The Color Red

This piece, AORTIC BASKET has been included in the online show "The Color Red". It is sponsored by SoftCanvas.com. SOft canvas is Virtual Gallery that hosts curated Online Exhibitions. You can check out a link to The Color Red A big thanks to the supportive folks at SoftCanvas,.com!

Last Chance to bid on Mask

This is the last week for Fort Collins Museum of Contemporary Arts' MASKS AT MOCA Fundraiser. I am happy to say, my piece, "SUPERFLY" is up to an impressive $115. I am able to check in on the piece since my studio is just upstairs. It is pretty cool to keep tabs on the bidding. There is a big Gala on Saturday night, so, if youhave the cash go and see the Masks. They are pretty cool.

LOCAL at Luscious Nectar

I dropped off work today to be in the "LOCAL" show at Luscious Nectar. If you haven't been, Luscious Nectar is truly Luscious if you enjoy frozen alcoholic drinks. Every flavor you can imagine! Tomorrow is the opening for the show and 80's night as well. When I told them I LIVED 80's night no one really got it, oh well. Here is photo of "May Cause Dizziness", one of the pieces in the show. It is made using recycled plastic pill bottles.

Too much groovy stuff going on....

It always happens like this, especially in the Springtime. There are THREE different events this Thursday that I would like to attend, but, alas, I am one person. The First is a Recycled Fashion show done by Colorado State University Students in the university’s student chapter of the Fashion Group International. The show will be Thursday night at 8pm, the theme will be "Alice in Wonderland" more info can be found here. The second event is Fort Collins Arts Engagement Summit. I think I can possibly make this and the Art Auction in Denver for Think 360 Arts. The Inspired Art Project takes poems written by Denver's youth and asks local artists to create original works inspired by their words. All submitted and accepted pieces will be featured in the Inspired Art Show auction on April 29th, 2010 at the Space Gallery with proceeds going to support America SCORES Denver and Think 360 Arts. This project offers a new way to show the power and impact of the words of Denver students, and brings to life their creativity and imagination. The piece I created for this event is pictured here, it is called "How it is to be a Floor". Check out more information about this cool event here

GARBAGE GARAGE OPEN HOUSE

I will be at the Garbage Garage on Saturday to help celebrate their Earth Day Open HOuse. I will be running a workshop for a fence mural made of recycled items. Here is a press release for the event:

Who says learning about trash isn’t fun? Not visitors to the Garbage Garage, Larimer County’s waste and recycling education center. Adults and kids of all ages are invited to come see for themselves and celebrate Earth Day at an open house scheduled for Saturday, April 24, from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.

Fun, food, games, and activities such as making a methane collector, composting demonstrations, and creating art from trash–as well as giveaways--await visitors. Local magician Cody Landstrom will once again provide entertainment. Be there for the unveiling of the Center’s newest interactive educationl exhibit, “History of Trash,” which depicts how trash has been handled through the centuries. Professionally designed and created by Plaid Dog Studios in Loveland, visitors will see that trash and garbage disposal has an interesting history and will continue to be an issue in the future as well.

In addition, the other colorful and educational displays that teach the three “Rs,” reducing, reusing, and recycling will help visitors learn more about how to manage their trash. Learn how a solar collector works and take a walk through the trash tunnel. Patty Packrat, the Garbage Garage “spokesrat,” is seen on several displays, leading the visitor through the maze of fun and interesting exhibits.

The Garbage Garage is located at the Larimer County Landfill on S. Taft Hill Road, Fort Collins, about two miles south of Harmony Road. There is never an entrance fee. Those who can’t make it to the open house but want to check out the Garbage Garage at another time should call (970) 498-5772 to schedule a tour, or drop by during regular hours on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. For more information, visit www.larimer.org/solidwaste.

FRONT RANGE COMMUNITY COLLEGE ART SHOW

During my Graduate Program at MICA, I earned Americorps credits to take college classes. Needless to say, right after that experience, the last thing I wanted to do was go back to school. But...a few years have passed and now I am enjoying taking classes to learn new skills just for fun. It is strange to not worry about a grade and I can't say I am doing great job blowing things off, I guess I love to learn new things. Anyway, during the past year I have been attending classes at Front Range Community College. I entered my first jewelry project into the student show and it was juried in!! THis piece, called "Tangled Necklace" is made out of sterling silver. The show will be up at Student center at The Fort Collins Campus of FRCC until May 4th.

FIBER TWENTY TEN Review

I love the internet! I found a lovely blogger named "Quilter Beth". She visited the FIBER TWENTY TEN exhibit in St. Charles, MO, at the Foundry Art Centre. and did a very good job of describing some of the pieces in the show. You can check out her blog HERE. She also talked about my piece that is in the show, CHAMBER POT (pictured here). Thanks Quilter Beth!

TRANSFORMER CABINET

My Cabinet for the City of Fort Collins Art in Public Places program will be located at 224 Canyon, in Old Town Fort Collins. This is the tall yellow building across from the Canyon City Chop House. My concept is to create a piece reflecting the City of Fort Collins by concentrating on the water landscape of the City as opposed to other manmade landmarks such as roads. Here is a sketch of my idea.

GIRL SCOUT TRANSFORMER CABINET DESIGN

Girl Scout Troop 2258 has been chosen to design three Transformer Murals for the City of Fort Collins. We plan on working with the participants at Elderhaus to create these murals. Here are pictures of two of our proposed cabinet and our descriptive paragraph about the project.


