Inja Cho-kinetic and emotional paintings

Inja Cho’s booth was on the other side of me at the Ravenswood Art Walk. Her paintings were passionate, full of life and vitality, and the full of rich colors, texture and movement. Each painting was like a dance. She also had greeting cards made of many of the paintings. I wanted to upload an example of the paintings but I can’t find the ones I took of her booth! But check out the link above, you’ll see what I mean.

Sam Florio photography of Italy and more

Sam Florio sat next to me at The Ravenswood Art Walk in September. It was his first show, he’d spent the previous 3 years sifting through a ton of photos he took while in Italy. I think he said he had in the neighborhood of 2,000 photos and he pared it down to a few hundred of the best, which he printed and matted.What I loved about his work was that it brought me back to my own Italy trip. Also, how some of his best photos could have been shot anywhere, not just in Italy. That and each photo told a story. The prints were gorgeous. If you ever see him at another art show, check out his work.

Thoughts while working

I know, in my last post I promised a little more information about the artists I met at RAW. It will be forthcoming. After putting in a big effort to put together my work for an event like RAW, the other parts of my life, the non-art parts, came clamoring for attention. Plus I was just plain tired. So a few weeks out I am finally photographing the rest of my work to post on Etsy. And revisiting my blog.

I would like to capture a bit of the flavor of what it is like to work as an artist in an attic. It is rainy outside and I’ve got this great big raw space (there’s that word again. I’ll stop, I promise). It is only usable as a work space in spring and fall, all other times of year are either too cold or too hot. But today it is perfect. It is warm, but grey and rainy. The light coming in the one and only west facing window is probably perfect for photos, and I’ve got a bunch of lights set up. I’m about to take pictures of my pictures. I’ve got music on, internet radio meditation stuff, and two dogs and a cat are vyying for the perfect underfoot spot, you know, the one that is guaranteed to make you trip. Dante, the big dog, is the undisputed winner at this game, and Nikita, at 13, has finally decided it best to find a quiet corner off to the side unless food can be smelled. Misha is smart and knows she cannot compete directly with a 75 lb dog. She is biding her time for the perfect moment to trip me up. It is good to be loved.

Well, here I go. We’ll see what I come up with. Sure is peaceful up here, in any case.

Tasty RAW Art

I last posted to this blog very early on Saturday morning, and now I am writing fairly late at night after the Ravenswood Art Walk is over. I am exhausted and happy. All I can say is, it was a wonderful event and I definitely want to do this one again next year. There was a great crowd, amazing artists, music and yummy food. I was able to take a good look at the other vendors in the big main tent. I do wish I’d had a chance to walk through some of the artists’ studios in the neighborhood. There are some wonderful artists’ work spaces nearby and I want to see more of them.  Over the next several posts I’ll be showcasing some of the different artists I met including pictures of their work, but I’m way too beat to delve into that tonight! I will, however, leave you with a bunch of photos in my flickr stream so you can get a peek at the visual feast from this weekend. If you are in the Chicago area, plan on visiting RAW next year, it is well worth it to take an afternoon stroll through the art spaces of Ravenswood.

This the booth I shared with Rose Bachi from 13 Moons Designs

RAW big tent