Airborne

Heading down to Miami Beach to participate in the second annual Miami International Art Fair at the MB Convention Center and also to hang around with my parents. If you want to score some free passes to the fair, send me an email and I will email them to you.

Linn Meyers drawing at the Katzen

Linn Meyers: A Very Particular Moment "responds to the architecture of the museum by covering the walls with hand-drawn, repetitive, geometric lines—creating a hypnotic, meditative space. Meyers will spend two weeks in the museum creating her largest temporary drawing to-date on a 23 ft x 32 ft. wall in the museum’s third floor gallery."

The American University Museum at the Katzen Arts Center is open from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesday through Sunday. Admission is free. For more information, call 202-885-1300 or look on the Web here.

MIA

Later this week I'll be heading down to Miami Beach to participate in the second annual Miami International Art Fair at the MB Convention Center and also to hang around with my parents. If you want to score some free passes to the fair, send me an email and I will email them to you.

If I have time, later I will post some of the new 2011 drawings that I've created for this fair.

Draw from the model

I'm always being asked by artists where they can go and draw from the live model. There are many places in the DMV where one can just show up, or sign up and draw from the live model.

One cool place is the Del Ray Artisans Gallery. These sessions operate on a drop-in basis so there is no need to register in advance. Bring your supplies and join them at the gallery to draw or paint their live models. They don't supply easels - only plenty of chairs - but you are welcome to bring your own if you want to use one. All skill levels are welcome.

Gesture Sessions (two hours)

Come to the gesture sessions to loosen up and participate in a fun, fast-paced drawing experience. These two-hour sessions are composed primarily of series of dynamic 1-5 minute poses. One or two favorite poses may be revisited for 10-15 minutes at the end of each session.

Short Pose Sessions (two or three hours)

Short pose sessions are made up entirely of poses lasting 5-15 minutes. These sessions are a wonderful way to get in lots of drawing practice with a wide variety of poses.

Short/Long Pose Sessions (three hours)

The three-hour short/long pose sessions start with some short 1-5 minute warm-up poses and progressively move into longer poses lasting 10-45 minutes. These sessions provide a great opportunity to hone your drawing and observation skills.

Long Pose Sessions (two or three hours)

For people wanting to spend an extended amount of time on a pose, go to their long pose sessions. These sessions will be composed of two long poses with perhaps a few warm-ups at the start. Please no acrylics or oils; pastels, watercolor and ink are welcome.

The fee for each three-hour session is $8 for DRA members and $10 for non-members. Two-hour sessions are $6 for members and $8 for non-members. Please check the Del Ray Artisans calendar www.thedelrayartisans.org for upcoming dates and times. If you have any questions, please contact Katherine Rand at 703.836.1468 or DRA.LifeDrawing@gmail.com.

Rousseau on Michael Enn Sirvet

Claudia Rousseau on Michael Enn Sirvet at Reyes + Davis Gallery

The solo exhibit of Michael Enn Sirvet’s sculpture at Reyes + Davis Gallery (923 F St NW) has been extended to January 15, 2011. Thus, those who haven’t seen it still have a week to see this extraordinary work.

Sirvet’s trajectory over the past few years has been exactly that: extraordinary. I first saw and reviewed his work at the Glenview Mansion in Rockville in June 2004, impressed by his combination of organic shapes, exquisite craft and mathematical brilliance. Since then, the core of his practice remains the same, but the challenges he sets himself, and the risks he’s willing to take to achieve them, have grown and changed. This is perhaps the best thing we can say about an artist—that he/she is working in a trajectory, new things building on what came before, new creativity coming out of a thorough investigation of each new idea, and going forward with that.

Sirvet is a structural engineer by training and employment for a decade before he decided to go full time as an artist in 2008. It is evident to even the casual observer that this background both informs and strengthens his art work. Nothing is haphazard. Everything is carefully planned, organized and impeccably created.

Yet, there’s a wild side to this artist, one that relates to the woods and the backcountry. And that’s here too. Leaf forms made of aluminum, which also look like frozen fire. Hanging pieces that recall beehives in the perfection of their structure, but are also industrial in their materials. Wood, aluminum, brass, bent to remake the hidden perfection of nature evident in works whose aesthetic is thoroughly grounded in it.

Art image of the day again (after tonight's shocker)...


And perhaps the biggest playoff upset in football history?

The Power of the Web

Remember when I complained here that I couldn't find Naranja Agria anywhere in the DMV?

Well, today when I got home I received the pleasant surprise of having a gallon of the stuff delivered to my front door from CubanFoodMarket.com and a gift from one of you who has been thanked separately.

Do I have the nicest friends on the planet or what?

I see more yummy recipes coming in the future.