Life

Day in Detroit — Part I

Inspiration, Life, Local Art

A Peak Inside the Artists’ Studios

In December our little “Gang of 4” were treated to an incredible field trip to see Nancy’s studio at the Russell Industrial Center in Detroit and receive an outstanding one-on-one talk at the DIA on Diego Rivera and his Detroit Industry murals.

History of Russell Industrial Center

In 1915, the Center, a 2,200,000-square-foot (200,000 m2), seven building complex, was designed by Albert Kahn for John William Murray. Over the years it has been used for various manufacturing industries (automotive, military, metal stamping, household appliances, printing) and has passed through many owners. From 1970-1991 it was even owned by the notorious billionaire Leona Helmsley, hotelier and tax evader.

In 1998 the Center was closed as it suffered major damage from storms and the printing company could no longer sustain. The RIC fell into major disrepair and sat vacant until 2003 when it was purchased by a local development company for 1 million dollars. Since then it has become a community hub for local artists and small businesses.

Detroit artist Kobie Solomon‘s “Chimera” mural is painted on the side of the RIC. Measuresing 8,750 square feet, it is the largest mural in the state of Michigan. Kobie combined a bit of Detroit history along with the four major sports teams; the Detroit Lions (NFL), Detroit Pistons (NBA), Detroit Red Wings (NHL) and Detroit Tigers (MLB) in his creation.

Fieldtrip

We were greeted by a friend of Nancy’s, fellow Detroit artist, Darcel Deneau. She let us check out her extra large studio space filled with incredible glass mosaics of the city. When putting this post together, I discovered more about her art and her incredibly heart-breaking story.

We made our way downtown and meandered through the enormous complex until we located the Art Building. Nancy was already there to greet us and let us in. We rode up in the old style industrial elevator — the unsteady, creaking, wire-barred kind you see in scary movies — to her studio.

Next we headed over to Nancy’s studio. It’s a nice size space that offers a lot of natural light. She let us explore for a bit and showed us some of her wonderful paintings. Then we all sat down for a bit, had coffee and snacks, and talked about art and life. Nancy is a natural born storyteller and she’s accumulated so many great ones over the course of her life. We all said she should write a book– it’d be a bestseller!

Just down the long corridor was another friend of Nancy’s who had agreed to let us peak inside his studio. Alan Bennetts is a young Detroit artist and recent graduate of the Cranbrook Academy of Arts MFA Program. His artist statement reveals the intention for his current project that we were treated to view up close:

I seek to examine the varied positions consumer technologies occupy in both our collective and individual perception. In particular, the way these familiar, often intimate objects fundamentally change when they cease to function in the way in which they were intended.

Alan Bennetts

I was blown away by Alan’s eye for detail and steady hand in creating these incredible works of art. How in the world could he achieve such accuracy in the tones of grey, black, silver, white… I’ll never know.

I fondly remembered that we had many of the stereo pieces in the 1980’s and a wave of memories came flooding back — dancing to Madonna and listening to U2s, “The Joshua Tree” in our basement and watching my step-dad spend countless hours making mixed-tapes. It was a great trip down memory lane.

After meeting the artists and touring their studios we headed over to the Detroit Institute of Arts for a phenomenal private lecture from a DIA docent who really knew his stuff! It was turning out to be an incredible day! Stay tuned for Day in Detroit — Part II.

Bad News

Life

By this time, I had been painting for two months, at least 3-4 days a week outside of the classroom plus class time. When I paint at home I usually start in the evening and paint into the wee hours of the morning. My right arm— fingers.. hand.. wrist.. elbow.. neck.. shoulder— were all getting very sore. I carry my supplies in a Husky roll-cart which is very light on wheels to pull around. However, once full, it is very heavy for me to lift into/out of trunk (I’m limited to lifting 10 pounds per elbow due to my replacements). I thought I was being careful, but not careful enough.

