Christmas Centerpiece – Gilding the Lily of Locust Pods, Evergreen, Silver & Gold!

The return of the pods with a twist! Those gorgeously twisted mahogany colored Locust pods that fall every autumn and beg to be re-purposed, if not for their procreating seeds, as table dressings!!! Yes, I have embraced their raw, organic beauty for quite some time. Look back to my introduction to these handsome hulls and the first fabulous table-scape that resulted.  https://patriciandesign.com/resourceful-creative-festive-fun/

The original autumnal centerpiece using the Locust pods a couple of years ago…

There have been many bouquets since. Then yesterday, as I walked my 10,000 step trek around a nearby park, I pondered the theme for this Christmas blog and another pod piece came to mind.  One lone Locust tree there in the park had produced a blanket of pods that have been weathering these last couple of months – fortunately, not weathered too badly. I gathered 2 dozen of them and marched home with a purpose! Fists full and looking a bit curious, I passed several strollers wondering about my two unusual bouquets.

My idea was to tweak them from their natural autumnal brown to a gilded glory!

Spray painting on brown craft paper – both sides – instant transformation!

Yes, gilding the lily of lovely rich, natural pods to become wildly twisted golden spires flanking the traditional poinsettia of our Christmas table.

Building the scene as I go…

Last minute gold glass balls ringing the red poinsettia centerpiece,

Spruce sprigs from the yard.

a pair of silver reindeer, silver snowflake napkin rings, blue spruce cuttings from the backyard, scattered votive holders, crystal and china for the touch of formality and we’re ready for our silver and gold, red and green, festive feast!

Mexican pewter chargers, with fine gold trimmed Limoge china, Grand Baroque sterling and aluminum snowflake napkin rings – mixes metals to the max!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Have You Listened to Your Heart on a Quest to Create ART?

When do you know when to listen to a sign? What opportunity changes your life? From romance to career changes and all manner of life’s opportunities – what catches your attention? What switches on inside and makes you take notice? Having someone cross your path and not realize he/she is your soul-mate. We’ve seen many movies with this elusive thread woven through the plot. One of my favorite songs, about such would-be near-misses, is “If He’s Ever Near”  in which Karla Bonoff pines…

They say just once in life
You find someone that’s right
But the world looks so confused
I can’t tell false from true

And love’s so hard to find
In this state of mind
Oh I hope I’ll know him
I hope I’ll know him
If he’s ever near

…her yearning hits a cord.  What is a sign? How do you know? What action do you take? It’s not always particularly obvious.

Recognizing opportunities is what separates many successful people from the rest of the world. Taking chances, when those signs make their appearance, is the other factor. Risk-taking is a scary leap into the unknown, but so often results in great reward when it is a true calling and approached with dedication to seek and meet the challenges.

Seems from many with whom I’ve spoken, a true calling is pretty clear. It taps into a passion and ignites a level of excitement and enthusiasm that is hence to fore unmatched. It becomes an irreversible path forward. Like an involuntary propulsion. Thrilling for some – terrifying for others. Which type are YOU? Perhaps you find yourself in the middle – healthy respect for the trepidation, but curiosity for what’s in store!!!

Twice this week I have met with artists who are each taking an enormous leap into a new life direction. One who might not be ready for me to blog about her adventure has leaped from a 30+ year life in Mexico… to a year-long reunion in Arizona with family tapping into the vibrant art scene in Sedona…then a soul-searching move to New Mexico where she invested her savings to start a new independent life…and after exploring her options and searching introspectively for her personal needs, happiness and goals has decided, after yet another year, to sell her new home and return to Sedona to pursue what she firmly believes is her calling. She took leaps, explored options, followed leads and returned to what she initially thought was the right place for her, but which had contingencies that masked her true indicators. She did not want to have imagined constraints rule her decision. Now she realizes that it is her choice, her viewpoint, and ultimately her quest for joy. Her focus and grace have inspired me on many levels and I hope to share her story once she’s ready!

Yesterday I was visited by a Renaissance artist whose enthusiasm and self-effacing manner bring sunshine to every event!  Kim Jackson has a new-found passion!  Having mastered her profession in the arena of photography (http://www.kimjacksonphotography.com)  she had an encounter that looks like will change her life path with new-found joy.

