Between the Lines - Altered Book Sculptures by Dawn Rosendahl

 Between the Lines: Exhibition of Altered Book Sculptures

I've had the pleasure of watching artist Dawn Rosendahl carve through pages as she creates her altered book sculptures in her Artist in Residence  studio at the Maitland Art Center, Maitland Florida. I was amazed to see the very beginning of this totem of sculpted books being built in her studio come to fruition in this exquisite tall assemblage of carved books. 
 

 

"Libra Totem" Inspired by Native American totem polls.
There are over 75 books in this piece.


The artist’s process is like an excavation, each book with its own archaeological dig. Using X-Acto knives and box cutters her process appears a bit surgical, and quite meticulous. Like a storyteller Rosendahl retells tales in a fresh new way, selectively piercing pages until the form emerges as a sculptural vision. She is able to use the text words and images to convey her message.

 "Hollywood Burning"

Rosendahl Artist Statement
I transform books into lasting sculptures, resurrecting them as they become obsolete in this age of New Media. I carve books like blocks of wood, transforming them into surrealistic works of art. The altered books tell new stories; continents, countries, and highways in an atlas shift into another world; history books are rewritten with the stories they tell; and words in an encyclopedia are shifted and layered into new meaning.

 "American Vision"

In addition to her tenacity of pushing through volumes
her work is intellectual and thought provoking.
One could find her work a valuable engaging work addition to their art collection.

 "Jackie"

I particularly enjoy the exhibition in the CityArts Factory venue as her altered books
stand out on the blue walls accentuating their sculptural forms. A must see!
Catch it by February 14th,
CityArts Factory is located at 29 S. Orange Ave Orlando Florida USA.

"Dawn Rosendahl transforms books into lasting sculptures,
resurrecting them as they become obsolete in this age of New Media"

 

Review
 Robin Maria Pedrero is a curator, public speaker, and passionate painter. Pedrero served on the board for the National Women's Caucus for Art. She is an elected signature member of the Pastel Society of America. She is awarded Best Artist in Florida 2012 by Baterby's Art Auction Gallery, listed in Florida International Magazine’s Florida Artists Hall of Fame, and the winning Artiste Wine Label artist 2012. Pedrero is an award winning artist with work in film, museum permanent collections, private collections & galleries in America, Great Britain, Bahrain, Italy, Spain, Canada, Denmark, New Zealand, and Australia.

Seek a unique belief at "I Believe"

"I Believe" City Arts Factory Exhibition
presented by Art for All Spaces

"I Believe in Paint" by Parker Sketch

What do you believe in?  What do you not? These are questions of fundamental importance, shaping our psychological orientation toward life. Our deeply held beliefs are often challenged by the complex social, economic and political worlds in which we live.  Art for All Spaces invites you to a show about believing.  Through words and images, artists share the beliefs that inform and inspire them.  As a special treat, local poets will compose short verses based upon the artists' “I Believe” titles.

When I read the press release my preconceived expectation was that I would walk into an exhibit of Buddhas, New Age, Idols, Christian iconography, and ethereal creations. I was pleasantly surprised to discover that the exhibit with the title "I Believe" defied most typical spiritual stereotypes. Walking through the main entrance of City Arts Factory in downtown Orlando several artists shared their company with me discussing their art while strolling down the hall browsing colorful abstract paintings. As I walked around the corner, my eyes were drawn and I stopped conversing.  I know I flashed a giant smile at Parker Sketch's "I Believe in Paint". I repeated out loud "I believe in paint". Like something from Peter Pan, I know I felt the sparkles of magic in the presence of a painting of the word "paint.".  I walked up to the art smiling all the more to dip into Namoi Butterfield's poem "I Believe in Paint"!

Awards were given to the BEST Poem and this one is a winner!

           

Artist and Sculptor Linda Brandt had several pieces of intriguing
works of art which spontaneously brought those of us near by to delve into discussion.
I am fond of her piece titled "Nostrils", simple yet intricate with delicate curls. 

I found the connection to "Dragon's" "nostrils"  in Naomi's poem serendipitous.

