Friends in mid-June Openings

Mid-June seems to be the time for many gallery openings. I attended 4 between Thursday and Sunday.

I was Ahavani Mullen’s “plus one” for Art in Motion, which turned into a “presidential” FUSEDChicago gathering. (Ahavani is a vice president and I am co-President).

There was an auction for paintings done by patients of the rehabilitation institute, and a few offered demonstrations of their painting skills throughout the evening.

Since I had not been accepted to this show a few years back, I was curious to see what the aesthetic was, and can see that my art might not be the best fit. I was inspired by various pieces, even though I don’t generally veer toward the abstract.

Whether it’s the mark-making, gestures, colors, I don’t know. I couldn’t tell you what separates true artistry and talent from low quality abstract work.

FUSEDChicago co-President Michele Thrane had three encaustic monotypes in the show. (A monotype is described at this link.) Her work is featured in Embracing Encaustic: Mixing Media by Linda Robertson.

Ahavani also had three encaustic pieces in the show. She successfully funded her upcoming Here and Now exhibit.

Her diptych won third place.

Someone channelled the Jurassic World movie premiere.

We had a lovely dinner at Indian Garden and chatted about a multitude of things.

Friday night I headed to Motor Row Gallery to see UnchARTed. This gallery was converted from an old dealership. Apparently this area is where one went to buy cars in historic Chicago.

FUSEDChicago member Amy Van Winkle is part of this show.

I love how she stitches into her encaustic work.

My mentor and wax and wire teacher Crystal Neubauer has a multitude of collage works in the show.

My favorite pieces (with butterflies of course) were already snapped up.

There is so much texture in her work that you cannot see from photographs. Crystal’s book The Art of Expressive Collage: Techniques for Creating with Paper and Glue is available for preorder.

I had a lovely conversation in Dutch with collage and acrylic artist Turkan Ilkdemirci, who spent several years in the Netherlands before moving to the U.S.

Pam Peterson’s cold wax color palette spoke to me. UnchARTed runs through June 27 and its artists also include: Bill Sosin, James Edward Scherbarth, Nancy Pirri, Eve Ozer, Dianne Martia,and Cynthia Lee.

Janet Lewandowski’s triptych reminded me of a discussion during Sarah Krepp’s art critique that is still simmering in my brain.

I meandered over to Morpho Gallery for their STRATA opening with Carol Hamilton and Jeff Sevener.   STRATA is an exploration of colors and light through several diverse media.

I was drawn into Jeff Sevener’s Tempest right away. His layering of papers and combining them with thread is exquisite.

Then I entered the world of Carol’s multi-layered Madscapes. She combines mylar, rice paper, string and encaustic to create beautiful collage vignettes that can keep you mesmerized for hours.

Her Earth Science wall of encaustic paintings is also a feast of texture and depth of her pieces.

The texture and layers are bold on these pieces.

So many favorites to choose from! This show closed on June 20, but another encaustic show is coming up.

On Sunday I caught the last hour of the new Evanston Art Center’s inaugural exhibit “Hybrid’s Paradise” curated by Sergio Gomez.

I got stuck chatting with people, so didn’t really have a chance to peruse the new art center, but admired the installation by the entrance.

I love these metal mobiles and have a soldering class on my wish list.

The lights were turned off just after I snapped pictures of this inspirational installation.

I’ll have to return to the art center for the upstairs art. Hybrid’s Paradise remains up through August 9. Pick up a class catalog while you are there. An encaustic workshop is available on August 26.