Jennifer Marsh

Jennifer Marsh: Lawnmower


I am very excited to announce that Jennifer Marsh will be representing Alabama and Community-Based Medium for the 50 Artists, 50 States, 50 Mediums exhibition!

Jennifer is the founder of the International Fiber Collective, an organization that creates community-based, large-scale fiber projects. You may have heard of her Gas Station Wrapping project, which received a lot of press--including a feature in FiberArts Magazine.

Jennifer's current project is Interdependence. Participants will create a full-sized tree for display in April 2009 in Huntsville, Alabama. The concept is, "much like a live tree is interdependent on its leaves and roots for survival, societies are interdependent on the greater whole, family units, communities, and countries."

Participants from around the world are invited to create leaves to contribute to the creation of the tree. In total, up to 30,000 leaves may be used. For more information on how to participate, click here. This is open to all age groups and levels of artistic ability.

Jennifer's next, highly ambitious project after the tree is wrapping a NASA rocket! But she needs help raising the money to rent the expensive crane required to install the artwork. Click here to see how you can help and become involved. She needs your help!

We are also planning a solo show for Jennifer's sculpture in the future--stay tuned!

Matt from Collective Revolution

falou monster

television rules the nation

bk stripes


So excited that I will be carrying these hand silk screened shirts in The Eclipse Gallery. I just bought the TV one. Matt will also be a participant in the 50/50/50 show representing New Jersey!

I'm still looking for artists, craftspeople, and designers so make sure to submit your work!

See more here

Sandra Freeman

Seedpods

Lilies

White Lily

Just a sneak peek of some of the artwork you will see at The Eclipse Gallery in June.

Sandra Freeman is a photographer from Texas. She has a great website--check it out!

Liz Gresey

Emily

Mik

Laura Jane


I have been working with Chicago artist Liz Gresey with The Emergence Project, and I am happy that she will be involved in the upcoming Personality exhibition at The Eclipse Gallery.

One of her current projects is "I am ready to change"--you can see all of the images from this series here.
Also make sure to visit her blog here.

Her work will definitely add an interesting dimension to our grand opening exhibition! I can't wait!

Sher Christopher

Bathers #2

Pied Piper

Pox, the ship's cook

Sher Christopher creates unique and detailed paper sculptures, exploring characters that she invents.

Visit her website for more information, and look for her work in The Eclipse Gallery this summer!

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Banner & Website Updates

Don't you love the new banner? It was made by kieutiepie on Etsy. She does great work, inexpensive and fast!!!

I updated the website with the new look as well!
And guess what? I now have e-commerce functionality, so shortly you will be able to actually buy some of the things I've been talking so madly about. I discovered eCrater.com, a build-it-yourself FREE store that uses Google checkout. And if you use AdWords, they process your transactions for free too! The best thing is that I've ended up with an online store that has a decent design! It's perfect until I can afford a spiffy new website design someday.

Click here to check out my shop. There's not much in it yet though!

Our Logo!

It was really hard to find the right company to design my logo. I would have loved to pay a bigger sum of money for a logo by an independent designer, but with all the costs of renovations for the building, and the fact that I just had to install a new furnace, I had to go with a cheaper option.

Luckily, I found Logocare. I can't tell you how happy I am with their service, the design choices, and the unlimited revisions! It was a fast process and great results. I would definitely recommend their services to anybody.

Exhibition Opportunity

I am very excited to announce an upcoming show:

50 States, 50 Artists, 50 Mediums

One artist or designer from each state in the USA will represent a different medium, bridging the gap between the traditional fine art world and other arts disciplines, including craft, design, architecture, performance art, etc. I am interested in these intersections and how they translate into everyday life. This show will not only represent the importance of all art disciplines, but will also stress the importance of all working artists regardless of their location.

Call For Artists:

Open to all professional artists living or working in the United States. Open to any and all mediums in the art, craft, and design communities. See below for examples of accepted mediums.

How to submit: Send a short biography (including your address & e-mail), artist statement, a few words about why you want to be in this show, 10-20 images & information (including medium, dimensions, & price), and any links to your work on line to sarah@theeclipsegallery.com. Important: You must write “Submission for 50 Show” in the subject line of the e-mail or I will think it is spam. Attachments are fine. E-mail submissions are preferred.