In mid-November, I noticed a small protruding bump about three inches below my elbow that was painful to the touch. I made an appointment the next day to see my orthopedic surgeon. He confirmed what I suspected; a small fracture of the radius bone. What I was not expecting to hear was that both components of my elbow replacement were loose! Dr. Michael Wiater passed me over to his brother, Dr. Brett Wiater for the revision process; apparently he had more experience in the area. From here on out, Brett would now be my surgeon. I would have to have my elbow redone or “Revised.” Since it wasn’t painful and the fracture would probably heal on its own, we set a surgery date for January 9th, 2020 — my 21st wedding anniversary!

Well, at least it’s something you can use! said my friend when I told her I was getting a new elbow for my anniversary.

Needless to say, I had to leave Nancy’s class and slow down — again. I was very disappointed and depressed. Once again, I felt like my body let me down and fucked me over.

Diptychs

Animals, JenArt, Life, Oil

Our next assignment, and last for me, would be a diptych. Wikipedia defines a diptych as, ‘an artwork consisting of two pieces or panels, that together create a singular art piece that can be attached together or presented adjoining each other’. Earliest pieces were frequently hinged and depicted biblical or religious themes. Diptychs often represent opposition/contrasting objects or elements. A triptych (three panels) might represent a sequence or a change; like those prints you see in stores of the different seasons.

I couldn’t really decide on an idea for the diptych so I went with a picture I’d saved to paint some day. The image is of several farm animals standing together and taken by well-known animal photographer Rob MacInnis.

We worked on our pieces for the next several classes. These were to be our pièces de résistance — our masterpieces! Below you can see a few of the multiple iterations the animals went through as I tried to figure them out.

Unfortunately I wasn’t able to complete the diptych by the end of class term, but I did finish it up in the new year! More about that in my next post. Stay tuned…

How Does One Make a Body of Work?

Inspiration, Life

This is big

It is complicated, personal, [it] usually has some aspect of an intellectual construct, and has to be something that makes you curious and seems harder than what is possible, at least some of the time. There are no rules for this kind of development.

It can’t be forced or faked, that never works. Sometimes we get a great idea and that doesn’t work either. It has to be something you care about or are curious about investigating. A real desire is a big part of finding the subject: studies, doodles, photographs, stream of consciousness writing sometimes helps. Finding the subject or sense of a possible subject, even, takes time.

Do Not be Afraid to Fail

You will have to mess up a lot before you actually find it; trial and error is the only way to go about it. And then it just turns up. My failures in this department should be good examples that give you heart for the search. I don’t want to scare you… this is a confusing struggle because there are no rules… no one can guide you… but you will know when it happens. How can one explain love?  You just know. You have to be willing to try and fail… that is the bottom line. All of us whose life is this work fail more than we ever tell… it is a terrible secret.

When you find your subject, you will know, and…

  1. It probably won’t quite be right at first
  2. You will be very happy
  3. There will be a lot of work figuring out scale and how to go about getting the sources for imagery… or maybe NOT

For Painters the most fun is getting to work hard and be excited about the work. Really investing in a body of work can take years — two out of three ain’t bad — sometimes it is one out of three.

You can’t always tell in the beginning what is really working. You learn how to see and think at the same time, and then it changes. Otherwise where is the point?

NMM—2019

Painting with Attitude

Inspiration, JenArt, Life, Oil, Still-Life

The name of our class was Painting With Attitude. Each week we were treated to new “Nancy Notes”– a bit philosophy, a bit about art – a bit about our upcoming class assignment. Here are a few of my most favorite nuggets from the third week of class.

“Get The Paint On“…

20” x 20” Oil on Canvas

“…You’re going to paint with strength and vigor…and not be afraid of making a mess of it…I hope we don’t have to get drunk like those dreadful painting parties….”

NMM

“The way paint gets onto the canvas…attack… advance…softly… intensely brave…capable of being reworked.. scraped off and put back..but mostly with intention, force (light or heavy), fearlessly, serenely, but NOT tentative and weak…Or so thin that it’s barely there…“

“We have to go back…It is your nervous system that you need to connect to, your touch, your aggression that so many of us don’t allow ourselves. It isn’t easy to make gentle work that is strong… all the forms depend on each other… There is a way to be in the moment, conscious, where every mark does something…“

“One of the tests of a good painting is ‘how long can you look at it?’, Hang your work on the wall…if you get tired of seeing it after a few weeks or notice you never look at it…Well?“

“What makes the art we love so possible to never get tired of… has to do with the state of the artists mind as the work was being made …the kind of connections that were happening between the eye, and the hand and the mind.“

“Why are mistakes so scary? Why does getting it ‘right’ mean only how it looks and not how it feels? What happens when it feels great but looks a mess? What do you have to do to make the paint alive and as necessary as the picture you are trying to copy? How do you the means and the subject to be equal to each other?“

“When it works is it Magic?”