Sprinkled at my reception desk, I was presented with an array of amazing little jewels. Kim spread a collection of painted rocks and miniature paintings in a scattering like pebbles and fallen leaves. Only these jewels were painted with such detail and expression that I was arrested – awestruck.

Her own words about this turning point in her life is enchanting.

Last summer I was gifted a painted rock by a 4 year old girl about to lose both of her dogs – the rock read “Love”.

I was touched and photographed it to share with my instagram followers, which lead me down the #paintedrock hashtag. The first artist’s post I clicked on – she does amazing mandala dot art – shared what kind of paint she used and gave other general tips. By that afternoon I had a rainbow of colors and was painting my first rocks.

Kim was there to capture the family on the eve of having to put their two dogs down. The little girl presented her with a simple yet profound object and message that resonated so strongly with Kim that it sparked an idea that lead down a path…

 My rock art (art rocks) style has evolved in the last 10 months, and at the beginning of May 2018 I painted my first 2D “little dessert” and bird paintings – supposed to be gifts for Mother’s Day. With encouragement from a fellow artist I have approached galleries and received warm reviews on both the stones and little paintings. 

Although Kim’s photography still plays a significant and pleasurable career role in her life, this quest to explore other of her creative energies and talents is proving to be an exciting and potentially lucrative path.

Thanks to the support of my husband Billy, I feel extremely lucky to be given a chance with a second artistic medium – something I never dreamed I would be able to do. I’ve lived my entire life thinking that I could not paint well. While feeling blessed to make a career out of my photography, this is an exciting new direction, I am excited to see where it leads.

I see Kim as a precious stone, of many facets. Although she will still pursue her love of photography and capture people’s lives and many story chapters, Kim will make room for this blossoming career move into the exploration of creating art directly from her heart to her hand.

This sentiment has been so profoundly stated by Federico Leon de la Vega as he references a similar heartfelt expression regarding the (very personal and possibly evolutionary level) value of handwriting. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H9j_pLgCr1U

Federico prepares a prp for his TEDX Talk. “From my head to my mind, from my mind to my hand, from my hand to the paper, I place in your hand, so you may fold it and keep it near your heart.”

Some things cross your path unwanted and certainly change your life. For the undesirable things, I recently read this phrase  by Glennon Doyle “Your wound probably is not your fault, but your healing is your responsibility.” Well, you might very well have caused your wound – but either way, taking charge of the healing is your responsibility. Which makes me realize that which we have all been told so many times –  that your destiny is in YOUR hands.

As this relates to art – do not be afraid to explore your creative tendencies. Do not feel you are not worthy or good enough. Experiment. There are so many examples of late bloomers in life. A prime example are the magnificent Portraits of Courage by George W Bush. He dabbled and played with a wide variety of subjects before he hit on portraiture. His abstractly artistic interpretations of people too shape and he discovered that these seemingly primitive paintings had intriguing representation, expression, character, beauty and appeal. The path led him to a powerful platform for veterans, fund-raising opportunities, heightened awareness and acknowledgement of sacrifice.

https://www.bushcenter.org/exhibits-and-events/exhibits/2017/portraits-of-courage-exhibit.html

As stated on the website, this exercise has become significant:

A VIBRANT COLLECTION OF OIL PAINTINGS AND STORIES BY PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH HONORING THE SACRIFICE AND COURAGE OF AMERICA’S MILITARY VETERANS — AND HIGHLIGHTING THE WORK OF THE BUSH INSTITUTE’S MILITARY SERVICE INITIATIVE.

A great article on the accidental painter is here in The Artists’ Network

“These portrait paintings aren’t great but they are gutsy, because it is gutsy to show your artwork period, but it is really gutsy when you know the work isn’t perfect and you do it anyway, because it matters to you.

We could all learn a little bit from this–to embrace our abilities as they are right now, and then to simply let the work go…”

It’s not about a perception of being great or even good enough – most artists never really believe that they are. It is about following your passion – in this case, artistic expression. You might be surprised at what happens next! Believe in the power of ART!!

 

 

 

Bring Elegant Functional Pottery into Your Daily Life

Powerfully, pretty, porcelain, pottery graces the urban storefront window this month, of the east gallery of PATRICIAN DESIGN, with elegant, functional inspiration.

The opening of this the second  installation of the Resilience exhibit features a collection of porcelain pieces that is intended to be an entirely functional  ensemble of art.

