Courtesy of Mark Staff Brandl

What makes ArtStyle unique from other sites concerning Chicago art operating in cyberspace? Art or Idiocy is clearly Erik Wenzel’s personal, rather pro-SAIC blog, with some enjoyable perceptions; Iconoduel is very infrequent, yet marvelously well-written and well thought out; Bad at Sports (BAS) specializes in podcast interviews, with great comments raised by the interviews; and Sharkforum is the voice of artist-based independence and critique.
Read more »

Technorati Tags: Art or Idiocy, Iconoduel, Bad at Sports

I saw my friend Deanne Lozano the other day and she said she was going to participate in a chanting fest on May 31st, the day of the Wesak Celebration.
Read more »

Technorati Tags: Wesak Celebration

Deborah Maris Lader, an artist and director of the Chicago Printmakers Collaborative (CPC), works in a variety of media, including printmaking, collage, drawing, painting, photography, Polaroid transfers, mixed media found objects, and woodcuts.

nuthatch-4. Courtesy of the Artist.

Read more »

Technorati Tags: printmaking, collage, drawing, painting, photography, Polaroid transfers, mixed media, woodcuts

hexogen paper dress. Courtesy of Ninna Thorarinsdottir.

Dear ArtStyle,

I have been here in Iceland a few days, mostly in the countryside, but today I headed into Reykjavik, the capital, to search for a different experience. Luck was with me, as the Reykjavik Art Museum had an opening of a new exhibit — MAGMA/KVIKA showing the best of Icelandic design. This exhibit is a part of The Reykjavik Arts Festival, filling this city with both international and Icelandic art (music, theater, and fine arts) for two weeks.
Read more »

Technorati Tags: Reykjavik, Reykjavik Arts Festival

I had the opportunity to interview Melanie Brown, who has her studio on the third floor of the Lillstreet Art Center in Ravenswood. As a painter and printmaker, she is the Director of the Children’s Department at Lillstreet, where she also teaches painting and drawing in the adult program. She received her MFA at the American University in Washington, D.C., where she learned traditonal painting and painting from observation, and where she spent time wandering through the National Gallery observing the works of the great masters. Since that time, she has developed a unique style in her narrative subject matter while using traditional materials and techniques. As I approached her studio, I passed through a little corridor with high walls, showcasing her colorful paintings and charcoal drawings. In her studio, piles of drawings and paintings on paper were stacked aimlessly on the floor.

Dreamscape. Courtesy of the Artist.

Read more »

Technorati Tags: Lillstreet Art Center, American University in Washington, D.C., , National Gallery, charcoal drawings