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

Sand Painter software

Vic DeGraff should get a load of this: Sand Painter

What is 17.5' high and where?

As reported in The Southern Illinoisan: ". . . [S]tudents of Carbondale Community High School will have new art inspiration added to their daily lives. John Medwedeff, a Murphysboro sculptor who has displayed more than a dozen pieces of public art across the nation, will unveil his latest work at 5 p.m. in the cafeteria courtyard of CCHS.

The art for CCHS was commissioned by Carbondale Community Arts as part of the ArtWorks initiative. ArtWorks aims to place fine art in public educational spaces throughout Carbondale as an effort to heighten arts awareness and access for all students."

September's First Friday Artist

Visual Artist Najjar Abdul-Musawwir received his education in the School of Art and Design at Southern Illinois University Carbondale, IL. He uses his Islamic belief and abstract painting to develop his artwork from his African-American experience. As an assistant professor of art Najjar “has exhibited regionally, nationally, and internationally.” According to Najjar, “His paintings must reflect spiritual pleasure, energy and vision through the use of color and line movement.” His philosophy: “Inspiration from Allah (Al = One and lah = God) must be in the soul to produce Islamic art in any human experience.” Najjar has provided art and/or consultant services, lectures and workshops to public and private institutions. He has spoken at colleges and universities in the United States on topics of Islamic, African, and African-American art. He has worked with regional, national, and international Muslim artists. Some of his works: “Free- Dom Series,” “Garment Series,” “Ghanaian Stool Series”, “Islamic Love Letters,” and “Fatiha and Door of Return.”