Posts Tagged ‘Anton Art Center’
Cindy on January 12th, 2012
I found I could say things with color and shapes that I couldn’t say any other way — things I had no words for.” ~Georgia O’Keeffe
One of the many things I appreciate about my artist-architect husband is that he’s always encouraging me to push my own artwork to the next level. Given that our family has been in a crisis mode (my mother’s health) for the past year, it’s not easy to make time for art, let alone enter our work in competitions.
Regardless, earlier this month Doug printed out the forms for the Anton Art Center‘s 38th Michigan Annual Art Exhibition and nudged me to enter one of my new pieces.
I’d been working on a mixed-media assemblage (mounted on canvas) that was inspired by a post-Civil War photograph I found in my Granny Bee’s family album. The woman in the photograph isn’t identified, so, sadly, I have no idea who she is. Yet her pensive expression and confident pose always intrigued me.
In my assemblage, the woman’s photo is surrounded by found objects — twigs, feathers, part of an old leather Bible cover, and vintage fabrics. In the background, you’ll also see a scrap from a notebook of shorthand that Doug brought home from a thrift shop.
Titled “The Importance of Ancestors,” this piece pays homage to the “stuff” we leave behind — and how tokens from the past can influence our memories of a person. It also plays with the idea of having roots and family trees.
Thanks to Doug, I entered the piece in the Michigan Annual Exhibition, and was pleased to learn this week that it was accepted. The opening reception is on January 27th, 6 – 9pm. The exhibit runs through February 24th.
One final thought: Athletes typically have their own cheering sections, but most artists and writers labor in solitude. If you practice any of the arts for business or pleasure, it’s important to have close friends and advocates who keep you encouraged and inspired. (Of course, a supportive spouse is invaluable.) Cherish those people — and try to schedule more time with them. Avoid the naysayers who trample your dreams or spend most of their free time watching mindless games and shows on TV.
Seek out the company of other creatives, and be sure to applaud their efforts and talents. — Cindy La Ferle
– For a larger view, please click on each photo. –
Cindy on January 26th, 2011
Though I’ve been writing professionally for nearly 30 years, there are times when I find it easier to express myself through the visual arts. Especially when I’m struggling to come to terms with a difficult or painful topic.
One of my mixed-media constructions, “What We Remember,” is a case in point.
I began working on this piece two years ago, not long after my mother was officially diagnosed with early stage dementia. My father-in-law died of Alzheimer’s last June, so the theme of “remembering” has special significance to me — aside from the fact that memoir has always been my favorite genre in creative writing.
“What We Remember” was a toy chemistry kit in its previous life. Doug and I discovered it in a Good Will thrift shop in St. Joseph. Aged and loaded with character, the kit was irresistible, even though it was missing its containers and chemicals. We knew immediately that one of us would use it for an art project.
“It’s surprising how much memory is built around things unnoticed at the time.” — Barbara Kingsolver
Over a period of several weeks, I collaged the interior of the box with vintage dress patterns, old sheet music, and photo reproductions. I added found objects that play loosely on the theme of memories and souvenirs — shells gathered from a beach; twigs and feathers from hikes in the woods.
The small glass bottle on the bottom shelf contains a tiny printed copy of the dictionary definition of “memoir,” while the wine corks on the middle shelf suggest good times that may or may not be remembered — depending, of course, on how much wine was consumed. The bird on the top shelf perches above a vintage fountain pen that could have been used for recording entries in a diary.
I was pleased to learn that “What We Remember” was accepted for the Michigan Annual XXXVII Art Competition. Detroit art critic Vince Carducci served as juror. The exhibition runs from January 28 through February 25 at the Anton Art Center in Mount Clemens, and is free to the public. — CL
– For a larger view of the artwork, please click on each photo –
Cindy on January 19th, 2010
Art is the only way to run away without leaving home.” ~Twyla Tharp
Two of my art pieces are in the Michigan Annual art exhibition through Feb. 27 at the Anton Art Center in Mount Clemens. A link to an Oakland Press article on the show includes a photo of one of the pieces, “Shrine to Mary: Our Lady of the Lost & Found.”
The other piece (at left) is an altered book titled “Nature.” A tribute to Thoreau’s Walden, it was made from a vintage insurance ledger and embellished with things I collected on long walks and bike rides.
