June 15, 2014 Chihuly At the Denver Botanic Gardens

Several years ago the Denver Botanic Gardens began a practice of mounting huge sculpture shows running from summer into late fall.  A perfect venue for large sculpture, the Gardens have hosted such luminaries as Henry Moore, Kizuna by artists Tetsunori Lawana and Stephen Talasnik, Native Roots by Alan Hauser and last summer a group show of Colorado artists, Catalyst.  And now (roll of drums) blown glass botanical sculptures of Dale Chihuly, on view from June 14-November 30, 2014.

Chuhuly’s sculptures need light and there was lots of it today, a perfect Colorado Father’s Day with gentle breezes, brilliant sunlight and mild temperatures.  As the show had its official opening yesterday, the gardens were crowded but the grounds are large and there was plenty of room.  Everyone seemed to love the sculptures but my favorite overheard comment was from a little boy, maybe six tears old, who told his mother, “my favorite one is everything.”

I tried hard to get the names of the pieces but didn’t make it for all of them.  Here’s a sampling.  We hope to get back some evening when the sculptures are lit.

Blue Icicle 2014

Blue Icicle detail

Summer sun 2010

Summer sun detail

Monet Pool Fiori 2014

Detail

Detail

Russet Yellow Paintbrush Ikebana 2006

Imperial Blue Ikebana with Frog Foot Stems 2002

Golden Ikebana with Blue Sunflower and Violet Stem, 2001

June 8, 2014 The Future of Fiber Art- A Panel Discussion

Hope you were at Helikon Gallery yesterday morning. Five artist-participants in Contemporary Fiber Colorado Invitational 2014 aired their views about the future of fiber art and their own personal connections to the medium.  For those unable to attend…..there will be a video!  In a few days when footage has been edited there will be a link on the Helikon website, http://www.helikongallery.com, or Helikon blog and I will also post it here because it is not to be missed.  The discussion covered a wide range of related issues and some really good audience questions.  Though the topics were serious, there was a great deal of humor.

Participants were (L to R)  Sara Rockinger, Jeff Richards, Jo Fitsell, Ray Tomasso and Regina Benson.

Moderator was Carol Ann Waugh, artist and owner of aBuzz Gallery.

And here are some more photos of work included in the show:

Lea McComas, Material Girl-detail showing variety of fabrics and crumpled paper

Carol Ann Waugh, Tall Grass Prairie, hand-dyed fabrics; hand and machine embroidery

Jeffrey Richards, Deep Time

Jeffrey Richards, Deep Time, detail showing multitude of colored threads stretched on fiberboard

Jean Herman, Northeast, collaged fabrics

Regina Benson, Future Ruins #4, repurposed materials, rusted, burned, layered and stitched

Jo Fitsell, Night Ride Home, layered marbling, acrylic resist and dye on cotton, organza

Valerie White, Below Sacred Ground, mixed media textile

Deidre Adams, Composition VI, commercial fabrics, acrylic paint, stitch

Jill Powers, Xylem and Phloem

Jill Powers, Xylem and Phloem-detail, kozo bark fiber

6/6/2014 Contemporary Fiber Colorado Invitational 2014

At last, at last, yesterday evening was the opening reception for Contemporary Fiber, Colorado Invitational 2014 at Helikon Gallery 3675 Wynkoop St. in River North (RINO), Denver.  Curated by Carol Ann Waugh, artist and owner of aBuzz Gallery several streets away, and expertly displayed by Cayce Goldberg, Helikon Gallery Director, the show was a feast of diverse styles and expressions in all kinds of fiber and fiber-like materials.

I was thrilled and honored to have two of my works included in the show.  Here I am in front of In the Beginning.

And here is Cayce Goldberg talking with P.J.Bergen in front of Lea McComas’ Material Girl, the show’s post card image.

Unbegotten, Bonnie Ferrill Roman’s large installation spoke of the artist’s frustration and longing for another child.  The piece used a variety of materials including cast and pieced paper, feel, wire, ink, encaustic, graphite acrylic yarn and fabric stiffener to create a sculptural female form out of which cascaded small crocheted spheres.

Using the fiber technique of crochet, Barbara O’Connell spun airy ephemeral gloves from wire, casting beautiful shadows on the wall.  Her work, Crocheted Gloves, is concerned with using materials and forms in unexpected ways.

Ray Tomasso, whose work I described in an earlier post, showed his cast paper work, Night in an Old Hotel.

Situated in an alcove up above the main gallery and lit by a flickering video was Sara Rockinger’s haunting work, In/Visible. Human figures, created from cotton and silk organza and moving gently in the air currents, were used to call attention to the U.S. history of migrants and the current debate about immigration.

Coming home after the show we were treated to a different kind of show, a celestial display of spectacular lightening with huge sheets of white and zigzags flashing and bursting across the sky.

I’ll be back at Helikon tomorrow for the panel discussion on the future of fiber and will do some more photography of other work including some close-ups.  Wish you could all be there.