“How can you stand it when it is strongly painted but ugly?”

Can you leave your comfort zone? How far? A little tiny bit… a jump off a cliff? NMM

Painting Again — Finally

JenArt, Life, Oil, Still-Life

This Fall, I was finally able to find a good class fit at the BBAC and begin taking a painting class with an incredible instructor, Nancy Mitchnick. Before class started, I researched Nancy and was blown away by her credentials and was a bit intimidated, but the second I met her, I felt I had met a kindred spirit and knew immediately that I wanted to be friends with this incredible woman!

Nancy is a well-known artist originally from the Detroit area and was part of the “Cass Corridor Artists” in the 1970’s. She has taught art all over the country, including CalArts, Bard College, and Harvard.

Of course it wouldn’t be my life if I didn’t have some kind of accident. Two days before class was to begin I misstepped, in my own house this time, and fell really hard on the step that separates our dining room from the living room. Again, my bad knee hit first, then my right arm, then my head hit the corner edge of the wall. I was all alone, the boys were out joy-riding. My head was bleeding profusely and I just sat there crying holding my head. Thank goodness they came home within a few minutes, I was too shaken up to move. Once I was “fixed” up, I began to wonder if the universe was trying to tell me something. Afterall, this was the second time, in a row, that I had a bad fall just before art class was to begin. I thought about cancelling — again, but decided against it. “Universe be damned — I was taking that $%@#ing class, and you couldn’t stop me!”

And, I’m so glad I did! Our class was very small– just four students, all women, plus Nancy. It was the perfect size to get to know each other and become more than just a “class”, we became Nancy’s “Gang of 4” as she would often refer to us. Each Wednesday, I was truly excited to see what Nancy had in store for us! Of course coming from mostly an academic setting, Nancy was a task-master, very different from what we were used to at the arts center. But I loved it and felt like I was back in college again — only this time I was doing what I truly loved!

One of the best parts of the class wasn’t the class at all, it was receiving Nancy’s Notes via email a couple days prior to class. At 72 Nancy had accumulated a wealth of knowledge and experience, not only about art, but life in general, and her weekly notes were a little peek into her brain– rambling and unorganized — but always thought provoking. I usually had to read them a few times to weed out the nuggets! They’re so fun that I’ve actually kept the collection.

One of our first assignments was to paint some type of material or fabric. My in-class attempt was terrible, so I scrapped it and painted a piece at home. The fabric I chose was a colorful zip-up sweatshirt/ jacket that I bought at an art fair years back. I hung it and using a picture frame mat I visually cropped the subject into an interesting and manageable size.

Work In Progress

Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp

Life

In August my younger son attended Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp for which he won a scholarship during the school year. In 5th grade our school district requires kids play an instrument. Once they move to middle school, the following year, they can choose to continue or not. E started playing the alto sax when he was 10 and hasn’t stopped since! He’s become quite good and really enjoys it! He would love to major in music when he gets to college.

If you’ve never heard of Blue Lake, you really should check their website out. Located on a 1,600 acre campus in Michigan’s Manistee National Forest, they offer summer programs in the fine arts (band, orchestra, theater, dancing, singing, and art) for all ages. Middle and high schoolers camp at different times, so kids are placed with their peers. Sessions are all taught be professional level mentors/teachers in the various disciplines.