It’s been refreshing to have these well established artists paired with exciting emerging artists presenting their expressive talents, in the form of something that you can use and enjoy, to enhance the aesthetic connections in your daily life.

Resilience, conceived by Helen Atkins, an exciting emerging artist herself, is the manager of consignment art at PATRICIAN DESIGN.

Her concept was to “explore the experience of local female artists at various junctures if their careers.”

As a recipient of the Makeshift Grant Project, “Resilience” is funded by the downtown Albuquerque Arts & Cultural District and the Albuquerque Community Foundation. The name of this project suggests that the strength and flexibility of clay as it is formed is an analogy to similar characteristics in the course of a woman’s life. Strength and flexibility – resiliency and tenacious fortitude are the features the two share  and which are celebrated with this show.

In addition to this relevant topic of women, the functionality of this collection is what is even more expansive. No gender specific appeal to this wonderful work, the idea that pulling in from the disposable practices of everyday life, strikes a universal chord.

To pull in and focus on what  you have and use in your daily life is the beginning. Evaluating between pure function and added beauty being introduced as an enhancing element is the trick. Then discovering individual pieces that bring enjoyment  while contributing to the function as well as the aesthetic of the scene,  from an interior design standpoint, is wonderful.

Your “scene” should be exclusively personal to you and your life experiences.  It is personal and wonderful to incorporate handmade artwork in all aspects of a design project. To appreciate the detail and have the opportunity of taking that artwork all the way to daily tableware is pure joy. These and other potters that we feature at PATRICIAN DESIGN offer just that – the opportunity to incorporate art into the simple functions of eating and drinking.

Artist  Kathryne Cyman is a master of the 400 year-old Japanese process of Arita pottery.  Please read more about Kathryne’s journey at http://art.unm.edu/kathryne-cyman/   Showing alongside her capable student Jordyn Bernicke, the two present simple, elegant, affordable pottery pieces for you to bring into your  daily life.

Imagine the soft, delicate yet durable cup in your hand from which to sip and relax. Even to toss o.j. on the run – the basic action of drinking from a handmade vessel, in a color and finish that makes you smile, is an enhancement to the day.

Sensory perceptions ignited by the feel and the look of a beautiful piece of pottery is restorative.

We are privileged to have this exhibit and to meet these fine artists. We are privileged as a community to have this program at UNM.  It appears that the natural beauty of New Mexico, life lived close to the earth and celebrated by Native Americans for generations is a parallel practice to the Arita process by the artisans in Japan.

This exhibit proves that to admire the techniques that produce beauty is to acknowledge the importance and value of including these elements in our daily lives.

DIY…Do It Yourself Beachfront Getaways or DWI…Designing While Intoxicated!!

Not as the title suggests…tequila shots and all – but another kind of intoxication…an intoxication from unexpected beauty, sensory overload, inspiration as seen in the following photographs.

Those of you bundled up against the elements this time of year…freezing your booties off in the icy winter climes. Enjoy this escape into your unbridled imagination of design and lifestyle gone wild!

Thought a beachfront condo was out of reach? Think again. With all the DIY out there on the internet today, anything is possible. As evidenced by the inspiring framework of architecture that I have encountered just this week alone, consider the possibilities and have a little fun!!!

Very simple things trigger design concepts. Beyond the fascination I have had with these beach structures, this particular photo was bathed in late afternoon light. The glow of the orange towels was emitting a warmth that was so tropical, had it not been on a tropical beach, finding the same boldly colored and textured structure in a snow storm would have elicited a startling, contrasting feeling of the same tangible warmth.

This make-shift west-facing beachfront was so beautiful, in its simplicity, that it spurred ideas of bold fresh color, basic found-material furniture possibilities, fabric design and organic architectural solutions for patios both commercial and residential.

Imagine raw elements  incorporated  with concealed structural support to convey the feeling of spontaneous simplicity.

Then there’s that general calling that speaks to “the natural integrity of the materials.” You realize it is a grounding.  It is a starting point of reference to all the embellishments, layers, machinations and manipulations that are possible.

Wood is wood until it is stained, painted,  appliquéd…when does it lose its “natural integrity?”  Even raw, man-made cinder block – CMU – concrete masonry units have their own natural character. Then stained in the aggregate or applied color, thickly coated…it alters it’s state – losing its material’s natural integrity.

