Blair Anderson, Metal Artist, Tells Her Story

I love metal. I love the feel of it, the smell of it, and I love playing with fire. Let’s face it there is a little pyro in all of us… or at least that is what I tell my students. I started in my 20’s while getting my fine art degree back in college. Totally obsessed with what the metal does, how it forms and how you can make it be expressive, I recognized early on that my particular “wearable art” would take on a story telling nature. Now in my 50’s I still can’t escape that tendency of telling stories with my work.

The Source

My primary focus now is in the development of other artists through my studios, SilverWorks and SilverWorks Studio 2: Hot Metal in Glen Echo MD. I am lucky to have landed a permanent artist residency at the historical Glen Echo Park, a truly unique community of artists nestled in a national park. It is there where I spend most of my time teaching and developing classes in the metal arts. Having run the gamut of doing juried shows all over the country as well as having over thirty galleries represent my work, I now have the luxury of choosing to create a single themed one-of-a-kind collection each year and then spend the rest of my time igniting the fire in others.

More Out of Life

My husband Bryan calls me a drug dealer for a reason. My true joy is getting people addicted to the art form.

Wings

But it wasn’t always the case. Doing the juried shows seemed sexy at first. There is a great rush when you get in, and when galleries take on your work, but I think the nature and personality of an artist struggles to find a balance of life and work and also that sweet spot where your work unfolds unhindered. About 17 years into my journey I found that I had begun to do more mass production than one-of-a-kind. It’s what my husband later dubbed the “twenty dollar earring syndrome”. Catering to the masses for the sake of a living watered down the true work I was doing in the beginning. That and a really bad deal with an unscrupulous gallery turned the creative faucet off.

10Chain

So I quit. I went on to do other art forms and started an online visual arts gallery with some digital work. It flourished.

Taquila

Then the market crashed. But I think most artists are a resourceful lot and in an act of desperation due to some mounting debt I decided to go back to my first love.

SilverWorks was born. In November 2009 I opened the tiny little studio hoping against hope that I could attract enough students to make a go of it as well as go back to doing my one-of-a-kind work without compromising the art. I had my first solo show after coming back to the art form, the creative juices were flowing again! Since that opening I have had a show each year that focuses the work on a theme that ultimately teases out more stories while continuing to expand the work. The organic nature of the growth of my little studio from a few beginning classes to what it is today has also enabled me to look forward to another big horizon type dream project that my husband and I began a few years ago, again with the focus of empowering other artists. It is an artist retreat and residency program called Exnihilo.

Paleo

This is Week 13 of 52 Artists in 52 Weeks. Thank you for reading and sharing Blair’s story today. To contact Blair and see more of her work, please email her at blair@silverworksglenechopark.com.

Michael Manthey, Jewelry Alchemist, Tells His Story

From early childhood I had a curiosity where things came from and how they were made. I found that almost everything comes out of the ground to feed, clothe, shelter, and transport us. So I developed a trust with rocks and their knowledge, learned skills to transform them, and found that some rather beautiful and difficult things can be made in a surprisingly short time.

The decision to become a professional artist came at age forty while I was recovering from a broken neck injury. The discovery that the creative process gave me a vision of a goal beyond myself saved my sanity and my spirit. I am forever grateful for that.

My contact with the craft of jewelry came when Avishai Greis of Aion Manufacturing cast my first carved waxes into silver. Because he liked my designs, he offered me a traditional apprenticeship in his workshop. Avishai was trained by a Russian jeweler so I became part of a long tradition -- the craft of fire and metal, crystals and gems.

When I started to show my work at local and regional art & craft shows, patrons began commissioning ornaments to commemorate the important moments in their lives, from birth to death. I was asked to create symbols of beauty and durability, a source of joy forever. Trust is an important factor in this craft, not only for the tangible wealth, but also because patrons share their dreams, aspirations, hopes and visions with me. The artist becomes historian of these times as future generations pass on these ornaments, and the stories that come with them. I work alone in my studio, I do not have a production line, I do strictly one-of-a-kind and commission work. I cut and carve my own stones, and have made wedding bands from meteorite, amulets for pregnancy, a magic wand, and turned ancestors gold fillings into treasured family heirlooms.