I was a bit nervous when we dropped him off for 10 days with no cell phone (camp rules) but I knew he would be well cared for and have a blast. Once there, campers audition for band placement and E was placed in the 2nd tier band out of 5. He was one of the younger kids in this band. At the end of the session, family is invited to attend performances. We were so happy to see him after the time; even his older brother kind of missed him 🙂 LOL

“Novena” performed by 2019 Concert Band

Chicago

Life, Travel

Over the July 4th holiday my family and our close friends went to visit our other friends in Chicago. Us three ladies have been best friends forever, literally. K and I grew up together, since age 2; our families were next door neighbors. K went to MSU a year before me and roomed with B. When I got to State the following year, B and I became fast friends also. We’ve been like sisters forever and our children are all relatively the same age. As a matter of fact, we were all pregnant at the same time with our second children; they were all born within 5 weeks of each other!

KBJ — Friends Through the Years

  • MSU
  • Grad School Graduation
  • Visiting in Chicago
  • Celebrating Birthdays
  • Football Game
  • Girls Night Out

Kiddos

  • Babies
  • Minis
  • Tweens/Teens

Indy 500

Life, Travel

Indy 500

In May we went to Indianapolis for the Indy 500. I was able to snag two incredible box seats for my husband and son D from Facebook Marketplace. The guy selling them was a year-round ticket holder but wasn’t going to be able to make it this year and was selling the tickets for a great price.

All my ‘boys” love really fast and really expensive cars!! My older son D is a walking encyclopedia of high-end and super cars. He has been in love with trucks, autos, semis, and construction— anything with four wheels and a motor, since he could barely stand up. So, this would be a huge treat for him. Since we only had two tickets, E and I dropped them off and went to explore The Children’s Museum of Indianapolis.

Founded in 1925, The Children’s Museum of Indianapolis is the largest children’s museum in the world; at 481,000 square-feet, it sits on 30 acres! We explored all the wonderful exhibits, including Dinosphere: Now You’re in Their World®,  Dale Chihuly’s Fireworks of Glass, and The Power of Children: Making a Difference. I think we had more fun than B and D! After all the excitement of the day, we found a nearby brewery for burgers and beer. Another great day to remember!

P!NK

Life

In April my youngest son and I saw PINK in concert. We originally had tickets for the whole family for 2018, but she was ill and the concert was rescheduled. By the time the concert came around the following year B and D were no longer interested, so I used the money that was already spent to upgrade E and I to the Pit; after all, we are the huge fans. My dear friend and her son were able to get tickets also and joined us for the event.

E and I were so close, I swear we made eye contact a couple of times! At one point she was shaking hands with people in the pit and she grabbed my sons’ hand!! He was over the moon— I was able to capture it on video too. An experience we will never forget!

  • Got our pink on!
  • I swear she’s looking right at me!
P!NK in Detroit
Get This Party Started!

20th anniversary

Life

On January 9th, 2019 my husband and I celebrated our 20th Anniversary! It’s been a wild ride– combining two cultures and personalities hasn’t always been easy, but then again what marriage is? We complement each other very well: he’s the engineer with a crazy work ethic who’s very nurturing and takes good care of all of us and allows me to be me — the creative, independant, stubborn and a bit lazy one that needs her space. Our boys are mirror images, the older one takes after B and the younger one is a lot like me (but don’t tell him that! He’s 13 now and doesn’t want anything to do with mom).

We don’t always exchange gifts, but this year was special. I wanted a diamond anniversary band. We went back to our local jeweler Alexander J. Bongiorno. They had created a special addition to my wedding ring when I became a mother. For our anniversary, I chose a diamond band with two loose gold and two loose white gold bands so that I could interchange them for multiple looks. I love it and wear it everyday.

For B I surprised him with something he’s always wanted– a real cuckoo clock from Germany. I had ordered it back in early December and it was delayed a bit because it wasn’t in stock. I kind of liked that, knowing it was hand-made in Germany just for us, not sitting around the stockroom collecting dust. I chose a traditional mechanical clock that plays music, has dancing figurines, a little bird that pops out on the hour, a spinning water wheel and a cute couple that kiss. The name is Romance, perfect for an anniversary!

  • Close up of dancers
  • The mechanical heart

I didn’t realize all the intricacies of these incredible clocks until I went to purchase one. They are truly a work of art; each piece is hand carved and put together carefully in the Black Forest of Germany. The video below gives you an idea of the process.