What ignites design thrills? The fireworks of ideas that burst onto the scene illuminating so much that was previously obscured. It doesn’t have to be a remote and seemingly inaccessible tropical beach…it’s everywhere. Look around. See texture and color, shape and frame. Urban, suburban and rural settings in any climate all offer inspiration that can be isolated and appreciated. Design inspiration can be intoxicating.

Why is designing so exciting? Why is it often such a rush? You never know when an idea will appear or from where.

The world around you is a constant stimulation of ideas, inspirations and possibilities. You are thirsty for  whatever is out there…whatever is waiting to be discovered, implemented… quench those longings.  It is all about the freedom to allow ideas to be spawned from anything around you or in intertwined with your own imagination.

What fun to have come upon these simple structures on a glorious and sparsely populated beach. What fanciful design ideas and story-lines were prompted by the imaginary occupants, their creativity, resourcefulness and problem-solving simplicity.  Lest you think they house the homeless adventurers, they are actually sun-shades for creative surfers and affluent sun-bathers seeking a primitive beach experience.

How might these primitive structural solutions play into a future project? Watch for design trends to incorporate more organic materials and nature’s inspirations!

I’m ready to explore the possibilities. Are YOU?

Stylists and Designers Prove Rugs Are Not Limited to Floors

Rugs on walls can be fabulous! I came across an article the other day that reminded me of my own history embracing this attention-grabbing design feature.

As I prepared for college and excitedly ran about gathering cool things to outfit my dorm room, I found this spectacular piece of felted embroidery. It was so spectacular and I so LOVED the colors that it became the focal point of my side of the room. Nothing says soften and warm-it-up than textiles on painted cinder block! Can I find a photo of that wonderful space from decades past? Not yet, but I pulled down the “rug” from its stashed hiding place way up on a closet shelf and have at least this to share.

It was a hippy dippy time for style and design. Even those of us a bit younger and not really hippies in the true sense of the free-love and wild abandoned lifestyle, we surely wanted to participate on the periphery with our fashion and interior design. Remember? Indian bedspreads for curtains and clothes, Mexican wedding shirts, beaded room dividers…all that and more. Pier One “shopped the world so we didn’t have to!!”

As far as my world of design and what textile wall-hangings had to do with interiors, it was more about quilts than rugs. The east coast was riddled with generations of seamstresses who perfected and perpetuated the art of patchwork. Once a necessity of frugal re-purposing, an art-form was born and evolved into magnificently detailed free-hand-stitched, award-winning, collectible masterpieces. I remember a textile exhibit at the DAR in Washington, D.C. that had incredible examples of fine fragile work carefully preserved and presented to honor this amazing artistic expression and its place in history. http://eyeonelegance.dar.org/

As is true in our world of fast-paced technology, ultimately more expeditious and modern machinery aided the artist in guiding the needles and now computer-generated digital methods of quilting and patchwork stitch at amazing rates of speed and detail.

Although weavers exist in all corners of the world, it was not a traditional art-form in our area. We would see exotic examples in homes of well-traveled adventurers. I came across this article from apartment therapy of some fun examples of rugs as wall-hangings and it sparked my memory of these thoughts on the subject.

http://www.apartmenttherapy.com/why-stylists-use-rugs-as-wall-hangings-and-you-should-too-212602

Fast forward in my history to my arrival in New Mexico – the sunny southwest where Native American weavers reign. I was instantly exposed to wonderful woven art pieces from exotic places like the soft earthen shades of the intricate Two Grey Hills and bright bold graphics of Chimayo. Everyone had examples of master weavers (and some not-so-master but fascinatingly beautiful and interestingly textural all the same), proudly mounted on authentic adobe and towering sheetrock walls of new construction. This sensational example is a powerfully beautiful focal point in the home of great collector clients.

So the take-away from this week’s musings are if you have not tried a rug on your wall – get out there and find a cool piece and get it up there!!! You will be surprised at the effective texture and interest it adds to your eclectic interior!!!

 

Oh the Faces! Spanish Market

The sky was grey and the air had a decidedly seasonal still-cool yesterday which called for a cozy indoor activity – offered this weekend in the handsome Hotel Albuquerque, host of the Winter Spanish Market. Yes, the decades old traditional Spanish Market held in Santa Fe outside around the Plaza, on warm summer days in July, has begun a new tradition in Albuquerque in the opposite season indoors. http://www.visitalbuquerque.org/abq365/events/detail/28th-Annual-Winter-Spanish-Market/31793/

The collection of world class artists’ booths beneath the enormous hand-tooled tin chandeliers suspended from the spacious ballroom sparkled with festive illumination and colorful creations.

