yesterday was a study in contrast - I started the day at torpedo factory where it was so grey and foggy you couldn't see across the river. I purchased about a dozen lovely works on paper from the art league and wandered around a bit. Then it was off to the USBG to design the new exhibit. What a breath of spring that was.

Cynthia Burke

In early December I traveled to Charlottesville to change the exhibits and visited McGuffey Art Center while I was in town. We stopped by Cynthia Burke's studio - she does utterly charming work. I just adore her intimate little paintings on copper. We purchased a series of them for the Stafford Hospital Center. I also asked her to exhibit with us at Smith Farm Center for healing and the Arts in March with John Hughes, Tom Tartaglino and Cliff Satterthwaite.

Cynthia's artist statement:

Much of the inspiration for my work comes from the early Dutch painters. In my interpretations of Nature however I tend to remove the subject from its natural surrounding. In these small oil studies the bird has been transported to an abstract background which still carries with it aspects of the real. The copper, and wax surface give the piece an organic feel. In fact, the copper will continue to change like an old penny, enhancing the “old” look of the piece.

Cynthia's web site here

Deborah Ellis and Barbara Southworth

January 9 through March 8, 2009

Maine Woods and Waters
Deborah Ellis watercolors and Barbara Southworth panoramic photographs
Opening Reception Sunday, January 18 4:00 - 6:00

Gallery Talk "Painter and Photographer: Two Processes" Sunday, February 8 4:00
Deborah Ellis and Barbara Southworth, two Washington DC area artists with deep connections to Maine, come together in Old Town Alexandria's Athenaeum Gallery for Maine Woods and Waters. Shared aesthetics and experiences are reflected in diverse style and media, Ellis through watercolor and Southworth through panoramic photography, as they visually explore the lands and waters of Maine.

The Athenaeum web site here

I thought I'd be in Stafford late yesterday but studio visit was postponed until Friday. So when I heard David was in town I jumped at the chance to go out with him, Maureen & Ken. It was great to catch up.

Call for Entries "Flora: Growing Inspirations"

“Flora: Growing Inspirations”
LOCATION: US Botanic Garden
245 First Street, SW
Washington, DC 20024
DATES: May 23 – October 12, 2009

APPLICATION DEADLINE: All applications must be received
no later than 5:00 pm Friday, March 13, 2009
Flora: Growing Inspirations, an exhibition coordinated by the US Botanic Garden and the Washington Sculptors Group, will feature approximately 40 original sculptures inspired by plants. The sculptures will be displayed in two areas:

1: Outdoors as part of an exhibit of unique garden “rooms” defined by raised planting beds on the flagstone terrace surrounding the USBG Conservatory. Sculptures will be sited, at the discretion of the curators, within the raised beds or on the surface of the flagstone terrace. All applicants are encouraged to visit the Botanic Garden to see the setting.

2: Indoors in the East Gallery, a 2400 sq. ft. air conditioned space. Sculptures will be situated on the floor or on pedestals. Artists may request other installation requirements (such as wall or ceiling mounting) that may be accepted at the discretion of the curators.

Flora: Growing Inspirations will celebrate the place plants have long held in culture through artistic expression and symbolic representation. Essential as the energy base of all terrestrial life, plants carry out complex life processes and show remarkable diversity of form. They possess a powerful and persistent, if quiet, life force – one strong enough to buckle sidewalks, cleanse Earth’s atmosphere, support the energy needs of nearly all life forms, and bear witness to generations of human history. Contemporary artists are
encouraged to draw on the fundamental strength of plants’ life force for powerful metaphors that comment on the state of modern society and individual human existence.
Artists are invited to submit digital images of their sculptural work dealing with the theme of plants for consideration of inclusion in the indoor and/or outdoor exhibit areas. The US Botanic Garden will publish a black and white catalog in conjunction with the exhibit.

ABOUT THE SPONSORS
The Washington Sculptors Group is a volunteer, non-profit organization dedicated to promoting awareness of sculpture and fostering exchanges among sculptors, sculpture enthusiasts and the public. Organized in 1984, membership has grown to over 300; WSG sponsors frequent public programs and organizes professional sculpture exhibitions juried by prominent curators.

Visit www.washingtonsculptors.org for more information about WSG membership and programs.

