HOPE

Artist Robert Indiana, known for his iconoclastic "LOVE" painting, unveiled a new work of art, "HOPE" at the Democratic National Convention in Denver. A 6-foot-by-6-foot stainless steel sculpture of the word, instantly recognizable as Indiana’s, was created by Lauren Holmgren and Josh Dow.


Josh and Lauren run Green Foundry, part of Sanctuary Arts in Eliot. There, they cast sculptures in bronze and other materials.

The "HOPE" project, includes a number of different mediums, including prints, that Indiana has created in support of presidential candidate Barack Obama. Indiana’s donating all proceeds to the campaign. read more

Congratulations Josh and Lauren! I hope you'll still be my friends now that you're famous!!

itty bitty and witty

As mentioned in the previous post, Studio Visit Magazine, is a new series of artist books. Each volume features approximately 150 artists from all over the country who have been selected by professional curators. I was given a copy of Volume 1 this past spring by Nicole Maloof, as she was one of the artists featured. I was delighted to see a painting by Lisa Costanzo on the cover - I first fancied Lisa's work when I visited her studio in the South End in Boston during the SoWA art walk a few years ago.

Both Nicole and Lisa will be participating in the Teeny Tiny Art Show 3!! Here is a sneak preview...

Shown above: "Is this all we really have in common?" by Nicole Maloof (acrylic and ink on paper 4"x4"); and "Track Drifter #2" by Lisa Costanzo (watercolor, gouache and graphite on paper, 7"x9").

Preview more works by Nicole and Lisa here.

"Turn My Knobs"

The Packages keep coming in as TT3 draws near!! Yesterday, I received works from Abby Glassenberg and Denise Duong!

Abby made eight little birds in all - Three Blue Birds (with teeny tiny hands for feathers!) and Five "Drab" birds in earthy brown and warm grey tones - you can see them here. I love Abby's soft-sculpture, her craftsmanship is AMAZING and her use of pattern and texture to creat various stylized birds is brilliant. I also enjoy reading her blog, "While She Naps".

I also received a package from Denise Duong! I originally came across Denise's work thru Studio Visit, as she was one of approximately 150 artists from across the country featured in the first volume. Denise creates her lyrical mixed media paintings on canvas. She studied at the Chicago Art Institute, and currently lives and works in her resident studio in Oklahoma City.

Three of Denise's pieces are quite special - I was perplexed when I pulled them out of their package to see a tag inviting me to "Turn My Knobs". As I did so, the center panel began to shift revealing more of the image...

How cool is that!? I love the Teeny Tiny Art Show!!

Animal Behavior

The time has come for another preview of things to come in the upcoming Teeny Tiny Art Show 3...

Kelly Vivanco first graced the gallery with her series of birds in the Teeny Tiny Art Show 2. Like their feathered friends, the creatures featured in this small series have much emotional depth while sporting party hats and warm woolen sweaters.

"Serious Knits" (shown above) is my favorite!

Kelly received her BFA in Fine arts from the Laguna College of Art and Design. She currently resides in San Diego, CA. In addition to painting, printmaking and sculpture, Kelly has created a comic called “Patches”.

More of Kelly's paintings can be seen here along with other works from the Teeny Tiny Art Show #3 here.

Tiny and Trim

I am super excited to give you another sneak peak of the upcoming Teeny Tiny Art Show #3 in September! I am in love with the work of artist Elsa Mora, and was elated when she accepted my invitation to exhibit some of her papercuts in the show.


The above piece is called Rain Girl.

"Here is a rain girl carrying some little drops of water in order to keep her personal nature alive. You can see how she walks and holds a plant and animals with her hands at the same time. They are her universe and they go wherever she goes. This papercut is dedicated to all the girls and boys (little ones and grown-ups) who work hard in order to develop their personal worlds. The drops are a symbol of all those little things that we can do everyday in order to keep our imagination and creativity alive."
~ Elsita

shown below: Tree House. More works from the Teeny Tiny Art Show 3 can be seen here.


Elsa was born in Holguin, Cuba. She attended the Professional School of Visual Arts in Camagüey, winning the prestigious Amelia Peláez Art Prize in 1990. In 1992, Mora won the Grand Prize in the First Biennial of Cuban Drawing. Interested in all media including painting, photography, ceramics, porcelain, collage, bronze and mixed-media, she has exhibited in numberous solo and group exhibitions around the world. Her first solo exhibition in the US was in 1998, “The Ego’s Other Dimension”, at the Phyllis Kind Gallery in New York. Other important exhibits include Ejercicios de Silencio at the Carmen Montilla Gallery in Havana in 2000, Vulnerable at Phyllis Kind Gallery in New York in 2001, Proceso de Adaptacion at the Bourbon & Lally Gallery in Montreal in 2002, Elsa Mora at the Havana Galerie in Zurich, Switzerland and Ni el Principio ni el Fin Existen Espacio at 304 Gallery in San Juan Puerto Rico in 2004 and BIRTH at the Phyllis Kind Gallery in 2005. Elsa currently resides in Los Angeles, California.


Above is an image from her solo show at Couturier Gallery. Los Angeles, CA 2007. Each butterfly represents a famous woman.

I am in LOVE with Elsita's work, her ability to express her passions thru beautiful forms and genuine content. If you haven't already, I highly recommend you check out her blog, it is one of my favorites - as it is warm and endearing, a personal glimpse into the life of this multi-talented and loving artist, wife and mother.

