Weekly 5 is a round-up the past week’s creative news, discoveries, and happenings in my world!
Best thing that happened in my world this week:
It’s been awhile since we had been to any art-related events, so we ventured out last Friday evening (August 1) for Phoenix’s First Friday artwalk. We went to the Grand Avenue Arts District and stopped by Five15 Arts @Chartruese. Their current exhibit, Chill Pill Summer Invitational, features small works by over 60 artists. There is a little of everything – sculpture, paintings, fiber works and even one display of vials with liquid and objects that encourages viewers to open them and smell aromas that evoke the 70s. The range of mediums and textures combined is endless. This exhibit is ongoing through August 30th. Two paintings in particular grabbed our attention – Solitude by Elissa Nowacki and Moonwindow by Karen Kelley (see more below under “Artist discovery.” After taking measurements for potential spots in our home, Alex went back to the gallery on Sunday to bring these beautiful works home.
Garland takes inspiration from everyday observations around her home in New York and beyond. She often works from her own photographs, sometimes using found images. “My body of work might be interpreted as an investigation of the physical fabric of society…I believe it documents the constantly shifting balance between our desire for independence and interconnection, between the comfort and familiarity we seek and the strangely disorienting spaces we create.”
Artist discoveries: Ellisa Nowacki and Karen Kelly
I usually feature one new artist discovery per article, however, I am making an exception for two Phoenix artists this week.
Artist Elissa Nowacki enjoys adolescent humor, paranormal romance novels, 80’s punk/alt rock and taking over her family’s kitchen table to paint. When she isn’t assistant principaling at a K-8 public school in Phoenix, she can be found in her tacky pajamas, using art as meditation from the stressors of adulting…Elissa is inspired by random things, including but not limited to flowers, skulls, Daleks, and family pets. In addition to painting, she has built wire sculptures, constructed intricate Halloween costumes for her children and made jewelry. She finds joy in paint…but also in clay, hot glue, and glitter.
Karen Kelley is an artist, Ashtanga yoga practitioner and teacher in Phoenix, Arizona. Her books are Her Angel (1992, Singing Horse Press), Venus Return (1999, Vatic Hum Press), and Mysterious Peripheries(2007, Singing Horse Press). Her poems have been published in Alterran Poetry Assemblage, Chain, Facture, Golden Handcuffs Review, O-blek, Paper Air, Sulfur, and Talisman.
Washington State has the second biggest vehicular ferry network in the world, just behind that of our neighbor to the north, British Columbia. I wrote about another ferry journey recently (to Anderson Island), but to me, the Bainbridge route feels like thequintessential route. Each ferry boat is different, but they all more or less have the same general layout. Above the two levels of car holding area, you have many options for a place to sit and enjoy the ride: leather-upholstered booths with views out picture windows, plentiful armchairs, and cafeteria-esque tables & stools bolted to the floor. There is always plenty of room.
