Posted Thursday December 17 2015 at 06:13 am
Guest blog post by Lisa Corfman, an artist currently exhibiting at the Open Door Gallery's Handmade Holiday Market. Lisa is founder and owner of Rocky Arts Unfolded.
Find your rock!
Becoming a successful artist is hard. You have to find your rock, the thing that makes you unique. Rocks endure, they symbolize forever and each one is different with its own life story.
As an artist with a disability, origami (the art of folding paper) is my rock. Since art is a broad topic, origami adds to my stability and creates the web of interconnectedness between my poetry, charcoal drawings, paintings, jewelry, sculpture, teachings, and my entertainment services.
I fold paper to create jewelry with unique tiny art. I make charcoal drawings, 77 to date, put them into an imaginative environment, each featuring a different origami model. Each day I complete a charcoal drawing, I write a poem about the model, giving backstories to the drawings. My audience likes color, so acrylic paintings of origami are in the works, many completed mimicking the appearance of the 77 charcoal drawings. That leaves my sculptural pieces and services to you.
Most of my sculptural pieces have rocks! How? Well, called "Origami Rocks" they are found rocks, painted gold with poetry and the matching origami adhered, becoming a garden decoration, a door holder or one beautiful paper weight.
Another special sculptural item, the Crane of Remembrance, contains a rock. With symbolism for peace, long life or healing, a crane is folded out of durable clear plastic and a rock or two is put inside to honor this gifted one's purpose forever. In Jewish tradition, a stone is placed on loved one's graves; this item centers on that ritual. Wing inserts show the cause. The inserts are up to your imagination. You can email an image me, you can pick a word like "Family" to write on one wing and a name like "Joseph Smith" or a company like "Rocky Arts Unfolded" on the other, and choose a personalized background color. Submit an order form or just ask!
Everyone deserves to have a rock in their life. I hope I can help you find yours!
Posted Friday December 11 2015 at 9:44 pm
Dew Jareanvai, currently selling his work at the Open Door Gallery's Handmade Holiday Market, is also exhibiting "A Dynamic Journey: My Tribute to Rayleen Lescay" in the lobby of The NonProfit Center in Boston.
Dew uses the mediums of acrylic paints, oil pastels and everyday objects to create abstract works. His art frequently focuses on human potential and the belief that its only limits are self-imposed.
"A Dynamic Journey: A Tribute to Rayleen Lescay" is a collection particularly close to Dew's heart. Rayleen was a young woman that lived freely and without placing unnecessary limits on her life, or her abilities. Unfortunately, Rayleen succumbed to cancer in 2009. As one of her closest friends, Dew created this collection to honor her spirit and chronicle their journey together, including Rayleen's courageous battle against cancer.
This collection is comprised of four acrylic paintings following a narrative order. The red in each painting represents Rayleen. The painting titled Limitless Possibilities (shown above) is about Rayleen's zest for life and her boundless energy and curiosity. She loved to be center stage, and enjoyed doing pop-a-wheelies; and the purple and white swirly lines represent her love of movement.
Other painting in the series include "Rayleen's Adversary", "Loss Of Rayleen", and "Rayleen Holding Court".
Don't miss Dew's exhibit while you are shopping at VSA's Handmade Holiday Market.
Posted Monday September 07 2015 at 5:39 pm
The Open Door Gallery presents "Shades of Inclusion" now through November 13, 2015. Artist Leaders from Arts Connect International unpack what inclusion means to each of them through their respective work. The show beckons the viewer to interact with the nebulous term of inclusion, asking each of us to examine our own inclusionary bias, opening the term for critique, investigation and building. Above all, the exhibit is a celebration of the diversity found in our local and international communities, utilizing art as a catalyst for multi-dimensional conversations on inclusion.
Arts Connect International is building the preeminent model for arts entrepreneurship; cultivating and connecting leaders in the field committed to cultural and social inclusion. Shades of Inclusion showcases the work of seven Artist Leaders who focus on multiple art forms, geographical locations and aspects of inclusion.
Shades of Inclusion events:
Living Room Performance: 9/17/15, 6:00-8:00pm
Artist Talk and Reception: 10/2/15, 6:00-10:00pm
#ArtBar: 11/5/15, 5:00-7:00pm
