Road Trip!

Upstairs Studio Artist Darla Myers has a show opening in Seward tonight, July 1. This is a unique show paired with former Upstairs Studio Artist Cheryl Lyon. They painted from the same scenes, one artist in oil the other in encaustic for their show titled "Look Twice".

The show opens tonight  6-8pm at Resurrect Art Coffee House, 320 Third St, Seward. Both artists will be present at the opening. The show will remain on display for the month of July.

Artist Show Statement-

"Cheryl and Darla met after being paired as studio mates at Upstairs Studio. In getting to know each other we found we had much more in common than just the studio we shared. We both paint with bold colors and choose subjects based on our love of nature. Other commonalities include admiring the same artists, enjoying cooking (especially traditional mexican), wearing skirts with extra tufs and knitting. An immediate friendship formed between us although we no longer share the studio space.

For "Look Twice" we chose to paint the same scenes, one of us in encaustic and the other in oil. Encaustic is an ancient painting medium using beeswax, damar resin and pigment to paint. The wax is heated and then painted quickly before the brushload cools too much to spread. Wax layers are fused with heat-either a heat gun or torch and then the wax can be further worked by carving, scraping and layering. The unique translucence, irregularities and shine are some of the attractiveness of this medium.

The paintings are all from our own photos and observations. We chose the subjects together and decided which medium each of us would paint the scene in. We agreed to paint separately and not to see each others paintings until completion. That became the hardest part-we were quite used to stopping be each others home studios and giving each other input on paintings when needed. It was very exciting for us to see each others paintings upon completion.

We hope our paintings remind you that everyone sees the world a little differently, and also to take a second look at the everyday beauty of nature and friendship."

Sneak peak at some paintings and inspiration photos- 

What we painted from

darla myers-oil "sunglow"

cheryl lyon, encaustic-"standing together"

Eklutna flats photo

cheryl lyon, encaustic-"iris haven"

darla myers, oil-"eklutna flats"

Ninilchik boat photo

cheryl lyon, encaustic "sitting in fireweed and cow parsnip"

darla myers, oil-"ninilchik sunshine"

If you make it to Seward in July be sure and stop by and see our show at the coffee shop. More about our art on our web sites- www.cheryllyon.com and www.darlamyersart.com

The Pet Project Artist Challenge

Photos of some of the artwork brought in by artists who answered our monthly artist challenge:
Most of these pieces will go to the Anchorage SPCA to be auctioned off at their benefit dinner, April 17, at Guido's restaurant.

Thanks to everyone who participated, these are wonderful!

March Mini Art Challenge

Our Art Challenge for March is to create a mini piece of art to be displayed for March First Friday.  We had supports to give out last First Friday, but if you didn't make it and want to participate don't let that stop you.

Basically there are 3 rules for the Art Challenge:
1. Art should be 6" x6" or smaller
2. Should be ready to Hang on a Wall
3. Get it to us by March 2

 (they can be for sale or not-you choose)


There is an Art Intake form that you will need to submit with your Art. You can find it by following the link below.

March Mini Art Intake Form


This should be a fun diversion to help the last long nights of winter pass. We will have the Mini's on display during our First Friday opening on March 4 from 5-9.

We're open this Saturday-November 20

Shop!

We'll be open for some early bird Holiday Shopping again this Saturday from 10-5. If the hustle and bustle at the Dena'ina Center Art and Craft Emporium as too much for you-then walk up G street and shop a bit at Upstairs Studio! We'll have an intimate gathering of local Crafters and Artists selling their Modern Handmade Gifts at the Studio.

In addition to our Upstairs Studio Artists we will be joined this Saturday by Myler Almandinger,  Marie Polito and Dallas Wildeve.  

Myler Almandinger is bringing her exotic woven and knitted Quiviut items along with many other felted knit items. She has mittens, slippers and more. Given our recent weather-her goods may need to be given as early gifts !  They are warm, stylish and functional in our Arctic North.

 

 

Marie Polito of Saucy Kitchen Coveralls will have her reclaimed denim coverall wearables. (I'm hoping I can talk her into an Artist Apron design for myself.) She pairs some fun fabrics and designs into her skirts aprons and more.

Dallas Wildeve, ( you may remember  her stiched tyvek art showing at a recent First Friday with us) will have her jewelry made from salvaged plastic pipe, paper and more. She has away with using an unexpected combination or overlooked or scrapped items and turning them into  wearable art. I'm sure she'll have a showing of completely unique and one of a kind gifts for a friend or yourself.

Some of our Studio Artists have also been busy making new items for the Holiday Shopping season. I encourage you to stop by this Saturday and say hi-you'll have a chance to Shop!, meet great Artists and Crafters and spend some time in our unique Gallery Space without the distraction of First Friday crowds. We will also be open December 11 and 18-with a different mix of Artists and Crafters selling. Each Saturday will be different-so you could make them all and find new items and Artists each time.

Come on up!

Change is in the Air

Being Artists we love changing things up constantly.  Just hard to agree on how to change things! So we started with a white wall in our Gallery. It certainly brightens and cheers up the room. It will be exciting to showoff our colorful Wall art on the nice warm white.  Don't worry-there will still be
color in the Gallery-more colors coming soon.


More white things! Paper mache/plaster skull masks are available to decorate in the tradition of Dia de los Muertos sugar skulls.  Some exciting skull art being created at the Studios, if you want to participate, contact us via email to arrange to get one. You will need to have yours complete and to the Gallery by Nov 4, to be displayed as part of our  November 5 First Friday with Government Hill 6th grade class "Dia de los Muertos".

 

Marlee is making Frida candles-they are very festive. All this and more will be displayed on the next First Friday November 5.

ps. We have Studios spaces available for the right Artists or Crafters.  Contact us at info (at) upstairstudioart.com for more info. We have  an energetic friendly artist community here at Upstairs Studio.

Creativity this week at the Studio

This was a busy and creative week at Upstairs Studio.  Monday is our "Art Coffee" or play day. We set up tables in the Gallery and work as a community. Sometimes we explore a new medium or technique-mixed media collage was a recent favorite and one we will revisit. Experimenting and sharing together is a great way to not only have fun but get fresh new inspiration and ideas that can be used in our usual mediums.
This week there were variety of activities on Monday.  We set out to make paper marigolds for next First Friday-we will be celebrating the Mexican observance of Dia de los Muertos along with the Government Hill 6th grade class. We also have paper plaster cast skulls to decorate for the event and a call for art related to Dia de los Muertos. Information is on our facebook page "The Upstairs Studio" about the call for art.
Kim brought in some frames she wanted to refinish, Erin is our resident expert and got her going sanding, distressing, painting and rubbing-wish I had before and after photos of her frames. They turned our great.  We think Erin is convinced it would be a good class to offer in the future.
Katie started working on her polymer clay flowers and we joined in helping her choose compositions of  shapes and colors to make her flowers. I had to buy one of the flowers that came out of it-a red poppy!

Getting going on projects in the Gallery

Polymer clay flower design

New flower ideas

Paper Marigolds

Erin working on a frame reclaim

The Puppets did not stop moving!

Our day of creating together ended with a Field Trip of the Winterberry Enrichment Program kids to see the working Studios and Gallery.  They were most impressed by the fused glass, polymer clay pasta machine and the Puppets.  The Puppets won them over completely,  Erin let them all play with her puppets and they finished by getting behind a draped table and pretending to put on a puppet show.  It was fun to see the imagination spark on as soon as each child got a puppet in their hands.