2018

Life, Travel

After my right Right Elbow replacement, I didn’t paint for for nearly two years! Partly because I pursued my other interests and partly due to injuries — which I’ll explain in a bit.

Genealogy —

Instead of painting, I focused on another of my favorite passions: genealogy. It’s so easy for me to become obsessive when doing something I love. I find myself frequently getting lost in the weeds for hours. As my mom says, I’m “like a dog with a bone.” I always knew that I’m 100% Polish on my mother’s side but my father’s heritage has been more of a mystery. And with both of my paternal grandparents deceased, answers are hard to find. Luckily my grandma left some records and photos when she passed years ago. With these and some information from my dad, Ive been able to piece together a robust family tree.

3rd Great Uncle, James Wesley Bowman (left) US Marshall, Kentucky
4th Great Grandparents Nicholas Bowman and Isabell Moore, Married 1818 Kentucky

I’ve traced several paternal generations and uncovered my relatives from multiple Southern states — some I can follow back to England and neighboring countries. I also had my DNA tested with both Ancestry and 23 & Me. As a result, I have been in contact with a few distant relatives, able to add several “cousins“ to my family tree, and most interestingly, resolve an old family mystery.

In addition to filling in my family tree, a friend introduced me to essential oils and I quickly became enamored with these plant products. I bought several books on the subject, scoured the Internet for credible and unbiased resources. I purchased several diffusers and filled our house with citrus’ for pick me ups, lavenders for calming, and Clove blends to fight off germs. Eventually, I began concocting blends for stomach/headaches and made foaming hand soap and face cleansers. My blends worked very well and smelled amazing. I wanted to understand more thoroughly how exactly these tiny, powerful essential oils worked.

Making Face Soap

Eventually, I discovered Andrea Butje’s online course at Aromahead Institute. You pay one fee and have access to hours of credible course material, online webinars, videos, and a forum to interact with all other past and present students and instructors. The best part is I can go at my own pace. Some people take a few months while others may take a couple of years. At the end I will earn a certificate that is acknowledged both nationally and internationally or I can go on to become a certified aromatherapist if I want to start a business. I’m currently about 50% done, but have taken a breather for a while. Looks like I might be on that “several year plan” 🙂

Injuries—

Over the July Fourth holiday we took a family vacation to Cancun, Mexico. On the 2nd of July (which happens to be my husband’s birthday) I had an awful fall. We were walking back from the beach, arm in arm, near the pool when my right foot caught some water and slipped out from under me. My knee buckled and I swear the tendon/ligament stretched like a rubber band. It was horrific.

I fell to the ground crying and yelling. In that moment, it was worse than pitocin-induced labor!! See the picture below? That’s my knee! I couldn’t really walk on it for a couple of days. I iced it, took my anti-inflammatories, and the following day I wallowed in misery in the pool and drowned my sorrows in way too many cocktails at the swim up bar — but that’s a tale for another day 🙂

Come Fall, I signed up to take an art class at the BBAC. Two days before the class began, I was purchasing a bike for my son. I took the bike for a quick ride to test it out. As I was getting off the bike, my foot caught on the bar and I fell hard onto the pavement. Because of my messed up joints and arthritis, I can’t put my hands out to break a fall like a normal person. My bad knee hit the ground first, then the back of my upper right shoulder and then my head hit the pavement really hard. I had a major goose egg for a long time!

Banged Up and Bruised

I didn’t know it at the time, but I actually fractured the end of my clavicle. The bump on my head took a long time to heal and as such I had a black eye and my chest/shoulder was black and blue and sore! Needless to say I couldn’t really start art class in two days. I talked to the program director and was able get a credit to use in the future.

Family—

For the month of November, my Indian family came to stay with us. We had a family wedding to attend in Florida at the end of the month and decided we would all fly down together. My son Dylan was 14 at the time, and had met his Indian grandparents and aunt only once when he was just a baby. My younger son, Ethan, age 11, hadn’t met them yet in person; only through conversations via the Internet.

(I went to India with my husband back in 2000. He is from Mumbai or Bombay. We spent about 10 days in the city. The trip was one I will never forget. I can’t honestly say that I liked it, nor can I say that I disliked it. It was such a different experience than anything I knew; every sense is bombarded, constantly — it’s overwhelming and exhausting! But I am digressing.)

