Vessels, Painted Stories

JAY WILFORD

Jay Wilford grew up painting.  He was taught to see and draw the world with an artist’s eye by his mother, a gifted painter in her own right, and was raised in a house filled with paintings, including the works of his grandmother, the Dutch impressionist Hanny Van der Velde. He is largely self-taught working in pastel and oil. Mr. Wilford’s favorite subjects are land and seascapes and nautical themes reflecting dramatic light, unusual perspectives, and dreamy compositions. Mr. Wilford has exhibited, won competitions and sold internationally. He currently resides in Cincinnati, where his paintings are owned by numerous private and corporate collectors

Running With the Wind

ELANA HAGLER

Artist’s Statement

…Artist’s Statement
My family's history, and my own, has been one of nearly constant change. The countries in which my family has lived during the past seventy years include Russia (Moscow as well as Siberia), Moldova, Ukraine, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Israel, Romania and both coasts of the United States. I was raised by Holocaust survivors. Like theirs, my life has also turned out to be one of nearly constant nomadism, and this transience has been partly responsible for connecting me so deeply with the history of my family, which is represented by the worn and dependable objects and books which have followed us from country to country. These objects present a solid stability where life otherwise was anything but stable, and a connection to both the myths and realities of the experiences of my family. In these past few years, as I have made my own transition to motherhood, I have also lost most of the members of the family into which I was born. These inherited objects have consequently become that much more precious and poignant to me.  As time passes, I have added my own books and objects to those which I have inherited, and all together, rich with both symbolic meaning and the potential for visual poetry, they have become the building blocks of the mythological language of my inner life.  I hope, through the embodiment of my personal mythology in these still-life paintings, and in the quest for a particular vision of beauty which they represent, I can touch upon something deep and universal—a felt experience that can be communicated to others.

Biography
Elana Hagler was born in Tel Aviv, Israel, and immigrated to the United States at the age of five. She received her Bachelor of Arts in both Studio Art and Psychology from Brandeis University, Boston, and continued her studies for two years at the Master Class of the Jerusalem Studio School and in Umbria, Italy. She then received her Master of Fine Arts from the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts in Philadelphia. Elana has won multiple prizes in painting and drawing and has exhibited her work in solo and group exhibitions in Italy, Israel, and widely across the United States. She has taught fine art at the Delaware College of Art and Design, Cornell College, and Swarthmore College. She currently teaches online for the Academy of Art University in San Fransisco and is a staff writer for the art website Painting Perceptions.

 

Vessels

Cathy Cebulski-Sacco

Cathy Sacco is a fine artist, writer and teacher. She works in oil, pastel, charcoal and other media to create paintings that evoke drama, contemplation and mystery. Cathy holds a masters degree in education from Xavier University, certification In Montessori education, and a Bachelor of Arts In English and communications. She has studied art with M.K. Hurley, Greg Storer, Michael Scott, and Cole Carothers. She has also attended classes at the Cincinnati Art Academy, Arrowmont School Of Arts And Craft, Villa Nova University and The Provincetown Art and Writing Workshop.

“The arts are places to explore ideas and feelings, and to be contemplative — something we don’t often have the opportunity to do in our current culture. The arts should not be isolated, but integrated into our lives so that we find meaning.”

Cathy works with classroom teachers to help them embody mindfulness and integrate the arts into their work with children. She is an adjunct professor of education at Xavier University and has held workshops for the Cincinnati and national Montessori societies as well as for local schools. she is also currently in a year long training program on mindfulness in education, working with teachers such as Jon Kabat Zinn, Jack Kornfield, Linda Lantieri, and Susan Kaiser Greenland.

She is a native of the new york metropolitan area and lives in Cincinnati with her husband and two daughters.

Courage by Cathy Cebulski-Sacco


Lydia Larson

Void

” ‘I speak and speak,’ Marco says, ‘but the listener retains only the words he is expecting. The description of the world to which you lend a benevolent ear is one thing; the description that will go the rounds of the groups of stevedores and gondoliers on the street outside my house the day of my return is another; and yet another, that which I might dictate late in life, if I were taken prisoner by Genoese pirates and put in irons in the same cell with a writer of adventure stories. It is not the voice that commands the story: it is the ear.’

