Unchained--Don's first Art exhibit

Last night was a lot of fun! We attended ArtWorks opening reception of the exhibit Unchained: the art of the bicycle. This was his first juried exhibit. The guidelines were that you had to submit art that involved bicycles in some way, shape, or form. there were many photographs and drawings, and a few sculptures. 

Don wore his "Don's Double Century" polo shirt.

This tricycle has a camera mounted on the front and pictures taken by that camera on the wall behind it.

This pooch is made out of bicycle chains.

Don's artwork was pictures he took at Walt Disney World and turned into a calendar. Rather than submitting the calendar, he turned it into a collage. Even enlarged, it is hard to distinguish the images. January was taken at Epcot (near France). October and December were both taken in MGM (before it became known as Hollywood Studios) in the back lot area. The rest were taken in Animal Kingdom. If you love the image, ArtWorks is selling it for $25 with all proceeds going to ArtWorks. Or perhaps a deal can be made with the artist.

What made the evening the most special, though, was seeing so many people from different stages of Don's life. There were the usual Trenton cycling crowd (Jacque, Kate, Mike, and Wills), Lawrence cycling friends (Dennis and his wife, Laura), friends from college (Mike and Debbi, with their boys), and friends from our former church (Jen and Ben). I know as Don reads this, he will remind me of others who turned out for the opening reception. It was so much fun seeing friends from different parts of life come together to celebrate. One of the biggest reasons I have been keeping this blog is to help us to remember special moments in our lives such as this one, and to share those moments with those of you who live too far away to share them with us in person.

His art will be on exhibit through June 13. I encourage you to go to celebrate Trenton's rich art culture. ArtWorks is most easily found by taking the Market Street exit off of Route 1 South. When you come off of the highway, the building is across the street from the exit.

Trenton Times article about the event: http://www.nj.com/mercer/index.ssf/2013/05/artworks_unveils_bicycle_art_s.html

Art Teacher for the Day

Last month Ashley had the "BEST DAY of school ever," and one of the top 3 days in her life. She was the art teacher for the day.


Each year her school hosts a silent auction. I bid on art teacher for the day and won it for Ashley (it helped fulfill our fund-raising requirement for the year). I was glad we didn't have a bunch of children at the school and that I would have to win something like this for each of them. 


Ashley's teacher is part-time. She is at her school on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday each week. Ashley chose a Tuesday because that is the day her friends in other classes have art.


The day started with Mrs. Gladwell picking Ashley up in her classroom (the art room is in a separate building). First they had to prepare for the pre-schoolers, who were making hyacinths out of tissue paper. Ashley thought the pre-schoolers were very cute, but hard to keep focused. 


Next were the second-graders -- also hard to keep on track. It was fun for Ashley to see life from the teacher's perspective. I think she gained new appreciation for them.


Between classes Ashley worked on her own project.

After having pizza for lunch, the 8th graders came in to finish their drawings. Since they already knew what they were doing, Ashley was told she could encourage them to work harder. She knows a few of the 8th graders from drama club and had fun being the teacher.

The real fun came when the 5th graders came for art. Ashley is friends with many of them through drama club and riding the bus. Mrs. Gladwell told the classes that "Miss Ashley" was a new teacher and for them to show her a lot of respect. She had fun instilling "discipline" in a playful way with her friends, all the while everyone was giggling and creating art.

Time will tell if Ashley decides to become an art teacher when she grows up. I do know that she had a lot of fun and would love to spend another day with her art teacher.

Grounds for Sculpture

I was recently listening to BEN FM when I heard an ad for the Grounds for Sculpture in Hamilton, NJ. The ad featured "Winter Wonderland" on Friday and Saturday evenings in December. The ad also said the Grounds for Sculpture is located "just outside Princeton." Locals know this just another stretch of the definition of Princeton's boundaries. Google Maps puts this at a 23-minute drive, barring traffic, of course.

Driving from the Hamilton Train Station to the Grounds for Sculpture you see dozens of enormous sculptures -- from a giant tooth to a giant Impressionist painting come to life. Someday I will park my car and take pictures of these sculptures. These are a mere sampling of the artwork that is behind the gates.

We still remember the days when the Grounds for Sculpture were free, hence it is hard for us to shell out the admission fees. We have since visited on rare days when the place has an open house, and hence is crowded. The Winter Wonderland event encouraged us to return and pay to visit.

The place was founded by sculpture, and heir to the J&J fortune, J. Seward Johnson as a place to display his art, and to make art accessible to more people. Groundbreaking began in 1989 on the former site of the New Jersey State Fairgrounds. It opened to the public in 1992.

Don can be seen in the background taking a picture.

I think we are united in our feeling that our favorite sculptures are those by J. Seward Johnson that bring impressionist paintings to life.

I like this, one, too. Reminds me of a giant erector set.

I love that visitors are encouraged to engage with the art and pose with it.

The Grounds for Sculpture are beautiful in every season. Personally. I'm hoping to return after a snow storm to take pictures. Don took most of our pictures when we went last week.

Art All Night

This weekend Trenton hosted it's fifth annual Art All Night program. Art All Night is a 24-hour art show hosted in the Roebling Steel Works building near Broad Street. http://www.artworkstrenton.org/artallnight/

Artists of all ages and all levels of talent are encouraged to participate. We attended the event in 2009. Last year we each submitted art work. Don and I, more as a joke than anything else, put a $5 price tag on our 4x6 photographs framed at the dollar store. They actually sold! Ashley did not want to sell her Fashion Drawing.

This year we each submitted a photograph, but we raised our price to $20 each -- with the entire procedes going to ArtWorks. Mine photograph, entitled "A Look into the Past" sold. Sadly Don and Ashley came home with their artwork.

I took this picture at Pennsbury Manor.

Ashley's picture is called "Hide and Seek with my Cat." It is three pictures of Ariel hiding in the backyard.

Don's picture is titled "Sunnyside up."

Thursday night we have been invited to a meet the artists event where the donors meet the artists who created their art. Should be fun.