Art Reception & Sale Featuring Ilona

Back Porch Studio on Two Notch Rd. in Columbia SC will be honoring the former ETV star of "Painting with Ilona" Sunday Oct. 5, from 1:30-5:30. A fine selection of art works done by Ilona and her students. Oil paintings in the impressionistic style; fine photography from Sandra Phaup; great giclees, prints and original realistic landscapes by Jean Ehler; mixed media collage and abstracts by Jean Bourque and great sculptures and pottery by Kevin Smith and Paul Moore. Many other artists will be included as well.

Coming Soon Art Classes with Ilona

Ilona will be returning to Columbia SC soon. (and to other SC destinations) Ilona Royce Smithken former tv star of "Painting with Ilona" will be hosted by Sandra and Bud Phaup of Forest Acres in Columbia SC. Sandra is the founder of the Back Porch Painters Gallery and Potter's Studios.

Painting with Oils in an Impressionistic Style classes will run Mon -Fri Sep 29-Oct 3 and Oct 6 to Oct 10 Mon-Fri. Both weeks the classes will be from 10 AM to 1:30 PM with a quick lunch break.

Ilona currently resides in NYC and summers in Provincetown, MA. During the fall and winter Ilona travels throughout the Southeast teaching her famous style from Columbia SC to Louisville KY.

More info to follow...

Email; Juried Art Competition in Knoxville, TN

Dear friends and artists,

I wanted to let you know about the upcoming Arts & Culture Alliance National Juried Exhibition of 2008. The deadline for entries to be postmarked is Saturday, September 27, 2008. The selected art will be exhibited at the Emporium Center in downtown Knoxville from December 15, 2008 - January 14, 2009, with an awards ceremony and reception scheduled for "First Friday", January 2, 2009.

This year's juror is Angela Usrey, Owner and Director of Tanner Hill Gallery in Chattanooga. Prizes include $1,400 in cash awards as well as future exhibition opportunities.

A prospectus and application are available on our Web site at http://www.knoxalliance.com/news/news.html#Juried. Please let me know if you have any questions. Feel free to pass this along to any interested parties.
Kind regards,
Suzanne
----------------------------
Arts & Culture Alliance
PO Box 2506
Knoxville, TN 37901
(865) 523-7543(865) 523-7312 fax

Artists for 701 Center for Contemporary Art Meeting

ARTISTS FOR 701 CENTER FOR CONTEMPORARY ART
Calling All Visual Artists

Join Laura Spong, Jeff Donovan, David and Ellen Yaghjian and Mary Glickerson for an artists' event in support of Columbia's new 701 Center for Contemporary Art. The event will take place Sunday, September 21, from 3:00 - 6:00 PM at Laura Spong's on Pinemont Dr, Columbia, S.C. The event will be catered by Southern Way. Several 701 CCA board members will be at the event to talk about the center.

About 701 CCA: 701 will open to the public mid-October with a Grand Gala opening on October 16 and the public opening of the inaugural exhibition, Textile Tales, on October 17. The center has already welcomed its first artist in residence at the renovated 701 Whaley Street in Olympia, Columbia's historic textile mill village. 701 CCA's first resident, Beth Melton of Rock Hill, moved in September 1 and is working on a textile-based installation. Melton is part of the center's inaugural year that focuses on art and residencies that engage the legacy and materials of the textile industry, mill villages and mill workers. She will be in 701 CCA's inaugural exhibition, along with South Carolina's artists Ellen Kochansky, Phil Moody and Scotty Peek.
This information was provided by Mary Gilkerson. For further info contact her 803.799.1368.
www.marygilkerson.com
mary@marygilkerson.com

Movie Reveiw: Babylon A. D.

Babylon was a fast moving action packed adventure story featuring several newcomers to the large screen and Vin Diesel as the main character along with Muchelle Yeoh. As with many action adventure movies; we have a "paid killer". This one however; played quite convincingly has decided to reform and has agreed to deliver a "package" from a convent in the hills of Asia to NYC.

The package turns out to be a "nun" and her (previously abandoned) adopted daughter. The girl is the package said to be carrying a rare virus. She is amazingly understated as both an intellect and a striking beauty. Although she flirts with the leading man; he is having none of it. All he wants to do is his job. In the end he realizes it is a suicide mission. Even so; the ending turns out to be quite surprising and cleverly crafted.

Using my standard rating guide:

Did it make me laugh? Yes, I laughed some; although its not a comedy
Did it make me cry? Yes, it had a few tender moments.
Did it keep me awake? YES and that is a miracle because I was very tired!

A movie worth seeing; but leave the kids at home....it is a little rough around the edges as are most movies in this genre. One thing I am not real clear on is why the movie was named Babylon A D ? The title total doesn't make sense to me in regards to the movie; so for that I am going to deduct a half point and rate it 2.5 points on a scale of three.

This movie is currently playing in several theaters throughout Columbia, SC

Alicia Leeke's Reception Date Changed to Sept 12th

CHARLESTON ARTIST GUILD GALLERY
“COASTAL INSPIRATIONS” EXHIBIT

featuring work by South Carolina artist

ALICIA LEEKE

Due to the Storm Warnings in Charleston Alicia's show which I posted last week and was scheduled for this evening has now been changed to Sept 12th. The exhibition will be marked with an opening preview reception from 5-8 p.m. The exhibit will continue until September 30.