‘At times I feel your voice is reaching me from far away, while I am prisoner of a gaudy and unlivable present, where all forms of human society have reached an extreme of their cycle and there is no imagining what new forms they may assume. And I hear, from your voice, the invisible reasons which make cities live, through which perhaps, once dead, they will come to life again.’ ”

Italo Calvino, Invisible Cities  p. 106

…

I believe there are multiple realities that exist at the same time. I feel that the physical world is not all there is. I imagine many simultaneous events that link together in a highly organized way, even though everything can seem so utterly random. Perhaps our everyday events fit among a higher order and just maybe, there is a common thread weaving in and out of the lines of every history there ever was, tying us all together. Perhaps, we are these very threads stitched into a colorful and profound synchronistic quilt.

I am interested in the visual possibilities that result from taking pieces of information that are seemingly not related and translating them into a new image. Within this process is my attempt to forge connections in belief that a grand connection indeed exists. My most recent work borrows from various histories, images, memories, and tales. Each painting is a little world, an isolated but necessary stage in which a story will unfold, intimately connecting to the next. I am engaged in an ongoing investigation concerning: rootlessness, voyages, spiritual forces, displacement, what it means to sojourn, place, time, and the great struggle and triumph of communicating.

The Twists and Turns of Metal

ANGELA  MOORE

I gain inspiration from the things that titillate the “Lizard Brain” – the reactionary instinct of the predator that focuses on the minutia of texture and movement.  From scales and spines to spores and spiracles, the natural world of the deserts, the oceans and the wilds of the forest are all enchanting and exciting.

This piece, titled “Vernacular Venom,” was inspired by the imagery of a carnivorous plant with a stinger as a commentary on the emotionally damaging aspects of someone who swallows up words shared in confidence, only to use them later as toxic weapons. The piece itself is intended to be a drinking vessel, with the hook being lowered as the handle.

Vernacular Venom

Biography: Angela Moore is an artist working and living in San Diego, California. Originally from the Southwest, Angela studied art at New Mexico State University, and then continued her education in California at San Diego State University.  Angela’s forms of expression have primarily been photography, ceramics and painting, but her newfound passion is metal sculpture. Angela has studied jewelry with Seth Papac, an internationally known contemporary jeweler, and ceramic sculpture under Jeff Irwin and Joanne Hayakawa. Growing up in the desert, Angela has always had a love of nature and the amazing variety of form and delicate textures of flora and fauna. Living near the Carlsbad Caverns in New Mexico, Angela was fascinated by the dark of the cave, and the transition between night and day – the otherworldly places of the secret nocturnal creatures. Later, visiting San Diego, she became intrigued by the bizarre shapes of the alien creatures living at the bottom of the sea. She began her career with a strong interest in Wildlife Science and Marine Biology, but soon discovered that she would prefer to represent the creatures artistically rather than poke and prod them in the name of Science. After moving to San Diego permanently, Angela developed an interest in costuming and prop design where she began to include the intricate texture and movement of the creatures to her work. 

 JEREMY NUTTALL

Jeremy Nuttall was born and raised in Poway, California, but currently lives in San Diego, California. He graduated from San Diego State University with honors receiving a BA in Jewelry and Metalsmithing. 

Jeremy is a 2013 Niche Awards student finalist in the sculptural metal category.  The artist has shown his work nationally in Texas, Philadelphia, and California.   

                                

Untitled Species 1

DUKNO YOON

This copper vessel is a piece from my recent series of form study. The challenge I set for myself is to create a form that is simple in the abstract sense while complicated in terms of physical creation. To create these organic hollow forms from multiple parts, I experiment with layout by CAD program, various metalsmithing techniques and welding.

Biography: Dukno Yoon is an Assistant Professor at Kansas State University and has taught at several universities in Korea. He received his MFA at Miami University in Ohio and his BFA at Kookmin University in Seoul, Korea. Yoon explores movements and mechanical structure as form to create small scale kinetic sculptures and wearable form and also combines traditional metalsmithing techniques with contemporary technology. He has actively exhibited his work in Korea, Japan, Australia and the U.S. He also has received several international awards and federal grants in Korea and has been featured and included in numerous publications.

Drawn Out Vessel 



Wendy Edsall- Kerwin

Ngaru

Photographers Depict Vessels In Their Own Way

MICHAEL KEARNS

In this work, as in all others, I’m struggling to get to the heart of the matter. All subjects, worthy of shooting, have a heart and a soul.

I’m simply trying to nail the heart and soul of the subject onto the paper.