Deadline for submissions: April 15, 2009. Show is scheduled for October 16, 2009 – March 8, 2010 at

The Eclipse Gallery, 507 Fourth Street (Hwy 42), Algoma, Wisconsin, 54201.

Mediums accepted, but not limited to: Painting, Drawing, Sculpture, Digital, Ceramics, Mixed Media, Knitting, Jewelry, Metals, Found Object, Glass, Plastic, Photography, Crochet, Paper, Quilting, Felt, Wearables, Architecture (such as models, plans, photos), Graphic Design, Film/Time Based, Installation, Furniture, Baskets, Typography, Performance, Music, Spoken-Word, Text, Artist Books, Zines, Mail Art, Encaustic, Watercolor, Sewing, Mosaic, Graffiti, Illustration, Altered Book, Printmaking, Silk Screen, Product Design, Wallpaper, Textiles, Etc.

Any questions, feel free to e-mail me. Thanks :)

Local Events: Craftivism

Craftivism: Reclaiming Craft and Creating Community opens at the Lawton Gallery (UWGB campus) tonight at 4:30. If you are anywhere near the area, you must go see it. I helped install the exhibition with a troop of people plus guest curator, Faythe Levine, a tremendously talented gallery owner from Milwaukee. I blogged about the details of the exhibition on Visual Influence, so for more info hop over there.

I was so excited when I first heard this show was coming to town, and even more so when I met Faythe and saw the inspiring artworks for this exhibition. The Craftivism and DIY culture that has been gathering speed over the past few years have directly influenced the direction for my personal artwork and what artwork I want to have shown in The Eclipse Gallery.

"To know that something is made by hand, by someone who cares that you like it, makes that object much more enjoyable." --Cinnamon Copper & Amy Carlton

Gallery director Stephen Perkins writes, "One indication of the energy of this new movement is the large number of manifestoes being issued by its participants...It's interesting to me that the world of craft has adopted a strategy from the world of avant-garde art to promote its agenda, and it further suggests that the divide between the two worlds is becoming increasingly blurred."

That is my sentiment exactly. The reason I want to have handmade design in my gallery is because I do believe that craft, design, and other forms are merging with "fine art" to become legitimatized as Art (with a capital A) in a broader sense of the word. Betsy Greer, author of Knitting for Good, writes, "Until the turn of the last century, the word "craft" was...negatively viewed in the vernacular. Long seen as trivial and somewhat crude and unnecessary thanks to technological advancements, "craft" had long lingered as an activity of the past. But thanks to the timely convergence of the quest for uniquity, frustration against consumerism and materialism, and the internet, "craft" has been rescued and empowered instead of forgotten.


Design Art relates to this--design that is so unique it is sold in galleries as art. This bridge between craft and art, design and art, architecture and art--you see it now in so many areas, even graphic design--where the typical gallery show is being expanded upon and is evolving.

Which brings me to an interview I read with Hans-Ulrich Obrist, a famous Swiss art curator and critic. He stresses that what is important about art or exhibitions is not how large they are or what type of venue they are held in, but the actual content of the show. Obrist says, "It's not through scale that art or buildings are made important." I would add to that, location either.

I am so happy that the world today is evolving away from the notion that all good art is made and shown in NYC, London, and Paris. There are artists all over the world, in every corner, creating important artwork. The goal of The Eclipse Gallery will be not only to bring more international contemporary art to Wisconsin, but to create more awareness of the many highly talented, professional Wisconsin artists. Another aspect of the gallery will be creating community, a fundamental issue of Craftivism and the handmade movement. I will have various sections where visitors to my gallery can create work, play, experiment, and most of all have fun. Much like the "laboratory" notion of Obrist.

Obrist says, "The curator is the catalyst of relations and situations....Exhibitions have to go past geographical and cultural boundaires; they must be transgenerational and interdisciplinary." A very interesting statement from a very interesting person. Do an internet search for more info about Obrist, and you can read a great interview with him here.

Giving an Old Building New Life

The building we just bought for The Eclipse Gallery was built in 1909, and has been pretty neglected. But I'm one of those people that loves to give new life to old things. I am so excited that we will be opening the gallery on the building's 100th birthday! To give you an idea of the shape the building is in currently, I thought I'd post a few "before" pictures. We certainly have our work cut out for us, don't you think?

