Thursday, February 26, 2009

Gifts in Ann Arbor


Just wanted to take a minute to support a local business. Please visit Crown House of Gifts for a wide variety of gifts. A perfect place to find gifts in Ann Arbor.

Wednesday, February 11, 2009

Shadow, Light and Sarah






While growing up there are things, people, who you gravitate toward even before you know why. Friendships you attain, moments you have, that at the time are everyday but now you think of them always.

Sarah Washburn has been my closest friend for the majority of life. It is not necessarily that we liked the same things nor that we were much alike. Sarah and I seemed to simply take to the same environment even if that meant trouble.

We went to school together, studied under some of the same professors and just naturally grew as artists together. She a painter, I a writer. Our paths have crossed and merged so many times there simply came a time to bond and be.

Today I realize why we connected. Sarah and I are ying and yang. Sarah's incredible talent to capture light and shadow is beyond me. Her gifted patience has paid off. Her work seems to me as a confirming grip of the soft light and shadows that modestly live among us. Her paintings not only notice these highlights and down lights, but she masters them and forces them to come forward.

Sarah's work reminds me of Eugène Henri Paul Gauguin. Gauguin was never my favorite artist, but that does not mean he was not talented. Gauguin always made sure to "box" in his work. There was always a structure; a beginning and an end. I have never personally been comfortable with that notion, which simply reflects on my personality (loose ends).

Sarah utilizes colors that most likely do not exist, or are embellished from their natural state. I may be biased (probably) but knowing Sarah as long as I have is not cognitive, it is a natural attraction to talent.

Saturday, February 7, 2009

Back to Art



Okay, I have been getting WAY off subject lately. The news and life in general have been viciously whisking me away from the relevant. I was sitting here thinking how I could get back to what matters... and I thought of Bill.

William Burgard is without a doubt one of my favorite artists. If anyone is on Facebook, they have faced (no pun intended) the "25 Things" where people write 25 things about themselves. Number ten on my list is:

"A few of my favorite artists are Turner, Miro, Felix Gonzalez-Torres, Frida, Riviera and my friend William Burgard."

I met Bill in 2003, when I was trying to fulfill my credits at U of M here in Ann Arbor. Mary Schmidt, Assistant Dean of the School of Art and Design, mentioned this fantastic class titled, "Imaging Ann Arbor." It was rather mysterious, even for Bill. We were to design a public art piece for downtown Ann Arbor - specifically the State Street area.

Five years later... I have found an idol. Bill is amazing. His most popular work are the posters for the Summer Festivals he has created every year since the 1980's. However, all his work is consistently random and honest. In my opinion it begins with an image, perhaps a photograph (lets asks him), containing many loose ends.

I believe loose ends offer, although my sculpture teacher disagreed, so many opportunities. Bill finds these small, almost unnoticeable openings for design – and harvests them.

Bill discovers dining images that no one - absolutely no one - could think of.

I sat down with Bill roughly five months ago when I was frustrated with my job. He said "I remember feeling like that. I felt like I was being asked to do these drawings when I knew I could do so much more."

He did.