So, that said, I would like to use this opportunity to shed some light on a question many people have: What makes artists tick? If we look back in history at a civilization where we do not know the language, customs, and religion, what is left to look at is the artist’s art. So artists are really historians who record dreams, aspirations, fears and hopes. This influence encourages us to use creative alternatives that work well and are needed to balance the precarious situation the status quo has led us to.

I would like to share some of my most favorite quotes with you. They range from Astronomer Johannes Kepler, 1619, to the Chinese dissident artist, Ai WeiWei, 2013.

“Throughout history aesthetic revolution has always been a harbinger of social revolution, that changes in the way artists portray reality lead inevitably to the changes in the way the common people think and behave.” Quote from the book, Hanging Man: The Arrest of Ai WeiWei by Barnaby Martin

“Artistic vision is a label for a difficult-to-define combination of close attention, perception, understanding, intuition, and ambition, and none of that counts for much unless it is combined with remarkable execution, or the communication of that vision.” Quote from Astronomer Johannes Kepler, 1619

“In a work of art there is a kind of merging between the precision of poetry and the excitement of pure science … and the greater one’s science, the deeper the sense of mystery.” Quote from A Muse and a Maze: Writing as Puzzle, Mystery, and Magic by Peter Turchi

“Shapes are in the archetype prior to their being in the product, in the divine mind prior to being in creatures, differently indeed in respect to their subject, but the same in the form of their essence.” Quote from Kepler’s Philosophy and the New Astronomy by Rhonda Martens

“We work in the dark, we do what we can, we give what we have. Our doubt is our passion and our passion is our task. The rest is the madness of art.” Quote from Henry James’ novel, The Middle Years

Out yonder is this huge world, which exists independently of us humans, and stands before us like a great, eternal riddle, at least partially accessible to our inspection and thinking. The contemplation of this world beckons as a liberation. The road to this paradise has shown itself reliable, and I have never regretted having chosen it.

This is Week 12 of 52 Artists in 52 Weeks. Thank you for reading and sharing Michael’s post today. To contact Michael please call him at 215-574-8121.

Note: All photo credit: Lu Szumskyj

Michael F. Beard, Painter, Tells His Story

My great dilemma at East Carolina University back in 1970 was deciding whether my major would be art or biology. I chose art and have since incorporated my love of natural things into my paintings. My Dad, who was paying my tuition, was not real happy with my choice. I had to fight hard to follow my passion for art.

Emerging Life 2, 24”x18”

In the 70s and 80s it was a struggle to find time and space to paint while raising a family with five daughters. I used the attic loft in my Cape Cod style house in McLean, Va. as a studio. After my girls had grown up quite a bit, my wife and I divorced and I moved into a small colonial house in Silver Spring, MD. I used the living room as my studio. 

Emerging Life 1, 22”x28”

One of my favorite paintings occurred one evening when about 10pm I was hit with the inspiration to paint. I stayed up all night inspired by the colors of a Tiffany lamp and produced “Luminosity”.

Luminosity, 4' x 4'

For 17 yrs. I was the Executive Director of the Kirov Academy of Ballet in Washington, DC. I was heavily influenced by the amazing beauty and grace of the ballet. I incorporated some of that movement in the lines of my paintings.

Red Floral Cascade, 30” x 24”

Wherever I am I see colors and shapes that I want to experiment with on canvas. So I try to have my camera with me to capture the moment. I love the brilliant colors and sensual forms of flowers and plants. Playing with them on the canvas led to my cascading flower series. 

Blue Floral Cascade, 30” x 24”

What excited me most was discovering everything going on inside of the flowers I observed. The subtle folds, the hidden crevices, the fascinating shapes. I wanted to bring them to life in a painting that moved and swirled.  Then I started seeing shapes that looked like other living things and that led to the “Birth of Everything”.

Birth of Everything, 30" x 24"

I am now semi-retired and living in Naples, Florida with my wife, Eileen. I’ve finally got more time to paint!

Secret Life of Flowers, 30" x 40"

This is Week 11 of 52 Artists in 52 Weeks. Thank you for reading and sharing Michael's story today!