Hi this is Girl Scout Troop 2258 and these are our ideas and descriptions for our transformer cabinets. The people in the Elderhaus class will help us with the design of these cabinets by providing handprints, drawings, memories or colors to bring out their personalities. We will use have several ways to incorporate these ideas. The first transformer cabinet will have traced hands, we will trace the hands of the Elderhaus participants and ourselves as well as people who might stop by and look at our work. These tracings will be filled with colors and designs to make a vibrant display. The second Transformer Cabinet will have colorful spots all over it. These spots represent the people of Fort Collins. The Third Transformer Cabinet will be a combination of several designs. All of these designs will have drawings of the memories of the Elderhaus participant inside them. Some designs are geometric, some are organic blobs and some are wavy lines representing the Poudre River.

The best part is, the Girls are running this show, with a little help from their leaders and parents. It should be an exciting Summer!

Resurrections: ECO-logy and ECO-nomy A Functional Trash-Art Exhibition

Canyon Gallery
Boulder Public Library
1001 Arapahoe Avenue
Boulder, Colorado80302
May 1 to June 30, 2010
Opening Reception Friday, May 7, 5-7 p.m.

The Canyon Gallery presents Resurrections: ECO-logy and ECO-nomy, coordinated by Jennifer Heath. Resurrections addresses our enormous waste and ways in which we can reclaim and transform materials from the scrap heap. Works of functional art are made form trash – from bottle caps, water bottles, tin cans, plastic bags and plastic-coated wire to old tires and other clean rubbish.

Included in the exhibition are insights from the future generation. EcoHero Capes is created by children in he Boulder Museum of Contemporary Art’s “Art Stop on the Go” children’s art program. Molly Hoverstock’s Casey Middle School Art class considers the plights of undersea creatures. Books of poetry by children from Lise Blumenthal’s fifth graders at Whittier Elementary School describe Things to Save and Recycled Language.

Three satellite shows are also on display. Rising Tides: Trashing the Ocean is built around ten panels that demonstrate the ubiquity of plastic waste in our oceans. Twilight’s Last Gleaming: Nuclear Waste describes our invisible “ultimate trash,” leftovers from our continuing expansion of nuclear power. The library’s bridge display case features Reincarnation: Deconstruction and the Building Material Life Cycle, an exhibit by ReSource Woodworks, from May 3 to May 30.

The Boulder Museum of Contemporary Art hosts Upcycled: Summer Collection 2010, fashions made from trash, June 11 to September 3, curated by Joan Markowitz with Jennifer Heath.

Additionally, a variety of related theatre, film, and musical events take place throughout May and June (see attached calendar).

Artists and participants in Resurrections, Rising Tides, Twilight’s Last Gleaming, Reincarnation, and Upcycled, include: Kim Abeles, Joan Anderson, Jessica Moon Bernstein, Ken Bernstein, Andy Billip, Elizabeth Bisbing, Lise Blumenthal, Margarita Blush, ChaCha, Spencer Clark, Priscilla Cohan, Annette Coleman, Jack Collom, Shannon Crothers, Robert Del Tredici, Barbara Donachy, Engineers Without Borders/Afghans4Tomorrow, Kate Fitzgerrell, Kristine Fitzgerrell, Carlos Fresquez, Sara Goldenberg, Emma Hardy, Shere Holleman, Jane Hollo, Molly Hoverstock, Lynne Hull, Libby James, Judith Selby Lang, Richard Lang, Mary Ellen Long, Aura Liesveld, Karen Mandery, Elizabeth Morisette, Nuclear Guardianship Ethic, Ellen Orleans, ReplayGround, Aaron Ristau, Elizabeth Rulli, Jane Saltzman, Kristine Smock, Marilyn Stablein, Rozie Vajda, Melanie Yazzie.

Funded in part by the Boulder Arts Commission.

With special thanks to Heidi Hillenbrand, Greg Ravenwood, Donna Gartenmann, Meagan Forney, Heather Braithwaite and the Boulder Green Building Guild, Marda Kirn and EcoArts Connections, Shaun LaBarre and ReSource, Joel Haertling, Carol Heepke, Juliette Bartsch, Joan Markowitz, David Dadone, Shannon Crothers, and the Boulder Museum of Contemporary Art.

Transformer Cabinet Process

I have two Transformer Cabinet Mural projects going on right now. I have been chosen, individually, to paint a cabinet by myself at the SE corner of the building at 224 Canyon, Fort Collins, CO. At the same time, I am leading my Girl Scout Troop through a project where they are decorating three cabinets with the fine folks at Elderhaus. This is a great opportunity for these fabulous girls. Not only are they learning about community art, but also teaching art and creating art in a public context. I am really allowing them to own this process. The first step of that process was the initial design meeting with Fort Collins Utilities. It went well and I am so proud of these girls! We chose three different designs for each cabinet. Here are some photos of the meeting. Stay tuned!!

New Work

Lately, I have been experimenting with different ways to assemble mass quantities of items. I have been weaving them together for years, but how else could they be presented in a sustainable way? I have been using trays found at my local Thrift Stores. The idea of presentation is the reason for the trays, you can find a wide variety, from ornate silver trays to cheap-o metal tacky trays. Here are some photos of my experiments. Let me know what you think.

Trash to Treasure

I was asked by the IIDA Rocky Mountain Chapter if they could use images of my work to promote their "Trash to Treasure" event coming up next weekend. Of course, I was delighted to let them use my photos. They ran an ad in Modern In Denver magazine and sent out postcards. It is an honor that they chose my work! If you can, get out to the Trash to Treasure event next Saturday night!