Art on Aerial Silks

For a very long time I have been looking for the perfect exercise routine which I would be able to actually stick to.  I found a few things which were fun at first, but then my excitement slowly fizzled away...  Until one day I went to a Tango Milonga and met Kimberly Adele and Dylan Keith of Cirque Duo.  That was the start of my love for the aerial silks... and more specifically, aerial yoga.

There are lots of exercise classes you can take, including yoga, in order to build your strength and flexibility, and they will all bring you health and even piece of mind, but at least in my experience, aerial silks make you push the boundaries of how far your body can stretch without the feeling of being trapped in "I'm in a class... lets just get this over with."

Don't get me wrong, you definitely feel each and every stretch, really, really well... but for some reason the hour long classes feel as if they went by in a blink of an eye... I always feel like "That's it?  It's over? Nooo.."

In a matter of less then two months my body has gone from Totally Stiff, to what feels so much more amazing and I can't wait to achieve so much more.  My posture has improved greatly and I swear I "grew" like an inch because of it... hehe.  It feels so good to actually get in-tune with your body and be able to actually feel your muscles supporting your weight as opposed to just slouching around, which I have been doing for most of my life.

After I get a little bit more out of my yoga classes, I'm planning to take their Aerial Cirque Arts classes... those look like a lot of fun!

More Ways to love Brad Oldham

I opened the envelope and saw the most adorable bronze owl sculptures ever!  "View the Artist's Proofs of an exciting new sculpture series by Brad Oldham" ...the invitation read.  I'm so very proud of Brad's new accomplishment!  We have been buddys for so many year now; makes me happy to see him take on this new endeavor in his life...  Pure Sculpture by Brad Oldham... sure has a great ring to it, doesn't it?   I'm also psyched by the unveiling of CAPTAIN, WALTER, JOHN & ABIGAIL; the fabulous trio... I wanted to share it with everyone!

The Invitation reads:

MORE WAYS TO LOVE

BRAD OLDHAM

As a friend and client of Brad Oldham, you know the genuine

nature of the artist and his work.  True to form, this new

limited-edition sculpture series featuring owls is once deeply

personal and yet ultimately accessible.

Each Silver-Infused Bronze focuses on a unique breed

of owl-and is inspired with its own original story by Oldham's wife

Christy Coltrin.  The sculpture design and the new custom storybook

are completed in tandem, with each inspiring the other.

When the final casting in an edition is made, the mold is

broken to ensure the series can never again be reproduced-

and a  piece of the actual mold is enclosed with the hand-

signed and numbered sculpture.

View the Artist's Proofs

of an exciting new sculpture series

by Brad Oldham

and become a Charter Member of a revolutionary new artistic endeavor

PURE SCULPTURE

By Brad Oldham

Wednesday, June 1st & Thursday, June 2nd

5:00 - 7:00 p.m.

Bentley Dallas

5300 Lemmon Avenue

Dallas, Texas 75209

Hosted by:

Brad Oldham, Christy Coltrin & Bill Jesse

RSVP to christy@bradoldham.com or 214.239.3993

I know I keep saying It's A Small World, but it really is.  As I mentioned before, Potter Art Metal Studios (my fabulous place of design and ornamental metalwork fabrication) is currently working on the lanterns, doors, and new glass top awnings for the entries of the Regency Row Homes at the Ritz-Carlton.  Architect Richard Drummond Davis designed a very pretty anthemion for the door panels which I'm going to sculpt at about 4" tall and Brad will cast them for me in pewter... they'll look like beautiful little jewelry pieces.  Kyle Crews has a very awesome idea for them... but I can't spill too much info... you'll just have to wait and see!

Anyhow... I do hope to see everyone there!!

________________________________________________________________________
UPDATE!

Just got back!  Guess what?  Got to take a photo with my favorite sculpture: John & Abigail... plus Brad's daughter is a totally awesome little fashionista and helped me pick out the most rockin' hot pink feather for my hair!  Getting it out of my hair is going to be another story; I think they stay in like a month...

John & Abigail... the most adorable little owls!  ...and me!

And so we happened upon an Art Gallery...

Taco Diner: Taken from Taco Diner's web page.

I had yet another wonderful evening with Ozzie; I just love our almost weekly philosophical discussions peppered with silly gossip and other fun talk while enjoying a wonderful meal.  One of our favorite spots?  The West Village Taco Diner off McKinney.  They have THE best avocado salad ever!  Anyway, I was just looking for a photo so I looked up their website and found out that the Taco Diner is co-owned by Dick Washburne, who also owns Mi Cocina.  So crazy!  He's a really good friend of Richard Potter's, an excellent cook (the Christmas meals at his home are to die for!), and I even had the pleasure of designing a few metalwork pieces for his home.  Small World!