Most of my artwork features found objects or recycled materials. I’m drawn to the rusty, ragged beauty of broken things. (I’ve been caught going through trash and pocketing rusty bottle caps littering the curbs in my neighborhood on trash day.) Most of my pieces are personal tributes to favorite works of literature or poems. –CL
Cindy on October 21st, 2009
Deep into that darkness peering, long I stood there wondering, fearing,
Doubting, dreaming dreams no mortals ever dared to dream before.”
— Edgar Allan Poe, The Raven
Like the perfect pumpkin waiting for a master carver, Halloween never fails to stir the imagination. Not surprisingly, it’s a favorite holiday among the creative souls in my family. Early in October, Doug and I start raiding attics and local thrift shops for the most outlandish outfits we can jumble together. And every year in September, we start work on a project or two to enter in the Anton Art Center‘s annual Halloween art exhibition.
Running now through November 7, this year’s juried group exhibition is aptly titled MASKED. Both of us have two pieces in this show. Mine play on the theme of Victorian autumn carnivals — a theme that has haunted me ever since I first read Ray Bradbury’s atmospheric novel, Something Wicked This Way Comes.
Since I’ve worked as a writer for more than 25 years, it’s probably no surprise that books and writing-related themes have a hand in my artwork. Here’s a preview of my pieces in MASKED:
“Damn everything but the circus!” was inspired by an e.e. cummings poem of the same title. I’ve always loved the circus — yet find it a little scary, too. This altered children’s board book is embellished with antique circus ephemera, vintage costume jewelry, carnival tickets, stars, scraps, and feathers. While working on this piece, I recalled the time I interviewed a lion tamer from a traveling circus act — one of my first and favorite stories for a local newspaper.
“Victoria Fortune’s Magic Box” (top photo) is a mixed media assemblage crafted entirely of found objects, starting with a large jewelry box from a local thrift shop. I painted the box and trimmed it with old lace and notions, then added the vintage souvenirs I’d been collecting for several months. The idea for this project was sparked by an old (non-copyrighted) photo of a sinister-looking group of Victorian sisters. I was intrigued by the mysterious ambiance of the photo, and imagined that the women were part of an autumn carnival act called “The Sisters of Fortune.” I created a story — and the box — around them. The woman wearing the black leather gloves in the center, Victoria Fortune, was a medium with a gift for prophesy. Her box contains items used for her magic acts and tarot readings at the carnival.
For a look at some of my other art pieces, you can link to my Facebook gallery: Altered Art: Found Objects and Curious Things. – CL
Cindy on October 9th, 2008
Halloween and mixed media collage are two of my favorite things — and it’s not often I get to combine the two. While I rarely enter fine art shows, the call for entries for Anton Art Center’s Annual Blood Bath City Halloween exhibition had my name all over it. Mustering my courage, I entered an altered book last year and the piece was accepted.
My husband, an artist who’s never too shy to exhibit his work, encouraged me to enter again this year. The photo at left shows my shrine to the writing life, which was accepted for this year’s Blood Bath City show. Titled “It was a dark and stormy night”, the piece is crafted from found objects, including a broken fountain pen, a vintage typewriter ribbon tin, antique spectacles, an old Game of Authors card set, and some creepy vines I collected on a walk in the woods.
If you love spine-tingling artwork, you can view the whole display at the Anton Art Center from Friday, October 10th through November 2nd. There’s also an opening reception and costume party with live music on October 24th from 9pm â 2am. I’ll be there, but I promise you won’t recognize me in my costume! — CL
One of the many things I appreciate about my artist-architect husband is that he’s always encouraging me to push my own artwork to the next level. Given that our family has been in a crisis mode (my mother’s health) for the past year, it’s not easy to make time for art, let alone enter our work in competitions.
In my assemblage, the woman’s photo is surrounded by found objects — twigs, feathers, part of an old leather Bible cover, and vintage fabrics. In the background, you’ll also see a scrap from a notebook of shorthand that Doug brought home from a thrift shop.
Thanks to Doug, I entered the piece in the Michigan Annual Exhibition, and was pleased to learn this week that it was accepted. The opening reception is on January 27th, 6 – 9pm. The exhibit runs through February 24th.
