Laura Dawson Rosenblit:
I live in Salem. I am the mother of two grown daughters. My husband and I like to travel, hike locally, and read.
In my early career I was a Montessori teacher. During that time my artistic projects were block printing and collage. Currently I am a reading and math teacher of middle students. Today, my artistic project has become designing and creating wearable art.
See more of Laura's work at the MJCC, October 24th from 10-4 free admission!
Meet guest artist:
My paintings are combinations of the unexpected. I grew up in the heart of southern Appalachia and studied at Phillips Exeter Academy, and Princeton and Yale Universities in the early days of co-education there. I live and paint in Portland, Oregon, working primarily in watercolor.
I am an avid gardener and hiker. I often paint botanically detailed paintings on an unexpectedly monumental scale, or sweeping landscapes on a tiny handful of paper. I find particular challenge in creating an illusion of solid form and distinct time and place using the ethereally insubstantial materials of watercolor.
One of the things I most often hear during a studio open house is, “ I can’t believe the same artist painted all these different kinds of paintings.”
I do tackle a variety of subjects: landscapes, still-lifes, botanical studies, skyscapes, architecture, the occasional figure or face. Sometimes I blur the traditional distinctions between these subjects and paint large landscapes with finely detailed botanical foregrounds, or still-lifes with highly rendered botanical elements and more abstracted man-made objects.
I have a deep and abiding love and respect for the individual and the particular. In my painting there is an element of conservation of the passing moment, the ephemeral bloom, and the open space that may disappear in development in the future. I do not impose a style on my subjects. My response to the subject in that particular moment in that particular light dictates what degree of rendering, of impression, of abstraction and of expression tips the balance of choices I make. In thirty-five years of watercolor painting and experimenting one assembles a large toolbox of skills. Yet there is a unity of a recognizable hand.
My hand has been shaped by many things: A gluttonous love of color balanced by a love of subtlety. The discliplined training of Chinese brush painting . A broad education in cultural history. Travel. A love of nature dating back to earliest years in my mother’s garden and along my grandfather’s creek. My father’s photography dark room and the “ah-ha” moment of an image emerging from a white paper void. And yes, maybe a little bit of rebellion against the abstraction that was the art establishment of the 1960’s and 70’s of my formative years.
http://www.janelevycampbell.com
Maralynn Maltz is a mosaic artist. About 10 years ago, Maralynn and her young daughter took a “mommy and me” clay class through the Salem Art Association and that is when mosaics entered her life. Determined to make a 7’ x 5’ broken china mosaic mirror frame, even though the class had been cancelled, Maralynn spent 6 months researching in the library and talking to other mosaic and tile artists. She embarked upon her first piece titled “Aunty Mayo’s China Closet.”Hooked on mosaics, Maralynn incorporates her love for quilts into many of her designs and each mosaic is unique in materials and methodology. Each piece, be it a fireplace surround, mirror frame, table top, floating balls, or a simple pot tells it own story about the materials, color, and purpose.
Maralynn does commissioned projects and loves the personal interaction with clients. Maralynn has shown her work in many art shows in the Northwest. She is a consignment artist with Currents Gallery in McMinnville, and she teaches mosaic classes in her home studio and gallery studios. She will be a guest artist at ORA's Celebration of Art on October 24, 2010.
Maralynn has a Bachelor of Arts degree in sociology from the University of California at Berkeley and a M.B.A. from the University of Southern California. Her private sector work is in research, banking, marketing, funds development, and project management. Maralynn, her husband, and daughter reside in Salem, Oregon.
Laura Berman will be a featured guest artist at our Celebration of Art on October 24th @ the MJCC. The hours are 10-4...Come see us...come meet Laura!
Here's her bio: Creating something with my hands is “what gets me up in the morning”. And, it so happens that I’ve been creating with fibers and textiles since I was child.
I’m a third generation Portlander and fondly remember going to the old Jewish Community Center after Sunday School classes. I now live in the small town of Philomath outside of Corvallis with my husband who is also an artist. I believe my passionate interest in textiles and apparel must be genetic because I can’t explain my early infatuation with it, otherwise. I earned both my Bachelors and Masters degrees in those majors from Oregon State University and now have my own fiber studio on our property adjoining my husband’s ceramic studio.
These past 20 years I’ve created clothing and experimented with textile design. About 10 years ago I learned to felt and since then have been nuno felting wool with silk for scarves and also making 3-dimensional whimsical lidded vessels. I’ve developed most of the 3-D techniques I use.