Probably due to stress, my colitis was acting up again. Thank goodness for medical marijuana; for which I had recently acquired a license. It really helps with my arthritis flares, headaches, G.I. issues, and for just plain chilling out.

All in all it was a great visit. I made lots of homemade Indian food – thanks to my Insta pot it was easy and delicious! We did some fun shopping, visited family and friends, and the best part was that the boys got to meet/know their Grandma and Auntie.

Near the end of November, we all flew to Florida. My husband’s cousin was married in Boca Raton. He was also born and raised in Bombay. In fact, the two boys went to school together as children. His Bride is American, like me. They had a predominately Indian wedding; since it was his first and her second. The ceremony and reception were just beautiful and we all had great fun; especially my youngest, who was gobbled up by his new extended Indian family!

Right Elbow

Life

In November I had my right elbow replaced by the same orthopedic surgeon that did the left in 2016, Dr. Michael Wiater. My right elbow has been bent ever since I can remember. Looking back at pictures of my childhood, it probably began at age 4-5. I remember doing physical therapy for it as a kid. I was very stubborn and didn’t follow up with the home exercises as I was instructed. It never hurt too bad, and as a kid, I probably didn’t pay too much attention since my ankle pain overtook everything else. Eventually, it continued to restrict and stayed in @ a 45° angle. Over the last few years, it really began to hurt and I became more self conscious of it, especially in short sleeves, summertime, etc. I knew this one would be much more of a challenge, but since the left elbow surgery was a complete success, I decided to have the right one done as well.

Dr. Wiater had a much more difficult time in the OR with this one. Usually it can be done in about 2 hours — it took him four! Apparently, my bones were very hard and even after the new elbow was in, the joint could not be fully straightened– probably due to the soft tissues. Needless to say, I was in more pain afterwards and recuperation took a bit longer. Physical therapy helped regain function and it doesn’t hurt anymore, but my arm may never be completely straight.

After this surgery, my painting life slowed way down and eventually came to a standstill. I found other creative outlets to keep busy and after a while I was afraid to paint. It’d be two more years until I would pick up a paintbrush again.

Loving Vincent

Art History, Life

Last month my mom and I saw the movie Loving Vincent at the Detroit Institute of Arts. The four-year project, directed by a Polish husband and wife team was brought to life by 120 artists from around the world. Together, they created the first ever hand-painted movie.

Vincent collage
Some of the Paintings Used In the Movie

Told through the eyes of the Postman’s son, the directors used Vincent’s letters and his incredible works of art to explore the mystery of why or even if Vincent took his own life at only 37 years old.

One-hundred-fifty oil paintings were painstakingly reproduced in Vincent’s style by the artists. Real-life actors, shot in front of a green screen, portrayed the characters in his paintings. In the end, the 90 minute movie used a total of 64,000 frames, each one hand-painted, to tell Vincent’s story.

If you have the opportunity to watch this incredibly unique and beautiful film, please do so. You will not regret it! 

Niagara Falls

Life, Photography, Travel

Just prior to my oral surgery, mentioned in my last post, “Catching Up“, my family went on a mini weekend vacation to Niagara Falls. Originally we were thinking of doing a big vacation to California, but because I had no idea of how the recuperation would go and my husband’s work travel schedule, we had to nix it for now. So we settled on a long weekend over the July 4th holiday to the Canadian side of Niagara Falls.

Continue reading →

Catching Up

Life

It’s been a very long time since I posted anything let alone created a piece of art. Summer has come and gone, the school year has begun, and Fall is upon us. My artistic life has been put on hold, yet again.  It’s a darn good thing I’m not relying on this gig to make a living!

Shortly after the Summer art workshop at the BBAC, I had another surgery. This time due to complications from an auto-immune disease called Oral Lichen Planus. Basically it’s when the cells inside your mouth aren’t happy and become irritated causing sores and pain eventually leading to difficultly eating certain foods, using regular toothpaste, or ingesting anything that’s not pure vanilla bland. After keeping it at bay with steroids for a couple of years, my body decided it was time to up the anti and fight back: the tissue underneath my tongue became pre-cancerous and had to be removed.