Wee Wax Works

Following my previous post explaining encaustics, here's a sneak peak of some more work to be in the upcoming Teeny Tiny Art Show #3...Robin Luciano Beaty and Linda Cordner describe their creative process and fascination with the medium of encaustic.

shown above: Above and Beyond Series by Robin Luciano Beaty (encaustic and mixed-media, 6x6 panels)

"The medium of encaustic; a molten beeswax paint mixed with resin and dry pigments, allows me to escape the confines of everyday artist's techniques and provides me with more exploratory means of expression. Its qualities are sublime and unpredictable, additive and subtractive, translucent and sculptural, which has strongly influenced my departure from realism to abstraction. This ancient technique has become my method of navigating the obscure terrain of imagination and memory." ~ Robin Beaty

shown above: Reaching by Linda Cordner (wax, oil and collage on board, 8x8)

"I am very drawn to wax and its tactile qualities, the smell and viscosity of the medium are very different from other painting techniques. Creating organic forms is a natural extension of wax’s origin. Coming from a background in graphic design, I am drawn to certain color schemes and shapes, the repetition and placement being important to the composition. My paintings are made by layering multiple coats of wax which can completely obscure the under layers at times. I then scrape away areas of the wax to expose the compositions below." ~ Linda Cordner

The Teeny Tiny Art Show #3 opens Friday, September 5th, with an opening reception from 5-8pm.

More previews of the show can be seen here.

Encaustic = Hot Wax Painting

The gallery has been graced with more and more wax works as of late (by the fabulous Liz Tran, Robin Luciano Beaty, Kate Phillips, and Helene Farrar) - and more and more gallery goers are asking me, "What is encaustic!?".

A Brief History of Encaustics:

The ancient Greeks developed encaustic over 2,000 years ago. The word encaustic derives from the Greek word enkaustikos, meaning “to heat” or “to burn”. It is an ancient painting medium that mixes molten wax with dry pigments and resin. Encaustic was used among Greek artists as far back as the 5th century B.C. where it was applied in portraits and panels of mythological painting. Encaustic is impervious to moisture. This main preservation property was instrumental as a way of weatherproofing Greek ships. Later, pigment was added to the wax and encaustic was also used to decorate Greek ships.

In the 1st through 3rd centuries A.D., Greek painters settled in Egypt and adapted the common custom of honoring the dead. It was common to place a portrait of the deceased in the prime of their life or after death over the person’s mummy as a memorial. These mummified portraits, known as the Fayum funeral portraits, are the only surviving encaustic paintings from ancient times. Their fresh color and vibrance attests to the durability and resistance to moisture that wax encompasses.


Encaustic was also used during the Renaissance by Rembrandt, who touted encaustic for portraiture, claiming that it was akin to painting "with liquid flesh." Its fluidity yields an almost animate image, suggesting movement, more living face than mask.



Encaustic has returned from obscurity as modern tools have made the process more practical. Diego Rivera used encaustic in the 1930's on his murals. Jasper Johns is credited with the current renaissance of encaustic fine art with his work that began in the 1950's.

the Redemptive Powers of the Hula Hoop

A box of paintings for the Teeny Tiny Art Show #3 just arrived today from Barbara Poole in Boston. The precious package contained twelve paintings from her series, "The Redemptive Powers of the Hula Hoop".

Barbara explains in her statement: "I was a resident at the artist’s colony Jentel in 2005 when I reacquainted myself with the magical properties of the hula-hoop. No one could actually hula hoop but all remembered a time in childhood when it cam easy. When my fellow residents would first try to hula they were stiff, bashful and dismissive of the action. But I encouraged them to keep trying, all the while snapping photos. As I did so, I noticed that there bodies would relax, they would start to giggle and then laugh and their facial expressions told me that they were remembering their first enthusiastic attempts at hula hooping. Very few people actually achieved mastery, but I got really good at snapping the pictures before the hoop hit the ground and capturing that look of childlike glee or determination on their faces."

"I have turned these moments into little icons, with gold leaf and gems. Paying homage to a time in our lives when our lack of self-awareness made everything possible.

Barbara will be at the opening reception on Friday, September 5th with her camera and hoop in hand!

Three's a Charm...

...The Teeny Tiny Art Show #3 is coming!! The show opens Friday, September 5th with a reception from 5-8pm.

As its predecessors, the exhibition features works by multiple artists measuring less than or equal to 10"x10" and affordably priced from $28 - $400. Exhibiting artists include: Aaron Drew, Raegan Russell, Erin Moran, Bailey Saliwanchik, Nicole Maloof, Samantha Wilcox, Kelly Vivanco, Lisa Costanzo, Liz Tran, Sarah Ogren, Tiffany Torre, Jodie Baehre, Robin Luciano Beaty, Linda Cordner, Denise Duong, Elsa Mora, Stephanie Young, Abby Glassenberg, Abby Williams, Barbara Poole, Adeline Goldminc-Tronzo, Michelle Brusegaard, Maryanne Pernold Young, Anne K. Holt, Leah Murphy, Kim Ferreira, Cindy Rizza, Nancy Grace Horton and Dorothy Imagire.

Click here to preview some of the works in the show. And stay tuned as I will be posting about some of the exhibiting artists in the not too distant future.

*The Teeny Tiny Art Show #3 is a collaboration with The Enormous Tiny Art Show at Nahcotta. One Town, Two Galleries, Tons of Tiny Art!

Robin Luciano Beaty

Robin Beaty just delivered another set of 9 paintings from her ongoing series, Above and Beyond. They are #41 thru #50. Prolific, perhaps? Robin's paintings are so delicious, I could just eat them up with a spoon...

Rabbit/Rabbit/Rabbit

New Paintings by Fleur Palau!