Kathy Maxwell’s “Storm” is on display in “Imagine,” an exhibition of the artist’s work in the gallery annex of the Stella Art Gallery in Willoughby. (Courtesy of Stella Art Gallery)
Fall road trips and nature hikes are popular ways to get outside and enjoy the beauty of the season in Northeast Ohio and surrounding areas. The cornucopia of colors grows every day until a storm breaks and this stunning blanket of nature’s colors falls at our feet.
Pick up a leaf. Examine it. Notice the edges, follow the veins, flow and changing colors and appreciate its fragility. Left on the ground, it would decompose and begin spring as soil. Pressed between the pages of a book, it will live to be rediscovered years from now, preserved, but still fragile. Captured by an artist in a painting, a photograph or a sculpture, it becomes timeless.
We don’t have to be great artists to make a difference. The saying “beauty is in the eye of the beholder” is true. We each see things as reflections of our own past experiences, and they lead us to our own appreciation of art in its many forms.
Sometimes joy comes from creating more than from the result. Failure teaches more than success; learn lessons from it. Try again. Or adapt with the words of encouragement from famous American painter and icon Bob Ross, who often said, “We don’t make mistakes, just happy little accidents.”
Shop local artist shows, gallery and gift shows at art centers and nature centers. They’re gearing up for the holiday gift-giving season, and to find something extra special, you have to know where to look.
I will share as much as possible and ask you to share with me as well. Together we will help both artists and buyers.
Lots of award-winning artists to congratulate today, so let’s get to it.
Stella’s Art Gallery
Stella’s Art Gallery, 38033 Euclid Ave., Willoughby, presented awards at the seventh annual “OddBall Show” in the main gallery and presented Kathy Maxwell’s “Imagine” in the side gallery during the monthly Second Friday event.
Gallerist Dani Klein was very pleased with the work of juror Mary Urbas included in the exhibition.
“‘Oddball’… just keep getting better and better,” Klein said. “The competition was strong, with more than 50 percent of the pieces (submitted) not being accepted. We were looking for quality and, of course, the strangest piece.”
Congratulations to Tracy Parsons, winner of Best in Show. Other winners were Robin Payne, first place; Kathy Simone, second place; Cheryl Brickman, Douglas Manry and Alex Cohen, honorable mentions.
The show “Oddball” will be broadcast until November 6 and “Imagine” until November 30.
Earlier this year, Stella’s launched Secret Society Comedy Night, which was very well received and many guests came to other events as well. Mark your calendar for the next Secret Society Comedy Night with Kelly Collette on December 2. Tickets are available at Eventbrite.com.
Sometimes we just need to do something creative but don’t want to commit to a class schedule. Stella’s answer is a new series called “Crafternoon Studio”, held every third Friday. Stella staff will provide materials and lead a project from 1 to 2:30 p.m. for $20. Participants can also bring their own ideas and supplies to work with like-minded creatives for $10. The first, “Encaustics,” sold out the old fashioned way, so register early. Next is an acrylic painting of three pumpkins on an 8×10 inch canvas on October 20.
Free coffee/tea is available. Bring a snack or enjoy some Stella popcorn on the house.
Next meeting at Stella’s in the “Bricolage” lounge. Create mosaics, collages, assemblages and mixed media with found objects.
Drop-off will take place from 12:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. on November 2 and 3 and from 11:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. on November 4. For more information, call 440-266-9111 or visit Stellasartgallery.com.
Ashtabula Arts Center
The Ashtabula Arts Center, 2829 W. 13th St., announced the winners of the second annual Tikkanen Painting Prize at the recent reception.
This competition offers $40,000 in prizes per year: first place, $12,000; second place, $5,000; and honorable mention, $1,000.
It was not a responsibility the jurors took lightly. They are active in the field of arts and were well chosen to be part of the jury of this prestigious competition.
After reading their remarks, I wanted to share an excerpt from each as an extra compliment to the winners as well as those who were not chosen because, as Paul Tikkanen had hoped, attention is drawn to the talented painters of Northeast Ohio and Northwest Pennsylvania.
Donna Torres holds degrees in painting and drawing from the University of New Mexico and Florida International University. She is an artist and illustrator based in Miami and works as an assistant professor of painting at FIU.
She wrote: “The prizes were not awarded easily. I left Ashtabula with a sense of the strong spirit that exists at the Ashtabula Arts Center and in the surrounding communities. The commitment to painting as an art form is alive and well in this field.
In addition to having a studio in New Hampshire, Franklin Einspruch is active in art criticism, comics, and alternative publishing. He has been a resident artist in programs in Italy, Greece, Taiwan and elsewhere in the United States.
He wrote: “The talent in the region is striking. It may seem paradoxical to say this, but if the artists in the exhibition have the right to be proud of their inclusion, those who are not included should not feel embarrassed about it. Keep working and continue to cherish the Ashtabula Arts Center, which is an exceptionally wonderful regional institution and worthy of your affection.
Alpesh Kantilal Patel is Associate Professor of Art History at the Tyler School of Art and Architecture at Temple University in Philadelphia and the 2023 General Curator at UrbanGlass, Brooklyn, New York, where he curates a series of exhibitions.
He wrote: “I was blown away by the number and variety of entries in the competition. He points out that painting flourished in northeastern Ohio and northwestern Pennsylvania and that a complete picture of artistic production in the United States cannot be assessed by focusing on large metropolitan areas. . I sincerely hope that curators and critics will pay more attention to the work being done in this region. It was exciting to see how artists were testing what painting as a medium can achieve – either through attention to form (colors, lines and shapes) or subject matter, including AI.
Without further ado, here are the 2023 winners.
In realism, Amy Casey of Erie, Pa., first place; Charles Deihl, Chagin Falls, second place.
In the Abstract category, Jennifer Omaitz, Kent, first place; Elizabeth Emery, Cleveland, second place.
General honorable mentions: Elisa Albrecht, Cleveland; Theadis Reagins, student at the Cleveland Institute of Art; Melissa Bloom, Cleveland Heights; Kelly Pontoni, Cleveland; Timothy Callaghan, Cleveland; and Rachael J. Burke, Pottstown, Pennsylvania.
Images of the winners are available on ashtabulaartscenter.org.
For more information, call 440-964-3396 or email info@ashtabulaartscenter.org.
It’s time to get to work on the third annual Tikkanen Painting Prize.
Gallery in Lakeland
The gallery at Lakeland7700 Clocktower Drive, Kirtland, presents “The Skull and Skeleton in Art VIII: From Folk Art to Pop Culture” through Nov. 3. The highlight of the event will be the costume reception from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. on October 26.
The evening will also feature the Boneyard Market, a pop-up show of artist vendors offering skull and skeleton-themed items at lower prices.
The exhibit coincides with both the traditional use of skulls and skeletons for Halloween and Hispanic Heritage Month, with Latin American artists creating Mexican skull art as they have for centuries.
Day of the Dead, aka Dia de los Muertos, is celebrated on November 1 and 2 to encourage acceptance of death as a fact of life.
For more information, contact gallery coordinator Mary Urbas at 440-525-7029 or murbas@lakelandcc.edu.
