Tuesday, July 31, 2007

i am left handed, and so am i.

Gene for left-handedness is found
Scientists have discovered the first gene which appears to increase the odds of being left-handed.
The Oxford University-led team believe carrying the gene may also slightly raise the risk of developing psychotic mental illness such as schizophrenia.




Wikipedia's entry for lefties.

Monday, July 30, 2007

Moving Beyond Craft: Artists of the Washington Glass School opens friday!

Moving Beyond Craft: Artists of the Washington Glass School

Michael Janis, Erwin Timmers, Tim Tate, Deborah Conti, Cheryl Derricotte, Sean Hennessey, Syl Mathis, Evan Ross Morgan and Alison Sigethy
August 3 - September 8, 2007
Opening Reception: August 3, 2007, 6-9pm
Touchet Gallery
536 S. Ann Street
Baltimore, MD 21231
410.522.2280

Monday, July 23, 2007

studio


studio
Originally uploaded by Scenic Artisan
little by little i'm reclaiming space in my house for a studio.
I decided that i wanted lots of covered storage, and sturdy workbenches so i opted for ikea.

so far so good........but sometimes the amount of stuff i have to lug around just makes me want to be a writer. or better yet, a thinker.

can i get paid for that?

Thursday, July 19, 2007

DCAC Wall Mountables



IMG_7579
Originally uploaded by Scenic Artisan



I have installed a number of pieces in the DCAC's Wall Mountable show that opens this friday night






opening reception Friday, July 20th 7-9pm

show runs through Friday, Sept. 7


I have 4 sections with 11 pieces total. i'm trying a new approach with a few pieces, combining them more as an installation then as individual sculptures. i'd love to hear what you think. Also, i havent included any mixed media peices, these are all straight up concrete. stained, colored and cast, of course.

DCAC is located at 2438 18th Street NW, between Belmont and Columbia Roads, in the heart of the Washington's Adams Morgan neighborhood.

Elephants Dream

its ten minutes long, and may take a while to load, but its pretty cool.

Tuesday, July 17, 2007

cast plate glass lightbulb shapes


lightbulbdetail
Originally uploaded by Scenic Artisan
i've been doing a bit of glass work lately. my hope is to combine some of these pieces with concrete in an installation. i'm sure i'll post about it when i'm further along.

Black Rock Center for the Arts- August- September



I will be having a duo show with the fantastic photographer Joanna Knox at the Black Rock Center for the Arts next month.

August 15th - September 7th.
Reception on Saturday August 18th. 5:30-7:30 PM

from the curator:
Metaphor. Time. Truth. Strands that weave through the works of Sean Hennessey and Joanna Knox as they strive to find the mythical, the abstract in our lives. Using diverse media- Sculpture and Photography- they lead us down paths that open our minds, that explore the intangible, that inspire fresh thought.














The exhibition gallery is open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday, and from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturdays, when classes are in session. In addition, the gallery is open one hour prior to and during performances.

BlackRock Center for the Arts
12901 Town Commons Drive
Germantown, MD 20874

the same color illusion



A and B are the same color. I generally try to apply my knowledge of trivial things to the dynamics of human relationships. Kinda more interesting that way, no?

Still, while the colors may be the same, my experience of them is not. to me and my occasionally empirical mind, they are very different. I like that this illusion gives me the possibility to focus both on the differences and similarities. i like the ambiguity. i like trying to find my perspective.

Sunday, July 15, 2007

nga podcasts

i'm looking forward to the edward hopper show coming up at the nga.

anyway check out these podcasts at the nga

Saturday, July 14, 2007

The Cure - Pictures Of You - FULL CLIP

and this.....

SugarCubes - Coldsweat

because when things are in disarray, i like listening to things i listened to 20 years ago.
i prolly be posting more before i get back to real postings... though i did make some glass pieces i'm very happy with... still not finished with them enough to post quite yet. and the basement studio is still being remodeled, so no real workspace at home right now.

Wednesday, July 11, 2007

artist housing in brookland

The Dance Place Project will include artist housing. look here for more info



In the Brookland neighborhood of northeast Washington, Artspace will develop a mixed-used project that will include 30 to 40 affordable live/work units for artists and a new home for Dance Place, a nonprofit organization that operates a dance company, a school, and a variety of children's programs. Two existing buildings on the site will be torn down to make way for the project.

Construction is expected to begin in early 2008.

Monday, July 09, 2007

Sleestak




be careful out there.

a frame, gilded.


IMG_7537
Originally uploaded by Scenic Artisan
here is a frame that i've been recently working on. the old paint job was pretty shoddy, so i repainted it, leafed it, and antiqued it. still some more work to be done......

