A Part of Horse of Her Dreams

Tami Bone from Austin,Texas is this week's guest blogger for our Artist as Collector Series.

Amanda Smith, Windy
Silver gelatin print
©ASmithPhotographs

I have a gorgeous photograph by my friend, Amanda Smith, artist and director of A Smith Gallery in Johnson City, Texas. The image titled Windy is part of the project, Horse of Her Dreams and is a warm-toned silver gelatin print. Amanda has photographed horses for a number of years, and many of the prints are in The Wittliff Collections at Texas State University.

Usually I lean towards choosing dark wood frames for fine art photography, but for this piece I chose a more ornate frame. I love the contrast of the simple composition of the image and the more elaborate frame.

The piece is hanging on a wall in an open stairwell by the front entry to my house. I see it many times a day. It's a piece that could go anywhere in my home, although having it near the front door assures that others see and enjoy it as well.

Tami Bone engages photography and photomontage as a means of story telling and self- expression. Her work pulls from his early beginnings in deep South Texas, calling forth yearnings, hopes, fears and dreams.

Coast to Coast Connection- Artist as Collector

Connecticut based artist Catherine Hartigan is this week's guest blogger for our Artist as Collector Series.

 Glenna Hartmann, Canyon Sycamores 

18" x 24" 

Pastel 

©Glenna Hartmann

collection of Catherine Hartigan

Having spent many vacations in California, I always felt the need to take something back to the east coast with me.  

While visiting there in 1994, I became interested in Glenna Hartmann’s  pastel work represented by the Easton Gallery in Santa Barbara. We had to catch an early flight back home and disappointingly never got to the gallery. I stayed in contact with the owner, Ellen Easton with the hope of finding the right piece. In 2007, I found myself back in LA, and on my birthday we took a beautiful drive north to finally see her work. 

Glenna Hartmann’s pastel“Canyon Sycamores” reminds me what I love most about California… the landscape. The earthy canyon tones are a subtle contrast to the blue in the mountains and ocean.  What really drew me in was the “orange glow “of the sycamores.  As a photographer, I’m always looking for that color burst or subtle shift of light that provides a connection.

“Canyon Sycamores” hangs over the fireplace in a room where we spend most of our family time.   It is a reminder that there are all types of landscapes out there waiting to be seen.  

Some days it inspires me to just pick up my camera and go.

Catherine Hartigan is a photographer capturing images that are vivid with simple, bold color. Truly passionate about travel, she explores wherever her lens will take her.  

Exploring the Mundane or the Forgotten- Artist as Collector

Delaware based artist, Jane Chesson is this week's guest blogger for the Artist as Collector Series.

Untitled, 2011
C-Print
24" x 24"
©2012JeffreyStockbridge

I was introduced to the work of Philadelphia based artist Jeffrey Stockbridge through my position at the Delaware Center for the Contemporary Arts where he had an exhibition in 2011. The show featured interiors and portraits. I became enamored with the interiors of abandoned homes in and around Philadelphia, but purchasing one at the time was not feasible for me. When I heard Jeff was donating a work of art to our annual art auction I knew I had to have it. This photograph is significantly different than the work that was in his exhibition. It depicts a pile of discarded Christmas trees in what appears to be a park or abandoned city block. I fell in love with this image. I find it to be so quiet and peaceful. I was actually fairly surprised after I purchased it when friends started saying that it was "sad" or "depressing." 

I get that response a lot from my own work as well - even though I don't see it as such. I really enjoy exploring the idea of the mundane or the forgotten. Perhaps this is what draws me to Jeff's work. In my own paintings I make - what I like to think of as - insect death portraits. I find dead bugs and make somewhat tedious, slow paintings of them using traditional mediums and techniques. This intimate process is very important to me, even though it is not always apparent in the finished work.

Most people would not see a direct link between Jeff's work and mine and I think that is important. It has always been more interesting to look at and be inspired by artists working in a completely different process than my own. I think being surrounded by works or art that you love and that challenge makes life exciting!

