Local and Global; My Art World Commentary

hi there...

you may have noticed artsails1 has pretty much been off the blog radar since mid April. You could call it being in major super learning mode...through self educating and much time, research and effort on the web the past few months, I have learned a lot. I created an art website for another artist, I developed a blog for another company and have done art on white boards in video games and have a video game art presence. So...here I am a little less burned out after a vacation in NYC. The world is filled with so many creative people!

The newspapers have let departments go and long time staff writers, no longer enjoy a steady paycheck with a (formerly) major employer. A print magazine with features of local artists was developed a couple years ago and I agreed to an ongoing paid writing assignment online. The print media is about to become extinct...as far as the arts scene goes. As many retailers and businesses struggled to keep their doors open; the bottom literally fell out of print advertising. The world no longer reads the daily paper or even the weekly....people are doing everything online not just news and research but even event planning, socializing, making friends and many are reconnecting with people from their past as well as creating a future with a vast array of contacts from all over the world.

When I started my blog...it wasn't a new thing for the world but many of my friends had no idea what a blog was or why I would write one when I already had a website for over 10 years. Much to my surprise, it was one of the first art blogs in my area. Today, I am happy to report that more local artists are online creating blogs and posting their paintings and if they don't actually have their very own website, they are at least on Facebook and/or Myspace and some are even in the professional site of LinkedIn and a few are even on Twitter. While some have found facebook and myspace applications a great way to connect with people by using games such as Small World, Yoville and Second Life. Artists are creating online art communities and demonstrating their own version of an actually made in application, digital art gallery. Yours truly has hand created 12 paintings in Yoville and these are all part of my online presence, as an artist. (My Yoville is a Facebook app)

With an entry to any of these worlds; be it your own blog, website and /or social networking; you are here to stay... you are stating your relevance. You are sharing your art, people want to know about you and your art. They want to feel that you are accessible. I am accessible; talk to me, connect with me, sign up to be my friend or follow my blog or tweets ... I'll be seeing you again soon.
Yours Truly,
Jeanee

Lexington Arts Center June Tucerella & La Z Boy

An Arts Center in Lexington, SC is long overdue; people talk about, everyone would like to see it happen and finally it is on its way. Now there is a group dedicated to the good for the arts commitment in Lexington SC. Lexington is actively participating in the arts and with their growing community of people and businesses it only makes sense they establish their own Arts Center. The group is trying to make this dream a reality and they already have a name the Lexington Arts Center. One local business is doing a fundraiser with a win-win-win approach for everyone. What could be better?

La z Boy on Sunset Blvd is brand new to Lexington yet they are clearly an active participant in showing their support for the arts. June Tucerella of Lexington Arts and president of Seven Oaks Art League will be at the La z Boy store from 4:30 to 7PM. For a $20. donation to the Lexington Arts you will receive a 10% off coupon to anything you want in the new La Z Boy store. Even if it is already on sale. Now that's an unheard of thing to do in this economy. But then La z Boy has always been known to give their customers exceptional experiences in comfort and durability.

Now La Z Boy has so much more than recliners, you owe to yourself and your family and the art community to come out and see the new store with everything you could need to complete your home or office. They even have degreed designers on staff.

If you do come by, ask for me Jeanee Bourque, I'll be happy to tell you all about this great company and the fundraiser they are doing. I will be there Friday and Saturday from 10AM to at least 7 PM possibly later.

Yours Truly,

Jeanee Bourque

About Face Preview of Museum Show April 18

Many thanks to all The About Face Artists that extended their hospitality to me when I popped in to preview their work for the Big gala to be held April 18th at the Columbia Museum of Art on Main St. Columbia SC. For further details about the Soiree du Soleil Gala just click it.

The close up painting shown is by Bonnie Goldberg, one of my favorite local artists. The silhouette of the city in the background was painting by David West and various art work is shown on the wall here by the About Face Artists.

The event is sure to be talked about by one and all attendees as it is in conjunction with the wonderful Turner to Cezanne exhibit currently showing at the Main St, Gallery in Columbia, SC.

Columbia Museum of Art Soiree April 18th, 7PM

The Columbia Museum of Art will be hosting the

Soiree du Soleil Gala

April 18, 2009 7 PM to midnight

at

The Columbia Museum of Art

There are a number of artists that have been involved behind the scenes and they have a little village set up featuring the work of these artists as well as the wonderful Turner to Cezanne impressionistic Paintings that are currently showing at the Museum. This is a show not to miss!

