Happy 250th America!

 

Celebrate America! We are back at The Brick (Brick City Gallery in Ocala, FL). The annual Upcycled: Remembering & Reclaiming exhibit was held in March and the theme this year was honoring America's 250th and our veterans. Once again, a varied selection of media was featured along with repurposed items. This paper collage is "America's Pride" made by Edward Husser.

"Remembrance" by Lisa D Regan includes pieces of a wire brush (the poppy), old war medals, a flag topper (the eagle), and chopped up credit cards. Quite imaginative use of materials!

There were several fiber entries. "Hand Bag Flag in Denim" is by Stacie Pedrick. She used multi-colored denim pieces as well as curtain lace and a recycled belt for the bag strap. 

Stephani Schuster's "Threads of Freedom" includes parts of a navy uniform, wedding dress scraps, t-shirt material, denim and lace. The American Eagle was a popular subject for several entries.

My entry was this assemblage art piece titled "Pieces of America". All sorts of buttons, game pieces, jewelry bits and tiny flags found their way into this photo frame. It was fun to make, and it has found a new home. All of the art on exhibit is for sale.

"Stars of Service" by Cynthia Ancel is crafted from garage sale paint and discards from a pile of wood scrap. 

 

Another assemblage piece, "In War and Peace" by Kudra Migliacolo is made from shiplap wood scraps, vintage catalog pages, candy tins, trophy parts, buttons and fabrics.

Actual military memorabilia from both WWII and the Vietnam War are included in "Peace Starts at Home" by Jessica Carter. She also incorporated vintage maps, papers, and sheet music. And the topper is tiny military figures.

The back wall of the Brick City Gallery shows how nicely the items displayed against the clean, white background.

"Combat Boots" by Kathy Sage is a collage that includes prints from her deceased artist friend and uses recycled elastic for the boot laces. And the light-up assemblage by Ann Carreno was created from a glass bottle, wood, paper, beads, and acrylic paints. It's a lively piece!

Hope you enjoyed the visit to The Brick and the creativity on display for America's 250th! Happy 4th!

Is Your Phone Full of Pet Photos, Too?

All sorts of canine and feline art is on display at The Brick City Center for the Arts in Ocala, Florida, this month! Our local Subaru dealer (Subaru is known for supporting pet causes) sponsored an exhibit titled "Cats & Dogs: A Portrait of Devotion". There are paintings, mixed media, and fiber art pieces to enjoy. "May I Have a Glass of Wine" is by Lisandra Gonzalez. There was plenty of whimsy among the art pieces because... well... it's cats and dogs!

This is "Denim Doodle", the creation of Stacie Pedrick. Denim- the next best thing to a real Doodle!

"These are for Me?!" by Samantha Zerman depicts the overflowing toy basket awaiting the cat after just being adopted. Hopefully you can see the embossed hearts and cats in the black background. Lucky kitty!

One thing that impressed me is how well the artists captured those wonderful pet expressions. This entry is "Waiting" by Steven Swanhart. I've seen this look before. Portraits of Devotion really sums it up.

"Harley-Quinn" by Jeffrey Selker is an oil portrait done on wrap-around canvas. The colors echo that of a calico cat and this one clearly has great presence!

This Fabric Collage titled "Kitten Face" is full of unicorns, rainbows, and kittens.

This happy crew greets visitors right by the entry to the gallery. Among them is my "Who's a Good Boy" art quilt. And it found a new home! All of the art in the exhibit is for sale and there were sold stickers on several pieces. I wrote about this quilt here when we had the unfortunate incident known as the "Dusty Dust-up". We adopted Dusty, a sweet little pup, only to learn that his separation anxiety was beyond control and he did some damage in our home. Sadly, we had to return him to the rescue organization. The good news- he found another home with multiple dogs so he will never be alone! Happy, tail-wagging ending.

I'm now getting my "dog fix" by doing the neighborhood "rent-a-dog" program. Our neighbor has Westies. I borrowed her little guy Baron to accompany me on a couple of my walks. Just enough... for now anyway.

This info poster gives more details.

Stay tuned- I've got another Brick City exhibit coming soon for America's 250th!