sue Spurlock, and some audacious female dolls. Also, some ceramic pieces by Dan Johnson, on view at Dan's Art Lovers' web page.

Poster post

Art Lovers is pleased to announce the additon of Poster artist Robert Hunter. You can view Robert's work posted on his Art Lovers' artist page.

Ads by Google, by Golly

Greetings, Art Lovers.

As you can see, the Art Lovers Trading Company web site has been developing slowly . . . like a masterpiece created by one of you! -- except in a different medium. Thanks to Patrick Barnes at MidnighTech for slowly but surely making the desires of Art Lover #1 a reality. Currently, a new home page is being developed by web mistress Martha Worrell to make it even warmer and friendlier than it already is.!

Why the Google Ads, you ask? Just another service to our readers and patrons . . . an opportunity to shop outside the confines of Art Lovers' walls and windows.

Artists Christa Barnell and Larry Bernstein join sand painter Victor DeGraff at Art Lovers on the First Friday of April. Bernstein, former chairman of the SIUC Art Department, is himself scheduled to be a First Friday artist, as is Barnell. 

Boy sticks gum on valuable painting - Yahoo! News

Boy sticks gum on valuable painting - Yahoo! News: "DETROIT (Reuters) - Painter Helen Frankenthaler's landmark abstract work 'The Bay' just got a little more abstract. . . . A 12-year-old boy visiting the Detroit Institute of Arts with his school group on Friday stuck a wad of chewing gum on the painting, which is worth an estimated $1.5 million, the Detroit Free Press said."

Mandala Sand Painters on Campus

As part of International Week at SIU, a group of Tibetan monk sand painters (from India) are creating a mandala for the occasion. Better look fast, because the creation is only temporary and the sand will be returned to the river by the monks in a religious ceremony over the weekend. (That's the Dalai Lama in the photo).

Art Lovers own sand painter Victor Degraff will be visiting the monks and exchanging sand painting strategies. 

Love-themed works on display on annual art show

Love-themed works on display on annual art show: "The dress code was open for interpretation at the 'Love at the Glove' art show Saturday night, with attendees dressed in everything from drag to regular street clothes.

'Love at the Glove' is an annual anti-Valentines' day art show where SIUC art students, as well as the general public, can submit their love-themed works. It is sponsored by the League of Art and Design and the Graduate Association of Painters and Printmakers."

Leather on the Walls, Music in the Air

Leather artist and songwriter Daniel Cooper, from Nashville, Tennessee, graced the Art Lovers gallery, last night for a new opening on the First Friday of February. Art patrons were treated not only to Daniel's tactile art, but also the sax and keyboard jazz stylings of 5th generation Carbondalean, Shadi Frick, as well as a song by Daniel called "Cockroaches, Keith Richards, and me." Among the other artists in attendance was Victor Degraff, whose cave paintings in sand bear a striking resemblance to Cooper's oil on leather renditions. 

Versatile artist; Versatile musician

Throughout the month of February at Art Lovers Trading Company in Carbondale, Daniel Cooper, a leather artist, knife maker, and songwriter from Nashville, Tennessee will be the featured artist, beginning on the First Friday of the month.

Mr. Cooper attended college in Southern California, in the early 1970's, studying sculptural ceramics, before moving to Hawaii, where he taught ceramics, pottery, stained glass, screen printing, jewelry, silver and gold fabrication, and casting, lapidary, leather, advanced woodworking. His work has received many prestigious awards, including "1998 Best of Show" at the Mountain Artist Rendezvous in Jackson Hole, Wyoming.

Daniel currently produces one-of-a-kind hand-made sculptural items made from deer and elk antler, hand painted leather wall art, leather bags, cell phone cases, and other custom leather accessories.

Daniel Cooper has also been a performing musician, and songwriter for over 35 years. He moved to the Nashville area in 2002 to write music for the country/rock market, and continue producing his art, which can be viewed at www.danielcooperart.com

A versatile musician, Shadi Frick, will perform his jazzy, bluesy musical stylings at the opening.

Lecture series

"Organizers of a new lecture series aim to expose SIUC students to contemporary, line-blurring art.

Sponsored by the college of Mass Communication and Media Arts, the lecture series 'Tactics and Critics'"Read more.

Fran Jaffe, Artist: spiritual image art using gourds and other mixed media

One of the Art Lovers gallery most creative artists has joined the ranks of the world wide web -- Check out: Fran Jaffe, Artist