Thomas Sedgwick

Thomas Segwick, in pen on paper, composes images that feel constructed as opposed to drawn, achieving a robust depiction of mass and form with simple outlines. Sedgwick is represented by DAC Gallery, the exhibition space for the progressive art studios operated by the Los Angeles Exceptional Children's Foundation. From DAC:

"Thomas Sedgwick's line drawings are rendered as abstract grids reminiscent of maps, essentially acting as blueprints for his eccentric imagination. At the heart of his images, he depicts the desire to build, plan and create a fantastic world..." (more)

John Patrick McKenzie

John Patrick McKenzie has been working at Creativity Explored in San Francisco since 1989; we were able to meet him briefly during our tour of the Creativity Explored studio last year.  He's has an exceptionally reserved and focused character, and didn't allow our visit to distract his attention away from a methodical and specific preparation of his work-space. McKenzie's works on paper are the perfect expression of a wonderfully inventive sense of humor that couldn't be expressed otherwise. His text, color choices, repetition, and occasional incoherence all contribute to a poetic charisma that is profoundly endearing.  From Creativity Explored:

"Swirling, multi­angled, and disorienting, the placement of his language comments on the contradictory, sometimes overwhelming, nature of media attention and celebrity.  McKenzie’s original script and arrangement of text are tactile examples of his interpretation of the world, and can be both hilarious and poignant. " (more)

Jenny Cox

  

The decorative elements of Jenny Cox’s work explore the idea of embellishment as something reduced, authentic, and mysterious. Outlines, underlines, collections of dots, etc. access the romantic idea that meaning and value can be imbued in a work purely through the act of mark-making. Liza Lou, known for laboriously embellishing common objects with thousands of glass beads, has said “Everything has meaning. That's the philosophy of my work. Absolutely everything has meaning if you give it meaning.”  

In Cox’s work, these decorative elements are not a spectacle, they are bare, intuitive marks giving meaning through this universal language of embellishment to each part of a complex network of text and forms, whose personal significance to Cox is beyond speculation. 

Jenny Cox has been creating art at the Philadelphia progressive art studio Center for Creative Works since 2012.

See more of Jenny Cox' work here.

Susan Brown

Her Mother, mixed media on cardboard, 2012

Parents at the Beach, mixed media on cardboard, 13.5″ x 15.5″, 2013

Breakfast Table, mixed media on cardboard, 12.5″ x 18.5″, 2013

Recalling the charm of Alex Katz and grit of Philip Guston, Brown is a distinctly New York painter. The paintings of her city, memories, and family are structured and complex, while also appearing effortless and intuitive - the result of a long and prolific career. The paragon of her practice is the extensive "Her Mother" series (see first image above),  which includes hundreds of depictions of her mother, organized and described in grids. Brown works at Pure Vision Arts in New York, NY. From Pure Vision:

"Susan Brown was born in 1957 in Copiague, New York and for many years has lived in Sayville, New York. Diagnosed with autism as a young child, she began drawing spirals, women and cars at the age of five and was encouraged by her father, an engineer, her mother, a chemist, and her aunt, a sculptor. Brown first painted her characteristic grid like drawings on cardboard in the 1980’s while working as a dishwasher at Friendly’s where cardboard packing was readily available." (more)

 

Courttney Cooper

Detail of the work pictured above

Courttney Cooper creates elaborate map-like drawings of his home town, Cincinnati, at a fantastic progressive art studio in Cincinnati: Visionaries and Voices.  Working from a vast memory, Cooper's ballpoint pen works on paper are faithful to the complex layout and architecture of his city. These large-scale works are the result of a detailed process that is difficult to fathom, accurately recording the time of year, current events, and modifying previous drawings to reflect modifications to the landscape.  From Visionaries and Voices:

" Courttney Cooper walks the streets of the city, committing the places he visits to memory. Culling observations for cartographic translation in the studio, these “maps” take form on pieces of repurposed paper, from his day job at Kroger, which he glues together creating additional pictorial space as needed. “Bic” pen line drawings of Cincinnati neighborhoods undulate across the constructed surface." (V+V)

Cooper's work is currently on view with fellow V+V artists Robert Bolubasz and Roxann Panetti in their current exhibition "Maps and Legends," at their Tri-County location (225 Northland Blvd) until July 24th. Cooper has exhibited previously at the Cincinnati Art Museum in 2013, Western Exhibitions (Chicago) in 2012, and extensively in Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky, including the Contemporary Art Center and Carnegie Visual and Performing Arts Center in Covington, KY.