20161126_151417

A variety of Mariachi bands played to the crowds as the curious and collectors wove in and out of the rows of talented exhibitors.

Fine tin-work, dyed and cut straw assemblies, weavings and jewelry presented an incredible variety of work. Fine crafted furniture and spectacular wall pieces were displayed by master carvers. It was a collection of world-class art and fine craft.

20161126_151517

Crazy interpretations of his beloved traditional retablos are Charlie Carillos commically contemporary interpretations of vintage cars with saints at the wheel. Humor that is received with mixed reviews. But his talent is undisputed. Here he entertains at his booth with his colorful delivery.

20161126_151446

By startling contrast, the rich warm colors and traditional reverence that Catherine Robles-Shaw displays in her incredible carvings and painting techniques, wonderful detail and soulfully expressive faces. Her rich hues are Old World in their sensitivity to tone on tone and dark earthen colors outlined and enhanced with ribbons of gold.

Daughter, Roxanne Shaw-Galindo, a respected santero in her own right has continued to carve her own niche in this exclusive world of bultos, retablos and other manner of fine carving and painting.

The mystic powders carefully sought and gathered from ancient land forms and mineral-rich geology diluted with water and even the precious red of the rare cochineal all contribute to the luminous, translucent colors that read so differently from other media.

And further contrast is Frank  L. Garcia with his primary colors of electric blue, yellow and  red shining off of his wood surfaces. Uplifting and extracting smiles from all who pass his booth.

20161127_085738

Oh the faces!! Each santero has his or her own style.  Like fingerprints, the santeros each have cultivated a unique “look” to their work and expressions of their subjects.  The eyes say so much. Mournful, cheerful, pensive or stony stares, the characters are exclusively their own. Despite the similarities bound by tradition, each artist presents a specifically unique style which conveys incredible personality. These signature expressions, as individual as fingerprints, represent so distinctly each  inimitable artist. Despite the similarities bound by tradition, the methods and materials, each shine with startling individuality!

Here santero Ruben Gallegos poses with Mary Anne Green an avid collector and fond owner of several of Gallegos’ work.

Lee Valdez hunches over his soon-to-be cross carefully carving the rope detail around the edges. Light pencil lines define the decoration that he follows with remarkable precision – and look – he is sporting two pair of glasses stacked atop one another – which he says works just fine.

Behind him displayed on the wall are several other crosses in all manner of carving and decorative woodwork. One piece in particular is a yellow pine cross that is riddled with dark cinnamon colored worm holes – splattered actually – creating a spectacularly natural design. And further marks of nature that Lee captures are a knot hole and adjacent burled wood that he places dead center in the intersection of the cross. The four end pieces are carved from a piece of butternut wood providing the perfect natural contrast to the yellow pine yet complimenting the dark flecks of the worm holes. Quite a find, in this amazing piece of wood he spied in a hardware store, and remarkable sensitivity to isolate and assemble the various pieces to create the whole.

20161126_145127

A striking woman caught my eye. Her thick curly black hair and handsome silver cross strung on a multi-strand necklace of turquoise made a big statement amidst all of the art and drama. Meet Vanessa Baca.

20161126_140328

As we visited briefly I learned that she is a fellow blogger and I am sure it was fate that we met as her foodinbooks.com is a wealth of observations centered around great books and fabulous food within described. She writes with great depth of description and observation AND she breaks it down and teaches you how to prepare that about what you have just read!

Sean Wells painting as we watched, represents her art in her own striking appearance. Dark hair whipped and twisted with a stylish flair and topped with screaming orange flowers.

Wells’ images are equally colorful, happy and festive. If not her fine retablos, You might recognize her Fanciful Day of the Dead wine bottles and famous, collectible Lottery Scratchers! Find her on Etsy!

It was an inspiring day of extraordinary art in a genre that is so historically and regionally rooted with original methods and patient execution paired with the artistic imaginative people who practice and study this fine work. Thanks so much Mary Ann for a rare treat!

20161126_155650-copy

Today YOU can go see this final day of  the 28th Annual Spanish Market 2016! Get over there!

