more group art- november 28th.

here are two more group think pictures.



this is the work of artists
rania hassan ( her blog)
kirk waldroff
kristina bilonick
and me, Sean Hennessey

something funny just happened to me.....

generally i despise HOME DESPOT in DC. i have found the staff to be lacking in knowledge and respect. i have been ignored, insulted, nearly run over, and given the completely wrong information by staff there.

I have gone there too many times to count. having done work as a painter, sculptor, and carpenter, in addition to renovating a house, i have heard the sirens cal of its one stop convenience, large parking lot, and proximity.. about 6 blocks from my house!

But so many times have i left pissed off, that i vowed off buying paint there ever again ( except primer, that is). i usually buy concrete and cement there, however. Concrete bags come in 50lbs sacks. portland cement comes in 100 lbs sacks. I aint luggin that round the corner from fragers ( the place i DO uby my paint from) Sometime i go to national capitol industries, but if the only thing i need is concrete and white hydrocal. its actually the only place to buy white hydrocal in the city.


So, today i needed concrete and cement. I walk into the store and THREE HUMANS greet me with SMILES! ans say, "Can we HELP YOU?".@#$%$#@$$$!&*. I have heard that exactly one other time in the store that i have been going to since the week it opened.

i said, " Are you people crazy?".. then i looked around for the candid camera. then said, " what the hell is going on here?"...in a daze i stuttered, "i...i...i... j..j..j.just wanttttttt........ccccccc....nnnnoo. i..i...i'm good. thanks.".



then i found the shelves completely stocked. they had zero bags of cement last week. ALL of the checkout lines were open ( a first!) and the cashier smiled too.




im still in shock.

snow and ice festival

check this out:
Ice Festival Website

After thanksgiving. Random thoughts posting

for the first time since i started taking slides, i hired a professional. It was damn expensive to me, but i was extremely happy and impressed with the work. I will probably use him again.


i've seen a lot of movies lately.

Walk the LIne
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
The Legend of 1900
Born into Brothels
punch drunk love
Wallace and Gromit in the Curse of the Were rabbit
maria full of grace
coffee and cigarettes
the agony and the ecstacy



i'll fill in my thoughts on the movies as i write them down.



today i've got:
- a home depot run for concrete
-feed a friends cats
-run buy the glass school to pick up a tent, to set up a display i can take a picture of, to prove i have a professional display to art festival committees.
- call guys i'm hoping to work for next week to see if they are ready for me. i have only 9 days to do a 15 day project. it'll be a damn busy week.
- clean my damn studio.
- work on a new artist staement and resume.
- work on grant applications

thoughts

i went and saw the show Gyroscope at the Hirshorn the other day. Nothing too exciting, but i was left with the question, "What is installation art?". i thought i knew, but i dont.


Lat night was again, my weekly art project. This time in Kristina Bilonick's studio on 14th. Its nice to mix it up with the resources available in each of our studios. will post pictures when i get them.

Today....

I just went down to the glass school to pick up some stuff.
I totally missed my scheduled kiln time yesterday, since I was bogged down by other things. Damn, it really sucks since I may not have another chance until they find a new space. they have begun dismantling the studio. So sad.

from an old exhibit.

I've been thinking about ideas behind the heroic journey and remembered how the star wars exhibit at the air and space museum was set up.

the steps of the heroic journey as per the exhibit were:

1. the call to adventure
2 the wise and helpful guide
3 the threshold
4. into the labyrinth
5. hero deeds
6. the dark road of trials
7. the belly of the beast
8. the sacred grove
9. sacrifices
10 the path to atonement
11 the heros return
12 the shadow rises
13 the enchanted forest
14 the heart of darkness
15 the final victory
16 journeys end.


Star Wars exhibit at SI
whats important to note is that George Lucas consulted with Joseph Campbell about the Heroic Journey, and mythology. Among my many inspirations in life, the works of Joseph Campbell rank highly.


"If you follow your bliss, doors will open for you that wouldn't have opened for anyone else."

Tate

I went to the opening of Tim Tate's Caged by History at the Fraser Gallery in Bethesda.

It was Tims best show to date, and that's saying a lot.
Tim creates a very holistic show, with a tight set of messages about growth, change, fear, and acceptance. Despite a few distinct forms; reliquaries, glass hearts, relief panels, the themes and overall aesthetic remain unified. But, really the most striking aspect is the beauty of glass, steel, and concrete.

As with many artists ( and all good ones I've met) Tim talks about process and materials well before he approaches conversation about content. His passion for his materials leads to an interesting conflict, since his material of choice, glass, tends to be associated with Craft, not Art. A silly distinction, in my opinion, but one that leads him to be called a "glass artist", rather than "artist". Have you ever heard of a "paint artist" or a "fiberglass artist"? But how many galleries exhibit art made from glass, and still disassociate themselves from "Craft Galleries"? Not many, but Tim and the Washington Glass School are helping to change that.
























lenny on tate

piece in progress

this is a mantel that i'm making.it still gets a bit of trim and will be painted

Seeing art

I did manage to make it to see the Winslow homer and Italian sculpture show at the nga yesterday.

