As many of you know, we had a major flood event in the store on June 18, 2012. While all merchandise is safe and stored offsite, the store is under construction to remediate all the water damage. We are happy to report that progress is moving swiftly and we hope to be able to begin restocking the store by mid-July.
We want to thank all our customers and supporters during our down time and to remind them that the Museum was untouched by this calamity and is open regular hours. http://www.ackland.org Don’t miss the “Last Look” at Thornton Dial Thoughts on Paper this weekend. We’ll be in the Museum Lobby on Saturday and Sunday and will have copies of the accompanying book for 15% off.
Stay tuned as we’ll update our progress regularly.
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We had busy weekend here at the Ackland Museum Store. The weekend began with the Second Friday Art Walk. We had a great time talking with Anthony Ulinski and Deneé Black about their work—discussing the importance of mentorship and the role it has played in their own lives. It was both engaging and informative. If you missed the talk, please don’t miss the show. It is fantastic! Continues thru June 10. Saturday & Sunday saw lots of families out and about for Mother’s Day and Graduation. It was a pleasure to take part in the celebration!
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We’re a bit hyped up here at the Ackland Museum Store. Sunday, May 13th is both Mother’s Day and Graduation Day. We’re ready for you with gifts and cards for both occasions. We could inundate you with lots of pictures of the goodies here in the store but you already know that if you come, you’ll find just the right thing to congratulate your graduate and to tickle your Mother’s fancy.
But today is Tuesday, May 8th and amidst all the anticipation of the coming weekend, it’s an election day. We know the 2012 graduates are leaving UNC better citizens for having been here. We wish you success and happiness in all your future endeavors and we hope your journey will be one of lifelong learning and joy. But today, right now, make your Mother proud and get out and vote.
Alice had a fantastic day at Joseph Sand Pottery, choosing pieces for his upcoming show in our gallery. Details to follow. In the meantime, we have some of Joseph’s work in the store… beautiful mugs and vases.
And if you have the opportunity, visit Joseph this weekend & next at his Spring Kiln Opening. May 5th 9-5, May 6th noon-5, May 12th 9-5 and May 13 noon-5.
We are celebrating our 1st birthday!!! We will be open exactly one year this Saturday, May 5th. Come celebrate with us… rumor has it, there will be cake.
In the Gallery –
Woman Pushing Stroller, Anthony Ulinski
This week continues with Perspectives in Mentoring: The Paintings of Anthony Ulinski and Deneé Black. Perspectives in Mentoring is the first in a series of shows focusing on the importance of mentoring in the fields of art and craft. This week we share a little about the process for each artist.
Anthony Ulinski on his process –
Technique:
These paintings are made from a mixture of oil paints and bees wax. The two mixed together have a consistency of frosting and this impasto is applied with a palette knife. (A third ingredient, a plasticizer is added when the painting is on canvas.) The mix of paint to medium can be altered—more paint for a more opaque mix or more medium for a more translucency.
I layer many coats over an initial rough drawing. Each layer allows me to refine or redefine the drawing. By layering many successive coats of colors that are very near each other I (hopefully) add interest to and break up color fields adding depth and texture.
Imagery:
These paintings are derived from photographs taken from the first floor dining room at Teaism, a tea shop near Dupont Circle in Washington DC. I was watching the people come and go and photographed the scenes as they passed by below me. I was attracted to the long shadows of the people and trees cast by the late afternoon sun.
The viewer is standing above and at some slight remove from the scene— an unseen observer.
On Otis Street, Deneé Black
Deneé Black on her process –
My work is taken from inspiration that I document with my camera. I work with acrylics utilizing my photography, image transfers and collage (including my own screen printed collage pieces). My photographs turned into image transfers are kind of my blueprint for the start of a painting. I work in layers with paint and collage pieces. Paint and collage are found below and above the surface of the image transfer.
In the Store –
Mother’s Day is quickly approaching, and we’ve got the perfect things to let mom know how special she is not only on Sunday, May 13th, but throughout the year.
- Jewelry by artists like Meghan Patrice Riley. Meghan’s light and wearable sculptural jewelry will delight any Mom. Mixing metals with textile techniques, she creates unique handcrafted pieces with a feminine elegance and a slight industrial touch inspired by volumetric forms.
- New to the store are bright and colorful necklaces, bracelets and earrings by I. Ronni Kappos. Handmade using vintage German glass beads from the 20’s, 30’s and 40’s. Ronni values the history in her materials, while designing pieces with a clean modern look.
- Tell mom you want her to be happy and healthy with a glass water bottle by bkr.