New Work: Susy Martin

Untitled No. 14, charcoal, graphite, and watercolor on paper

Untitled No. 11, charcoal and graphite on paper

Untitled No. 10, charcoal and graphite on paper

In order to fully appreciate this collection of drawings by Susy Martin, it’s helpful to rethink the practice of drawing in terms of its most basic fundamentals - ideas about technique or visual interpretation. The viewer must reimagine drawing in terms of its most essential and universal function - a practice of mark-making that becomes a reflection of a way of being. In every aspect of her life, Susy demonstrates her convictions, adorations, and general understanding of the world through repetition. From her daily routine to interactions with others reiterated verbatim each day, repetition is her foundation; it’s the means by which she navigates the world and the nature of these works. 

Rendering the subject of each piece is an important, yet brief step at the beginning of Susy’s process. Usually working from a photo reference, she creates an extremely reduced image that seems to refer to the photo without striving to recreate it, indexing a selection of elements as symbols. In one instance, when working from a photo that she was particularly excited about, she described the photo itself as an object, with a simple, symbolic rectangle repeated many times.

Installation view

Once this initial framework is drawn, the majority of her process is  methodical, redrawing over and over in alternating layers of charcoal, graphite, and occasionally watercolor. Although her marks often appear energetic and immediate, the image actually develops at a fairly slow pace (by steadily layering over the original marks of a drawing for hours), growing and changing with each iteration until reaching a point of resolution.

Susy uses photos of friends, found images in books, or in some cases (including a self-portrait) images of Tlingit people posed in regalia.

Installation view of ceramic pieces

“New Work”, a solo exhibition of Susy Martin’s recent drawings, is currently on view until June 29, 2015 in the gallery space of The Canvas, an integrated progressive art studio in Juneau, Alaska. Martin has shown extensively in group exhibitions at The Canvas over the past few years.

New Work: Susy Martin
June 5 - June 29, 2015

The Canvas
223 Seward Street
Juneau, Alaska

Carl Hendrickson

 

"Carl Hendrickson’s explorations of the way wood works are extravagant, magical, and yet paradoxically pragmatic. While cerebral palsy prevented him from pursuing very many projects – he communicated not in words but through emphasis of gesture and gaze– Hendrickson produced a small, strong body of work that exhibited great architectural prowess and ingenuity. His medium was primarily wood, a material with which he took infinite pains, making certain that each piece of wood was cut and fitted exactly as he had envisioned. He was one of the earliest group of artists to attend Creative Growth, beginning in 1976.

Born in the United States, 1951-2014."  - Creative Growth

Jeff Larabee

Marker on panel, 2015

Marker on Cardboard, 2015

Marker on panel, 2015

Over the course of working in and researching progressive art studios, we’ve encountered many artists who brilliantly incorporate text into their work: the narratives of Oscar Azmitia, rules and records of William Tyler, Daniel Green’s stream of consciousness lists, among many others. Text is usually employed by these artists in creative pursuits because it’s the paramount mode of expression and there’s often no separation between studio practice and daily life. This tendency may be the result of art-making as the most significant form of communication -  a disposition which many artists lay claim to, but few truly experience in such a literal and profound way. 