As a wise man, Ajaan Lee Dhammadharo, once said: “Concentration is a firm intent, focused on a single object. You have to contemplate to find peace and true vision. We speak of discernment and concentration as separate things, but actually they're one and the same. Discernment is just the movement of concentration.”

Beyond that, I try and keep things simple. Intellect is the enemy.

The world is my studio. I see something beautiful and I try not to let anything come between me and it while I shoot it.

Broken Vessel

Biography: Michael A Kearns is a writer and photographer who lives in Milford, Ohio, with his beloved, Rebecca, his sons and a small collection of animals.

His writing and photography have appeared in a variety of local and national publications, including Spin, Magnet, Village Voice, Citybeat and Soapbox.

You can see more of Michael’s work at fftvmedia.com.

Bernadette Clemons- Walatka

Taking Flight

Cook House

Kathy Ray

Eggs

The Opening Gala and the next 6 weeks

The opening of Vessels; All the Eyes Can Hold was a huge success. You can see a lot of pictures on the Vessels Facebook page. I will try to post some here as well. I will continue to highlight the fabulous artists  and write about all of the events associated with the show. So hang on, we'er just getting started!

Carole and I with some of the artists. It was really fun to meet everyone.

Ron Esposito and his Singing Bowls

Guenter is a master model ship builder

Michael Buckman receiving his award for winning the vessel logo contest.

A Pop of Color

EMILY DVORIN

I call myself a sculptural basketmaker. I am known for my innovative, “transordinary” vessels. Challenging the original definition of basketry, I explore contemporary interpretations of this traditional craft, utilizing non-traditional materials.

I transform the ordinary through the processes of manipulation, construction, alteration, repetition of singular elements, coiling, weaving and assembling to create dense arrangements ofcommon, urban objects. I sculpt with fiber and interact with material, pattern, color, design, shape and texture.

My use of re-purposed, re-contextualized materials is commentary on overconsumption of commercial goods, societal excess and throwaway consumerism. My work references everyday life and our relationship with our urban environment. I use the vessel form with an emotional and personal visual vocabulary to speak about life’s issues. Color and texture, whimsy, exuberance, optimism, and a sometimes-edgy approach, always enter into my work.

Biography: Emily is a self-taught, award-winning fiber artist who lives in Kentfield, CA. She grew up in New Jersey in the 50s, a child of an intellectual family. Her father was a psychiatrist, and her mother was a high-school teacher. Growing up, she was told her creativity and artistic approach were "cute".

In college in the 60s, Emily majored in foreign languages (Spanish, French and Italian) because that felt more appropriate to her parents than art did. She got married and went to graduate school for her Masters in Teaching, and then taught third grade for four years until she left to start a family. Her husband's job took her and her family to California in the 70s, where they settled in Marin County. Art and music remained a part of her life during this time--she sang in a Community Chorus, and in the mid-70s, partnered with a friend to open Various & Sundries, a contemporary crafts store in San Anselmo, California. She did a lot of macramé – it was the 70s, after all – it and discovered an enduring fondness for fiber art.

In the early 80s, she took a basket workshop in the basement of the old Academy of Sciences in San Francisco, and her life was forever changed. She had an "a-HA!" moment and realized that basketry and three-dimensional work were what she truly loved. Emily had little formal art training, other than workshops here and there, including four years in a "Fiber Sculpture" studio class. She learned traditional techniques this way, but then branched out into her own innovations. Still a teacher after all these years, as well as a learner, Emily began offering workshops of her own to adults and going into 3rd-8th grade school classrooms to bring the joy of basketry to a wider audience.

Flarf

In 2008, after owning and operating Various & Sundries for 35 years, and enabling other artists to gain wider audience and appreciation for their work, Emily retired to live her life's dream of being a full-time artist. She now has a studio in Sausalito, California. She continues to teach classes for both adults and children, and she speaks, consults and exhibits all around the country.

                                                                                               

 

BARBARA  MURAK

Red Vessel

Ever since I was a young child, I have found pleasure in using fabric, yarn and thread for creative expression. As a mixed media fiber artist, I enjoy using traditional methods like knitting and stitching to create contemporary shapes, and find the long hours meditative and rhythmically soothing. I am fascinated with repetition of shape and line in nature, and strive to convey similar layering, symmetry, and contrast of texture in my sculptural forms and vessels.

Biography:

Barbara is a mixed media fiber artist whose work reflects a life-long preoccupation with the “stitch” (from early childhood hand embroidery and knitting stitches to intensive machine stitching) as a sculptural element to create complex textures and forms.

