“How does he do it?” this is the question I have been asked the most since Consumed opened at the Alice C. Sabatini Gallery. Today I am going to let you in on the two different processes Justin Marable uses in his art.

The first process is called serigraphy, but is also known as silk-screen or screen printing. This is a stencil process where the stencil is affixed to a fine mesh of silk or other fabric, known as a screen.

Waste not Mystics, underlying stencils before the final layer of image and ink

So how does this work with Justin’s work? Let’s take a look at Waste Not Mystics. The first step is to create the sky, which in turn sets the tone or feeling of the print. Justin places various colored inks on the screen. He then mixes them so when he pulls the ink across the screen, the night sky he anticipated is created. Next Justin creates an underlying stencil that blocks out the color and space before he prints the final layer. This final layer of the print has all the photographic detail.

Uprise on the Meadow, photo transfer, screen print, acrylic

The second process is photo transfers. The transfer method allows for you to transfer an image from one source to another, like a photograph to a piece of wood. There are many different ways to create transfers, some easier than others.  (DIY sites and Pinterest are full of examples!)

Here is my quick explanation of how transfers are done. First you need to find an image that you want to transfer. (The image needs to be either a photocopy or a Laser printer.) Next you cover the image with a coat of Modge Podge or Acrylic Gel Medium in Matte. Place the image face down, smooth it out, and apply pressure using your fingers, a bone folder or the back of a spoon. Let it all sit for a few hours or overnight. (This is the hardest part – the waiting!) When the piece is dry, take a sponge and wet the paper. Then carefully start to rub away the paper, re-wetting when needed. Be careful not to rub too hard! When the paper is removed…you have created a transfer!

Here is a link to the handout (pfd) our Museum Educator, Betsy Roe, created for our most recent art class, World Art & You: Mixed Media with Justin Marable.

Big Air Package

Big Air Package is a huge indoor inflated envelop without a skeleton that stands 90 meters tall, with a diameter of 50 meters and a volume of 177,00 cubic meters. (For us Americans that translates to: 295 feet tall by 164 feet wide, with a volume of 6,251,000 cubic feet.) The structure extends almost wall to wall, leaving a narrow passageway for visitors to walk around and view the pieces from all sides. Air locks allow visitors to experience this monumental work of art from the inside while two fans generate a constant air pressure and keep the work of art inflated.

This is the second work of art Christo has created for the Gasometer. The first was The Wall – 13,000 Oil Barrels in 1998-99, when thousands of colorful barrels were stacked 26 meters tall and spanned the interior of the Gasometer, cutting the building in half.

Christo is known throughout the world for wrapping large objects and creating new ways of seeing familiar landscapes. A few of his well known projects are Wrapped Reichstag, Berlin 1995; The Gates, New York City, 2005; and Surrounded Miami Islands, Biscayne Bay, Miami, 1983.

For more information about Christo and his works of art see these websites:

www.christojeanneclaude.net

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christo_and_Jeanne-Claude

www.nga.gov/exhibitions/2002/christo/intro.shtm

The Great Gala
Friday, March 1 | 7-9:00 pm
Great Overland Station, 701 N. Kansas Ave.

If you’re like me you’ve probably spent February reading, discussing and experiencing The Great Gatsby and the Roaring Twenties.

Did you know that the Library is partnering with the Great Overland Station to throw a “Gatsby” inspired party to celebrate the end of The Big Read? The Big Read is a National Endowment for the Arts-sponsored community reading initiative that unites the community around one book.

The Great Gala will be a great time to put on your “Gatsby style” and enjoy a delightful evening set in the Roaring Twenties: live music, dance, food and drink. (Alcoholic beverages for sale.) Be our guest at this free First Friday Artwalk event. Dress in 1920s style. Let the Great Overland Station, with its Art Deco details, will inspire you to learn the Charleston as you swing with Cliff Manning and the One O’Clock Jump band. Share the event with others; use this electronic flier.

In preparation for the Gala, I started exploring women’s fashion during the Roaring Twenties so I would know what to wear! What i discovered was that fashion during the 1920s was about rebellion. Women were entering the workforce, cutting their hair, shortening their hemlines, and ditching the corsets.

The most recognizable women’s outfit during the 1920s was the flapper dress. Flapper dresses was sleek, straight, loose and sleeveless. These dresses had a dropped waistline below the hips and were made for dancing.

Another trend that started during the 1920s was the boyish figure. The formfitting corset were replaced by a chemise or camisole and the dresses became a shapeless silhouette with no waistlines.

Here are some tips to help you create your own Roaring Twenties inspired look for The Great Gala:

• women wore dresses that were loose and not fitted
• waistlines dropped below the hips or had no waistline at all
• necklines tended to be square or straight
• hemlines became shorted with pleats, gathers or slits for dancing
• hats were close and cropped, fitting head

Remember the 1920s was a time to let your hair down and throw caution to the wind! Embrace your inner flapper and join Topeka as we celebrate the end of The Big Read with our Great Gatsby inspired Gala.

