Dollar Bank Ink Drawing

Posted on May 9, 2013 by Carol Skinger

whimsical ink drawing of Dollar Bank

When you are new to a city, what you notice is often not the iconic images of the city. This is what I noticed when we moved here from Boston. I walked by it every day to the bus stop on the way  home after work. It is Dollar Bank in Pittsburgh. To me it is a fun and funny building, and I always loved the lions. It is the first ink drawing I made after moving here from Boston. Now you have to go to the Heinz History Center to see the lobster sign for Klein’s Restaurant. Eventually I did some space planning work for Dollar Bank and got to know some of the folks there. Now and then one of the executives would ask for a painted version of the drawing which I did more or less like this. All artwork is copyright by me and cannot be used or reproduced without my permission.

color version Dollar Bank 002

I realize you cannot see both inclines from here but oh well…artist’s license!003

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77th Annual May Market, Carrie Furnace and Schenley Park

Posted on May 1, 2013 by Carol Skinger

Carrie Furnace by Carol Skinger

Carrie Furnace photograph by Carol Skinger

What is the connection of Pittsburgh’s aging rusting steel mills to the beautiful urban parks in the city of Pittsburgh?

In Pittsburgh, Braddock to be specific, there is a place that has been the object of many conversations. Some of us have been lucky to see it in recent years. Anyone can take a tour of it now, and you can plan your tour at the Rivers of Steel website.

I took this photograph of Carrie Furnace on a beautiful June day, Father’s Day in June 2012, when Rivers of Steel was conducting tours.

The movie Out of this Furnace was filmed there, and is set to open in October 2013. Barbara Vancheri  of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette  writes “Scott Cooper, whose “Crazy Heart” earned an Oscar for Jeff Bridges, directs the gritty dramatic thriller about fate, circumstance and justice and starring  Christian  Bale and Casey Affleck as brothers. The cast also includes Woody Harrelson, Sam Shepard, Zoe Saldana, Forest Whitaker and Willem Dafoe.” Everyone is looking forward to it. Full article here.

There is a connection between the old steel mills like Carrie Furnace to America’s public gardens and romantically designed parks such as Schenley Park and Frick Park. In the late 19th century, during  years of labor riots and before unions were established there were some who thought creating beautiful urban parks would be a balm to the public. They hoped to avoid true concessions to worker’s demands, and to bring labor riots to a halt. It did not work out as planned, but now we have these great parks even if the rational for funding and building them was based on a faulty pipe dream of those in power.

I will feature both my vintage Schenley Park Map and print of Carrie Furnace  at the two day event, the 77th annual May Market and National Public Gardens Day on the grounds of Phipps Conservatory, 700 Frank Curto Drive, Pittsburgh, PA 15213

Friday May 10, 9:30 a.m. to 7 p.m. & Saturday May 11, 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Map2013

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77th Annual May Market and National Public Gardens Day 2013

Posted on May 1, 2013 by Carol Skinger

maywidehead

Phipps Conservatory presents  the 77th annual May Market and

National Public Gardens Day

When:  Two days: FRI May 10, 2013, 9:30 a.m. to 7 p.m. & SAT May 11, 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Where: On the grounds of Phipps Conservatory.

What:  Bring your friends and family to enjoy one of Pittsburgh’s finest public gardens and parks. Visit Phipps and Schenley Park. Purchase plants ‘n stuff at a huge outdoor festival, including Carol Skinger as vendor, especially featuring her vintage Schenley Park Map. Of course Phipps Conservatory has a prominent place on the map. Read about the entire event.

Map2013

What is National Public Gardens Day? This was new to me so I looked it up! It reminded me that our beautiful Schenley Park does have quite a history that touched on the City Beautiful Movement and the wrongheaded theory that romantically designed parks might be a solution to rioting workers of the late 19th century. Therefore I decided to feature both my vintge map of the park and my photo of the Carrie Furnace.

If you cannot attend, but you love Schenley Park: You can always see Carol Skinger’s vintage Schenley Park Map at Schenley Park Cafe & Visitors Center. You can order it there or through Carol’s website.

clip art bicycle

What a GREAT day it would be to bring your bike and bicycle on Schenley Park trails or link up to miles of bike paths in Pittsburgh from there. That is what I would be doing if I was not a vendor on those two days! Come on over and celebrate one of Pittsburgh’s finest public parks.

