Balzer Designs

Color Factory NYC

You've probably seen the photos online.  Super cool candy-colored photographs of this place called "The Color Factory."  It was a West Coast thing for a long time and then I heard that it was finally coming to NYC!  Well, I knew that I had to book tickets and go!  And so we did.  And it was super duper fun!  Take a peek:

Paper strips hanging from the sky!  Giant color buttons on the walls!

You have a timed ticket when you visit The Color Factory.  And you walk at your own pace through a variety of rooms.  You can take as much time as you like traveling through the various rooms, but you can't go backwards.  There are activities.  And food.  And drinks.

And weird enigmatic text that might be deep and might be a load of crap....

The ball pit was definitely my favorite part of the whole thing.  I was too old for ball pits when they came around in the late 80s/early 90s.  So I never went in one as a kid.  It was super fun to splash around in the balls as an adult!

Everything about the experience had a pop art element. It was super fun and I highly recommend it!

I'm always willing to be a little bit goofy, but The Color Factory 100% brought out the kid in me!  It was a place to play!

As I mentioned, there was lots of food.  The belt of macarons was straight out of my Willy Wonka fantasies.

I did a vlog back when we visited The Color Factory.  If you'd like to see the ball pit in action and hear us play beautiful music, take a peek (fast forward to the 3:13 mark if you just want to see Color Factory):

Thanks for stopping by!

Relational Undercurrents at PMA

I shared some pics from the Portland Museum of Art's Art in Bloom on Wednesday.  And I could have sworn that I've shared pics of PMA's permanent collection, but when I looked through my archives, I didn't see a post.  (FYI: You can use the search box on the blog to look for any posts you might be missing or thinking about.)  If that's true, I'll have to go spelunking for the photos from my visit last year and get them posted to share with you!

In the meantime, PMA is hosting a fantastic exhibit called "Relational Undercurrents."  It's contemporary art from the Caribbean Archipelago.  I thought I would share a few photos.  I found the exhibit beautiful and thought provoking and informational -- all the things I like art to be! Take a peek:

So now I can say my work is in a museum!  ;)

Be sure to read the info card about this next painting.  I liked the painting from afar but when I read about it, I liked it even more!


I found this piece so powerful.  A great example of visual impact versus words.  So, I'll let the art do the talking.




This last piece is an enormous installation.  This pile of rubbish takes up most of the gallery.  And it smells.  

It's meant to represent the wave of garbage -- especially plastic garbage -- that washes ashore on the Caribbean Islands.  Waves of refuse.

If you get a chance to check out PMA, it's a lovely little museum and always worth a visit.

Thanks for stopping by!

Art in Bloom at PMA

A few weeks ago, I headed up to the Portland Museum of Art (PMA) in Portland, Maine.  They were hosting their second annual "Art in Bloom."  This is an event that many museums host, where local florists and garden clubs are challenged to create floral designs inspired by specific works of art in the museum.  We took a docent-led tour of the Art in Bloom installation and it was fascinating for two major reasons:

1. The docent really wanted us to give our opinions about whether or not the floral arrangements "worked."  There was a lot of disagreement in the crowd, which was interesting.
2. The docent shared some of the parameters of the challenge with us: (1) Floral artists get to choose from a list of works.  Every single artist received their first choice this year.  (2) Water is not allowed in any of the containers, so the florists have to refresh the arrangements every day -- sometimes more than once a day.  Also: fresh flowers in Maine in February.

Take a peek at the arrangements and see if you think they "work."

I like Art in Bloom as a concept for several reasons:

• It forces me to look at artwork for a much longer time than I normally would and really consider how it was put together -- or what elements are most vital to its composition.
• It makes me think about what "inspiration" really is.  Should the arrangements be a copy of the original work of art?  Is a response to the work rather than an imitation okay?  Are the flowers meant to tell a story or simply mimic the visuals?
• It forces me to think of floral arrangements as a form of artistic expression. How obvious and yet how overlooked.
• I love seeing flowers in the museum!