We’ve recently had the privilege of getting to know Jeff Larabee, a Juneau-based artist working at The Canvas, an integrated studio in Alaska. These grayscale, marker on panel and cardboard pieces (whose surfaces are wholly devoted to hand-written text), are selections from a recent series. The incredible aspect of Larabee's work is that it’s more fully about written language than the artists mentioned above, despite it being unavailable to him as a tool to communicate. 


It’s important to understand that these works aren’t created through an intuitive or automatic process. Larabee always works from a reference - transcribing found newspapers, books, pages of printed text, and often his previous works. Larabee gathers newspapers and carries them with him; he fills in crossword and sudoku puzzles then blacks them out with ballpoint pen, examines articles and classified ads, then blacks them out as well. The process of studying and engaging with newspapers sometimes occupies the majority of his studio time. The romance of his work resides in a study of text akin to the investigation definitive of the work of Tom Sachs, who refers to his process as a form of Sympathetic Magic (the desire to imitate or recreate something whose true nature is unattainable). Sachs explains:


“...when someone like an Aborigine person in New Guinea will make a model of a refrigerator because they saw that missionaries had refrigerators and food was always coming out of them. They made these models of refrigerators, and they would pray to them and hope that food would come out. And they’d even make runways with the hope that airplanes would land on them and docks with the hope that ships would come visit them. In fact anthropologists did come to look at these makeshift docks, and runways, and fridges. So the Aboriginal people, in a way, created their own destiny using art.”  (http://www.somamagazine.com/tom-sachs/)


In the same way that Tom Sachs uses intensive study and mimesis to access NASA’s Space Program, Larabee strives to access the written word. Larabee doesn’t experience written language as a literate person does, but experiences, values, and diligently engages with it in his creative practice and daily life. This body of work aspires to the concept of encoding and transmitting information in a purely magical sense, rendering visible to us what is unseen within the text - an aesthetic and conceptual investigation of letters and words, separate from a concrete concept of meaning. 

Marker on panel, 2015


From a distance these drawings are alluring - stark, clean, and curious, with the promise of an elaborate message. Up close, they provide no message, but are surprisingly labored and nuanced, revealing ghosts of marks wiped away, shades of grey, and repeated, overlapping letters that build history and depth. In the absence of meaning, the accumulated hand-written forms are strikingly personal. Larabee, uninhibited and confident, ultimately leaves nothing between the viewer and his hand, as if the act of mark-making itself carries the power of the written word. 


Although he’s rarely willing to discuss his work, Jeff (an avid Batman fan), has referred to these pieces as “letters to Gotham City.”


Michael Oliveira

Michael Oliveira works at the oldest progressive art studio in the US, Gateway Arts in Brookline, Massachusetts.  Oliveira's heavy lines and bulky forms are built up fastidiously over time using very fine point pens, creating a fantastic surface that's difficult to capture in photographs. 

"...born in 1978 in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and has been working happily at Gateway since 2000. He creates embroideries and pottery, but mostly loves making very stylized drawings which he carefully constructs using paint markers and sharpies. His subject matter includes a portrait series of Gateway artists who have passed away." (more)

Tripp Huggins

Tripp Huggins explores the drama of geopolitics in artist books of expressive graphite and crayon drawings. Huggins works at an excellent progressive art studio in Cincinnati, Ohio, Visionaries and Voices. 

"Tripp Huggins tells it like it is. The death of President Kennedy, WWII and The Cold War, Stories from the Book of Exodus, are the subjects of Tripp’s narratives. Drawn with pencil and wax crayon, which he prefers because it looks most real. His drawings are a commentary on the world we live in and moments in history." (see More)

Helen Rae

Untitled, colored pencil/graphite, 26" x 20”

Recent Drawings, at The Good Luck Gallery in LA, is a beautiful collection of colored pencil and graphite works on paper by Helen Rae. These drawings live in a space between the realms of representation and abstraction, most often realized as figures surrounded by ambiguous, pattern-driven environments resembling textiles or foliage.