I found it rather amusing that the Italian sculpture from the 1400s was more relevant to my life than the Winslow homer pieces from the late 1800s. Homer's pieces seemed more of a catalog of his time than about life at large, while the humanistic tragedy of Italian renaissance sculpture is more universal, more recognizable. Not to say that I didn't enjoy Homer's pieces. There were a few that I did. Autumn, and 8 bells, most notably.


autumn,1877





except in the show, it was an etching of 8 bells, which is far more striking than the painting.


Far better than these two exhibit were the prints of Felix Buhot

mid city artists open houses

mid city artists


kristina bilonick is a mid city artist. check out her stuff this weekend.

2 tates

these will be in the show at fraser gallery opening tonight





i did the concrete casting him.

today, friday 11/11

i'm taking off from working today.

slow morning then heading out with my wife for some gallery hopping.

we're gonna check out the winslow homer show


and some renaissance sculpture

at the National Gallery

Theres an exhibit at the Library of Congress i want to hit too.
Bound for Glory: America in Color




Then some walking around, maybe some galleries... i dunno yet.


Theres an opening at the DCAC tonight.

I'm meeting up with Kirk Waldoff and Kristina Bilonick there. Kirk, Rania, and i have been doing weekly collages, so we thought this would be a fun show to hit together. Kristina will be joining our group project starting monday.
Then the long trip up to Bethesda to Tim Tates opening at the Fraser Gallery.



Also, the fraser gallery usually has some pretty damn fine sangria.

david smith

personally, i never liked David Smith's work. Nor the idea of art work being SO expensive. I believe that it is more damaging than helpful, in that it further separates art from average people.

still, i wouldn't say no to a check for 23.8 million dollars. crazy.
Read the article

group think

my weekly art group project

a great resource for dc artists

ArtDC


hopefully this dicussion board will continue to grow.

group think

im excited to return to my weekly group art project.
every monday i work on a project with Rania Hassan and Kirk Waldroff. we took last monday off, because of halloween, but return in full force, and revitalized tonight.

thus far we have created about 5 pieces.
i'll post them tomorrow.

concrete

i've been really fascinated with concrete lately, and have been churning out hundreds of experiments. while i am creating simple uncolored castings for my current series, i have thoughts to color these peices and make them the main part of the piece.

i subscibe to concrete decor magazine



i am feeling like, right now, the home decorative world is fueling my creative interests. so many experiments and creative works are coming from contractors and home improvement peoples.

My first inspiration to delve into the concrete world was by patching a floor. i had a screwed up concrete floor in the shop i was working in. after repairing it, i poured the excess cement in a mold i had sitting around. It came out beautifully.

But my focus rather quickly turned toward the use of concrete in counter tops

beautiful stuff.


there are artists doing some very creative things with concrete as a painting surface too






what i love most about the material is its adaptability and its cost.
its ease of use its pretty exceptional !

Alice Neel exhibit

ALICE NEEL'S WOMEN -- Through Jan. 15 at the National Museum of Women in the Arts, 1250 New York Ave. NW (Metro: Metro Center). 202-783-5000.http://www.nmwa.org. Open Monday-Saturday 10 to 5; Sundays noon to 5. $8; students and seniors $6; members and visitors 18 and younger free; free admission on the first Sunday and Wednesday of the month.


heres a review by Michael O'Sullivan


i really like NEELs paintings and hope to check this one out.

My last year

Its been an entire year now since I left my job of seven years. I had been the painter/ sculptor for the prop shop of the shakespeare theatre. While it was a perfect job for so long, my last year has been wonderful.

I have worked in a number of peoples houses, and have had rewarding experiences each time. Working directly with people to design their living space and cater my art work to their tastes and needs, has been very enjoyable. I found it immensely more satisfying that theatre, though I do miss working with such great and talented people that the theatre attracts. Not the actors, mind you, nor even the directors. But the craftspeople, designers, carpenters, stitchers, etc.... There is amazing amount of talent in DC theatre. Shame they work for theatre.

In my first year of self employment, I have also re-immersed myself in my art work. While I had exhibited a sampling of my theatre craft at the Montpelier art center last November, I hadn't had my personnal art work on walls since the EPA building Artomatic. Too long ago. I hadn't even created new work since then.

But now I own my time. And I'm thankful everyday for that. I have never really worked harder, or more efficiently. Or had more fulfilling work than I do now.


In this next year, I hope to:

- Create more art work
- have a solo show, and be in many group shows
- continue to develop my skills
- advertise my business, and find more clients
- hire an assistant
- set up at arts festivals
- renovate my bathroom
-travel