The featured artists are from the About Face Artists' Group; Bonnie Goldberg, Michel McNinch, Taryn Shekitka-West, David West, Kirkland Smith, Martha Thomas, John Quirk, Warren Brussee, David Phillips, Jim Finch, Darcie Foust, Ryan McClendon, Dan Greshel, Brad Anderson, Hannah Tveden, Howard Hunt, Mary Ann Haven, Franklin Miller, Charlie Adams, Bonnie Shiah and Barbara Yongue.

Picture above mural by Kirkland Smith and Martha Thomas

Fallen Kings at Jillians Tuesday night April 7th

Come out and show your support for The Fallen Kings!

Jeff Liberty Plays at Lulabelles Fri. April 3

Columbia, SC Coming to Lulabelle's for a repeat performance

Friday April 3, 2009 (outside if the weather's right) 7PM

(just off Harbison Blvd. across the street from Ryan's)

Jeff Liberty will be playing the blues again at Lulabelles. For all of you that missed this performer the last time around you have another chance to listen to the hot scorching blues; played by Columbia's best blues man; Mr. Jeff Liberty! If you have heard him before, you know what I am talking about. This guy can really play that guitar and sing, too. I was truly blown away by his original songs as well as his performances of blues favorites.

You have to hear "Girl Next Door" or "It Feels Like Rain" and you too will be blown away by such sheer genius. Jeff keeps the audience as he switches gears to a funny little dialectic he wrote about an obsessive woman; "If you ain't crazy, why do you go crazy, every time; I call you crazy?" This is done in a fun light hearted way and Jeff does a little narrative setting the song up. Another one he sets up well through narrative his true to life song called; "Disturbin' the Peace". To sample Jeff Liberty's music and see what all the excitement is about check out his website at http://www.jeffliberty.com/

See ya' at Lulabelles.

Yours truly;

Jeanee

Columbia Museum of Art Event news

Columbia Museum of Art from my email box....

Turner to Cézanne and SCETV
See the story of the Davies sisters and get a behind-the-scenes look at the art and the National Museum of Wales in an ETV special documentary on Wed March 25 at 7:00 PM and Sun March 29 at 3:30 PM. The program, filmed partially in Wales, features Oliver Fairclough, keeper of the art at the Museum of Wales, Lord and Lady David Davies, Anne Oldham, librarian at Gregynog, and Bradford Collins of the USC Art Department. The SCETV Web site will feature an online image gallery accompanied by audio and video podcasts featuring commentary by Oliver Fairclough and Mike Tooby from the National Museum of Wales.

Lecture: Revolution in Paint Sunday, March 22
3:00 p.m.North Carolina Museum of Art conservator Perry Hurt presents a slide-illustrated lecture exploring 19th-century French painting and the innovations of the Impressionists, with special emphasis on their choice of pigments. Free with admission or membership.

Contemporaries Annual Oyster Roast on Boyd PlazaWednesday, March 25
5:30 – 7:30 PM. John Cusastis provides interactive entertainment as guests enjoy beer and oysters. In the event of rain, the oyster roast will be rescheduled. $5 or free for Contemporaries members.

Performance: Isla St. Clair Friday, March 27 7:00 p.m.Isla St. Clair, one of Scotland's foremost traditional singers, performs songs complimenting Turner to Cézanne: Masterpieces of the Davies Collection, National Museum Wales. St. Clair is known for the depth of feeling she brings to her country's music, and her performance is a mix of classic and contemporary songs spiced with humorous anecdotes. $7 or $5 for members.

Please forward this e-mail to a friend! Email Marketing by Columbia Museum of Art Main at Hampton Columbia SC 29201

Jeff Liberty Videos http://artsails1.blogspot.com

For music by Jeff Liberty; At the bottom of the front page of this blog at http://artsails1.blogspot.com there are videos. These will give you a sample of the music played by Jeff Liberty. Click on one of the first three photos to listen to Jeff Liberty playing guitar and singing the blues.

Hope you enjoy;
yours truly;
Jeanee

701 Whaley St Poetry Reading Sunday March 22

Delight at the renovations sported by the building at 701 Whaley St in Columbia's Mill Village. The turn of the century architectural style of the original building now with a facelift and an interior renovation is worth noting.