So…that was fun (said no one ever!) Luckily, I have a wonderful Oral Surgeon and the surgery, called a partial glossectomy, was successful; he was able to remove all the abnormal tissue with clear margins without having to go too deep into the muscle. Now, 3 months later, you’d never know I had this done unless for my little-lopsided tongue. I can eat whatever I want again and use normal toothpaste without burning pain. And, although the nerves are a bit dulled, I’ll take that over pain any day!

Eli Tea Bar

Business, JenArt, Life
Artist of the Month

“Tea can take you anywhere. The Himalayas. The Hawaiian Islands. The Horn of Africa. And right back home. Every cup is a journey. Every sip, a step forward. And wherever you end up, it all starts in Detroit.

What better place to celebrate the land, people and culture of tea than a city known for creativity and community? What better place from which to visit foreign lands than the land of opportunity, itself? Right now, it’s not just Detroit’s time. It’s Detroit’s Tea Time. The only question is, where do you want to go?“

– Eli, CEO / Tea Master of Eli Tea

I am happy to announce that I have been chosen as the Featured Artist of the Month at  Eli Tea Bar in downtown Birmingham, Michigan. Each month a local artist is chosen to showcase their work on the large 9′ x 13′ wall just inside the contemporary cozy atmosphere.

The Tea Bar was established by Eli in 2013. Over 50 types of tea and herbal infusions are offered and each cup of tea is brewed from loose leaf to order. They also sell loose tea in bulk and all of their teas are free of artificial ingredients and flavors.

About two months ago, I serendipitously stumbled upon their website and noticed a call for local artists. I filled out the contact info with a link to my website. When I received the email congratulating me as the featured artist for June, I was shocked and excited: I had completely forgotten about it!

For the next few weeks I prepared for the show. I had to talk my son and Mom into letting me “borrow” their beloved paintings for the month with the promise that they would not be sold! However, my son let me know that he would not be completely opposed to selling if I was offered a nice price and split it with him. Always the little business man!

It turned into a family affair: my husband helped me arrange and hang my paintings while the boys entertained themselves; one sitting outside, always on the lookout for exotic, high-end vehicles, and the other performing card tricks for the tea patrons. (He even made $10 that evening!)

Later this month we’ll have a meet and greet and if I’m really lucky maybe I’ll even sell a painting or two! Thank you Eli!

Card Art

JenArt, Life, Other Art, Pen & Ink

Art is all around us. All you have to do is LOOK…

For the past year, my younger son has been heavily into magic and cardistry. Cardistry differs from card magic as defined below:

“While card magic focuses on manipulation of playing cards for purposes of illusion, cardistry is the non-magical manipulation of playing cards with intent to display creativity, performance art, and skill.”
Bicycle Cards

I never knew there was an entire subculture of cards and cardists, but it really is quite impressive. If you Google Card Art or Cardistry you’ll find virtually thousands of articles, YouTube videos and links to specialty stores that sell decks made especially for the purpose.

Another subset of this incredible genre is the collectible luxury decks. One such special item is the one-of-a-kind Ultimate Deck by Dan & Dave produced in collaboration with the award-winning design firm Stranger & Stranger. Each card features a unique work of art ranging from classical to the macabre. My son received this beautiful deck for Christmas and it’s a favorite of mine as well.

playing-cards-ultimate-deck
Portion of Ultimate Deck (Courtesy of Dan & Dave Website)

As an artist, I thought it would be fun to create a unique playing card for Ethan. I took some pictures of him with the cards and decided to replicate the image of him doing an S-Fan with the Ultimate Deck. He wanted to be the “Joker” (which is quite fitting if you know my son). I traced the outline of an actual playing card and then drew the image with pencil. Using Faber-Castell Pitt Artist Pens and my Prismacolor Premier Fine Line Markers I used a combination of stippling and line art to complete the drawing.

21/2" x 31/2" Marker and Ink on Bristol Board adapted from Personal Photograph
21/2″ x 31/2″ Marker and Ink on Bristol Board adapted from Personal Photograph