But anyhow, that's not the story.  This story is about an art gallery.

BUNI: Taken from Ro2 Art's Facebook Page.

After the splendid meal, we headed to Paciugo's for some sinful goodies and decided to walk off a few calories around the West Village.  While doing a little window shopping, I noticed a very familiar shape; it was BUNI, by the late artist Mike Kury.  I got super excited and started pointing to the artwork behind the glass.  My excitement was apparently noticed by Jordan Roth, the owner of Ro2 Art, who was busy sitting on the floor of the gallery, preparing artwork for display.  He got up from the task at hand, walked over to the door and opened it, smiling at us.  This was such an exciting little present as the gallery won't actually be opened till June 18th, so we got a lovely preview!  I've seen the Ro2 Art gallery in Downtown Dallas, so seeing another one opening in the West Village was a pleasant surprise.  Ozzie and I got to examine each piece up close and since Jordan was right there, we basically got a personal tour with lots of nifty information about the art.  I especially enjoyed learning about the pieces "painted" with gunpowder... as in setting it on fire on top of paper, which, with the skillful drawing, cutting, and pyro-work of the artist, created amazing shapes and colors on the paper beneath the gunpowder.  It was a pleasure meeting Jordan; I wish him the best of luck on the opening of his new gallery... and if you're looking for something to do on that date, support the arts and visit Ro2!  As soon as I got home, I put the June 18th date on my calendar! 

Grounds for Sculpture

Last Saturday I drove over to New Jersey to visit the Grounds for Sculpture... and I am so glad that I did.  The lushes and diverse vegetation would have been enough for me, but add to that the larger then life pieces of artwork and the scenery, which was simply breathtaking, and you have a recipe for heaven; everyone should visit this Wonderland at least once in their life.  I loved the little "hidden" nooks and winding paths throughout the park containing hidden treasures.

Although the photographs I took were beautiful, they just do not compare to being there and experiencing the grouns first hand.  To put simply, the whole thing was an experience for all the senses... the views, as I mentioned before, but also lots of textures to be experienced first hand under your fingertips, the sounds of water flowing over pebbles and such... not to mention the cries of live peacocks wondering the grounds... the smells and taste of the Rats restaurant... an oh goodness... I have not smelled lilac in such a long time... hmmm... (remembering and loving it all even more).  It was a magical day for sure.

Contemporary Bedroom

Bedroom headboards, especially long solid ones with lower ceilings above them, are a bit tricky when it comes to artwork.  Everyone wants to put some sort of a painting above them, but a large piece tends to "argue" with the actual headboard.  Throw a splash of color onto that wall by painting several canvases with the same subject.  Then, add a twist by coloring each one a bit differently then the other ones; large, bold shapes work especially well for contemporary styles.  Remember to keep some sort of continuation in all three; in this particular group I made sure that the backgrounds are almost the same.  This creates a feeling of consistency; the three become a single piece of art.  I had fun with this project, hope to see what you came up with.  Have fun!

Landfill Art Canvases

Any artists out there who want to turn a piece of garbage into art?  Join me!

Landfillart is an international effort encompassing one-thousand-forty-one artists who claim a piece of rusted metal garbage, old car hub caps from the 1930's through the 1970's, to create fine art.  Ken Marquis is the founder of the project.


 I was contacted by Ken quite a while ago, and after the initial "get to know you", I was sent one of the landfill hub caps which I was to turn into art.  The box arrived and I was so thrilled when I saw the old, banged up, piece of garbage; it came off an old Chevrolet and had lots of character.  I started thinking as to what I should do with the chrome hub cap with blue and red markings.  Should I paint on it?  Make a large art piece with the hub cap as a part of the masterpiece?  Lots of ideas started flowing through my head, but none of them seemed to be quite right for the old guy.  Finally, I decided that I would not turn the hub cap into "something else".  I would simply show everyone the beauty within the piece.

Upon closer investigation, I got super excited as I uncovered what was underneath all that awful beat-up chrome... a lovely layer of solid brass!  Exactly what I was hoping for.  I slowly ground off the chrome and gave the brass a bit of a "barely there" texture.  Then I gave the piece a lovely coat of a dark patina and brought out the high-lights.  There were a few other steps along the way of course, but this is all about he old hub cap of course.  Our story had such a happy ending too... the Chevrolet hub cap, which has been laying all beat up and useless among other landfill trash was rescued by Ken Marquis, a modern day price, then was sent to BelaArt, the Izabela Wojcik Spa of Art that is, and came out looking like the most lovely bronze sculpture.  Don't you wish all trash had a happy ending like this?  So what are you waiting for?  Click HERE.