PAC Member's Show

Today was the opening of the Putnam Arts Council member's show. You can see my piece, "Rhythm of the Earth," hanging here amid some paintings.

Below are some other pieces that were on the same wall, a little further down. A couple of them are also collages - the one in the center on the bottom row, and the one in the left corner. The first one looks like it was created by cutting intricate snow-flake-like designs out of colorful magazine pages and arranging them into interesting designs. The other consisted of a flattened out bakery box and the red and white striped string bakeries use to tie their boxes closed. (Hmmm - once again, I'm not sure I get it...).

On the right is another view of my piece. As you can see, it was way off the ground. I wish it had been hung lower so viewers could see more of the detail, texture, and embellishments. On the adjacent wall there's a brown mixed-media piece which was called "What we leave behind." It was made up of lots of discarded toys and other miscellaneous found objects. I found it interesting to look at, but I think I would've liked it even more if they weren't all painted the same color. I suppose in painting everything that dull brown, the artist may have intended to reduce the objects to simple shapes and to make them look more like garbage and less appealing, kind of an environmental awareness thing.

The sculpture on the floor was also interesting - created out of wire and tissue paper. My daughter and I were surprised to see the artist wanted $3500 for it!

I'm still trying to figure out how an artist can come up with a value like that. Are they so well known and their work that much in demand? Did it take that much time? Were the materials especially costly? Or are they just trying to make their work seem more valuable by putting a higher price on it?

Here is a shot of the crowd. It was pretty well attended despite the heavy rain we had today. In this shot you can also some of the variety included in the show. To the left is a large metal wall hanging. It consisted of two layers of metal, a sort of heavy screening in the back, with a front piece that was cut out with a vine-like design.

In the foreground is a woven vase that was somehow layered on the outside with colorful silk.

Here are some more shots of the art in the room. We really have quite a few talented artists living right here in Putnam County, if I do say so myself!