"Nostrils" by Linda Brandt

Quite often I have viewed the work of  glass artist Saulius J. Jankauskas in the Orlando art scene admiring his painterly way of working with glass. His classic symbolism of the vine is both elegant and contemporary in his work "Retro Flora II". 

"Retro Flora II" by Saulius Jankauskas

I encourage you to catch this exhibit filled with many artists whose works I admire.

Participating artists include; Ken Austin ,Linda Brant ,Marsha DeBroske, Stephanie Stalvey, Erick D Marquez ,Kim Mathis, Janae Corrado, Doris Smart, Rik Hayes ,Patricia Byron, Parker Sketch, Judy Batterson, Georgie Pratt, Bonnie Sprung, Tre Harris, Renee Wilson, Florita Realin, Saulius Jankauskas, and Cathy Hempel,Kayla Prommersberger

Art for All Spaces Art For All Spaces provides curatorial services for commercial and residential spaces, event production, promotion, and artist representation. You may contact, Brad Biggs at 407-450-2255, or
Christina Faille via email at artforallspaces@gmail.com .

 

City Arts Factory 29 S Orange Ave, Orlando, FL 32801

Phone:(407) 648-7060

Review

Robin Maria Pedrero is a curator, public speaker, and passionate painter. Pedrero served on the board for the National Women's Caucus for Art.  She is an elected signature member of the Pastel Society of America. She is awarded Best Artist in Florida 2012 by Baterby's Art Auction Gallery, listed in Florida International Magazine’s Florida Artists Hall of Fame, and the winning Artiste Wine Label artist 2012. Pedrero is an award winning artist with work in film, museum permanent collections,  private collections & galleries in America, Great Britain, Bahrain, Italy, Spain, Canada, Denmark, New Zealand, and Australia.

"I Live in Orlando But Sometimes I Dream of Other Places" Gallery at Avalon Island

"I Live in Orlando But Sometimes I Dream of Other Places" 

Gallery at Avalon Island

Artist Lesley Silvia with her Paper cut  "Balancing Act" 22x30"

 Lesley Silvia's passion for paper cutting was spurred from her heritage. Scherenschnitte means “scissor cuts” in German, and is the art of paper cutting design which was founded in Switzerland  and Germany in the 1500′s, and brought to Colonial America in the 1700s by immigrants who settled primarily in Pennsylvania.
The art of Silvia's paper cuts takes on storytelling. One interesting aspect we discussed  is how she can depict gore, such as a beheading via a Silhouette, utilizing the art of cutting outlines out of black paper where upon the viewer can behold the tale without a bloodied image. Her creations are striking from a distance and even more intriguing up close as you see all of the tiny hand cuttings that make up the original artworks.

See more of the exhibit here The Art of  Lesley Silvia

"We love Orlando, but sometimes we need new adventures. This show is about dreaming and exploring. The artists featured are Bill Tarpley, Lesley Silvia, Chris Tobar Rodriguez, Tess Bo, Natalie Ayala, Mike Linger, Hio Oih, David Cookson, Maxwell Hartley, Richard Arm, Cody Zeigler, me, Adam J. Thaxton and Ivan Riascos. Jared Silvia will be DJing." - Gallery at Avalon Island

 

 

Installation by Sarah Beck

A few of us explored and discussed this installation by Sarah Beck
where I interpreted the shape of the piece to be a city or buildings. 
I like the color blocking and massive draping of this piece
created with trash bags.

 "The City" a series of graphic mixed media artworks by Chris Tobar

Tobar born and raised in Chicago, IL  attended the art Institute at the age of 12; one of the youngest students in many of his classes. He moved to Florida in 2005 to attended Full Sail University for Recording Arts but found his love in type, color and expression in Digital Art and Design. Tobar is a local Orlando multimedia artist and graphic designer, working with spray paint, wallpaper paste, paper and exacto knives.

I like the raw wood ground showing through this series. Tobar's City Series give me the feel of those quick flashes of driving through a city and looking through the glass window. The graphic cityscape pieces attract wanderlust taunting you to desire more.