My parents and grandparents were artists, and in my studio I find comfort in the silent dialogue with my ancestors by surrounding myself with their sewing implements, paint brushes and heirlooms. I find connection to my great grandmother when I look up and see her tiny hand stitches in the 1800’s quilt that drapes over my studio wall.

My interest in fiber techniques has changed and evolved since I first began exhibiting in juried shows in 1974.  It has been a process of building upon previous experiences and works to expand and develop new ways of creating. Over the years, I have exhibited paintings, batiks, fabric collages, art quilts, thread paintings, knitted sculptural forms and hand-embroidered dimensional pieces.

Recent explorations of the sculptural possibilities of fabric as container/vessel have fostered spiritual awareness and personal insight.  The theme of memory and fragility, found both in nature and relationships, is a reoccurring direction in my work.  The cutting of fabric, textural layering, and the construction process is always challenging as is life; and I find the long hours of stitching meditative, rhythmically soothing and therapeutic.

After earning a M.S. in Creative Art Therapy, I am currently an Artist-in-Residence at Roswell Park Cancer Institute, creating artwork bedside with patients or in waiting areas with family and caregivers to help relieve their stress and anxiety.  Many projects involve textile arts with several patient-made quilts currently hanging in the hospital.

In addition to numerous national and international exhibitions, my artwork is represented in public and private collections in the United States as well as Canada, China, South Korea, The Philippines, Europe, Australia, South Africa and India.

                  



                                                                                      
            

PAMELA A. MACGREGOR

Purple Couture

My life as an artist has taken many turns over the years. Artist as student, artist as teacher and now retired teacher as felt artist. Since my retirement,the discovery of felting has charged me with a new artistic energy. I find the versatility and engineering possibilities for each project both mentally and physically stimulating. At the end of the day, there is usually a sweet surprise, an “ah ha” moment of inspiration giving me insight for future felt works, bringing with it new and unique possibilities.

Bio:
A retired art teacher living just outside of scenic Grand Rapids, Ohio on a small farm, MacGregor has become impassioned with traditional wet felting.  She finds traditional felting energizing in its versatility and the medium pushes her into constant and exciting engineering challenges. She has been teaching felting classes in her studio as well as classes throughout the United States and Europe.  Her work has been exhibited both nationally and internationally. http://www.tarveycottagestudio.com/

                   
                                        

   

                                                                                       

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Vessels of Light

BILLIE CUNNINGHAM

My motivation is to use common objects together to form a unique and visual concept. My goal is to push the limitations of glass and metal, to highlight their reflective qualities.

I like to use materials outside of the purpose they were intended for.

My goal is for my art to be visually pleasing as well as practical.

Biography: Billie Cunningham is a freelance Visual Artist and Jewelry Designer living in

Cincinnati.

Vessels of Light

Her love of art began at an young age. She was captivated by drawing and sketching portraits. Her early works included a variety of mediums such as pen and ink, watercolor, and pastels and color pencil. This was the foundation which formed her love

and study of art. Much of the art she creates is influenced by her combined work experience in manufacturing and Graphic Design. She studied graphic design at the Art Academy of Cincinnati and currently works for Honeywell Process Solutions.

ROBYN AND STEVEN LINCE

Robyn and Steven Lince are mixed media artists working from their home studio in Cincinnati, Ohio. Both artists are inspired by forms of nature, their sensitivity to subtle energies, their visionary sense of spiritual realms, and their relation to timeless ancient and indigenous themes. Steven works sculpturally with metals, fused glass, and wood; Robyn with glass and clay. As a couple they are exploring and delighting in the magic and synergy of co-creating art, letting the heart guide the work. There is an essential connection that takes place with the piece in the creation process which breaths life force into the art. Melting into the creative process itself is a spiritual experience that is illuminating, transformative, healing and fulfilling. The desire to uplift and inspire and be a catalyst for healing and inner peace is infused into the work.

Sharing very similar creative processes, they create their own personal bodies of work as well as collaborating.  Individually Steven and Robyn are passionate abstract expressionist visionary painters, both artists intuitively allowing that which flows from the inside to move out through texture, color, shape and movement onto the board or canvas. Their works express the beauty of the outer world, inner world and the spirit and energy that moves through everything and connects us all.

                                             www.linceartstudio.com       

Ancient Altar