The Next Stop on Our Open Studio Tour of Leicester

Gallery downstairs

Leicester Open Art Studio Tour continues with the work and studio of Olga Dorenko.  Olga is a tiny mite of a woman, but  I think a power house also.  I would have liked to talk more to her about her background and art, but it was a busy day for her with lots of visitors. I did find out she is from Russia.  Her art is detailed, skilled and imaginative.  You can feel the fall leaves brilliant orange as they burst forth like the sun behind a barn or the swirl of the mountain winds as they sweep leaves into a funnel of fall frenzy.  Her brush strokes are incredibly fine and smooth.  I think her paintings are so finely painted it must take her a very long time for one painting.  She had a two story studio, with exhibition space below and her painting studio above.  The home was separate with a pool and gazebo.  It looked quite wonderful.  I can only imagine.  I hope to learn more about Olga and her work in future shows.  In the meantime I will share these photo's with you and link you with her website.  

view from painting studio upstairs

View of gazebo, pool and home

Upstairs Painting Studio with skylights for natural light

http://olgadorenko.com

Leicester Open Art Studio 

is not unlike many Open Studio's across the United States where artists open their own studio's for people to come view their work and buy from them directly.  The advantage for you is that you can usually buy artists work at a much cheaper price than in galleries where it is marked up as much as 50%!  It is a win-win relationship for artists and patrons, besides it is so much fun to see each studio and how an artist works. 

The only difference I know is that it 

might help to have a 4 wheel drive!  

The postmen in this area have subaru's!  Just teasing really, we had a two wheel drive and made it just fine. 

The Second artist on our list we went to see was another potter.  Her name is Denise Dvortze ....Driving in to the property we passed a little barn with Pablo and his goats.

This is Pablo the guard Llama

  Llama's make good guard dogs and he is very attentive to his goats and looks after the very well. Just that week one of the goats was very ill and he stood over her guarding while he spit on Denise and her husband who were trying to help. 

The pond with the water falls is man made, but looked very realistic.  

This is a man made pond just outside the patio

 The owner and her husband built the pond and waterfalls with help from a pond designer.  I wondered if the Koi could live through the winters here, and they said they could as long as the water is running and at least 4 Ft. deep.

The Koi live year round in the pond

As we went through
 the day we say many wonderful spots where artists built or designed their own studios.  They are so tucked away deep on the back roads in the mountains you would never know they were there.

There were two potters showing here.  The owners Denise and Ron had invited another potter by the name of Cat who was showing her work in the gazebo.  Below are examples of Cat's work.  Both potter had nice glazes.  Rachel had a beautiful glaze that she achieved at a lower firing while Cat's were fired at a much hotter temperature.  Both glazes were beautiful.

Kats glazes were really beautiful, the photo does not do them justice.

Whimsical Bird House

Pitcher, flower pot and jewelry

DID YOU SAY STUDIO TOUR!? WHAT FUN, LET'S GO!!!

LEICESTER 

There are so many artists in Western North Carolina if you throw a stick you are bound to hit one!  Of course we are teasing, but Asheville and the surrounding area is so full of craft artists that one could imagine it to be so. 

Wild Berry Bed and Breakfast 

Have you ever gone on a scavenger hunt?  Well, the Leicester Artists Tour is very much like one.  Wildberry Bed and Breakfast is one of the sponsors and the very first place we go on the tour. There you can get a map, see a preview of the artists works, and get a sense of the kind of roads we will encounter on this day. Loose steep gravel, and one way roads are very common on the back mountain tour.  It would help to have four wheel drive which we don't have, but our trusty Pilot Honda will make it just fine.  The Blue Ridge Mountains are beautiful and as we goes through the tour, it is evident that nature is as much the artist, as the artisans we are going to visit.  Tucked back in the hidden coves and high atop mountain ridges artists studios dot the area. It is a tremendous treat to get to see artist studio's anytime and see where creativity happens.  Each studio is as unique as the individuals who create there.  First on our list is Doc Welty, potter. Tomorrow we will look at more studio's on the tour.  