The Great Gala
Friday, March 1 | 7-9:00 pm  |  Great Overland Station, 701 N. Kansas Ave.
(free, ample parking provided at The Great Overland Station)
For more information about The Great Gala, please contact the Library at 580-4486.

I was recently given a new book on the artist Gustav Klimt, “The Lady in Gold” by Anne-Marie O’Conner. This book is a wonderfully written tale of suspense. O’Connor divides this book between art patron, Adele Bloch-Bauer, the artist Gustav Klimt and his unforgettable masterpiece, Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer I.

O’Connor introduces us to Adele Bloch-Bauer, a dazzling Jewish society figure that doesn’t quite fit in. As her niece Maria Altermann notes “Adele was a modern woman, living in the world of yesterday.” O’Connor dives into the Bloch-Bauer family and this support of the artist Gustav Klimt. With O’Connor’s help we discover that the Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer I, took three years to paint, was inspired by the Byzantine mosaics of Ravenna and that Adele was the only model to sit twice for Gustav Klimt.

But what I found most exciting was the history of the painting itself. After Adele’s death, her husband’s is forced to flee to Switzerland,and the painting is confiscated by the Nazis. The portrait is stripped of its title, Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer I, by the Nazis and renamed The Lady in Gold. The intrigue continues after the Second World War, when the painting is at the middle of a decade long court battle between the Austrian government and the Bloch-Bauer heirs. O’Connor follows the paintings fate, from its sale at Christie’s to its final home at the Neue Galerie in New York.

While I am usually a fiction reader, this well researched and written story captured my attention and kept me reading. If you would like to know more about Gustav Klimt, here are a few other books in the Library’s collection.

Gustav Klimt: Landscapes
759.36 KLI

Klimt’s Women
759.36 KLI

Klimt
DVD-AD DRAMA KLIM

Like many of my generation, I grew up with video arcades. And like the rotary phone and the typewrite, most of the newest gaming generation knows of the “arcade” as a mythical place where the games required coins and where “Game Over” meant just that.

When it comes to gaming today I can’t compete. I no longer understand all the  buttons and double joystick movements needed to play a “simple” PS3 game (ask my husband, he has more gray hairs from trying to teach me how to use these new controllers then the last four years of raising our son).

While I know I can’t “play” these game, I really enjoy watching these new games. The design and visual aesthetics of games today are amazing. Games today are like watching a Hollywood movie.

To those out there that say there is no value in video games…I ask you to reconsider, the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York has.

“Are video games art? They sure are” says Paola Antonelli, Senior Curator, Department of Architecture and Design. “But they are also design, and a design approach is what we chose for this new foray into this universe. The games are selected as outstanding examples of interaction design—a field that MoMA has already explored and collected extensively, and one of the most important and oft-discussed expressions of contemporary design creativity.”  To read the full article click here.

To experience some of these amazing games (both old and new) visit the Topeka and Shawnee County Public Library.

For further reading you might enjoy:

While I could tell you of all the wonderful exhibits we walked through and all the great new dinosaur facts we learned, what I want to share is the story of the people we saw. What struck me most on this trip was the amount of people and families we saw visiting and enjoying the museums and parks throughout the city.

In both the Field Museum and the Museum of Science and Industry we were surrounded by school children laughing, pointing, excitedly talking to each other and asking questions of their guides. Children of all ages were “running” from exhibit space to exhibit space pulling their parents along and eagerly asking questions. Adults were walking through the exhibit halls reading guidebooks and looking intently at the objects on display. All around us people were enjoying, engaging and exploring history, science and the arts.

After visiting the museums we decided to walk to see the “Cloud Gate” (aka “the Bean” to my family), a gigantic jellybean shaped steel sculpture that reflects the city’s skyline. Now it was a cool and windy day when we visited, however the park was filled with visitors. All of them were standing around taking photographs, discussing the sculpture and surrounding park and simply playing (not just the kids but the adults too)!!! It wasn’t just in this park that people were engaging with each other and their surroundings, it was in almost every park we went to from the small neighborhood park to the large city park.

Why am I sharing my adventure in people watching and museum going with you on this early Monday morning? Because I want you to go out and enjoy our city’s great parks and museums!! Spend some time with a friend, a loved one, a family member or your children and enjoy, engage and explore the rich history, science and art that Topeka and the surrounding cities have to offer.

Here are just a few places to start:

City of Topeka Parks & Rec | Unwind

Mulvane Art Museum, Washburn University

Kansas Museum of History

Combat Air Museum

Topeka & Shawnee County Public Library

Visit Topeka

My “messy” sketchbooks

What I really like enjoy about my sketchbooks is that I allow myself to be messy. I don’t have to get the idea right the first, second or even fifth time.  I work on an idea until I am satisfied and happy with the outcome. My sketchbooks are playgrounds where I play and struggle with ideas and concepts, structures and materials. Some start out as great ideas and quickly fail, while others start out weak and grow into strong structures. By keeping my successes and failures in these books, I return to ideas, keep experimenting and hopefully growing.

