VARC = Visual Artists Resource Center, which can be found on the 6th floor of ArtoMatic this year.

On Friday June 6, memebers of Art DC gathered in the VARC for pizza, introductions all around (we chat on-line using avatars – it was time to meet in person and put name/avatar/art all together) and a visit to attendees art spaces with 5 minute talks.  My original idea was to present this in the same order as we spoke, but my titles have gone and alphabetized themselves and now I'm not sure, but this is close, and the only person you won't see doing a presentation is me, as I failed to get anyone to take a picture of me with my camera.

Hopefully I have mastered this well enough to get pictures and captions lined up!

I know we started with Jennifer Beinhacker.  Not only is her space on the 12th floor, but who else would we start with?!  I met Jennifer last year and was happy to catch up with her and her on-going art this year.  I have interviewed Jennifer twice – here's this year, and from there you can click to last year's.

Jennifer notes on the ArtDC forum about speaking to the group:  "I spoke about the why, how and what the xxx of "art outside the edge."  The "why I do art is easy – it is my bliss.  The "how" was how do I go about creating my art – use of coors, shapes, found objects, etc.  The "What the xxx does it mean?" is always the hardest questions….my art seems to come from some (dark) place inside me and I never know from start to finish what will evolve."

Caitlin Phillips is the creator of Rebound Designs:  hardback books made into purses with attention to making sure the liner fabric matches the title and type of book.  She notes that she uses recycled books and in this particular display covered the encyclopedias from A to Z using several different encyclopedic type volumes and some other "academic" books to complete the collection.

Caitlin can also be found at Eastern Market.

This is Lexi (or Alex) Zealand with two of her works.Lexi's piece has changed from when she first hung it when it had spaces among the pieces (used coffee filters – part of the title is "Addiction" – again, I did not write it down), which she has since closed.  She says that she has not had the opportunity to do a large piece for a lot of years and when she hung it as it was originally, it didn't work as she had seen it in her minds eye.  She thinks it is still a work in progress and invites discussion which she says helps her work through what the piece wants.  She also shared an altered book project she is working on.  Originally she hoped to place the altered books in the library stacks, but, realizing that some people wouldn't check the inside before they left the library (this one is burned out and an object inserted), she has since decided that the altered books will have their own space.  She says:  My sculptures and installations are inspried by finding a moment of beauty in the detritus of daily life…"

Tom Cardarella discussed "But How will it Look in My Living Room."  Tom is another of my interviewees from last year and this, when his work was much different.  This year he used his engineering training to do a prospective piece in which he "hung" images of his other art work.

Everyone wanted to know if there's actually a picture on the other side of the framed canvass…but since you weren't there, I'm not going to tell.

Jessica Hemsley's work combines quilting and crochet.  In the ArtOMatic artist's catalog she says:  "I take apart quilt-blocks and make split quilts that are connected by thread as a metaphor for having biploar.  Synapses are connected yet are misfiring and you feel like you are hanging by a thread, but eventually, find the strength to live."

In her handout, Jessica notes:  "So here I am now, an artist.  I've always wanted to be an artist and have constantly been trying to make it something 'practical' but I've realized now, I really like creatinf for the sake of creating.  And I will get a part-time job for extra income.

Here is Erin Antognoli talking about her halo photographs.  I interviewed Erin here.

Erin has done Halo photography for about 3 years now.  The wonderful layering effect is done in the camera but not completing the turn from one photograph to the next, and experience allows her a good feel for where people and things are going to show up.

Barry Schmetter is one of the all around "do everything" guys at ArtOMatic. 

On his catalog page, Barry says:  "This series of photographs is about generative technologies – technological developments that have had profound and multicentric effects on global culture.  The vacuum tube was an outgrowth of the light bulb that allowed the creation and modulation of electrical signals.  The development of tubes generated technological innovations with far reaching cultural effects – including radio, television, telephone networks, and computers."

Right about here, with all these inserts and links, I start to get nervous about the whole thing disappearing into cyber space.  So I will finish this up tomorrow.

This was a great get together – small enough to mostly remember everyone (and mostly I wrote down what I was afraid I'd forget…mostly), and a wonderful cross section of the diversity that is ArtOMatic!

thought for the day:  Our stories are a legacy that will become important…even if we don't currently seee how or to whom.  Maybe the person for whom you write [or make your art] is not yet born, not yet married into the family, not yet adopted, not yet working on a thesis documenting the impact of experiences you carry.  Trust.  you have not done this work in vain:  when a story is sent authentically into the world it is received.  Christina Baldwin Storycatcher:  Making Sense of Our Lives through the Power and Practice of Story