 

 

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18th annual Garden & Landscape Symposium at Shadyside Academy Senior School

Posted on April 16, 2013 by Carol Skinger

blurry and soft abstract of flowers

Please join me on Saturday when I will be an art vendor in Fox Chapel on Saturday April 20, 2013 from 8AM – 3PM at “A Garden Marketplace” inside the ice rink on the Shady Side Academy Senior School campus. It is a part of a most interesting gardening symposium described below. I will be showing and selling my paintings, custom house portraits, photographs and greeting cards.

Each vendor will donate something to a raffle to raise scholarship funds. Proceeds from the scholarship raffle fund applicants to attend the Garden & Landscape Symposium of Western Pennsylvania the following year at no cost. Scholarships might still be available for this year. Call 412-441-4442 ext. 3925 to request an application.

My donation will be the chance to have a custom house portrait of your home painted by me. This is NOT a minimum bid situation, so it really is a great chance to commission me, for very little cash outlay on your end! This is FREE and open to the public. The marketplace will feature unusual, hard-to-find perennials, annuals, shrubs, heirloom vegetable plants and seeds, natives, bonsai specimens, alpines and rock garden plants, botanical art and photography, and garden accessories. This Penn State site here gives a list of all the vendors.

It is the free part of the 18th annual Garden & Landscape Symposium, presented by Penn State Extension, Phipps Conservatory and Shady Side Academy, which will run from 8 to 4, April 20, 2013 at Shady Side Academy’s Hillman Center for Performing Arts in Fox Chapel near Pittsburgh.

Note that this next part of the exciting and super worthwhile symposium is not free. The symposium, which includes breakfast and lunch, costs $115. Register by calling Phipps Garden Center at 412-441-4442 or online. Perennial expert and author Kerry Ann Mendez of Albany, NY is the featured speaker. In her 2010 book, “The Ultimate Flower Gardener’s Top Ten Lists“, she presents 70 garden-transforming lists, including perennial categories such as needy, unusual, fragrant and thugs (!)

Map to event. Great description of all the speakers here. More info about both sides of the event on April 20 here and here and here.

A big thank you to Garden Marketplace event chairs Lyn Lang and Suzanne Warnick. They really know how to plan a great event!

glslarg

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Fundraiser for Cochran Ski Area April 6th, 2013 5-9pm

Posted on April 1, 2013 by Carol Skinger

Stowe drawing by Carol Skinger 1979 - print

I am so pleased to do my part in helping out with the Cochran Ski Area End of the Year Celebration and Silent Auction!! It is happening this weekend Saturday April 6th, 2013  5-9pm at the Monitor Barn, Rt 2, Richmond, VT Cost: $35 per adult and $15 per child. I am donating a print of my ink drawing above of Stowe’s Main Street.

After the auction is done, if anyone wants another print of this drawing I have a number of them. Contact me through my contact form and we can work something out. $45 plus shipping would cover it. Print is 12″ w. x 7 1/2″ h.

The Monitor Barn is one of two barns side by side, everyone who travels to Burlington on Route 89 or Route 2 has long admired. It is diagonally across the Winooski River from Cochran’s Ski Area.  Fortunately it was saved from going back to earth a few years ago and is available as a function place and that is where the event takes place this Saturday.

Remembering many great years of both my sister Erica and I racing with the Cochrans, I am donating this print of one of my early Silly Ink Drawings of Main Street in Stowe, VT(1979) to the auction. My interest in ink drawing started with a couple of informal sessions with Stowe commercial artist Alice Blodgett when I was in elementary school. Alice sketched our home and interior for a brochure she created for my parent’s ski lodge in Stowe, and as a 6 or 7 year old I was fascinated to see her sketch. NOT that my parents  were looking for, or planning to run a ski lodge, but it came attached to the perfect barn for my father’s future Silver by Skinger shop and studio on the Mountain Road.

Alice was the wife of well known watercolour painter Wally Blodgett, whose paintings can be seen here on the Green Mountain Inn site. They were my first idea of artists who drew and painted. My father was a craftsman and sculptor, but the Blodgett’s pens, pencils and paint brushes interested me very much.

The family group seen at lower right  is supposed to be my mother and my sisters Erica and Jody and me. I hope this print adds a few dollars to the Cochran Ski Area fundraiser! If you are in VT, I hope you will go and bid high, bid often! Have FUN! Good luck with your event Lindy, Barbara, Bob, Marilyn and families! Wish I could be there.