(artwork by Jean Bourque
mixed media oil pastels and markers
on paper, c 2005)


At 2 PM on Sunday March 22 their poet in residence Cathy Smith Bowers of Queens University, Charlotte, will be reciting her latest works @ 701 CENTER FOR CONTEMPORARY ART
Poetry reading and book signing; Part of the Working Poems and Stories Series, Artistic Director: Quitman Marshall.
Admission: $5 go to the 2nd floor this Sunday, March 22nd
Cathy Smith Bowers—has "been published in the ...." "The Love that Ended Yesterday in Texas" an award-winner. Cathy grew up in upstate SC and "moved out of it with literature, but always looks back, believing, as she says, that “the essence of our lives is story.” A long-time poet-in-residence at Queens University in Charlotte, she received the Fuqua Distinguished Educator Award there in 2003. "

"Quitman Marshall, a Columbia native living in Beaufort, SC coordinated the Sundown Poetry Series at the Piccolo Spoleto Festival in the 1990s, a role which ultimately led to the founding of the Literary Series at Spoleto Festival USA. He's a former chair of the Board of Governors of the SC Academy of Authors and a founding board member of the SC Book Festival. He has published three chapbooks and is currently working on a book of poetry, a narrative and a novel. Marshall has studied across the country with Henry Taylor, Howard Nemerov, James Tate, David Ignatow and Charles Simic. In 1996 he won the Writers Exchange Award sponsored by Poets & Writers, Inc."

About 701 Center for Contemporary Art
701 Center for Contemporary Art (CCA) is a non-profit visual arts center that promotes understanding, appreciation and enjoyment of contemporary art, the creative process and the role of art and artists in the community. The center also encourages interaction between visual arts and other art forms. The Center is located at 701 Whaley Street, Columbia, SC 29201. For more information, visit www.701cca.org. Upcoming in the 701 CCA Working Poems and Stories Series: Earl Braggs, Michael Chitwood, Ron Rash & George Singleton.
For further inquiries, contact info@701cca.org or call 803.238.2351.

Columbia Late Night Food in the Vista; NOT

Okay, occassionally even the most positive girl you know has a pet peeve and here is mine; delivered hopefully with a sense of humor and nostalgia. Hope it makes you laugh and if not; oh well; too bad.

Columbia SC Vista downtown; I have one pet peeve. You see the other night, Tuesday night me and a friend had gone to the poetry slam at Art Bar and we both wanted to get a bite to eat, after. Well, we knew restaurants closed early on week nights so we left about 9:30 PM, thinking we still had about a half hour to get something to eat. We went by a couple places including a pizza place which by all rights should be open until 11 PM and found everything was closed. We ended up at the IHOP. Okay; it was a Tuesday night.

It reminded me of an incident from a few years ago. Me and a couple friends had been to the play Oklahoma; on Memorial weekend 2005. Being a bit nostalgic and running into the same dilemma again in 2009...jogged my memory. True this is a real pet peeve if it continues to plague me; surely others are aggravated by this as well.

We are in the Vista in the capital city on Memorial weekend I thought surely the wings place would be open. Oh yes; we got in the front door; but what's this; the kitchen is closed. It's not even 11Pm and there are two guys standing behind us; they over hear this and ask me; where can we get something to eat? That clearly translates into 5 customers lost and that was only in the one minute window of time; who knows how many people really wanted to eat at 10:45 on a Saturday night of Memorial weekend in Columbia SC, vista downtown?

I thought for sure the wine and tapas place would be serving until at least 1 AM being a Saturday night and all. I told the two guys that and off they went. We too, decided what the heck ; tapas was better than nothing ; but no; as we arrived our two guys (who were actually quite loaded) said they were told the place was closing. We checked with the place anyway, noticing their mental state and sure enough the place was closing. UGH!

Now; I am really upset. We had rushed to the play running late from some other artistic venue and not only was I starving, so were my friends. So it's IHOP; that's it. No other choices? There is something pretty pathetic about a capital city closing up the sidewalks on a holiday weekend so you can't even get a decent meal unless you fit into the magic window of timing. Note to self; must remember eating time has to be before 10:30PM.

NEW note to self on weeknights must eat by 9PM if planning to be at an event in the Vista.
I rea lize this may not be a big deal to many people, but for someone that eats out for most every meal; it is a real big deal. If I cannot find a place to eat; it's not like I can go home and cook something decent. My choices at home are cereal and microwave so by comparision IHOP looks pretty good!

With Love and Gratitude;
yours truly,
Jeanee