The Art of Nature...

Works by Andrzej Sikora and Todd Erickson
July 2- August 17, 2008
The Scarab Club
217 Farnsworth
Detroit, MI 48202
The Scarab Club

If you are in the Detroit area I suggest you go see the Art of Nature exhibit at the historic Scarab Club. It features the works of Andrzej Sikora and Todd Erickson.

Erickson's bronze sculptures are delicate and beautiful set against a backdrop of Sikora's large and colorful paintings. There are twelve 6'x 9' paintings entitled The Four Seasons and twelve bronzes. The paintings overwhelm and envelope the viewer through their sheer size and rich textures while the delicate sculptures invite you in, making you feel as if you have discovered a secret and magical place. This is a exquisitely balanced show on multiple levels and a great conversation between two artists' work.

Here are a few of my favorite sculptures...

left to right: Glen Eyrie, Old Camp


Secret in the Woods


left to right: After the Storm, Window to the Storm


Old Eagles Nest


Old Camp


I will try to make it back to the gallery to get better photos of Sikora's paintings.

DAM "Spirit of Paint By Numbers" Exhibition Closing

The DAM(Detroit Artist Market) Paint by Numbers Exhibition has finally come to a close. My PBN(Paint by Number) sold for much more than I thought which makes me happy in the knowledge that it will help DAM out even more than I anticipated. It was a really fun exhibition and there were a lot of really great interpretations of the PBN's by many of Detroit's artists. Every artist started out with a PBN blank and could do whatever they wanted with it. You can read more about the exhibition in my original post here: link.
I thought I would share a few photos of the finished pieces... artists are credited above each photo...

Bruce Gerlach


Carl Oxley


Cheryl M Phillips


Chris Crowder


Christine Hagedorn


Darcel Deneau


Diana May


Ed Fella


George Rahme


Gilda Snowden


Jack O Summers


Janet Wisner


Joe Fugate


Mary Clare Duran


Narine Kchikian


Nina Goebel


Peggy Kerwan


Teresa Peterson


Todd Erickson


Many thanks to Dave Chow for the photos.

Primordial Sounds & Ancient Truths

I have finally updated this mandala. I blogged about it back in March and had stated that I was considering changing the colors and textures. Well, I finally have and here is the final result. Initially it didn't "feel" right and I ended up going through a lot of steps to get it there. I thought I would share some of the steps in my process.


The initial pencil sketch...



The black & white digitized image...



The first round of colored textures...



The first round of effects & refinement of textures...



Another round of color, texture & effects...



The final image...


This mandala is called Primordial Sounds & Ancient Truths. It represents the Throat Chakra and our ability to speak our truth.

Fun Sketchbooks & Notepads

I love unusual sketch books & note pads & have gathered a small collection of them over the years. The only problem is that I have a bad habit of not wanting to write or sketch in them. I feel as if I am going to ruin them & inevitably, I end up with artist's block when I sit down in front of one. Weird thing is that it only happens with the pretty ones. I feel like I have to save the pretty ones for something special so hence comes the artist's block because I am judging my creation before I even create it. Even so they still inspire me.

Here are some of my favorites...


This is a beautiful little note pad by Punch Studio that Dave found for me. It has gold foil, a gem accent & a magnetic closure...





This is a debossed leather journal made in Italy by Pierre Belvedere. I love the color & the debossed flowers...





This is a beautiful journal by Hartley & Marks Publishers. It is debossed paper designed to look like an old Renaissance embossed leather book. It also has a magnetic closure....




This is one of my favorites that I have had for a long time. It is by Stacie Chaiken & Alexis Genya & published by Crown Publishers. I don't think I will ever sketch or write in this one as it is perfect the way it's designed out....










From left to right:
1. A simple spiral journal -unknown maker...
2. trav•e•logue hand•book by Global Art Materials -has a nice heavyweight paper which will hold up to wet mediums...
3. A soft leather covered journal with parchment style paper by Leelanau Trading Company...



I have actually started working in a couple of them. The spiral is my gardening journal & the leather one is my meditation vision journal.