CLOSE UP by Brian Rudnick

Blind, they sculpt and see with their hands

Betsy Clayton sculpts very realistic human and also imaginary creatures despite being legally blind for many years at the Vision Through Art program at the Allens Lane Art Center in the Mount Airy section of Philadelphia.

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Wait a minute, maybe I can turn the table over and maybe it’s white on the other side. YES, IT HAS YOUR NAME ON IT. This is my piece that I think of as an undersea creature. I don’t know what I’m going to call it. I was thinking “Riders Under the Sea” or “Undersea Riders”… I used gold, red and green. At first I painted it all green and then I dabbed on colors to make it look fantastical. WHAT CAN YOU SEE OF IT? It’s a blur to me. I mean I can see that there’s color on here but I don’t know what the colors actually are or where they are. When I painted them I knew where I wanted certain colors. THEY’RE PRETTY BRILLIANT DO YOU SEE ANY OF THE COLORS? Are they brilliant? Not to me, they’re just dull. DO THEY HAVE A SHADE, THE COLORS? Green I can see. But everything looks green to me. . . The back of him is supposed to be like an octopus thing, tentacles. WHAT ABOUT THE PEOPLE? They have no arms you see. Because they’re really not people. They’re things that live under the sea. Creatures. I don’t know what they do under the sea. But, they like to ride the monster or whoever he is… I see leaves on the trees all winter. I do. If I look at a tree, it has leaves. HOW IS THAT, WHY? I don’t know. EVEN IF THEY’RE NOT THERE? It’s not in full leaf like it would be in summer but I see green all around the trees because I see green. That’s probably why. Betsy Clayton, Vision through Art, Allens Lane Art Center, Philadelphia.

Skyspace for new Friends Meeting in Chestnut Hill

 

This is a sky space in Pomona in California and I think these are houses maybe in Connecticut.  I’m not quite sure. But his work is all over the word now. But none on the East Coast is open year round to the public. There’s a sky space at the Modern Art Museum PS1 annex …There’s a Turrel there. And I didn’t understand all the fuss until I went and saw that. It’s astonishing. You take the freight elevator to the second floor of this old school building and the corridors painted bright enamel green. You walk down the corridor and there’s a little green door that says “Meeting by James Turrell” You open this little green door and inside is a white chamber filled with light.  And there are people sitting all around the perimeter on benches. And you know these kids in New York with their piercings and their blue hair. And you know they’re very hip artists. They’re silent looking up at this great opening to the sky. WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO BE A SKY SPACE? Well it’s a hole in the roof. It’s an aperture that is so cunningly designed there’s no architectural feature. You can’t tell that it’s constructed. It is just a diamond in the sky, coming down… It’s a retractable roof so obviously when it’s raining, you got to cover it. It opens up and there’s no glass, it’s just open to the air. And you sit under this. I went in February when it was 21 degrees Fahrenheit so it was very cold. So we sat all huddled under our blankets looking at this. And during the day you just see the clouds going by like the geese or the contrails of the jet planes…It’s at sunset and sunrise that it has the most dramatic-it’s the change of color, the change of the light. Turrell has some very small lighting around the outside that is a contrasting color. So what happens is the color becomes more and more saturated…. It’s intensely blue so it’s in contrast with this color. It’s very gradual very slow, it takes maybe 45 minutes for the color to change and change and darken…

Jean Warrington, Clerk of the Chestnut Hill Friends Meeting at the Chestnut Hill Library. See http://www.chfmnewmeetinghouse.org

Chef sculpts Ice New Year's Eve

I’m done with all the major cuts. It’s all the way through. Now it’s kind of add feature to the snowflake and know that I only have two feet that it’s standing on. This is going to be the tricky part to get all the detail in. We’ll finish the pedestal and we’ll call it a night. ARE YOU WORKING FROM A PATTERN? I am. All my templates I start with a paper pattern. That’s only one-dimensional. You get into the three-dimensional when you start cutting. HOW DID YOU GET INTO IT? I’m a chef by trade so this is part of my education.  You practice with every piece. Every one is very different. They all have their own kind of temperament, their own characteristics. WHAT’S THE TEMPERAMENT OF THIS ONE? This one is a little tougher, it is getting a little colder so it’s a little bit more of a fight than the “2012.” The “2012” cut like butter, it was a little earlier in the evening, this one’s a little tougher which is Okay.

Chef Tim Harris, First Night celebration, Carlisle, PA. [BYSTANDERS: What’s the best thing about ice cutting? Chainsaw!]

Watch video here.