Doc Welty's Enchanting Mountain Pottery Studio

Glazing Shelves are loaded with a recent unloading

Doc has three kilns, 2 propane gas and one wood firing

The glazes have an old feel about them

Plenty of visitors buying

Recent Craft Magazine highlight of Doc

I love these two tables, a bargain for anyone!!!

From Doc's wheel he has a good view of the house, when his wife calls him in for lunch.

CAN YOU, AS ONE LONE PERSON, MAKE A DIFFERENCE?

Caine's Arcade

  I am increasingly convinced one person can make a difference in this world.  Perhaps it is passion, perhaps it is intent, and perhaps it is by accident, but how we live our lives, how we give to others, is important not only for others, but for ourselves.  And I more convinced with every day that is our purpose on the Earth.  In giving to others, we give to ourselves.  In enriching others, we enrich the community we live in and make it a better place for all of us.

Rosa Parks Sits in the Front of the Bus Shocking
 the Social Order of the  Time

Ai Wei Wei Dissident Chinese Artist

My Students making Matisse Art

Sometimes I think it is quite by accident like the 9 year old boy who loved being creative so much, the pureness of his act effected others nationwide.  To make a cardboard arcade with tape and scrap cardboard boxes, to have the naive idea to sell tickets and have a business at 9 years old.  Or to be so determined to do something no matter how difficult your handicap may be, as in the case of Helen Keller, that you can overcome seemingly unsurmountable odds, that is determination.
 Or to be one lady on a bus who takes a seat in the front of the bus and sets the world on fire, as Rosa Parks did when she challenged the social order of the day.  Or to be Nelson Mandela, who was imprisoned for years due to his quest to change South Africa's unjust social order.

Vincent Van Gogh's Starry Night                from google for education only

  Or to pick up a brush and to dare to paint differently than every artist before you and shock the art world with your brush strokes like Vincent Van Gogh.  And to stand in front of a tank and defy overwhelming force to bring attention to the need for freedom, and one man did in China.

Elizabeth Gordon, Art Advocate in Washington D.C.
Even thought I am a retired teacher I am never a retired
art advocate and artist.

It is my belief that art can change lives and change the world.  I believe so deeply in the power of the arts to effect and enable people I have spent my entire life in art education, art advocacy and in the making of art.  Starting this blog and being intent on posting every day about the value of art in  people's lives is my attempt to make a different. Some blogs have teams of people behind them to help write, organize and post.  This blog is just me, one person sharing, researching, posting, talking and believing.  What ever your passion is, what ever you talent is, what ever your intent is, just put it out there and the universe has a way of supporting you when you do. Good journey, my friends start today, touch someones life, give a little more than you take, be a little kinder, be a little more understanding, be a little more tolerant, and above all believe in yourself and your abilities. Now go forth do good, and make a difference.

ONE PERSON CAN CURE CANCER WITH CREATIVE THINKING?

It seems that just that thought might be possible, one person, one idea, can change the world.

Anegla Zhang is a 17 year old teenager who just won $100,000 from Sienmens Math and Science competition for inventing a possible cure for cancer.  

She took the prize for inventing what she calls the,"swiss army knife of cancer treatments," a gold-iron oxide nano particle that can precisely deliver chemotherapy to cancer tumors but not the surrounding healthy tissue.

I wanted to note a comment the judges made that we as artists  understand and know that makes a difference in solving problems.

Here is the quote: "She showed great creativity and initiative," siad competition judge Tejal Desai in a statement.  "Her work is an important step in developing new approachers to the therapeutic targeting of tumors via nanotechnology.

Angela is using creative thinking and problem skills to solve an existing problem with a new approach. She is thinking out of the box and coming to new conclusions and solutions!

Whether in the arts or other fields creative thinking skills are essential in discovering new approaches to old problems.  This is very familiar territory for artists and we are delighted to see the new generation utilizing these thinking skills.

