Friends in mid-June Openings

Mid-June seems to be the time for many gallery openings. I attended 4 between Thursday and Sunday.

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I was Ahavani Mullen’s “plus one” for Art in Motion, which turned into a “presidential” FUSEDChicago gathering. (Ahavani is a vice president and I am co-President).

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There was an auction for paintings done by patients of the rehabilitation institute, and a few offered demonstrations of their painting skills throughout the evening.

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Since I had not been accepted to this show a few years back, I was curious to see what the aesthetic was, and can see that my art might not be the best fit. I was inspired by various pieces, even though I don’t generally veer toward the abstract.

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Whether it’s the mark-making, gestures, colors, I don’t know. I couldn’t tell you what separates true artistry and talent from low quality abstract work.

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FUSEDChicago co-President Michele Thrane had three encaustic monotypes in the show. (A monotype is described at this link.) Her work is featured in Embracing Encaustic: Mixing Media by Linda Robertson.

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Ahavani also had three encaustic pieces in the show. She successfully funded her upcoming Here and Now exhibit.

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Her diptych won third place.

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Someone channelled the Jurassic World movie premiere.

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We had a lovely dinner at Indian Garden and chatted about a multitude of things.

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Friday night I headed to Motor Row Gallery to see UnchARTed. This gallery was converted from an old dealership. Apparently this area is where one went to buy cars in historic Chicago.

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FUSEDChicago member Amy Van Winkle is part of this show.

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I love how she stitches into her encaustic work.

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My mentor and wax and wire teacher Crystal Neubauer has a multitude of collage works in the show.

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My favorite pieces (with butterflies of course) were already snapped up.

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There is so much texture in her work that you cannot see from photographs. Crystal’s book The Art of Expressive Collage: Techniques for Creating with Paper and Glue is available for preorder.

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I had a lovely conversation in Dutch with collage and acrylic artist Turkan Ilkdemirci, who spent several years in the Netherlands before moving to the U.S.

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Pam Peterson’s cold wax color palette spoke to me. UnchARTed runs through June 27 and its artists also include: Bill Sosin, James Edward Scherbarth, Nancy Pirri, Eve Ozer, Dianne Martia,and Cynthia Lee.

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Janet Lewandowski’s triptych reminded me of a discussion during Sarah Krepp’s art critique that is still simmering in my brain.

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I meandered over to Morpho Gallery for their STRATA opening with Carol Hamilton and Jeff Sevener.   STRATA is an exploration of colors and light through several diverse media.

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I was drawn into Jeff Sevener’s Tempest right away. His layering of papers and combining them with thread is exquisite.

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Then I entered the world of Carol’s multi-layered Madscapes. She combines mylar, rice paper, string and encaustic to create beautiful collage vignettes that can keep you mesmerized for hours.

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Her Earth Science wall of encaustic paintings is also a feast of texture and depth of her pieces.

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The texture and layers are bold on these pieces.

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So many favorites to choose from! This show closed on June 20, but another encaustic show is coming up.

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On Sunday I caught the last hour of the new Evanston Art Center’s inaugural exhibit “Hybrid’s Paradise” curated by Sergio Gomez.

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I got stuck chatting with people, so didn’t really have a chance to peruse the new art center, but admired the installation by the entrance.

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I love these metal mobiles and have a soldering class on my wish list.

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The lights were turned off just after I snapped pictures of this inspirational installation.

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I’ll have to return to the art center for the upstairs art. Hybrid’s Paradise remains up through August 9. Pick up a class catalog while you are there. An encaustic workshop is available on August 26.

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