The United States Botanic Garden (USBG) is operated by the Congress of the United States. It is located in Washington, DC on the National Mall across First Street SW from the US Capitol. Annual visitation is estimated at 850,000. The newly renovated Conservatory offers the citizens of Washington and visitors from across the nation a living plant museum that interprets the importance and irreplaceable value of plants to the well-being of humans and earth’s fragile ecosystems. For more information visit: http://www.usbg.gov/.

This is the second collaborative effort between WSG and the US Botanic Garden.

JURORS
Lillian Fitzgerald is the Curator of the Clinical Center at the National Institutes of Health, the gallery at Health and Human Services, Smith Farm Center for Healing and the Arts, and an exhibit specialist for the US Botanic Garden. Lillian Fitzgerald former member of the board of directors for the Society for Arts in Healthcare and is the Director of Fitzgerald Fine Arts. She also works as a freelance curator and juror.

Holly Shimizu, Executive Director of the US Botanic Garden since 2001, has a distinguished career in public horticulture. A former host of Victory Garden and consultant to many organizations on garden design and planning, Ms. Shimizu has a strong interest in botanical art and has juried several exhibitions.

Margaret Atwell is gardener leader for the US Botanic Garden. She is part of a team that plans exhibits and designs the containers and the annual beds that flank the front of the US Botanic Garden Conservatory. Ms. Atwell holds a BA/BFA in Design from George Washington University.

Nick Nelson is the landscape architect for the US Botanic Garden. A graduate of the West Virginia University, Mr. Nelson’s prior experience includes four years as a Planning and Design Assistant with Longwood Gardens. Prior to that, Mr. Nelson worked as a Project Manager with the Landscape Architecture firm of Lewis, Scully and Gionet.

Matt King is an assistant professor in Art Foundation and Sculpture at VCU. He received his MFA from Bard College in 2004. Prior to this he studied at the Cooper Union School of Art and he participated in the Whitney Independent Studio Program. Reviews of his work include the New York Times and Sculpture.

ELIGIBILITY
All artists are eligible to submit work for consideration.
WORK TO BE CONSIDERED
Artists should design a three-dimensional sculpture in any medium addressing the theme of the exhibition.
All work accepted and exhibited must remain on display for the full duration of the show. Work that is not
of the quality represented in the images entered may be refused at the time of installation.

LIMITATIONS
• All work must be completed prior to submission of entry form. Proposals for future work or work in progress will not be accepted.
• Artists must install and de-install their own work in the exhibits with the assistance of the US Botanic Garden. The US Botanic Garden staff will designate locations for installation in both the indoor and outdoor exhibits.
• Limited space is available for work larger than approximately 4 ft. x 4 ft. x 12’ h.
• Outdoor exhibit:
o All work for the outdoor exhibit must be able to endure 6 months outside in typical Washington
DC summer environment of rain, temperature extremes (50°-105°F), full sun, winds up to 70
mph, and high humidity.
o Work that requires concrete foundations or drilling into the flagstone terrace underneath the
raised beds will not be accepted.
• Indoor exhibit:
o Work for the indoor exhibit will be in an air-conditioned museum space, illuminated by natural
and artificial light. Windows are coated with UV protection.
o Space is limited for work requiring hanging from mounts or cables.
o A limited number of pedestals and vitrines are available for displaying sculptures. Please
indicate your need for a vitrine or pedestal on your application form.

INSURANCE
The US Botanic Garden is locked and guarded at all times. Each artwork will be insured by WSG for an amount up to $50,000.00 with a deductible of $250.00, payable by the artist.
SALES
Work will not be advertised for sale. However, a listing of work available for purchase will be provided upon request to visitors. All discussion concerning sale of the work will be referred to the artist or their designated representative. For work sold while on display, the National Fund for the US Botanic Garden requests a 5% donation. Work sold during the exhibit may not be removed until the conclusion of the exhibit.

SUMBISSION REQUIREMENTS
Each application must be accompanied by a completed entry form, a CD of images with
accompanying statements and a SASE postcard for notification of reception of application.
Please include a stamped, self-addressed envelope if the artist wants the images returned.

DIGITAL IMAGES: Artist should send digital images on a CD.
Only digital images will be accepted (see guidelines below). Artists may submit no more than three (3) entries and no more than two (2) images of each entry for a total of no more than six (6) images. Applications including more than three (3) entries or more than two (2) images per entry will not be considered.
 All images must be saved as Jpegs (.jpg) at 300 dpi resolution.
 All images must be no larger than 4x6 inches and no larger than 1 mg.
 Each image should be labeled with the artist’s last name; first initial and image number 1–3
(WalkerF1, WalkerF2). If submitting two images of one work the image should be labeled with the artist’s last name; first initial and image number with a and b ( WalkerF1a and Walker F1b).