INDIVIDUALS WHO MAKE A DIFFERENCE/CREATIVE THINKING/A GOOD THIING IN THIS WORLD

Making a difference in this world does not mean you have to be famous, be a large business or organization or even be a grown up, it just means a really creative passionate idea can make ripples like a stone dropped in a pond.  Its effect change reach many and even change hearts, change lives, and remind us of the pure joy of the child within.  

An idea can be born not of intent of how it will change others, but for the pure love and attention of what you have a passion for.  Caine( 9 years old) went to work with his Dad at his garage one day and that day would change his life and many many others.  All he knew was he was bit bored, found some tap and cardboard  at his Dad's Garage and started having fun.  He started small, but he just kept building and building until he had built a whole arcade which he named Caine's arched.  He decided to sell tickets for  kids to enjoy and experience his creation, but all summer no one came until.....

GOOD THINGS IN THIS CRAZY WORLD!

Sometimes the world seems so crazy and out of control that we forget to focus on the good things that are going on.

The Scream by Edward Munch  

 The news is full of negative drama that is how they sell their programs.  With 24/7 cable news which is non stop drama these days.  It is so much so that we can begin to accept it as our reality.  There are so many people who find it to their advantage to divide us against each other. They split us and find our differences and dramatize them to be more important than our commonality.  They do not highlight the ways in which humans find to be alike, compassionate, and

tolerant. 

                                                             from google 

 But there is so much good happening 
and so many new young creative thinkers who see the world and society in a refreshing new way.  They are coming up with new solutions to old problems.  This new spirit is world wide, not exclusive to the United States, or Europe.  I think it behooves us to look at this new spirit that is born, that is developing, and that will change the world in positive ways that those of us of older generations cannot perceive yet.  I am proud much of this change comes from something all artist cherish and that is creativity.    Many of the changed thinking comes from artists, but creative thinking is being seen across all occupations and areas...from building to farming to societal living, to front yards that are farms, to art studios using land fill gases to fire kilns, and 12 years olds who solve medical issues like cancer treatment. 
One of those groups we highlighted recently:

Energy Exchange, a studio that uses land fill gases to power their kilns and torches.  They use renewable energy to support artist and their studios. Built on top of an old dump, the methane gases are trapped and used by the studio's for energy for firing kilns and using torches for glass work.  

Energy EXchange                       Burnsville, North Carolina

Center for the World Arts at the University of Florida is another wonderful program doing positive good things in this world. Highlighting the all the arts across the worlds varying cultures this program builds understanding, acceptance and appreciation.

  WORLD ART CENTER University of Florida                              from google for educational purposes only

Philadelphia Mural Program is a wonderful idea that was started because of something very bad happening in the city of Philadelphia  Old buildings falling down had become the backdrop for gang related graffiti that was a growing problem in communities.  Someone had an idea, let artists do a mural on the buildings and hide the graffiti.  But it was decided there must be community input to be successful.  So neighbors and local businesses were contacted to see what kind of mural they wanted.  Artists were paired with the idea and murals created.  An interesting thing happened, the graffiti stopped on the buildings that were painted..so more and more were added in neighborhood after neighborhood.  Now the program is huge, teaching other cities how to do this with workshops, and there is a three day tour one can take to see all the murals.

Murals of Philadelphia                 google image

The Orchestra of Instruments from Paraguay 

Children who are born into extreme poverty often never have a chance to escape from their situation.  In Cateura, Paraguay something good is happening children are making instruments from the refuse left in the dumps where they live and playing them! 
"We want to provide a way out of the landfill for these his and their families. So we're doing the impossible so that they can travel outside Paraguay, to become renowned and admired," said Favio Chavez, a social worker and music teacher who started the orchestra."

George Rodrigue and the Blue Dog Charity Foundation

The George Rodrigue Foundation helps fund the school arts program in Louisiana.  The schools have inadequate funding for the arts and George, being a native of Louisiana, would like to see kids have the chance to develop their creativity.  The Rodrigue foundation also donates art work for charity auctions to help them with fund raising.  George Rodrique is a man with a big heart and a generous soul.  It is with great sadness I learned today doing this post that he is fighting lung cancer.