Sunday, July 08, 2007

Wisdom and Knowledge Shall Be the Stability of Thy Times

Lee Lawrie Photo Pool:
http://www.flickr.com/groups/lee_lawrie/pool/

i have a huge fascination with architectural and facade sculpture.
and thought i'd share this photopool i recently stumbled upon
this photo was taken by slackeratslack. follow the link to see more photos.

Thursday, July 05, 2007

new york times on the smithsonian.

not the kind of article that gives you the warm fuzzies, but a great look and some strong ideas about one of my favorite aspects of life in DC.

The institution has been deteriorating for a while, which has come to seem like part of its musty machinery. Besides, in the grand arena of national politics, why should anyone care about the sins and missteps of a museum complex?



IMG_4272

you rock, anacostia, you wall of fire you.


IMG_7517
Originally uploaded by Scenic Artisan
while my picture doesnt do it justice, the anacostia is a wall of fire from the perspective of a rooftop in eckington on a fourth of july evening.

eckington, you had some nice work, especially you guys that took over harry thomas way....for real. thats was intense. there was stuff flying up from rhode island and third that was pretty heavy too.


edgewood represented well.

i could only see patches of bloomingdale.. but there were some truly stellar rockets being fired.

but anacostia. you never fail.


depsite my distaste for dynamite like explosives in my alley, i do love you DC for your amazing fireworks display.

Tuesday, July 03, 2007

wanderings.

i've had a pretty heavy mind lately so i wandered around quite a bit yesterday and saw a number of shows. museums always seem to help me focus.

I stopped by the folklife festival, but it was a staff picnic thing and nothing was going on except the food.

so i went to the hirshhorn.
Again, i was utterly disappointed in the hirshhorns selection of shows. there was a while that i was liking every single show i saw their. not so much lately. The show by Wolfgang Tillmans wasnt the worst, but left me feeling very empty. here is a link to a slide show of his work. There were two more abstracted ( perhaps even non objective) pieces that were nice and somewhat engaging, still i get such a strong feeling of disassociation with these images, and that art of the last few shows i've seen at the hirshhorn. and its a huge show. I looked around a bit more because i always see something that draws me in their collections. I gave up and just as i was heading back to the escalators i saw a piece by Jae Ko whom i had just met last week at her and her husbands studio.

Wolfgang Tillmans
Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden
May 10—August 12, 2007

Sometimes looking at recent art makes me feel that the world and human emotion ended after world war II. surely someone has written eloquently about this irony and emotional disassociation that most artists ( and people ) seem to feel the need to play into. hell perhaps i do so myself. not the eloquent writing, but the irony.......

The national gallery has been my indoor respite since i moved to dc. two things i always go look at at are the Madonna and Child with Saint Martina and Saint Agnes by El Greco and The Shaw Memorial. Sometimes the frescoes, but not always.

The El Greco painting is infinitely fascinating to me. I'm not Catholic, but i really feel a religiosity in this piece. Plus i'm insanely intrigued by and in love with the little demon angel on Mary's lef( house left, stage right). Such and odd creature really. she seems more of a misplaced nymph or woodland creature, than an angel of god. maybe thats the same thing...... i feel that shes a bit sinister.
Also, the paint work of el greco was vastly ahead of his time. he has a brilliant combination of passion and a prophetically modern way of using paint. his figures are almost electric in their ethereallity. i certainly like electric...





the Shaw Memorial by Augustus Saint-Gaudens is such a beautiful sculpture... though its not currently on display, but i go by to check each time.



So i wandered around a bit more, actually taking in the entire modern painting section, which i rarely do. i had a different agenda yesterday that i usually do. i was looking for artists interpretations of their personal interactions with their subjects. i only found a few things i was looking for really. some manet pieces stuck me especially. but note all that noteworthy. perhaps i'll pursue this a bit more some other time.


I went into the Desiderio da Settignano exhibit Its a pretty good show and i would recommend going to check this out.


Also on display are the works by Claude Lorrain. lots of drawings, prints and a few paintings. except for some great etchings of shipwrecks, i was pretty nonplussed.

I did go and pay closer attention to the muses in the east hallway of the west building. i havent done really any figurative artwork in about 5 years, but have been feeling very drawn to it again.

Since i felt myself thinking that way, and suddenly having the urge to work more with the figure, actually having things to say with the figure... i thought i'd had over to the portrait gallery.

I checked out nearly every room. including every isle of the luce center. i skipped the "champions " show however.

I mostly checked out the figurative work, but i always admire the 3rd floor of the portrait gallery. and the fact that they have a balcony cafe.


i think its safe to say that i probably be doing a series of figurative works in the near future.....

as dull and old fashioned as that may be.