The Gallery at Avalon Island is a part of the Downtown Arts District. It is a contemporary art space that displays work by emerging and established artists. The gallery is located in the historic Queen Anne style Roger’s building. It was built in 1886, and is the oldest operational building in Orlando.
Gallery at Avalon Island is a Contemporary Art Gallery located at 39 S. Magnolia Avenue, Orlando, FL
Daily Operating Hours – Thursday-Saturday 11:00am-6:00pm

Catch this exhibit in January - mid February 2014

Review

Robin Maria Pedrero is a curator, public speaker, and passionate painter. Pedrero served on the board for the National Women's Caucus for Art.  She is an elected signature member of the Pastel Society of America. She is awarded Best Artist in Florida 2012 by Baterby's Art Auction Gallery, listed in Florida International Magazine’s Florida Artists Hall of Fame, and the winning Artiste Wine Label artist 2012. Pedrero is an award winning artist with work in film, museum permanent collections,  private collections & galleries in America, Great Britain, Bahrain, Italy, Spain, Canada, Scotland, New Zealand, and Australia.

 

Alfond Contemporary Art Collection

On August 19th the new Alfond Inn, a Preferred Boutique Hotel, opened in Winter Park (300 E. New England Ave., Winter Park FL).  Owned by Rollins College, a private coeducational liberal arts college in Winter Park, The was built with a $12.5-million grant from the Harold Alfond Foundation.  Net operating income from the Inn will be directed to The Alfond Scholars program fund, the College's premier scholarship fund, for the next 25 years or until the endowment principal reaches $50 million, whichever comes later. The 112-room boutique hotel features Hamilton's Kitchen restaurant, a pool and fitness center, and 10,000 square feet of flexible meeting space. The Alfond Inn is poised to become the new hub of dynamic Winter Park, which The New York Times recently called "a sophisticated alternative to Disney."

Baker Barrios Architects of Orlando were responsible for the Inn's architecture, interior design and landscape architecture. Built in the Spanish Mediterranean revival style, The Alfond Inn echoes the classic look of Rollins College and of Winter Park homes designed by noted 20th century architect James Gamble Rogers II. The use of arches, columns, decorative wrought iron, overhanging trellises covered with flowering vegetation and formal courtyards are the essence of the elegant Winter Park design vernacular. Throughout the hotel are artworks from The Alfond Collection of Contemporary Art for Rollins College, established by longtime donors and alumni Barbara and Ted Alfond.

Since Orlando has very few museums or galleries, I went to the hotel with the express intent to view the art collection. It is an eclectic collection of modern representational and abstract work.  One piece, by Vik Muniz, was mounted behind glass and was based on "Absinth Drinker" by Edgar Degas. It was created using thousands of images torn from magazines. Had it been the original painting, I would have been impressed. On the opposite wall, "Color Coordinated Currency", by Michael E. Jone, consisted of a series of images of bills that were the same color framed together.  I asked at the front desk if there was a brochure that showed where each of the pieces from the collection were located. I was told that a brochure was in the works. I'm not sure how much of the art collection I saw.

The new waitress joked with the good old boys seated at the center table. One of them enlightened her on how grits should be prepared. Guests wandered by periodically and several admitted they were lost. I must admit this is a gorgeous hotel. Although there was an introductory "Welcome Rate" at the Inn that started at $99 per night, based on double occupancy, you will likely be charged over $189. I asked about the "Welcome Rate" at the front desk and no one knew anything about it.

Thor
Analog Artist Digital World

Differing Views

On June 22nd, I went to the opening reception for "Differing Views" at the GLBT Community Center of Central Florida (946 N Mills Ave, Orlando, Florida 32803). This was a  group art show featuring: Parker Sketch, Jon Glassman Gardner, Patty Sheehan  and Karen Cate.

When I arrived, a little early, John Glassman Gardner was still hanging pieces. He had these wonderful one inch square  pieces of glass with vibrant patterns that looked like aerial views of river valley topography. He told me that the pattern had been discovered by accident when 2 pieces of glass had been pushed together with a small drop of paint between them. Like a microscope slide, the paint spread. When pealed apart, this organic pattern would appear. John then glues magnets on the back. He was placing dozens of them on a metal support column. He gave me one of these pieces and it is proudly displayed in my home. It isn't signed unfortunately so someday I hope to catch him to sign it.