El Sistema/ Venezula /USA 

Gustavo Dudamel with Venezuela's Orchestra for Children

An Instrument for Every Child
In Venesula an innovative program was created to help overcome the effects of poverty on children and a society.  The program was called El Sistema.  The program was publicly financed voluntary sector music education program in Venezuela. It was founded in 1975 by economist and musician Jose Antonio Abru under the name Social Action for Music.  It is a National Network of Youth and Children's Orchestras of Venezuela. The orchestra is now led by an energetic and charismatic Gustavo Dudamel.

Richard Riley Institute 

Richard Riley    Past Secretary of Education and Founder of the Richard Riley Institute

South Carolina is a poor state like many in the Southern United States.  Schools there do not always have adequate funding and in some regions more than others, it is a struggle to provide a quality education for children, especially in the poorest areas.  The institute is named after a progressive Secretary of Education, Richard Riley,  who upon leaving his post wanted to do more for his home state.  He believed improving education in South Carolina schools was a way to achieve that goal.  He also believed that acceptance, tolerance and understanding lead to an enriched community that could achieve more together than divided.  The Diversity Program reaches communities throughout the whole state helping people understand each others differences and helping them to learn to get along and work together on common goals.  Leadership training is another avenue of the Riley Institute for developing visionary leaders helps strengthen a community toward the common good.  The Riley Institute offers many other programs that all help build a better world for children in that state. The new program to build New Tech schools which will focus on teaching problem solving which is the cornerstone of creativity.

Dr. Don Gordon, Director of The Richard Riley Institute

I have a special fondness for this institute and have followed its growth through the years since the director is my brother, Dr. Don Gordon. He is a tireless worker and reflects the heritage our parents left us, which is one of compassion and understanding   for all people and a belief that education is the key to the better future for all.

As I go this list of people and groups doing good for the world I realize how this could go on forever, then I thought "why not". ?! So I will continually add the good news and people doing good articles through the life of this blog.  Next I would like to focus on some individuals and small businesses, small towns, small groups trying to do something good for people using creativity and the arts.

TOP ART CENTERS IN THE WORLD

Best Art Centers in the World

Contemporary Arts Museum Houston (Texas, USA)
 
Corcoran Gallery of Art (Washington, D.C. USA)

Georgia O'Keeffe Museum (Santa Fe, New Mexico USA)

Kimball Art Museum (Fort Worth, Texas USA)
 
LACMA - Los Angeles County Museum of Art (California, USA)
 
Menil Collection, The (Houston, Texas USA)-

Musee d'Orsay (Paris, France)
 
Musee de l'Orangerie (Paris, France)
 
Museum of Fine Arts Houston (Texas, USA)
 
National Gallery of Art (Washington, D.C. USA)
 
Santa Barbara Museum of Art (California, USA)
  
The Getty (Los Angeles, California USA)

CARL SANDBURG AMERICAN MASTER POET HOME FLAT ROCK NORTH CAROLINA APPALACHIA MUSEUM

Carl Sandburg Home and Museum in Flat Rock, North Carolina                           google

I met two famous people in college that the university brought in to speak to students.  Two artists I will never forget having the pleasure to hear and see in person: one was Joseph Albers, colorist and painter and the other was the poet Carl Sandburg.  
Carl Sandburg had a shock of hair parted and swept like a giant wave down to his ears, his face was serious and deeply thoughtful. When he read the words resonated in a deep part of ones soul..they seemed right and true.  
Not far from my Asheville studio is Flat Rock, North Carolina where Carl Sandburg's home which is now a museum.  His wife was a prize winning goat breeder.  She fed them and raised the babes in the house basement.  It was said that a few favorites had 

living room of Carl Sandburg's home

the run of the house. 
The house is much as if Sandburg had put his pipe down and walked out of the house one day, it has not changed.  It is personal and warm, books in piles and organized neatly, but books everywhere.  Sandburg also compiled an anthology of American Folk Songs.  In the summer months college students from around the country come and perform music from the collection.  There is also a wonderful petting zoo for children and children at heart.

from google image

A Tall Man

The mouth of this man is a gaunt strong mouth.
The head of this man is a gaunt strong head.