IMAGE STATEMENTS FOR CATALOG:
Please include a 65-word or less statement about each work suitable for the catalog. This should
be in Word format (.doc) saved in a separate file on the same CD with the images. Each statement should identify which piece it relates to as listed on the Entry Form

EXHIBITION CALENDAR
• March 13, 2009 – Entries must be received by 5 pm on this date
• March 30, 2009- April 3, 2009 - Notification of accepted artists
• April 15, 2009- May 15, 2009 - Delivery of work- Artists will be contacted individually
• to arrange details of delivery and installation
• Saturday, May 23, 2009 - Monday, October 12, 2009 - Exhibition dates
• Thursday, May 28, 2009 – Artists’ reception 5:30 – 7.30 pm
• Tuesday, October 13, 2009 - All works must be picked up between 8 am - 5 pm- WSG and USBG are not responsible for any work left after this date

Entry form here

Mail all Entries
by 5 pm on March 13, 2009 to:
Washington Sculptors Group
C/O Novie Trump
7539 Burnside Ct.
Falls Church, VA 22043

Carol Iglesias

This is a lovely exhibit we just installed at NIH of Carol Iglesias' pastels. She is one of the many talented artists we have found at the Lorton Workhouse Arts Center.

Artist Statement

After years of of playing with different mediums, pastels are undoubtably my favorite choice. I use Hard, Medium and Soft Pastels with a minimal amount of drawing and underpainting. I really enjoy the brilliant colors and the tactile softness that pastel sticks offer. They allow me to build up a thick texture by hand with multiple layers of color. I work primarily on a heavy sanded paper which enables me to build up many layers of pastel, as well as block in my drawing and underpainting with large shapes in a variety of wet or dry medium. Depending on how I feel or the subject matter that I am trying to capture, I will choose between using oil, watercolor, pure pigment, charcoal or alcohol washed over hard pastel to achieve my underpaintings. I think this adds to the richness and depth of the pastels and allows me to play in a subtle way with a variety of mediums while still keeping the focus on pastels. I enjoy painting on location in Plein Air, as well as working in a studio painting from my own photographs. Carol's web site here

Cliff Satterthwaite

One of the reasons I started this blog in September of 2005 was to share the rich experience of meeting artists and visiting their studios. Cliff welcomed me into his home where every surface was covered with his paintings... small plein air paintings, larger, more studied works.

Its so overwhelming, the first impulse is to step back. Then, as if your eyes are adjusting to the light, you start to see individual images. Methodically, I started in the lower right hand corner near the door and made my way around the room. When I was sure of a painting, I pulled it off the hanging system that covered the walls and propped it on the couch. I slowly circled the room, and then went through again. It was not unlike jurying an amazing exhibit.

Beyond being one of the most talented artists I have ever met Cliff is a lovely man. When I was researching him on the Internet I found a beautiful description of him in the local paper. Read it here. We ended up purchasing 16 paintings and could easily have purchased a dozen more.

A brief bio: Clifford Winson Satterthwaite, was born on April 1, 1934 in Philadelphia, PA. In 1955 he graduated from the Philadelphia Museum School of Art. Among his fellow classmates were Robert B. Dance and Leonard Lehrer. He studied under and was most influenced by his teachers, Henry C. Pitz, Joseph Krush, Ben Eisenstat, Benton Spruance and W. Emerton Heitland

Cliff's artist statement: Everyone has seen such things as apple trees, tables, chairs, squirrels, people, etc. We are used to seeing them and therefore they are “taken for granted” visually. We need to observe them as if seen for the first time both in character and perspective shapes. In this way we have possibilities of seeing an apple tree uniquely different from another apple tree. A person uniquely different from another person. A squirrel’s action different from another squirrel’s action. Chairs different from chairs, etc.
The enthusiasm of all observed subject matter overlapping in space and distributed esthetically within a given two dimensional enclosure. The “positive” and “negative” areas that it creates are the fundamental building blocks of pictures. Even a line is not a “line” but an edge of a form in space. The second most important thing in composition is the lightness and darkness distribution of shapes in space. (Whether “color” is used as the value or the gradation values from white through greys to blacks.)

Web site here

Fredericksburg has a charming, vital arts community. I would encourage you to visit, and be sure to look up Cliff Satterthwaite, he is a local treasure.