The first thing we are doing is tearing that awning down and replacing it with something elegant, repainting the woodwork and fixing the ugliness around the main doors and big windows.

This will be part of the art studio. I can't wait to fix it up and get organized!

Front window of the gallery

Eventually will be part of the art studio.

Believe it or not, this will be part of the gallery.

And so will this.

Lots and lots of dust.

And falling down tin ceilings that must be revamped.



Over the next few months I will be using this blog to document the state of the building now, and our progress toward the grand opening. We are really enjoying this process and are so happy to be giving this building new life.

Drawing Free

Frank Ghery sketch

Drawing Free: No Cost, No Rules

I've been trying to think of how I can get the local community involved with The Eclipse Gallery and how I could give back--especially to children. We're all aware that schools struggle to fund their art programs, and in my opinion there is not nearly enough emphasis put on art education in public schools. So one of the first things I will do when the gallery opens is host a Drawing Free session every Friday night. Not just for children, but for people of all ages!

Drawing Free sessions will be based on the notion of concept drawing, which is basically drawing without rules. Remember how fun it was to draw when you were a child, before you had any preconceived ideas about art? This is a fundamental element to creativity (Picasso, Matisse, and Paul Klee knew this.) Draw whatever you please, however you please, and you will invigorate your creative flow in all areas of your life. Concept drawing allows people to create ideas. It is a starting point for original, intriguing art and design. So many artists forget the importance of sketching in this way. I feel very strongly that it is much more important to draw conceptually than to draw realistically. Many famous artists and designers begin monmuental projects with a concept drawing. Frank Gehry for example.

Drawing Free will be just that--Free. No cost at all. The Eclipse Gallery will provide a variety of paper and drawing utensils. So for those of you in the area, I hope to see you there next summer! I can't wait!

Website Updates

www.theeclipsegallery.com

This is the temporary website for The Eclipse Gallery. I'm working on a fancy e-commerce website that can automatically update my inventory and such, but that is going to take some time and patience! This will do for now. At least it gives you an idea of what the focus of my gallery and shop will be, along with information for artists that may be interested in being represented by us.

Aijung Kim

Aijung Kim, Underground, Gouache & Watercolor

You may be curious as to what kind of artwork I am going to have in The Eclipse Gallery. The layout of the store is separated into two distinct storefronts with separate entrances, yet connected by an archway. In this way, I can have a dedicated space for both a high-end contemporary art gallery and a more casual design shop for less expensive, functional art objects (including textiles, jewelry, furniture, ceramics, papercraft, etc.) And guests can feel free to browse both areas and feel comfortable with this connection.

In the gallery, I will be showing both emerging and established contemporary artists. The emerging artists will be selected from The Emergence Project. I am also very interested in bringing a variety of established artists into my gallery, on local, regional, national, and international levels.

One such artist (established, national) is Aijung Kim. Her artwork is absolutely amazing, which you can view on her website. I especially like her artist books. But she also creates very interesting drawings, painting, sculpture, illustration, printmaking, and even comics. You can visit her online shop here. And her blog here.

Welcome

Welcome to The Eclipse Gallery blog. Many of you know me from The Emergence Project and Visual Influence. I am very happy to be opening a bricks-and-mortar gallery in beautiful Algoma, Wisconsin (just south of Door County). We have just bought a building and are in the process of moving, then a lot of renovations! Our goal is to have the gallery open by Summer 2009.

I will be posting some pictures of what the building looks like now, just so that we can have those great before and after pictures, and so everyone can appreciate the amount of work we are going to be doing to this place! But I just love the idea of taking an old run-down building (it was built in 1909) and giving it a fab makeover, and new life. Especially since it will be the building's 100th birthday!

I have a temporary website up, which you can view here. If you are an artist that is interested in showing your work with us, click here. Coming soon: www.theeclipsegallery.com

I am also looking for a graphic designer for my logo. E-mail me if you know someone. Also to sign up for our quarterly newsletters, use the sign up form on the right.

Thanks, Sarah Elizabeth

sarah@theeclipsegallery.com