Untitled, colored pencil/graphite, 26" x 20”

 
Rae’s incredible abstractions aren’t merely expressive, stylized reimaginings of found photos and magazines; each drawing seems to engage and elevate its source image with drive and ambition. Rae seems to search through the image, read it like a rich text, and celebrate every passage - the shadow of a frame against the wall, heel of a shoe, zipper on the side of a bag, are all described with incredible detail and conviction. Inevitably, the figures and faces remain expressive and bold, even as they’re nearly lost in a cacophonous ecstasy of patterns.

Lucien Freud said that “...truth has an element of revelation about it. If something is true, it does more than strike one as merely being so...” In exactly this sense, Rae’s works are undeniable revelations. The impact of the clean, uniform installation is vibrant and specific, further emphasizing the singularity of each drawing. 

Much like LA-based artist Eric Yahnker, Rae explores the limits of the often overlooked and rarely mastered medium of colored pencil. These achievements are the direct result of engaging in an uncommonly committed creative practice. Rae has been a studio member of First Street Gallery Art Center since it’s founding in 1990 - First Street’s Seth Pringle asserts, “Helen's focus and dedication in the studio are unmatched. She rarely misses a day and when she's in the studio she's always working diligently. The style and execution of her drawings have slowly but steadily evolved over the course of her 25 year career, growing in compositional complexity to its current state of mind-boggling beauty and intensity.”

The Good Luck Gallery is currently the only commercial exhibition space in Los Angeles devoted to self-taught artist programming. Owner Paige Wery was previously the publisher of Artillery, a contemporary art publication based in LA, for six years before opening the exhibition space in 2014. Wery became familiar with Rae’s work during an initial First Street Gallery studio visit; several people had suggested that she visit their location in Claremont, California due to the quality of art being produced under their long-standing, excellent program. Rae’s show has been wildly successful, selling out early and generating a waiting list for new work.

Untitled, colored pencil/graphite, 26" x 20”

Over the past several years, interest in the work of self-taught artists (historically referred to as Outsider or Visionary artists) has gained momentum as the contemporary art world becomes increasingly pluralistic. Wery remarks, “It’s very exciting to see the attention that Outsider Art has received over the last few years. I give huge credit to Massimiliano Gioni, who included outsider work with contemporary work at the 2013 Venice Biennale. I think that made a huge difference. The fact that contemporary fairs are including my program and other outsider galleries is a sign that things are moving in the right direction. Museums are showing and accepting Outsider Art into their collections far more often. I’m proud to have joined the champions furthering the exposure and dialogue of self-taught art. The conversations with collectors, artists, dealers, and casual visitors about self-taught art has been extremely encouraging. It seems the art being shown and the dialogues taking place at The Good Luck Gallery are already making a difference.”

Rae’s work has been featured previously in various exhibitions in New York, Boston, Washington D.C., Scotland, Belgium, Japan, and extensively in California. Rae has been based in the Claremont area since 1938.


Helen Rae: Recent Drawings
April 18 - May 16, 2015


The Good Luck Gallery
945 Chung King Road (Chinatown)
Los Angeles, CA 90012
Wednesday – Sunday
Noon – 5PM and by appointment

Spindleworks

Established 1978, Brunswick, Maine

Spindleworks, a fantastic and accomplished progressive art studio in Brunswick, Maine, was not one that we were able to visit in the course of our research trip last year. Spindleworks is unique from most other studios in that it offers woodworking and has a rich history of Fiber Arts such as wool spinning and weaving. Below is our conversation with Spindleworks' program supervisor, Brian Braley.

Disparate Minds: How did Spindleworks get started initially and how has it developed/progressed in the time you've been there? What are your current goals? What are your long-term goals?

