Dare to Fly Opening Night

Tonight the Boatworks hosted the opening reception for the Dare to Fly exhibition, in which all pieces explore the theme of flight, either literally or figuratively.  Also, all the work is created by youthful artists, with most in the age range of 10 to 15.  

A total of 61 artworks were submitted to this show, which fills both the front and back galleries.  And that includes space above the heads of the viewers, which should be no surprise in a show about flying.

Mediums represented in this exhibition include painting, drawing, mixed media, photography, plaster, paper mache, printmaking, and plastic sealing tape.

As always, we had a pretty big crowd, over 100 people came through the Boatworks during the reception.

During the reception all in attendance could vote for their favorite piece, and initial awards were given for two categories:

Best 2D Work

Flying Above the City

Watercolor

Jordan Donzelli

Howell MS South

Best 3D Work

Untitled

Paper and Wire

Hannah Bates

 Knollwood (Fair Haven)

On the last day of the exhibition, votes were tallied and the Best-of Show by viewer's choice went to:

Flying in Space from a Trampoline

Pen and Ink

Izzy Dobbins

Howell MS South

In addition, the show committee gave awards to several teachers for their efforts to get their students involved:

Classroom Award

Aaron Weber

Schroth School/Ladacin

Teacher Memberships

Candice Arey

Sea Girt Elementary

Michael Ryan

Wall Intermediate

Diane Elenski

Howell MS South

Amy Lepping

Forrestdale School Rumson

Meanwhile come see the show for yourself and vote for the Best in Show before it ends on June 12th.  The gallery is open Wednesday to Sunday for the summer, with extra late hours on Fridays and Saturdays.  Admission is free.

This exhibition is sponsored by the Friendly Sons of Shillelagh of the Jersey Shore.

PreReImagine Art

If the above photo looks a lot like your life, this could be the sign you are ready to become a visual artist.  About a month from now the Boatworks will be hosting a new juried exhibition called ReImagine, which calls for art made from recycled, reused and repurposed materials.  The exhibition organizers are Lisa Bagwell, Nicole Vincenti and Sally Behler- all active members, but Lisa has been making and exhibiting art of this nature for years, so she took the lead in today's project, a community exercise in making art from cast off unwanted materials.

A group of interested artists assembled this morning to start the project, a mosaic style mural using plastic to depict a typical beach scene.  A supply of discarded plastic parts was sorted by color and they started fitting it into a design roughly sketched on a backing board.

Above and below we see the creation of a beach umbrella, colors coming from plastic lids, caps, and other no longer needed items, and all glued in place on the backing board.

Above, Lisa puts together an advertising banner of the type seen dragged by airplanes up and down the beach all summer.  Below is the state of the whole piece after three hours work.  It is currently in the side gallery and more will likely be added before it goes on display as part of the ReImagine show.

Registration for the ReImagine show is currently open on the BelmarArts website, with the deadline for entry on June 10, 2015.  All the details and specific requirements can be found on the exhibition page.

Pixels, Pints & Pizza

The Belmar Arts Council has a history of organizing Sunset Photo Walks, an event where members and guests can wander to parts of town with their cameras and find interesting things to shoot.  Tonight our busy photo instructor Michael Miller arranged a special tour of BeachHaus Brewery, a brand new business which just officially opened last weekend.  They brew several varieties of beer and ale on the premises, all of which are for sale in various formats.

The crowd, a total of 29 people, gathered in the lobby on the ground floor, where Michael introduced Matt, a brewery manager who would be our tour guide and bartender for the evening.  We were surrounded by racks of official apparel, and there were coolers of bottled beer.  In the corner was a device (below) that refills the "growlers", large jugs that can be taken to go, and can be refilled at a later date.

Our next stop was the bottling room, also on the first floor.  We saw a large chilling room, and workers moving around cases packed with bottles.

From there we went up a flight of stairs and visited the production room.

In these large metal tanks, the grain mash is mixed with more water, hops, and whatever else the recipe calls for and cooked as needed.  Eventually the contents are drained and strained and sent on to the next tank.

Of course, the most important part of any brewery tour is the tap room.  They've got a pretty big one there, ready to hold quite a crowd.

Most people opted to try the "flights", four small glasses filled with the customer's choice of the different styles of beer.  Above, Matt fills another set.  Below, happy customers.

Still a little cool this time of year, so few ventured out to the open balcony/deck, but we all could still enjoy the great view of downtown Belmar through the tall windows.  Eventually it was time to go and everyone made the block long journey to the Boatworks, where there was a spirited discussion on the topic of the journalistic approach to photography.

Over pizza from nearby Federico's (and courtesy of Visions Photographic Workshops), we discussed and debated what level of editing and modification to photos is acceptable to the standards of journalism.  (in the interests of full disclosure, the photos in this blog post make use of cropping and adjustments of the tone curve, but nothing else)  Another sunset photo walk is being planned for this summer, likely down by the marina.  Check the website for updates.

Dare To Fly is Open

A new exhibition opened today at the Boatworks. Called Dare To Fly! A Youth Art Exhibit, the work is from artists in the age range of 10 to 15.  All media was welcome, and a wide variety was submitted to the show- drawing, painting, sculpture, etc, more than 60 pieces total.  All with the theme of flying of course.

There will be an opening reception on Saturday, May 30, 2015 from 5:00 to 7:00 pm.   Our extended summer schedule goes into effect this week, so the gallery is open from 1:00 to 5:00 pm Wednesday, Thursday, and Sunday, and from 1:00 to 7:00 pm on Friday and Saturday.  Admission is free.

Making the Papers

No, this isn't a smoothie in progress, much less a daiquiri, unless you like newsprint based beverages.  What you're seeing is the start of a demonstration from today's meeting of Fiber Fridays.  The topic today was making paper.  Papers are made from plant fibers, some more processed than others.  Today Rebecca gave a demonstration as to how a simple paper base can be made from old unwanted paper.  The contents of that blender were essentially shredded newspaper and water, then blended into a pulp.

The next step was to layer the mix in a form, on top of screens that would eventually allow the excess water to drain away.  Some metallic threads were placed on top, and the crowd watched them dance around.  Eventually the bottom was opened allowing the rest of the water to drain quickly, leaving the sheet of paper.

Several minutes of blotting and sponging followed, gradually removing more and more water from the new sheet of paper.  Finally we had the piece below.

This was just a very basic piece, but other options include adding color, and more textural items, or making thicker pieces and molding them into three dimensional forms that will eventually dry.

The Fiber Fridays shared interest group meets bi-monthly at the Boatworks.  Planned for July's meeting is stamping on  various materials.