34:365

February 03, 2010

(*all photos by Elaine A. Russell)

I've been thinking about this for several days now...

Last week I spoke with Jan Jackson of "Dreamscapes Gallery" on 5th street. I had gone down to take an outside shot of the gallery (to replace the one I initially had on this blog post..."Sneak Peak: Dreamscapes Gallery" ). She was kind enough to show me the new art piece she created to be the poster for GlobalQuerque 2010
(http://www.globalquerque.com/) .... and then told me that she will be closing Dreamscapes Gallery in the next month. How incredibly sad. She also said that she will be discounting some of her awesome art pieces over the course of this month... so you will definitely want to go down and get one while you can!

Today's economy is rough. It has been especially rough I think on art venues. People (in general) consider art a luxury item; and when money is tight... it is one of the things on a person's budget that gets cut. It is a vicious cycle, as art feeds the soul... and without art; one can become listless and grey, and life can seem even more bleak than it actually is. We may not be able to justify spending money on it... yet art may be the one thing we truly need to buy.

"Art washes away from the soul the dust of everyday life." --- by Pablo Picasso

all artwork by Jan Jackson

~~~

And so today... I have been lazing about the house. I did some laundry, cleaned the house a bit.... put out about 5 pounds of loose bird seed, and one 20lb block of suet and seed for ground birds. ... and some fresh water in the heated birdbath. And I have enjoyed watching the birds ... and enjoyed the snow that fell last night.

What does this have to do with art? Nothing.. and yet... everything. Life is meant to be enjoyed... how you do that is up to you. Be it ... watching birds....making or buying art... drinking coffee and listening to some good music.

Living Simply Tip for the day:

"We have lost the art of living, and in the most important science of all, the science of daily life, the science of behavior, we are complete ignoramuses. We have psychology instead." --D.H. Lawrence

Live creatively. Make art. Drink good coffee. Buy fresh flowers. Enjoy.... life is too short to waste.

22:365

January 23, 2010

Art Gallery: Sneak Peek #4

Today I will be featuring Dreamscapes Gallery.

Dreamscapes is a local art gallery located on 5th street in downtown Albuquerque, owned by artist Jan Jackson.

"Jackson works in an original style she calls “Dreamscapes”. Her paintings of people, animals, and events are stitched to pastel paper or canvas with bright slashes of bold, pastel color. She also works in acrylic, oil and clay. Her most recent work is multi-media sculpture using animal bone, doll parts, fabric and found materials." ...ABQ ArtsCrawl review

I first went to Dreamscapes Gallery this past fall. It is a quiet, unassuming building; and at first; I think the tendancy for most people is to drive right past it. What a shame. While it has a fairly benign exterior; the inside is brimming with color and vibrancy. There are a series of little rooms (this used to be a house), and inside each one (*yes, even the kitchen and bathroom) are works of art to be enjoyed and purchased.

In December, I went for the opening reception of the "Vally of the Art Dolls" show. Wow. It was wall to wall people!!! ... .and the works on display were absolutely stunning. Here are some highlights from that show... which will give you an idea of the cool artwork offered there on a regular basis.

I highly recommend checking it out. Owner Jan Jackson is a very talented artist, and the gallery is one of ABQ's hidden jewels. Bright and funky art abounds here... :)

(*all photos by Elaine A. Russell)

artwork by Melody Mock (link)

artwork by Steven Art Watson

artwork by Michael C. McCormick

artwork by Mercedes Allen

artwork by Leighanna Light (link)

~~~

For more information; please check out the gallery website: http://dreamscapeson5th.com/

Here is the flyer for the next show at the gallery; featuring artist Nick Harmon.

(click on photo to enlage it)

ABC Wednesday

December 08, 2009

ABC Wednesday is a blog posting with a twist. The host (Mrs. Nesbitt) hails from Great Britain... and there are participants from all over the world. Each week, people focus their post on a letter of the alphabet. They started with the letter "A" --and each week you post something in regards to the next letter of the alphabet. It is a fun, imaginative exercise... and it is great to see what everyone comes up with. This week's letter is, "U".

For this week's post... I went with UNIQUE UNIVERSE.

What a wonderful wonderful world we live in. Everyday I am amazed and in awe at the stunning array of wonders around me. I love to go to art shows and events... and this too, brings about feelings of joy and fulfillment as I see all the creations people come up with.

Today's photos... are of some really unique pieces of art that I saw on my last round of gallery visits this past Friday. I have included links to the galleries they are shown in.