All Art Friday

All Art Friday

Focus on Virginia Artists: Painter Jill Evans-Kavaldjian

The art of Jill Evans-Kavaldjian, who lives in Morrisonville, near Lovettsville, Virginia, encompasses landscapes, still lifes, murals and interiors, and illustrations for educational materials. She creates charming graphite and colored pencil drawings, paintings in delicate watercolors and vibrant oils, as well as lovely hand-cut block prints, interesting 3-D paper constructions, such as March and The Wave, and floorcloths and other decorative items. Nature is a particular interest. To see images of her work, go here. (Evans-Kavaldjian's gallery page on her Website, Art at Garden Corner, is not yet available to view.)

Evans-Kavaldjian, who has a fine arts degree from Virginia Commonwealth University, teaches mixed media and block-print workshops, among other classes, at the Round Hill Arts Center, Round Hill, Virginia.

In addition to participating in the Western Loudoun Artists Studio Tour, Evans-Kavaldjian writes at her blog Art at Garden Corner, where she highlights other artists, local exhibitions, and her own art methods and techniques.

Evans-Kavaldjian's shop on Etsy features her limited-edition block print originals, such as Oriental Poppies, as well as her cards.

Exhibitions Here and There

✭ In London, Tate Modern's Frida Kahlo exhibition continues until October 5. The show includes rare archival film footage of Kahlo and painter and muralist Diego Rivera at "The Blue House". Go here for a descriptive room guide and here for a virtual tour of the house. Illustrated with black-and-white and color photographs, a timeline, beginning with Kahlo's birth in 1907, plots through 1958 the political events of Kahlo's time. 

For additional resources and information about Amy Stechler's film The Life and Times of Frida Kahlo, released in 2005, go here.

Also see this June 4, 2010, post.

Image above at right: Frida Kahlo, Self-Portrait with Monkey, 1938, Abright-Know Art Gallery, Buffalo, New York, Bequest of A. Conger Goodyear, 1966. © Banco de Mexico and INBAL, Mexico, 2005

By the way, the Bank of Mexico plans to put into circulation a 500-peso bill featuring Kahlo and Rivera. See "Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera To Be Reunited on Mexican Bill", Los Angeles Times Blog, August 30, 2010. The feature includes the bank's official video about the bill.

✭ Sculptor Alan Binstock, one of my favorite local artists, is presenting a series of new monumental forms of steel and glass for the Sylvia Berlin Katzen Sculpture Garden at American University's Katzen Arts Center. Titled "Way-stations", the show continues through October 24. A reception for the artist takes place from 6:00 p.m. until 9:00 p.m. tomorrow. Binstock will give a gallery talk on September 25 at 4:00 p.m.

Alan Binstock, Terra-M (detail), 2009

Also on view at the Katzen: "Luciano Penay Time, News, Paintings, and Natural Forms" and "BG Muhn: Love Affair of the Empress", both through October 17.

✭ In New York City, ACA Galleries offers, through October 9, "Faith Ringgold: Coming to Jones Road, Part II & Other Story Quilts". A reception with the artist is scheduled for September 16, 6:00 p.m. - 8:00 p.m. (I recently included some information about Ringgold in this post.)

✭ Sculptor Nancy Sansom Reynolds exhibits "the 2nd element: stratus series" at Addison/Rippley Fine Art, in Washington, D.C., from September 10 through October 23. Reynolds' show comprises beautiful minimalist sculptures of wavy laminated plywood and acylic paint. See images of her gorgeous abstractions here.

✭ Acclaimed commercial illustrator and painter Norman Sunshine will be presented at Morrison Gallery, Kent, Connecticut, from September 18 through October 17. 

Work by Sunshine, who studied with both Lorser Feitelson (1898-1978) and William Brice (1921-2008), can be found in numerous public and private collections, including The Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles. Images of Sunshine's paintings, sculpture, and works on paper, including his lovely pastels of horses, can be seen on his Website; other images are here.

✭ The Vermont Photography Workplace will be exhibiting 40 photographs on the walls and another 35 images on its Website for its show "Abstraction in Photography", October 5-30. 

I'm delighted to give a shout-out to my friend Diane Walker at Contemplative Photography, who has two of her images in the exhibit: Paddington's Birds and I Lift My Lamp.

Diane also recently published her wonderful Goddess series, Inspiration for the Journey: Aspects of the Divine Feminine and intends to donate a portion of proceeds from sales to a cancer-related organization.

✭ On October 2 in New Orleans, Shop of the Two Sisters is set to become the scene for the first art exhibition, "Art for Art's Sake", by Images Without Borders. Profits from sales of images by world-class photographers will benefit Doctors Without Borders. For more information about the show, see IOWB's blog.

✭ Painter Laurel Hausler, whom I've had the great pleasure to meet, is presenting new artwork, beginning September 17, at her show "Debutants & Feral Children" at Morton Fine Art, Washington, D.C. The opening reception for the exhibition, which runs through October 14, is 6:00 p.m. - 9:00, September 17.  To view images of paintings in the show, go here and click on the artist's name under the heading Collaborating Artists.