 

Resourceful Creative Festive Fun

When it’s time sensitive and just can’t wait – what do you get? A BONUS BLOG!!!  Yes! A mid-week blog for the holidays! It began beneath a brilliant blue sky yesterday as the air, with a teeny bit of a  chill, was contrasted by the then warm sunshine glistening through a deciduous denuded Honey Locust making it’s lonely leftover pods look like birds silhouetted against the sky.

Scattered all over the ground were the same fallen wonderfully twisted mahogany-colored pods writhing amidst the dried leaves.

The color was so rich and warm it was irresistible. As I bent over to inspect one, I was captured by the unique quality of each pod and the amazing contours of their graceful, elongated shapes.

Almost as though they were varnished, they had a semi-gloss that was naturally beautiful. This is art in nature. This is inspiration. I can see this as a magnificent drapery fabric – a grand wall of these intertwined ribbons of organic seed pods.

20161120_140253

However, on a more current and immediate note – I saw a centerpiece or multiple centerpieces as it turned out. I gathered the pods in my fist as though a wonderfully wild bouquet. I then needed a bag (thank you Becky) as I kept dropping them, in an effort to force the ever growing collection.

Here is the quickie result of the awesome autumnal centerpiece. I had a faux wreath of berries and leaves, tossed in a few recently harvested local apples, (thank you Vigils), some leaves gathered from the driveway as the Bradford Pear – which, a little late this year due to our unseasonably warm Indian Summer this fall, has only started to drop its gloriously radiant leaves. And Voila!

I stood back and looked over my shoulder and saw the collapsed plastic bag still spilling pods out over the counter-top.

20161121_103710

I was about to call all my friends and ask “Do you want a piece of this fabulous, festive, fall, focus of attention? And I quickly realized I could expand the joy for those of you with grand tables  needing a longer statement down the center.

So flanking glass vases provided the extension I needed. Now this was quick – adding gravel, sand or moss in the vases would add interest and depth, maybe pheasant feathers, other dried flower pods and grasses – this was just a start based upon an irresistible inspiration scattered before me.

20161121_101825

So keep your eyes peeled for opportunities when you least expect them and make something out of nothing. Save unnecessary expense when you find your design accessories for free!!! Happy Thanksgiving!!!

pd-exteriors-logo

WONDER at the Renwick

At 4 years old my teeny cousin, Katherine whom I nicknamed Katie-belle, took my hand as we ventured forth with great discovery stepping down into the carport of our beach house. With commiserating whispers, like the two adventurers that we were that night, we exchanged queries about where we were headed and what we might find and she said ” I Wonder…”

“So what?” you might say. What’s such a big deal about that? Well the concept of wondering, being able to ponder with amazement at what might result, was astonishing to me coming from the mouth of such a young child.

When we returned upstairs to join the group, I was eager to share my amazement about her simple phrase, “I wonder.” I exclaimed  “She wonders!” Repeating it incredulously about 5 times!

Today she is a dedicated grown-up pursuing exciting adventures in education as she navigates the University system and teaches students with a creative approach that captivates and engages beyond their expectations.

What is wonder? What is wonderful? Yesterday I visited the Renwick Gallery in Washington, D.C. . The current exhibit is called WONDER. P1150084It truly is a wonderment for all ages. This architecturally magnificent building designed in 1859 by James Renwick, in the then chic Parisian Second Empire Style, is the elegant backdrop for a most progressive and creative collection of present day modern artists’ works. Diverse examples, of spectacular displays using simple materials,  brought to life in forms unexpected – of grand proportion and thrilling magnitude. Although my learned and previewer cousin had introduced me to the exhibit in advance, it captivated and engaged beyond my expectations.

This grand yet intimate edifice welcomes and encourages close observation of both itself and its contents. The spectacular main staircase, centered upon entry, presents a brilliant coral red carpet installed with a curvy,  serpentine migration up to the second level. Ooh – if copying is cool and emulating is the greatest form of compliment – I will be looking for an opportunity to specify a similarly whimsical installation. P1150052

Glittering overhead, spanning the entire length of the staircase, is a rectangular chandelier of mirror-like stainless steel punctuated with little LED lights blinking in random patterns. P1150066 The glitz and bling make such a striking, formal, contemporary statement in this expansive volume that it startles with joyful contrast. The artist, Leo Villareal of whom I had heard in advance, was originally from Albuquerque – where we now call home. A remote desert origination transplanted into the fast pace of the urban centers of the east coast resulting in this shiny experimentation with light, form and wonderfully reflective surfaces. Villareal melds basic high-tech coding to use his own algorithm of the binary system 1s and 0s communicating to the lights when to turn off and turn on – yet sequences that are never exactly repeated .P1150064 It’s not just your linear code of characters that is read on a screen –  here it is an artistic experience shared by all who look up in this gallery’s exciting exhibit.