Brian Braley: “We’re trying to prove that people with this unique handicap have a unique vision because of this handicap, a vision that can be presented artistically in a way that is valuable to everyone.” - Nan Ross 1978

Spindleworks was started in the late 1970's by Nan Ross, a weaver and writer from Brunswick. At the advent of deinstitutionalization in Maine it became quite clear that individuals with intellectual disabilities needed a positive alternative that would allow for self-expression, and creativity. At a time when adults with intellectual disabilities were hidden away, and denied rights, Nan believed that creative expression could serve as a method to give voice to their unique perspectives. The initial 6 artists learned to spin and dye wool, and eventually began to work in various fiber media such as rug hooking. Although there is still a strong fiber presence at Spindleworks, we now offer programming in painting, woodworking, sculpture, weaving, embroidery, music, photography, printmaking, video, and theater.

The creative voice of Spindleworks’ artists has also grown over the years and has proven to be an unstoppable force; the artists have developed a reputation of producing high quality work through numerous exhibits including the Portland Museum of Art, Space Gallery, Bowdoin College, and the University of Maine. Spindleworks hosts a variety of exhibitions throughout the year including juried community shows, themed exhibits, theater productions, installations, and collaborations. One of these collaborative projects is the annual All Species Parade which was created in partnership with Arts Are Elementary (a program that incorporates visiting artists into school curriculum). The parade engages community involvement through the creation of costuming and floats in celebration of the diversity of the planet’s species.  Through the parade and annual exhibit Spindleworks has raised thousands of dollars for a local animal shelter.

We continue to seek the creative and professional growth of the artists we serve.  This is achieved through professional development curriculum that includes portfolio prep, resume writing, business card creation, public speaking, and self advocacy.  Being a professional artist is and should be a career choice for adults with disabilities; many of our artists make more money creating art than they did while holding other jobs in the community. These financial benefits are very important for the artists as the employment options are generally limited in the rural setting in which we reside. Program artists receive 75% of the proceeds from the sale of their art and the remaining 25% goes back to fuel our supply budget. Our long and short term goals are sustainability. We are not currently seeking extensive growth, but want to focus our efforts on generating consistent funds to ensure that we can continue to maintain a safe and beneficial environment for the artists in our community to fulfill their independence.

DM: About how many total artists with disabilities do you support in your studio? Also, how often do they attend and how much time is spent in the studio per day?

BB: We currently support 49 artists from the surrounding Mid-coast and Central Maine area. On a typical day we have as many as 30 artists in attendance. Artists participate in anywhere from 1-5 days a week depending on their desire and approved funding. Our program is a 5 hour day from 9-2 M-Thursday and 9-1 on Fridays. In 2011 Spindleworks started a sister program Spinoff Studios located in Gardiner, Maine which currently supports 18 artists. Spinoff has a morning and an afternoon shift totaling 4 hours each.

DM: How do artists served by Spindleworks find out about and become involved in the art program?

BB: We are well known in the community due to various collaborative efforts with local businesses, galleries, events, and other nonprofits. Additionally, we frequently get referrals from case managers, community members, volunteers, and friends. The artists themselves are our best spokespeople; many of our artists have created their own business cards and use them to talk about their art and our program. We accept only artists with intellectual disabilities that have a strong creative desire. There is a several week assessment period to help determine ongoing interest and potential fit for the program.

DM: What is your philosophy with regards to artist facilitation?

BB: Spindleworks staff serve as mentors rather than teachers. We believe that program participants have an inherent ability to create art and our role is to provide the right tools and environment to promote creative growth. The key to good mentoring is observing what someone can or cannot do on their own and knowing when to offer help. By modeling professional creative practice we encourage independent thought and action, rather than attempting to dictate the creative process. We ask difficult questions which forces the artists to make their own choices, and we don’t hesitate to push the artists to reach their potential. Sometimes it takes that little push to get someone to open their peripheral vision and try new things. We are eternally patient with whatever pace ensues, and unwilling to allow anyone give in to their own doubts. We understand that despite our best efforts that we will often fail and it is through that failure that we are able to use our problem-solving abilities to overcome obstacles. Spindleworks is a non-competitive and non-judgmental environment. We encourage mutual support and maintain a peer helper chart so that program artists can share their skills with others. This has allowed artists to develop self-esteem in their abilities and has led to several artists teaching workshops with skills that they have gained from experience.     

weaving by artist Lloyd Whitcomb

DM: How do you anticipate recent cuts in state funding to impact Spindleworks and do you feel there's a successful way of counteracting this?