I love being outdoors and am inspired by Mother Nature’s colors, shapes, and textures. I’m also inspired by the colors and patterns of period and ethnic textiles. Through play and experimentation in the studio, an idea often develops its own whimsical persona and charm. The unplanned pieces usually end up as my favorite work.
My medium is primarily Australian merino wool for its fine texture. The wool top is already dyed but I have the freedom of blending fiber colors for shading, variegation, or hue changes as if I were mixing paints.
Wet felting by hand is very physical. I begin a project by laying out several layers of wool colors that I coax into shapes with dry hands. I add soap, water, friction by rolling, and then hot water. The hairy fibers lock together through shrinkage to become a finished piece--without being sewn. The woolly fibers might look delicate but they “bond” together to form a very strong fabric when felted.
How cool is this?
Interview with David Slader
During the next few weeks you will have the opportunity to meet our juried guest artists! In today’s blog entry , we will list the names and media for each guest. Each week we will do a close up feature about each artist. Visit this site often! You’ll be treated to some insights into the world of each artist and get a preview of what will be featured at our Celebration of Art 2010!
Fabric artists will include Laura Berman (felt), Diana Unterspan (fiber), and Ruth Kenner (quilting)
Painters Jane Levy Campbell, Donna Kuttner, Shemaya Blauer (touch painting) and David Slader
Photography by Jessica Israel and Barbara Berger
Fine Beadwork by Fran and Marcie Stone and Laura Dawson Rosenblit
Mosaics, painted glass, and/or mixed media: David Kohnstamm, Harriet Kaufman Levi, Maralynn Maltz & Olga Slutkovskaya
Save the date: Sunday, October 24, 2010, 10:30 am - 4:30 pm
Well, that was embarrassing! There was a glitch in sending out responses to our recent Jury. However, everyone has now received their responses, and we've started receiving your signed contracts.
Leslie Elder writes:
Our own Eddy Shuldman received a prestigious "Song of Miriam" award yesterday! It's great to see her receive the recognition she deserves for her incredible work on Jewish Arts Month (JAM) this year with Mittleman Jewish Community Center.
Yesterday we held our Jury of prospective guest artists for this fall's Celebration of Art show. The offerings were wonderful. Our applicants included a number of nationally/internationally known artists, which is very exciting. We've really come a long way, and this show is going to be beautiful!
ORA is accepting applications for Guest Artist positions in this year's CELEBRATION OF ART 2010.
"Button Up Your View"
"Chair Up There" by Robin Esterkin
"Avian Spa" by Eddy Shuldman
Our own Laura Joy Fendel has several pieces on display as part of a special art show and sale at Portland's Japanese Garden Pavilion. The show, entitled "Texture: The Art of Paper & Fiber,"
Robin Esterkin's lovely painting, "Chair Up There" and Laura Fendel's fabric-framed mirror, "Button Up Your View" are featured on the Virtual Storefront of Community Warehouse's Estate Store. Click here to take a look, and scroll down to the entries for April 3rd and 4th.
Happy Pesach from all the members of ORA! Wishing everyone a joyous and meaningful holiday. 
Leslie Elder has an exhibit of about 17 paintings at a salon in Seattle called Essence a Chic Coiffure.
Ellen Shefi writes:
We have TWO exhibits going on right now. It's an embarrassment of riches!
What a wonderful opening we had tonight at Elements Gallery! The space is big and impressive, the art was arranged so beautifully, the music was wonderful, the food was plentiful and the wine flowed. But most of all, the PEOPLE kept coming!
Check out Eddy's amazing Jewish Arts Month blog for a full run-down of all the wonderful artists featured in our "Light" exhibit. http://jewishartsmonth.blogspot.com
Jewish Arts Month is off to a great start!
At last all can be revealed... we have four new members! I didn't post them sooner, because i wanted to get their web pages done first. But now, without further ado, ORA is proud to introduce our newest members. Click on each person's name to see their web page.
Get a glimpse at some of the many artists & performers appearing in this years Jewish Arts Month (JAM). Check out the JAM blog for profiles of 20 wonderful artists!
Okay friends, here it is..... the whole scoop on everything happening during Jewish Arts Month (JAM). You can view it in two different formats.
Here's a nice way to help the recovery process after the devastation in Haiti.
We have several exhibits coming up in March... it's going to be a really busy month!
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