I will say that Portland's Art in Bloom was not quite as impressive as the Museum of Fine Arts (2017, 2018) here in Boston.  It was smaller in scale, but I also thought the floral arrangements were lacking in imagination in many instances.  Nonetheless, a very enjoyable afternoon that I'm delighted to share with you!

Thanks for stopping by!

Adventures in Arting Podcast: Hadley Powell: Art Advisor

Our first podcast of 2019 features a conversation with art advisor, Hadley Powell.

On the podcast we discuss her job, her path to her job, art vs. craft, seeing art, being a new mother, and much more!

If you do not see the podcast player above, please click on this link.  You can listen to a podcast anywhere and at any time.  It is a recording that is available to you whenever you'd like to listen.  If you'd like to download it to your iTunes library, click here.  You can also pause and rewind or fast forward as you desire.  I like to listen to podcasts while I'm making art.  It's a little like hanging out with friends while you art.  Please subscribe to our podcast in iTunes or wherever you listen and be sure to leave us a review!  Reviews help other people find the podcast.  Thanks so much!

Hadley’s experience spans from Old Master prints to Contemporary art. She started her career at Christie’s, New York as a specialist in the Prints & Multiples department where she researched and cataloged prints from Rembrandt to Rauschenberg.

 

Working with contemporary art gallery Callan Contemporary at their booth in Miami.

 

Subsequently in the Impressionist & Modern Art department, she worked on the high profile evening sales, where she advised clients buying and selling at auction and assisted in private collection management and fine art appraisals.

 

Installation shot from a client's home in Brookline. Artist: Peter Brooke

 

Hadley received a Bachelor of Arts in Art History and a minor in Economics from Union College.

 

In the United States Pavilion at the Venice Biennial, artist Mark Bradford.

 

She holds a Master’s degree in Modern Art, Connoisseurship and the History of the Art Market from Christie’s Education, New York. Her prize-winning thesis studied the impact of the 1913 Armory Show on George Bellows's Monhegan Island, Maine paintings.

 

Installation shot from a client's home in Cambridge. Artist: Peri Schwartz. 

 

She resides in Brookline, MA.

 

Giving a talk to the Harvard Business School art group

 

Some useful links from our conversation:

• Art Market Monitor - publication/membership site
• Jeffrey Gibson - artist
• Beatriz Milhazes - artist
• Vitamin C: Clay & Ceramic in Contemporary Art - book

Thanks for stopping by!

All podcasts are archived here.  Subscribe to the podcast on iTunes here.  And if you like the podcast, please leave a review on iTunes!

Sketching Egyptian Birds at the MFA

Yesterday I went to the Museum of Fine Arts (MFA) in Boston and spent just about an hour wandering through 3 galleries and sketching. I used one page in my sketchbook and just started sketching birds.

I have often said this, but I think it bears repeating, you don't need a ton of time at a museum to get something out of the visit.  You don't even have to see that much of the museum.  The key, I think, is to choose something to pay attention to.  I didn't go to the museum with the intention of sketching birds.  It's just the first thing that caught my attention.  Once I sketched one, I started to notice just how many different birds were represented in the artwork around me.  So, I kept going.  It was a lovely scavenger hunt and I feel like I gathered some good ideas that I'm excited to explore.

I sketched in the galleries with just a permanent black pen -- FYI: Some museums only allow a pencil.  Then, I sat in the cafe at the museum and added some color with my Peerless watercolors and a waterbrush.  Museums do not like paint in their galleries, but watercolor in a place where there's food is likely okay.  As always, check the rules at the museum before you go.  Most have them posted to their websites.

I took photos of the birds for coloring reference -- since I knew I would be adding color at a later date.  And even so, I didn't try to match the photos exactly.  Take a peek:

I don't think the point of sketching is to create an exact replica.  Rather, a sketch is a representation of an idea filtered through your own hand.  My goal is not to copy other artists, but to learn from them and figure out what I want to take from their art and transform into my own.

I strongly encourage you to start a sketchbook practice -- even an infrequent one.  If you don't have a museum nearby, you can draw things in your house, things at your local library, things at your local mall, etc.  The fun thing about sketching is that you never run out of things to draw!

Thanks for stopping by!