A popular attraction at the 2012 First Night Carlilse celebration were the"Steppinwoofs" a group of ladies and their pet dogs who dance in choreographed routines: see video clip here.

 

Brings deconstructed astronomy book to science high school interview

My book is called a deconstruction book and it’s like when you get a plain old book that nobody reads, sits on the shelves at stores and stuff and getting it and exposing the information in a 3-dimensional work of art. WHAT’S THE BOOK ABOUT? It’s about astronomy, all about the planets, the moons, suns, stars… I can name you everything inside. Right here there’s an asteroid and it’s called Hyperion and Hyperion back in Greek mythology was one of the Titans of the East. 

Javier Peraza, of South Philly, with his project for an application interview at the Science Leadership Academy.

Watch video interview here

Red Riding Hood kills Wolf? SCEE's Facts and Fables Outdoor Art Exhibit

Diminutive and softspoken artist Jeanne Jaffe spins the "Little Red Riding Hood" tale at the "Stories of the Natural World: Facts and Fables" outdoor art exhibition that just opened at the Schuylkill Center for Environmental Education. Little Red is represented by monstrous white knee-high legs and the wolf lies on his back with mouth agape atop a swirling blood-evoking satin-red band. They've reversed roles; Little Red represents human civilization that has committed crimes the natural world of the wolf. Watch video here.

Facts and Fables asks, "How do stories affect our understanding of nature?" Seven artists tackle this question. In the video below, new SCEE Executive Director  Mike Weilbacher welcomes the opening day visitors and Jenny Laden, associate director of the environmental art program guides us along the exhibit path. Laden  discusses the work of artist David Dempewolf ("Carelessness and Inattention Can Afford Us Any Remedy") Jeremy Beaudry talks about his book/writings in "NatureStudy: An Ambivalent Guide" and Susan Hagen talks about her carved wood, post-mounted "Oil Spill Animals"

Live brine shrimp, Chuck Connelly and friends at Chestnut Hill Gallery

Artist Chuck Connelly curates the [stunning] Chestnut Hill Gallery show that just opened featuring his oil paintings, the projected light work of Ted Victoria, the lamps and gears of Harry Anderson and the salt print nudes of Hal Hirshorn. Featured in the video collage [CLICK HERE] of the artists' reception are Connelly, Victoria, Anderson and Owner-Gallery Director Joseph Borelli.

Something for everyone at Chestnut Hill Garden Fest

Arnie Shiffrin, a wine consultant from Bala Cynwyd, entertains garden fest goers and himself, dancing to the sounds of Melissa Martin and the Mighty Rhythm Kings.  Watch video here.

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Pharmacist Carl Dean of Chestnut Hill Pharmacy who overcame some trouble last year says things are looking up and getting better every day for his personal service oriented shop. Watch video here.

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Certified Zentangle art teacher Terry Greenberg demonstrates Zentangle's meditative technique of making intricate patterns. Watch video here.

Soil Kitchen tilts at windmills

Dan and his father, Chilean born Francisco Allende, read alternatingly in English and Spanish from Miguel Cervantes' "Don Quixote" in front of the legendary knight errant's statute at 2nd and Girard. Quixote was the inspiration for the "Soilkitchen" public art project coinciding with the Environmental Protection Agency's national brownfields conference in Philadelphia in April. At the street level gathering and exhibition space on the south side of Girard, Soil Kitchen lab assistants test samples of soil collected from around the city to assess the health of the soil for farming while volunteers dish out free soup. In the photo foreground, project artist Amy Franceschini takes a pause from taking photos to listen to the reading. Watch video here and visit http://soilkitchen.org

Pink flamingos a wedding tradition for Flemings

Robert Fleming and his wife returned from vacation 15 years ago to find a flock of pink flamingos planted in their front yard by, as it turned out, good friends who had been watering plants in their absence. The flamingos have become a tradition at their daughters' weddings. In the winter, they migrate south to Hialeah Park, Fleming jokes. In the background, Amanda Shoulson paints an adirondack chair in preparation for an engagement party for the Flemings' third daughter Annie; the flamingos will fly in for wedding next January. Chestnut Hill, Philadelphia. Watch video here.

Personalizing grave monuments

Gallagher Memorials has been at the corner of Ivy Hill Road and Cheltenham Avenue, across from Holy Sepulcher Cemetery for more than 100 years. In that time, the use of marble has given way to using granite, imported from as far away as India or China or quarried as close as French Creek, Pennsylvania. Granite lasts much longer, “forever,” according to Manager Larry Conroy. Computer assisted technology now allows personalized engraving of scenes or depiction of hobbies dear to the deceased or even a carving of the departed’s own visage.

Watch video interview here.