Leonard da Vinci

The use of sketchbooks is not a new idea, artists throughout the ages have used them to test ideas and play with new concepts. As I was searching for examples of sketchbooks to share with you, I found quite a few from a variety of artists. What I enjoy about these sketchbooks is how artists use a variety of way to express their ideas. A sketchbook does not have to consist of only pictures or sketches; it can have text, diagrams, random words, images that inspire you, colors, etc.

Guillermo del Toro

Sketchbook #17, Ellsworth Kelly

Vincent Van Gogh

To each artist a sketchbook is a way of capturing ideas – there are no rules.  What do you capture in your sketchbooks?

With the help of various how-to books in the library’s collection, I present to you… my simple step-by-step photo essay: Zan’s attempt at making a three page tunnel book.

Step 1: Gather your supplies. To make a simple three-paged tunnel book, you will need three pieces of paper for the image, two pieces of paper for the spine, a pencil, a ruler, an exacto knife and/or a pair of scissors.

Step 2: This was the hardest step, deciding on a drawing or picture with either defined perspective or many objects clearly defined. Since my drawing skills are slightly lacking… I created a simple forest landscape.

Step 3: After you have the drawing on each page, cut them out.

Step 4: Time to make the spines. Take a sheet of paper and fold it in half.

Step 5: Cut the folded sheet in half, making two smaller strips of paper. Repeat step 4 and 5 with the second sheet of paper. You now have four strips of paper.

Step 6: Take each of these four strips and make four M-shaped accordions. To make an M-shaped accordion, fold the strips in half lengthwise; then fold the edges back to the center fold.

Step 7: Now we are ready to assemble the tunnel book.

Step 8: Place the back page on top of two of the M-shaped accordions, one on each side. Make sure that the creases are on the outsides, and glue the page to the back of the accordion (see photo for Step 9).

Step 9: Glue the next page to the top of the first M-shaped accordion. Next, attach the second M-shaped accordion pieces, one on each side. (You’re sandwiching the middle page between the two M-shaped accordion folded pieces on each side.)

Step 10: Glue the front page of your book to the top of the  M-shaped accordion strips at either side, and let the glue dry.

Step 11: You have just made a tunnel book!

Now you try! You can make longer books by adding pages and making more M-shaped strips.

Check out these books for other altered book and book project ideas:

•  Playing With Books: The Art of Upcycling, Deconstruction, and Reimagining the Book by Jason Thompson
• Making Handmade Books: 100 Bindings, Structures & Forms by Alisa Golden
• More Making Books by Hand: Exploring Miniature Books, Alternative Structures and Found Objects by Peter and Donna Thomas
• Eco Books by Terry Taylor

For more information about the amazing world of books arts, either stop by the Sabatini Gallery and see our current exhibition Telling Stories: Exploring Book Arts or call us at 784-580-4515.

Gallery elves hard at work

Have you ever wondered what happens when the Sabatini Gallery doors close between exhibits? Well, I am here to tell you it’s definitely not the work of little elves….or is it?

Here is an up-close look at some of the work we do to get the gallery ready for each new exhibition.

After the previous exhibit is boxed up and shipped back, we start cleaning the gallery and rearranging the walls and cases.

Each case gets an object

Here is a sneak-peek look at part of the new wall layout for our next exhibit, Telling Stories: Exploring Book Arts. Each case gets a small label so we know which piece goes where when it’s time to install.

After we move the walls and cases, maintenance comes in and cleans the rugs and floors. Once the rugs are dry we start installing the art – in this case, book art. After all the objects are installed, we will relight the gallery so that each piece is highlighted.

Look carefully, can you find the elf at work?

Feel free to stop by while we are installing and you might catch a glimpse of a gallery elf or two at work.

Our next exhibitions, Telling Stories: Exploring Book Arts and Fold This! Pop up Books and Paper Engineering, open Friday August 3.

Call the Sabatini Gallery at 785-580-4515 for information on the upcoming exhibitions.

I could try and explain the work and summarize the artists’ statements…but why not let the artists tell you themselves!

Cynthia Ferguson gives a fun and quirky introduction to her paper cutting technique.

How To Do Scherenschnitte

Nikki McClure explains how her family’s everyday life is the inspiration for her books and illustrations.

Nikki McClure – Illustrator of all in a day

Angie Pickman uses time lapse video to show how she creates her wonderful work.

Paper Cutting Time Lapse

Clay Rice narrates his story about a lonely shadow looking for an owner.

The Lonely Shadow Narrated

Beatrice Coron explains one of her larger works and the materials she uses.

In the Studio: Beatrice Coron