Friday May 16, 2014 - A
beautiful day and most of the university students have turned the town over to
the locals. That means less student traffic and more art festivals and music
events in the streets. We went to the
big art museum but it was closed until noon so we went to other art venues in
town, what a great treat.
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| Fortitude, 18x24 oil on canvas, currently at MMAG show |
In previous blogs we have noted visits to interesting venues
to display our art. The last few weeks we have placed paintings in a variety of
businesses supporting the local art scene. The first was the newly renovated
Okemos Library, Mid Michigan Art Guild (MMAG) member show. The show highlighted
the talents of members in the local art guild. The second is a start-up
incubator office space for a very creative business community, the Technology Innovations Center (T.I.C.). The show was launched by live music and libations and a
bonus, Maureen Ryan, one of the visual artists is also a fine vocalist. The
third is a similar venue, a service center for several businesses relying on the new technologies for expansion, Force by Design. It too has wall space just
waiting for the creative touch by artists. A big thank to you all for
letting for us brighten your days.
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| Autumn Dune Grasses, 16x20 acrylic on linen currently at Force By Design |
Our local art adventure on this brilliant day was moving
along just fine, the kind of adventure that nourishes the soul, and we were not
done, the morning was still young. On to our top notch and highly acclaimed art
resource, Saper Gallery of East Lansing, Michigan. We were greeted by a charming assistant who was
willing to discuss the local art and how it is shaped by the bigger art world.
We started discussing the works of Tunis Ponsen, a Michigan native originally
from Muskegon. Tunis Ponsen is a fine mid-century oil and water colorist. Roy
Saper of Saper Gallery holds a number of Ponsen beautiful works for sale. There
were several fine works by other Michigan artists in the gallery. The work
of an artist friend, Barbara McCleary, was its usual top form and a real treat
so see in such a
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| Cooling of the Dunes, 20x24 oil on canvas, currently at T.I.C. |
While we were having our local art adventure in East Lansing,
the activity pace in town was picking up as 180 artists were moving in for the
51st East Lansing Art Festival. This should be a fun weekend. We hope some
university students come back to see their city in its best artsy party mode.
Look about you for some fine art,
Joel