The jaws of this man are bone of the Rocky Mountains, the Appalachians.
The eyes of this man are chlorine of two sobbing oceans,
Foam, salt, green, wind, the changing unknown.
The neck of this man is pith of buffalo prairie, old longing and new beckoning of corn belt or cotton belt,
Either a proud Sequoia trunk of the wilderness
Or huddling lumber of a sawmill waiting to be a roof.

Brother mystery to man and mob mystery,
Brother cryptic to lifted cryptic hands,
He is night and abyss, he is white sky of sun, he is the head of the people.
The heart of him the red drops of the people,
The wish of him the steady gray-eagle crag-hunting flights of the people.

Humble dust of a wheel-worn road,
Slashed sod under the iron-shining plow,
These of service in him, these and many cities, many borders, many wrangles between Alaska and the Isthmus, between the Isthmus and the Horn, and east and west of Omaha, and east and west of Paris, Berlin, Petrograd.
The blood in his right wrist and the blood in his left wrist run with the right wrist wisdom of the many and the left wrist wisdom of the many.
It is the many he knows, the gaunt strong hunger of the many. 

Carl Sandburg

LANDFILL GAS TO RUN KILNS!? CRAZY SMART!

GREEN ART STUDIO'S? YES, I MEAN GREEN, ECO FRIENDLY KINDA GREEN!!

 EnergyXchange Studio's                  Google

In Western North Carolina there is a unique art studio that is built on a land fill and utilizes the land fill gas for firing its kilns.  The concept seems like science fiction, or the future coming true far sooner than we would believe.  These "crazy out of box thinking" artists have come up with an impossible idea and made it work.

Kiln firing with landfill gases               Google image  

Yancey and Mitchell counties are two of the most rural counties in North Carolina.  There are many areas of note; Penland School of Arts and Craft, Maryland Community College and Mount Mitchell, the highest peak East of the Mississippi River.

from google image

 
There was a landfill in the area that was closed in 1994.  It seemed like a good idea to figure out how to make use of the potential energy so local leaders researched ideas for possible use.  They created the EnergyXchange which is a craft incubator studio that supports development of artists and greenhouses that cultivate endangered flora while using the landfill gas..more on this article.

This article makes one think of all the possibilities that are out there, what else that could be done, it the right leadership, creativity and visionary minds come together. What could be done in your area, how could we re-use our waste, our thrown away products and goods, and how can we use the Earth's energy that would other wise be wasted?  Creative individuals like artists can think and brain storm like no one else, so a partnership with science and engineers would make a winning team would it not?

Joy Tanner   Tea Pot    EnergyXchange Studio's

What are your ideas?  How can we be smarter about energy and support the arts at the same time?  Post your ideas here under comment or send to me at Rabbits5@aol.com and I will post them for you.  Lets come with more solutions like the EnergyXchange!

The Art of The Beer Label

When Did Beer Labeling start? It seems labels started appearing on beer bottles during the Civil War.more... 
Isn't it interesting how the arts are every where in every part of our lives.  Before labels were used raised lettering was imprinted on the glass bottle, but the need to advertise and add more information brought labeling into being. 
Asheville being the Beer Capital of American has some unique labels for their micro breweries. These bold labels below speak of new bold flavors and a younger approach to beer making, the micro brewery.  You might say that is not new, micro brewing, that is finding new life among a newer generation.  Asheville even has a bus that takes you to breweries and pubs.

OLD SCHOOL ASHEVILLE, NORTH CAROLINA       google image for educational purposes only 

Asheville Breweries     

Reading about other creative labels