The gallery is open Monday through Saturday 10 am to 5 pm and is located at 6 North Atlantic Wharf, off East Bay Street and across from a convenient parking garage. You may contact Alicia about her paintings by calling (803) 429-5456, 888-429-5456, via email at leekeka@hotmail.com or by visiting her website at www.alicialeeke.com.

TAG features Howard Hunt as Guest Speaker 9/8

Like I mentioned last week; art season is about to begin. I say that with a grin as you know most of the art leagues do not meet during the summer months. Trenholm Art League aka: TAG will have their first meeting of the year in Columbia SC at 7PM Monday evening. Howard Hunt a gifted artist that paints nature's scenes on canvas as well as having an eye to capture beautiful images in photography will be the guest speaker.

Howard Hunt was very instrumental in the Artist's Round Table last year and helped secure art shows at various venues for many of our members through connections he has in the real estate business. Finding local business owners willing to allow art shows of the ART Group really makes Howard not only a gifted artist but truly a gifted entrepreneur and marketing guru. His presentation should be very informative and interesting.

I wish I could make it there; but I will be out of town on business. So ...go in my place and have a good time. Don't forget to tell Howard you read about him on my blog.

unearthed at Saluda Shoals in October

Discover Saluda Shoals Park

Be inspired by nature's bounty at the shores of the Saluda River in Saluda Shoals Park in Columbia SC. Featured artists include award winning artists: Barbie Mathis best known for her beautifully detailed rose renderings in watercolor and Alicia Leeke: best known for her lovely impressionistic street scenes with her unusual perspective; taking the audience to Paris. She also creates beautiful hand painted batiks used in her scarves and ties in silk and they must be seen and felt to appreciate how wonderful they are. Alicia was one of the founding members and former president of The Artists Round Table in Columbia, SC.

Also painting will be Michelle McNinch. She has been an art teacher in the Adult Division of Midlands Technical College and has taught many local artist to paint. In addition, Michelle also teaches teenagers the fine arts on a full time basis in the greater Chapin area. Michelle was one of the founding members of the Crooked Creek Art league and one of its first presidents. A gifted artist with many top awards for her paintings; she works in oils and water media and always in a very photo-realistic way.

Artsails1 will post more info about the event and the artists that will be doing demos that day in future editions of this blog...so stay tuned.

Alicia Leeke Art Reception in Charleston this Week

ART OPENING in CHARLESTON, SC

Paintings by Alicia Leeke

copyright belongs to the artist

The Charleston Artist Guild Gallery in Charleston, SC, will present the exhibit, Coastal Inspirations, featuring works by South Carolina artist, Alicia Leeke. The exhibition will be marked with an opening preview reception from 5-8 p.m. held Friday September 5. The exhibit will continue until September 30. Using the term she coined for a new era of art, called “Fabaism,” Leeke offers her personal interpretations of Charleston and transforms familiar scenes into modern-day masterpieces. This new body of work focuses on the impact color and abstraction has on landscape painting. The artists' love of the coast extends back into early childhood where family vacations were spent exploring the woods, dunes and tides of South Carolina’s coast. Called a Contemporary Master, her creativity is inspired by the French Salon painters and how they captured history, social conscience and architecture by painting the people and environments surrounding them.

Complementing each painting is a robust combination of dry brush painting techniques to create texture. She manipulates acrylics to capture the thick rich texture of oils and mixes a palette full of rich reds, vibrant oranges, shocking blues and sharp white accents.

Her gentle distortions of linear perspective are a fundamental element to the overall design of her creations and are a necessary ingredient in the composition of her pieces. In fact, they create such a positive visual response that many viewers want to step inside each painting.

The gallery is open Monday through Saturday 10 am to 5 pm and is located at 6 North Atlantic Wharf, off East Bay Street and across from a convenient parking garage. You may contact Alicia about her paintings by calling (803) 429-5456, 888-429-5456, via email at leekeka@hotmail.com or by visiting her website at http://www.alicialeeke.com/.

It's Art Season and I will be Painting!!!

Hi;

I know I didn't write much this summer and that's okay. Columbia's art scene pretty much dries up for the summer. Fall is almost here now and I hope all ya'll that wanted to enter the SC State Fair Juried Fine Art Show have remembered to do so on line.

A long weekend is upon us and I will be painting. One of my Charlotte NC friends has bought a new home and needs more art. I will be painting in Chroma Interactive Acrylics. These have a longer dry time; making it possible to paint wet on wet which is typically an oil painting thing. I love oil painting but it has very toxic chemicals and the paint takes forever to dry. Not so good for an artist that likes to work multiple paintings at times. I can't tell you how many smeared paintings I had in oil.

With Fall; comes beautiful colors...the colors burst onto the leaves before they fall. The pumpkins, squash and cantaloupes adding new colors to our landscapes. The air smells different and hurricane season is upon us. School has started and after this weekend; vacations will end until we get closer to Thanksgiving.

I'll paint my geometric painting outside without rulers; without lines; without tape and just go freely into the blinding light and follow it where ever the brush takes me. This piece will be filled with feeling and that is what my friend in Charlotte makes me think about. We have been friends for nearly 20 years and visited each other in various states and kept in touch. Feelings... someone that has feelings; that cares and loves geometric art. So to my friend in Charlotte...this is your weekend. I dedicate it to you. I will have to follow up with a visit of course and I can't wait to see the new house; custom built for you; my friend.

Have a GREAT Labor Day Weekend...ya'll.

yours truly;

Jean Bourque