Creative synergy....American Craft Show NYC - Woodrow Nash,Njee Dorsey and others

 During our recent Italian adventure, I thought a lot about
artistic synergy... about what it must have been like
during Renaissance days in Florence with Michelangelo,
Brunelleschi, Ghiberti and so many others working, competing,
and challenging each other.  The air had to be thick with
creativity. (I love that 27 year old Michelangelo just saw
that large block of "flawed" marble and asked if he could
carve it...and David emerged...and reading that Brunelleschi,
designer of the dome of the Duomo in Florence, was originally
trained as a goldsmith!) I thought about the atmosphere
of the early 1900's in Paris with Picasso, Diego Rivera,
Cocteau, Modigliani and so many others interacting. The
ponderings helped me understand why I still enjoy and find
the energy to do art shows.  We go to sell and present our work,
but we also show up to be a part of that synergy.  Many of us
work in our own studios. We don't hang out together at a cafe
in Montmatre, but we do come together at shows.

For over 40 years now, shows have been an important part of
my artistic life.  They are the gathering places of community
where we connect and meet and are places of challenge,
creative competition and inspiration.

I promised images from our Italian venture and will post them
soon.  But before that - I want to share images and websites
from some of the artists who were present at the American
Craft Show NYC this past weekend who inspired me to
want to work harder than ever to create vision and perfect
techniques.(Check out the show's website to savor all the
exhibitors: www.americancraftshownyc.com)

The image above is of Woodrow Nash with one of his sculptures.
His website: www.theragegallery.com explains the vision of 
this extraordinary artist and is filled with images.  Definitely
check it out - you won't be disappointed!

Another artist I enjoyed meeting was Najee Dorsey:
www.artbynajee.com   Najee hails from Atlanta.
Here is an image of his booth:

I wasn't surprised to hear that he regularly participates in New Orleans
Jazzfest.  He's one of the juror's for the Congo Square art this year.
He incorporates bottle caps in some of his collage paintings.

The show had a wonderful range of work.  Take for instance
Ben Joyce's Abstract Topophilia inspired by aerial maps:

Ben's website: www.benjoyceart.com

And the sculpture of self-proclaimed "outsider" artist: Pierre-Henry Guerard:

Born in France and living both in France and Morocco, Pierre Henry's
studio is now in Brooklyn.  His website: www.pierrehenryguerard.com

And for still more contrast, the intriguing abaca paper illuminated
sculptural lighting of Robert Ostermeyer and Riki Moss:

Their website: www.studio-glow.com Riki,a long time ceramic sculptor,
is  exploring the possibilities of paper sculpture, lighting and even has a
published novel. What did I say about creative energy swirling?

Shows offer a chance to meet new friends, to reconnect with old friends
and often foster thought provoking conversation.  Of course another
fun aspect is seeing  my  creatures  "find" their owners.  This afternoon
I delivered two pieces to a customer who runs a small neighborhood
cafe. He said as soon as he saw the pieces, he knew they were meant to
go home with him. He has done a lot of things in the business world,
but at this point in his life is focused on building community via
running the cafe(bakes brownies every night, and up at 5AM every
morn to get everything ready) and offering reasonable rental housing.
We talked about the importance of being "present" wherever one lives.
His familyroots go back over 100 years in the neighborhood...seems
like a very good new home for those Star Wanderers!

Wishing everyone a wonderful Thanksgiving surrounded by family
and friends...next post, some of the Italian venture images.

Adventure on!   Wendy