I realize folks who do not know about Cochran’s Ski Area may think of it as a big commercial operation which it is not. You can read more about it on their website but it is the nation’s first non-profit 501 (c)(3) ski area and was established to continue the legacy of providing access to healthy winter recreation for local children and families. Since that time, their unique organization has been an overwhelming success in bringing together community resources to serve over 500 area school children each year as well as delivering outdoor educational programming to groups ranging from the Abenaki of Vermont to underprivileged children visiting from New York City. VT is famous for skiing, yet there are very many people in VT who can not afford to ski. Their area brings a sense of the early years of skiing when things were much, much simpler. Fundraising is necessary to keep it going as the entire experience they offer is kept to a very affordable level.

 

 

 

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Buying Art in Pittsburgh

Posted on March 11, 2013 by Carol Skinger

Carrie Furnace by Carol Skinger

Price, dimensions & order form of my altered photograph of Carrie Furnace here.

I was recently talking to a professor here in Pittsburgh who told me although they don’t have a lot of money to spend, they really would like to buy some original art. He is busy with his career and needs an idea where to start. He would love some advice.

I am writing this blog within my own website so of course he can look at the work I have on my site, and read back through some of my blog pieces. My next public event coming up is Phipps Conservatory and Botanical Gardens May Market 2013 on May 10 and 11th. I will be outside with a bunch of other folks under a white tent. Then the 2013 y’ART Sale at Pittsburgh Center for the Arts is on June 23rd during the daylight hours, also outdoors.

I always particpate in I Made it Market for the Holidays in early December which has really grown. I do various other events they sponser. If he is on facebook he can like their page. Or sign up for email notifications from them. He should also watch for Handmade Arcade.

My number one suggestion to the professor?  Go to art openings and go early.  If you see something you really like, right away find the person in charge so they can put a ‘sold’ sign or you may lose it. Many artists do not put a high price on their works of art, so do not go to an opening thinking everything is going to be over $1000. Just remember the artist typically gets half of what you are paying in this situation.

The professor’s question was one of those OHHH moments for me. It made me realize how many people are in that same position as he is! They like the idea of buying original art but the thought of a gallery visit with thousands of dollars per art piece is a barrier. Coming right to mind as a great way to find artists is the Pittsburgh Artist Registery.

There are some newer voices in town too who I am listening to: Treading Art is the region’s latest resource for cultural happenings in the city. Christine Smith and Melissa LuVisi moved to Pittsburgh after graduating from UCLA, where they met. They were drawn to our region’s thriving arts community and the city’s drive to redevelop and expand.

Their background in business development, museum administration and curatorial management is perfect for reaching out to the creative communities in the city. TreadingArt will highlight the scene, promote cultural happenings and post reviews, photographs, interviews, commentary and critiques.

Since I am an artist and very involved with the Pittsburgh art scene I forget that many of the people who artists would like to connect with have no idea how to see and buy art! And we have thousands more artists in Pittsburgh than can be represented by the traditionally run galleries here. But do visit those galleries by all means!

So I tried to put myself in his shoes and think what would help me to know, if I knew NOTHING about this at all. It would be good for him to know that photographer Rick Byerly does do a great job providing a BIG FAT list of galleries in Pittsburgh and the region. If you google “buying art in Pittsburgh” it is going to take you to his list. Rick lists all sorts of art blogs too.

How do you know when there are art openings? Make this your new habit! Pick up City Paper weekly on Thursday and read their Visual Arts listings. They have an online version too. Plan to go to some openings and exhibits.

If you already get ENOUGH email and/or social media ideas and invitations, sometimes a newspaper is the right choice. For more information about art openings and gallery crawls The Pittsburgh Post Gazette on Thursday, the Pittsburgh Tribune Review also on Thursday, are other weekly arts listings with art reviews.  They both can be found online as well.

Gallery Crawls are essential to seeing art. Here is one that happens every month” Penn Avenue Unblurred First Fridays.  What is it? Various galleries in the Penn Avenue Arts District (4800-5500 Penn Avenue) open their doors and showcase a variety of artwork and performances. The first Friday evening of each month.

The Cultural Trust offers a Gallery Crawl downtown  4x a year. Not to be missed!  2013 dates are January 25, April 26, July 12, September 28

And this is a MUST DO Art All Night in Lawrenceville! April 27th through 28th, 2013. Runs 4pm Saturday until 2pm Sunday (all night long). 97 40th Street in the Lawrenceville section of   Pittsburgh. You will see tons of art all night long.

Many but not all artists in Pittsburgh are members of art guilds and societies. Their art shows are very competitive to get into with amazing jurists and curators. The shows will be noted in the arts lisings in the papers I listed and they are worthwhile to go to. These are the names of the most groups that come to mind. Pittsburgh Society of Artists, Fiberarts Guild of Pittsburgh, Craftsmen’s Guild of Pittsburgh, Women of Vision, Pittsburgh Watercolor Society, Associated Artists of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh Society of Sculptors, Pittsburgh Society of Illustrators

Well that WAS too much information! And I did not even list Three Rivers Arts Festival, Fair in the Park et al.