Why glass you ask? Here’s what our friends at BKR have to say –
IT’S JUST A WATER BOTTLE LIKE YOU’RE JUST A PERSON. Who are you anyway? You’re not just a person who accepts logic like leaching chemicals in your drinking water, awkward shaped mouthpieces during your workouts, an island made of plastic with a 700-year zero-interest lease on development, camping equipment as accessory with your super cool outfits. We are bkr people. Your bkr (“beaker”) bottle is made of glass and is for you to fill. Whatever you want inside. Tap water, bubbly water, orange juice, chocolate milk. Give up your plastic habits. We don’t eat things we can’t pronounce or marinate our water in polyethylene terephthalate. We’ve evolved. It’s a bkr. All clean everything.®
F.A.Q. - http://www. mybkr.com/faq.asp
In the Gallery –
This week continues with Perspectives in Mentoring: The Paintings of Anthony Ulinski and Deneé Black. Perspectives in Mentoring is the first in a series of shows focusing on the importance of mentoring in the fields of art and craft. This week we share what each artist has to say about their work.
Anthony Ulinski on his work –
This series of paintings were inspired by views from an upstairs window seat at a tea shop in Washington DC. I had been working on a series of rural landscapes looking at plow lines, canals, roads and telephone wires for structure. In these cityscapes once again I have structural lines — streets, curbs, cracks between sidewalks. A way to break up the spaces and add connecting lines for the objects on the canvas. The perspective is slightly vertiginous, the figures are foreshortened and the shadows elongated in the harsh light of a late winter afternoon.
Deneé Black on her work –
I recreate the way that I see my daily surroundings: in contrasting, bold blocks of shapes and saturated colors. I sometimes envision entire live spaces and moments as complete works of art. At other times, a single object or form, removed from its surroundings, may be the subject of my work. These visual ‘snapshots’, whether based on my daily surroundings, moments captured, or single objects, are then translated into mixed media pieces. My Cityscapes series focuses on the shapes, colors and energies found in urban spaces.
In the Store –
We’ve got lots of new friends in the store courtesy of our friends at Cardboard Safari & Jellycats. Rocky the Ram is fabulous and we are absolutely in love with Robbie the Rhino. He is beyond cute! In addition, a few Mad Pets have joined our Cordy Roy pals, and boy are we mad for them. Welcome Orla & Olive!
Hope you’ll stop to meet our new friends and perhaps make a few of your own!
Marsha Owen Pottery is now available @ AMS. The pottery is the work of Marsha Owen and her husband Rick Moss. They have been working out of their studio in Raleigh, NC, for over seventeen years making a variety of ceramic objects for everyday use. Form and function truly become one in the hands of Marsha and Rick.
In the Gallery –
Anthony Ulinski, Man Reading Deneé Black, The French Quarter Alley II
This week continues with Perspectives in Mentoring: The Paintings of Anthony Ulinski and Deneé Black, which opened with a special reception last Friday, April 13th. What a fun opening! Anthony and Deneé were here along with about 100 friends ,art lovers, and passers-by. We also had live music with local pianist Dawn Michelle Williams who played beautifully, accompanied on drums by Michael Rogers.http://dawnmichellewilliams.com/
Perspectives in Mentoring is the first in a series of shows focusing on the importance of mentoring in the fields of art and craft. Anthony Ulinski is an accomplished oil painter who has taught extensively at Penland among other well respected schools. Deneé Black, a talented mixed media painter, has taken classes with Anthony and has been mentored by him for several years. The show features not only the cityscapes of both artists, but reflects the evolving nature of a mentoring relationship. Their work, while stylistically different, share structural lines, strong perspective, and bold color.
In the store –
The NEW collection in The Bags from Banners line has arrived and we are super excited! Jennifer Collins-Mancour has once again taken a banner from a former exhibition at the Ackland Art Museum and turned it into fun, functional, and beautifully constructed bags (clutches, totes and messenger bags).
This new collection comes from Fortune Smiles: The Tyche Foundation Gift, which was on exhibit in the galleries at the Ackland Art Museum, May 22-August 10, 2010. http://www.ackland.org/OnView/archive/CCM1_041106
The exhibition catalog, along with these fabulous new bags, is available at the Ackland Museum Store.
Cards, cards and more cards! They say letter writing is a lost art. Well, we hope to bring it back… or at least try. We have a fantastic selection of cards in the store: cute ones, funny ones, sweet ones, snarky ones… you get the point. They’re just waiting to be sent to Mom & Dad, your BFF from back home, or your dear sweet grandmother. Fugu Fugu Press, Whigby, Sugarcube Press, Red Cap Cards and more.
And speaking of paper, we’ve also just received a new shipment of Japanese Paper. We LOVE it! It is beyond beautiful and it is amazing to work with… perfect for all of your paper crafting pursuits! Did I mention we LOVE this paper?