Straight ahead, through the massive opening to the next exhibit hall, was the wispy fishnet-like rainbow of woven warm-colored fiber representing both  wonder and danger. Artist Janet Echelman’s inspiration is from a map of the energy released across the Pacific Ocean during the Tohoku earthquake and tsunami on March 11, 2011.  A natural disaster so devastating that it shifted the earth on its axis and cost us a fraction of a second in time. Surreal? Sci-fi? No, it really happened.  Beauty and grace depicting a horrific event. P1150063 Large scaffolding at the end of the room suggests the manual installation that was required to suspend this wondrous drape catching light and glowing with golden aura. P1150068

The lower level still had wonders to explore starting with the magical woven willow saplings – creations of artist Patrick Dougherty. He has wound these great lengths of supple branches to form Hobbit – like holes of imaginary forest habitats. P1150056 We were at once drawn into these cozy nurturing cubbies of what appeared to be nature – not forms created by man. Nature. Organic and raw, elegant and graceful winding toward the far reaches of the very high ceilings. Like a sculptor who says that the stone dictates what it wants to be and how he carves it – Dougherty knows that the long willow branches have a true will and bend their own way challenging him to work with them toward that goal of partnership with nature. The beauty is in the end result.  People of all ages wandered in and out, peeking through window-like openings pretending to be exploring an enchanted forest of wonder.

Next – stacked index cards- really? P1150061 Have you ever experienced Tent Rocks?  8-24-12 Placitas lunch, Tent Rocks Heather, Tricia, Zeke 044Have you ever looked upward and around and through the magnificent forms created by nature eroding the earth’s strata revealing layers of color and creating spires of rocky towers? It is a magic land just south of Cochiti in a very unexpected pocket of nature’s magnificence in our Land of Enchantment. And the spires that artist Tara Donovan created with stacks of index cards – an overwhelming accumulation of millions of index cards suggest grey spires replicating nature’s wonders in the canyons among the spires of the Tent Rocks. P1150062 It’s as though a photographer captured this natural formation in black and white.  Donovan’s interpretations are tones of grey as a result of the stacked white index cards with slivers of shadow sucking away light in between each of them. Clustered and staggering in height, the “Untitled” towers are inviting to walk amidst and pass between, winding around them like a  tourist or explorer or perhaps inhabitant in ages past and present as they have stood for ages.

Snap out of it and see what is glowing like a fine fiber sail in the sunset in the next room. Stretching upward and crossing midway are thousands of incredibly fine threads woven from small hooks on the base. P1150059How could a human working only by hand – without computer generated machines digitally fabricating such perfection create this finished piece that we are studying with such wonder? How can this fine tedious seemingly impossible count of thousands of threads be executed with such grandeur and grace by one mere mortal? gabriel-dawe-plexusa1-wonder-renwick-gallery-washington-designboom-03 The artist Gabriel Dawe transcends our ability to comprehend the exactness of his beautiful accomplishment with extraordinary patience, precision and creative foresight to imagine the end result and bring it to fruition.  It is a wondrous, luminous sculpture of rainbow colored threads inspired by the skies of his native Mexico and current home in East Texas. The fine weavings also inspired by his Mexican heritage are interpreted, stretched and exaggerated here reflecting the light and spectrum of color from its base to ceiling. P1150060

We missed a couple of early installations of WONDER but were thrilled by today’s adventure. We had many opportunities to wonder…wonder how the artists conceive of their fantastic ideas and actually build their dreams to share with the world. We wondered what it takes to spark that creativity and passion that requires commitment and demands such unfailing determination. We wondered about those who collect these talents and curate these exhibits for the joy of so many. We wondered about the practical side of marketing these concepts to support the artists and this amazing  accommodation started so many years ago by a true visionary William W. Corcoran.

My next blog will trace the history of this wonderful architectural treasure, the Renwick, and share more of the day’s discoveries that you might visit and experience as you tour my birthplace – our Nation’s Capital.