Commissioner Patty Sheehan had a show the previous week at the Peacock Room. She had sold 75% of all the pieces there. She therefor had to do more than a dozen paintings in a weeks time to have something for this show. All her paintings were of black cats with wide eyes and a Cheshire grin. She called them "Bad Kittys" and they sell like hot cakes. She gave me a button with one of these kitty's on it and a pink equal sign. Of course this was "Equality Kitty".

Parker's Sketch's work is ubiquitous to the Orlando art scene. His pieces use pop commercial imagery portrayed with bold brush work and a liberal display of spattering. The boldest piece was of a faded American flag. He was voted the Best Arts Advocate in this years Orlando Weekly. Karen Cate only had a few pieces in the show.  I had never seen her work before.

Thor
Analog Artist Digital World

Hope

Brendan O'Connor, sent me a Facebook message, "Thomas I'll be headed out to the Hope Community Center in Apopka (1016 N Park Ave Apopka, FL) on Thursday around 11:30 to work on the mosaic-mural for the afternoon. You're more than welcome to join!"

Brendan is a project manager for Art Reach Orlando whose mission is to support art projects that foster creativity and hope, develop self-esteem, and offer children a platform to reflect, re-vision, and rejoice. By fostering creativity they are encouraging and empowering children to imagine the positive changes they wish to see in their own lives, their communities, and the world.

The Hope Community Center is a service and learning community dedicated to the empowerment of the Central Florida’s immigrant and working poor communities through Education, Advocacy and Spiritual Growth. Janis Neunez is the artist who designed the mosaic mural that will surround the back entryway to the center. The story of the area's migrant workers will be told through through the placement of tiles and objects donated by migrant worker families and through interactive computer chips placed in the mosaic. By activating the chips with your smart phone, you can see images and hear the stories of the men, women, and children who made the Tree of Life mosaic at the center and make up the real life mosaic of our Central Florida community.

Brendan had to work from the top of the ladder using acid to clean an area. I was nervous that someone might open the door fast and send him tumbling. A dear friend Melissa Kasper recently fell off a ladder breaking her nose, so the possibility was fresh on my mind.  I'm glad to report that no artists were hurt during the creation of this sketch.

Thor
Analog Artist Digital World

Florida Overtures, Undertones and Subplots

On July 18th, I went to the opening of "Florida Overtures, Undertones and Sub Plots" at Gallery at Avalon Island ( 39 South Magnolia Avenue, Orlando FL). The opening featured live music from Chris Aycrigg’s group , all nestled inside an Orlando architectural gem, the Rogers Building.

The Florida Overtures, Undertones and Subplots show was a multimedia collection that examined the state’s intricacies and idiosyncrasies through the eyes of 13 artists.The artists included, Gary Monroe, Carmon Colangelo, Therman Statom, Matt Roberts, Brian Phillips, Tamara Cedre, Phillip Estlund, and Jay Flynn. I was intrigued by the black and white photos of Gary Monroe of hasidic Jews in Miami beach. In the front window Phillip Estlund had large sheets of plastic or glass had prints on them and the sheets were bent or melting giving a warped surreal effect.

As I sketched the musicians, one of their wives entered with her daughter.  Her daughter was intrigued. She stood beside me watching as I splashed color onto the sketch of her dad. Once the sketch was done, I treated myself to some nuts which were on the table. As I left, Carl Knickerbocker was just arriving. He told me that one of the artists inside, Gary Monroe, wrote "Extraordinary Interpretations: Florida's Self Taught Artists", published in 2003. Of course this book showcased, Carl's Suburban Primitive work.

I also went over to City Arts Factory which was insanely crowed. The Re Define Gallery had toy Marquette's which were decorated by different artists. I'm pretty sure I recognized a toy by Woolfrich.  Toni Taylor had several of her magnificent futuristic oil paintings on display. I told her that I wished I could take the time to create more refined pieces like hers. She said I should just keep doing what I'm doing. I didn't explore any other galleries. I decided I needed to get home.

Thor
Analog Artist Digital World