BB: The State of Maine is implementing a system known as the Support Intensity Scale which places a number and a value on an individual.  We fundamentally disagree with this methodology as it doesn’t measure people based on their potential. Essentially the harder we work toward someone’s creative growth, the less we would get paid for the service. We estimate that the changes would reduce our funding by 35%. It forces Spindleworks and other similar programs to do more with less. Although the impacts of these changes are not yet fully realized, we have focused much of our energies on developing an action plan to adapt. These strategies may include changing our program structure, growing our revenue stream to include additional grant and in-kind donations, and reduced operating costs through additional efficiency. In the face of these changes, we refuse to sacrifice the quality and safety of our program. We continue to advocate through our government officials the value and need for continued full funding of these important services. Unfortunately, there have been recent efforts in state government to remove the public voice from the equation so that the Department of Health and Human Services can make changes without public forum.

Artist Earl Black at the loom, All images courtesy of Spindleworks

David Holt

  

Holt's work-space in Project Onward's beautiful Bridgeport studio. 

"David Holt (b. 1984) expressed an early interest in music, romance and celebrities through his artwork as a member of Chicago’s Gallery 37, an after-school job-training program in the arts. In 2009, with the death of his grandmother, Holt turned his attention to obituaries, or “memorial portraits” of important persons. His canvas painting and drawings on cardboard are direct and show his sense of immediacy – he begins to work as soon as obituaries are posted and drawings are typically finished in one day." (more)

Long-time artist of Project Onward in Chicago, David Holt is also a long-time favorite of ours; he's presently the only artist represented in the collections of both Disparate Minds writers. Each time a work is sold, he adds it to a detailed log that he maintains, including the piece's intended geographical destination. Holt's works are simple in form and direct in technique - his graphite and colored pencil drawings are most often fairly small and executed on cardboard. Somehow, though, he prolifically creates work with a presence and gravity that's mysterious and consistently compelling. 

Joe Zaldivar

"Mel's drive-in on Sunset Strip, West Hollywood."

"Lucas Oil Stadium in downtown Indianapolis, Indiana, home of the Indianapolis Colts, and was home to this year's Final Four and the NCAA national basketball championship."

"Street map of Ferguson, Missouri including north central St. Louis county and Lambert airport area."

"Detailed street map of South Gate and Lynwood and portions of Compton, Cudahy, Downey, Paramount and Watts."

From intricate maps to extensive interiors, Zaldivar's colored pencil and marker works on paper are a spectacle of diligent truth to their various subjects - street/public transit maps, LA area landmarks, disposable local business mailers, and pop culture references. Self-taught and prolific, he has been making art since early childhood; presently he's a studio artist at First Street Gallery Art Center (part of the Tierra del Sol Foundation).  

Zaldivar recently exhibited work in Wunderkammer, an invitational group show at Pitzer College's Nichols Gallery and previously at First Street Gallery. He currently has work in Own It, a First Street Gallery benefit show at the Ginger Eliot Exhibition Center. He has also acquired several commissions from local businesses including Claremont’s Some Crust Bakery and Folk Music Center, Spaggi’s restaurant in Upland, Nate & Al’s Delicatessen in Beverly Hills, Western Rentals in Fontana, and Hamer Toyota in Mission Hills. 

 

You can follow Zaldivar and see more of his works here.