Moth
Oil on panel
33" x 14"
©2012JaneChesson

Jane Chesson is a painter, teaching artist and the Director of Education at the Delaware Center for the Contemporary Arts.

From One Fan to Another- Artist as Collectors

Betsey Regan is this week's guest blogger for the Artist as Collector series.

Nude
©JohnKochansky

John Kochansky was a Monmouth County (NJ) artist who passed away in the early 2000s.  
He painted for years and then suddenly turned to photography. His subject however, always remained the female form.  


Many saw him as a brash misogynist.  But I always thought he adored women and that's why he acted out both in his art and his personal relationships.  I maintain not to exploit but to revere.
He was a larger than life figure in stature, personality, and his use of materials. This caused him to be either loved or reviled within the venerable echelons of the Art Alliance in Red Bank, NJ of which he was a longtime member. That's how I acquired this piece, I believe we made a trade. I was one of his fans.   


New Jersey artist, Betsey Regan is a painter who recently had a solo exhibition at the Watchung Art Center , Watchung, NJ of her latest work, all completed during winter 2011-2012. She continues to work on her series concerning sheep, lambs, and other beasts of burden.

Betsey (middle) and friends at Watchung Art Center
photo by Stacy Smith

Art Collecting and Dancing After Hours

Delaware based photographer Dain Simons is this week's guest blogger for Artist as Collector series.

Mixed media collage
10" x 8"
©2012StevenArcher
collection of Dain Simons

One theme of art that I collect is hospital/surgery based images.  A few years ago I was a guest at a wedding in Washington DC, and after it was all over, I and another college friend decided to go to the hotel bar in the basement to continue celebrating.  There happened to be a "Goth music" themed DJ spinning Sisters of Mercy and Bauhaus etc.  

Shoegaze dancing and buying art was not what I thought I would be doing just a few hours after my friends wedding - but there was an artist couple, with a table set up in the dark environment.   Intrigued I looked closer, there were probably 45 8 "x10" sized images mounted on thick boards laying on several card tables. The base of the images are pages from medical books that then get painted on at the whim of the artist.  When he finished, he would mount the worked page with scotch tape onto the inside of a book cover (after being detached.)  Further working of the piece happened to hide the mounting process pretty well.

The artist is Steven Archer, he lives in Baltimore and seems to keep pretty busy.  He is also part of a band called Ego Likeness with his wife, writer and musician Donna Lynch. 

Here is an interview with the artist.

When Dain Simons is not shoegaze dancing or buying art, he is shooting art (mine included) as well as other subjects, teaching classes or managing Cameras Etc. in Newark, DE.

Timeless Travels and Inspiration

This week's Artist as Collector is from photographer Niki Berg who sent me this post from a stopover en route to India where she will be traveling this month.

Magdalena Abakanowicz
from Facing Sculpture
©2012RicardoBarros from

"Hello from Germany,

Here I am sitting in a cafe in the airport waiting for my flight to Chennai, India. The reality of being a traveler is already felt with the awareness of a very large and diversified world to explore. Time has become timeless somehow. Traveling through multiple time zones and feeling fluid enough to function in the present.  I hope I will feel this way for the next leg which is even more dramatic.

Some years ago I read about a workshop being given by Ricardo Barros on "Marketing Your Photos". It was given in Cape May, New Jersey, where I had never been.  It was a marvelous experience. Richardo is a wonderful person, photographer and teacher. 

We did a trade of photographs and I chose two of the wonderful and inventive portraits from the project "Facing Sculpture". One of which is this photo of Magdalena Abakanowicz. She is an amazing sculptor. I chose this portrait for her magnificent face and satisfying expression, as though she just finished one of her magical pieces.  Her expression says "life is full and perfect." 

Thanks NIki- safe and wonderful travels... looking forward to seeing the new work that will transpire from your adventure!

What is your collection that speaks to you of joy and satisfaction?