Oh yeah Wildcard has some great little shows and the stuff they sell is awesome! How could I forget the Shop at Pittsburgh Center for the Arts? I may never stop. I have enjoyed Paul Roden  and Valerie Lueth’s  woodcuts at their own enterprise TUGBOAT PRINTSHOP.

 

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Schenley Park Illustrated Map

Posted on March 5, 2013 by Carol Skinger

Schenley Park Map

We all know Schenley Park is awesome! But sometimes we get lost, or wish we knew more about the trails, or could picture it in a way that the modern map of the park just does not help with! Perhaps we live near the park, or attend college in Oakland or run in the Pittsburgh Koman Race for the Cure.  Have you ever watched  the Pittsburgh  Vintage Grand Prix in the summer? Did you read or see Perks of being a Wallflower and want to visit Schenley Park? You should!

This illustrated map is a great piece of artwork originally inked in the 1930′s, with many updates by me (including color) that literally draws you into the park.

I have now made it available to see and order in the first public place inside the park itself. Schenley Park Cafe and Visitors Center now has a large framed map right next to the counter where you order. The Schenley Park Map of either size can always be ordered on my website here.

Schenley Park Cafe and Visitors Center ExteriorSchenley Park Cafe and Visitors Center

Schenley Park Cafe & Visitor Center           Inside an Urban EcoSteward studies the map!

It is a great place to order lunch and take a walk onto the trails right out back of this charming building designed by Rutan and Russell . You also can plan catered events there!

The sign next to it has my website, as well as QR Codes to order it right there on your smart phone. It takes 3 or 4 days and there are options for shipping the print in a tube. It is available both as 30″ square as displayed there, or a smaller size 18″ square to match the height of the Frick Park Map. The Frick Map  which is available at the shop at Frick Art and Historical Center in Point Breeze. If you want to see the Frick Park Map and how it relates to the Schenley Park Map I wrote about it here . You can always simply call me to order it. 412-401-8812.

 

 

 

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I Made it! Mine 2-2-2013 Southside Works

Posted on January 28, 2013 by Carol Skinger

On February 2, 2013 I will be vendor at I Made It! Mine and it’s WARM INSIDE.

And, and and at 2PM Pittsburgh City Councilman Bill Peduto will be there presenting a proclamation declaring Feb 2 as Creative Entrepreneur Day in Pittsburgh! Come on down and meet the councilman! He is running for mayor .

Find these sweet talents offering lovely wares at I Made It! Mine at the SouthSide Works on Saturday, February 2nd from 12 – 5 pm.

This event is INSIDE the corner space formerly occupied by Joseph Beth Bookseller at 510 S. 27th Street. I am looking forward to joining a big group of creatives for another IMI event!

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Historic Schenley Park Map with 2013 changes!

Posted on January 24, 2013 by Carol Skinger

I am so excited about my latest changes to Schenley Park Map.  I started to realize that people were pairing it with the Frick Park map for framing purposes which makes sense.  Then I realized I can do something to make the Schenley Park map  more like the Frick Park map by filling in the blank text box with the history of the park (surely what the blank box was always intended for) and by adding a red border .

Here is the existing Frick Park map (available at Frick Art and Historical Center) which shows text in their box as well as a red stripe at border.

The new Schenley Park map will be available at Friday evening January 25th 2013 Gallery Crawl Project POP UP III. Post Gazette is writing about it now. AND it will also be available at IMI Mine! Feb 2, 2013 Southide Works. It is always for sale, available in two sizes on my website .

 

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I Made it! Mine at Southside Works 2-2-2013

Posted on January 22, 2013 by Carol Skinger

 February 2, 2013 I will be  vendor at I Made It! Mine and it’s WARM INSIDE . At 2PM Pittsburgh City Councilman Bill Peduto will be presenting a proclamation  declaring Feb 2 as Creative Entrepreneur Day in Pittsburgh! Come on down and meet the councilman! He is running for mayor .

Find these sweet talents offering lovely wares at I Made It! Mine at the SouthSide Works on Saturday, February 2nd from 12 – 5 pm.

This event is INSIDE the corner space formerly occupied by Joseph Beth Bookseller at 510 S. 27th Street. I am looking forward to joining a big group of creatives for another IMI event!

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