Balzer Designs

Little Free Art Library

I love this idea! Read the article all about this communal tiny art gallery. It works just like any tiny library, but it's art instead of books. You leave a piece of art and take a piece of art! What do you think? Would you put a tiny art gallery on your front lawn? I think it would be super duper fun! Thanks for stopping by! Read more →

Basquiat Exhibit at the MFA Boston

The Museum of Fine Arts here in Boston (MFA Boston) is currently hosting an exhibition of work by Basquiat and some of his contemporaries. It's called "Writing the Future: Basquiat and the Hip Hop Generation." I have long been a Basquiat fan, but only seen one of his paintings in-person. So I masked up and headed to the museum. I attended the exhibit twice (partially because I love Basquiat and you miss things the first time through, and partially because I have a baby and someone had to stay home with him) once with Steve and once with my Mom.... Read more →

VOMA is Now Open

VOMA is now open. What is VOMA? I'm glad you asked. I had to look it up. VOMA stands for Virtual Online Museum of Art. It is the world’s first fully interactive virtual museum. Work has been pulled from prestigious museums across the globe and it's all FREE. I downloaded VOMA (what a weird thing to say) this weekend and went for a virtual visit. It's a big download and takes a while. You also have to create a (free) user account in order to access the museum. I would describe the experience as slow and buggy. It's a super... Read more →

Harvard Art Museums "Painting Edo"

Back in February I was lucky enough to go to the opening of the "Painting Edo" exhibit at the Harvard Art Museums. From the Harvard Art Museums website: Painting Edo — the largest exhibition ever presented at the Harvard Art Museums — offers a window onto the supremely rich visual culture of Japan’s early modern era. Selected from the unparalleled collection of Robert S. and Betsy G. Feinberg, the more than 120 works in the exhibition connect visitors with a seminal moment in the history of Japan, as the country settled into an era of peace under the warrior government... Read more →

MFA Boston: Lucian Freud Self-Portraits

I have quite a few photos from museum visits that I never shared here on the blog. I finally got around to editing some of those photos, so I'll be sharing them over the next month or two. Rest assured, all of these photos are oldies, but goodies. I am definitely sheltering at home at the moment! The MFA is/was (the exhibit closes in May) hosting an exhibit of Lucian Freud's self-portraits. Lucian Freud was an extremely respected British painter (he died in 2011) who was very well known for his portraits. He is one of the few painters to... Read more →

Craft & Judaica at the MFA

One of my favorite annual events at the MFA (Museum of Fine Arts) here in Boston is their "Connoisseurship Night." Fellow & Patron members of the Museum Council are invited to attend two brief curatorial tours and then it's a seated dinner in one of the galleries. Each year the tours are different and you get to choose from a list of 6-7 different tours. Like anything else -- there are popular choices and unpopular choices for tours. Everyone knows and loves Impressionism. I try to choose the less popular tours -- the things I've never heard of or have... Read more →

Art Supplies Used to Restore Art

I went to a conservation event at the Museum of Fine Arts here in Boston (MFA Boston). Professional conservators were in one of the exhibits sharing how they restore and preserve the art on display. Do you see what I see?! I spy art supplies that I use all the time! Golden Fluid Acrylics: Aves Apoxie Sculpt: And Liquitex Heavy Body Acrylics: I thought it was super duper cool to know that professional conservators are fixing up ancient art with the same supplies I use to create my art! I chatted with some of the conservators and they said that... Read more →

MFA Murals: Jackson Pollock & Katharina Grosse

On Monday night I had the opportunity to see the new exhibit Mural: Jackson Pollock & Katharina Grosse at the MFA (Museum of Fine Arts) in Boston. Grosse was commissioned to create an artwork... ...in response to Pollock's painting (his largest ever at 2o feet long): It's an interesting pairing. In many ways they are vastly different pieces. The Pollock piece is full of brush strokes, where the Grosse piece has the hard lines of the stencils she uses. Both pieces have tons of color and movement, but Pollock use of black and white makes the colors feel more subdued.... Read more →

My Experience as an Exhibition Juror

A few months ago I was asked to be the exhibition juror for the members exhibit at the Mosesian Arts Center. It's a non-juried show. All members are invited to submit up to 3 pieces of work for the show. From the submissions, I was to choose 1 Best in Show Winner and 3 Honorable Mentions. Once the show was hung, I was invited to come by the Mosesian Arts Center and see the work. I was determined to have a system for making my choices. Before I walked in, I made a list of criteria for myself. Work under... Read more →

Yayoi Kusama: Love is Calling

This past weekend I visited Yayoi Kusama's "Love is Calling" infinity room at the ICA (Institute of Contemporary Art) here in Boston. In case you're not familiar, Yayoi Kusama is a Japanese artist who has been creating mirrored infinity rooms since the 1960s. The experience of being in an infinity room is definitely reminiscent of a fun house mirror room -- but with lots of extra visual stimulation. In "Love is Calling" the extra stimulation comes from polka-dotted plastic stalagmites and stalactites. In the room, there is a recording of Yayoi Kusama reciting a poem in Japanese. This is a... Read more →