 

William Tyler

Ink on paper, 11" x 15"

Ink on paper, 11" x 15"

Ink on paper, 11" x 15"

William Tyler's images are composed of techniques and visual language that know no equivocation. The problem solving process of drawing is resolved with intention and commitment in each step, resulting in a testimony of total confidence. The stark clarity of his drawing is reflected in the text, creating a harmony between image and language that evokes a dynamic world - paradoxically mysterious and matter-of-fact. Born in Cincinnati in 1954, William Tyler has been making art at Creative Growth in Oakland, California, since 1978, as one of the studio's longest attending artists.  (see more)

Evelyn Reyes

Salmon Carrots, oil pastel on paper, 2010

Orange Carrots, oil pastel on paper, 2009

Brown Carrots, oil pastel on paper, 2009, all images courtesy Creativity Explored Licensing

Brown Carrots, oil pastel on paper, 2009, all images courtesy Creativity Explored Licensing

Evelyn Reyes has been creating powerful and minimal oil pastel drawings like these at Creativity Explored in San Francisco since 2002. The conviction and ritual apparent in her extensive series of works is definitive not only of her creative practice, but also her way of being; from Creativity Explored's website:

"Reyes’ art practice mirrors the repetition and order that are central to her daily life. Reverence for each aspect of the process defines her art practice. It begins with the selection of a piece of specifically sized paper. Next, the particular shade of oil pastel is chosen, the forms outlined then filled with a thick impasto. The finished piece is carefully examined, cradled in her arms, and taken to certain cardinal points in the studio. And finally, there is the ceremonial clean up and storing away of the completed work." (see more)

Reyes' collaborations with Bay Area artist Sarah Thibault will be included in Creativity Explored's upcoming exhibition Super Contemporary.

Chris Chronopoulos

Chris Chronopoulos, Viking Helmet, foam core board, 2014, photo credit: Pure Vision Arts

Chris Chronopoulos creates intriguing sculptural work using everyday materials such as paper,  foam core, and foil. These objects thoughtfully combine his various aspirations and attentions, including "his Greek heritage, interest in martial arts, and knowledge of the ancient world. Chris has built an impressive body of sculptures that depict weaponry from Greek Roman, Medieval, and Viking cultures." (See More) 

Chris Chronopoulos (born 1988, Hell's Kitchen) has been a member of Pure Vision Arts since 2011. Pure Vision is an excellent progressive art studio located in the Chelsea district of Manhattan. Chronopoulos has exhibited at the American Folk Art Museum, the 2015 Outsider Art Fair, Art Enables in Washington DC, and extensively at Pure Vision Arts.

                               various mixed media helmets

Chris Chronopoulos in the studio with various mixed media championship belts, credit for all photos: Pure Vision Arts

Larry Hurst

"Larry Hurst is a prolific and detailed painter. His paintings depict scenes of nature inspired by photographs that range from realistic to surrealist interpretations.  He is also a very talented model house builder and has produced scale models of several houses that he has lived in. Larry has been making art for over ten years and learned to paint while living in Texarkana, TX. " (See More)

Hurst is originally from Chicago, but now lives and works in Eugene, Oregon with the support of the OSLP Arts & Culture Program at the Lincoln Gallery, the recipient of a grant from the Collins Foundation, and the most recent addition to our directory.

Helen Rae at The Good Luck Gallery

.

Untitled (October 15, 2014), colored pencil/graphite, 26" x 20”

Untitled (November 18, 2014), Colored pencil and graphite, 24" x 18”

Untitled (May 28, 2014), colored pencil/graphite, 26" x 20"

Untitled (March 25, 2014), colored pencil/graphite, 24" x 18”

Untitled (January 23, 2015), colored pencil/graphite, 26" x 20”

Helen Rae's first solo exhibition opens tomorrow at The Good Luck Gallery in LA. Rae is a founding member of the First Street Gallery Art Center, a progressive art studio in Claremont, California. Rae's pattern-based graphite and colored pencil drawings straddle the realms of representation and abstraction. You can find more images of Rae's amazing work on The Good Luck Gallery's website. Her drawings have been previously featured in various group exhibitions in California, Scotland, Belgium, and Japan.

Helen Rae 

April 18 - May 16, 2015
Reception: April 18, 7-10 pm

The Good Luck Gallery

945 Chung King Road (Chinatown)
Los Angeles, CA 90012