Carol Skinger

ARTday with PSA (Pittsburgh Society of ARTists)

ARTday with PSA banner at site - Copy

The 3rd Annual ARTday with PSA is Saturday June 29, 2013 from 10-4. The event is FREE to the public.

This art event will be in the Mine Factory, a space on the 2nd floor, 201 North Braddock Ave, Pittsburgh, PA 15208 in Homewood. It is just north of Forbes Ave, across from the East End Food Co-op. The favored entrance to the event from Meade St. is pictured above and it is across the street from East End Co-op, Pittsburgh’s only remaining old style bulk food health food store, an oldie but a goody. A freight elevator entry is also available at back parking lot. ARTday with PSA  will be featured in City Paper on Thursday June 27 in Visual Arts listings. Come on over to enjoy the event and see the great new art space in Pittsburgh!

ARTday with PSA was created to give tribute to, and offer appreciation for, the diverse and extraordinary talent of Pittsburgh Society of Artists  and their creativity. It is a time to provide enjoyment to members, friends and the public and to celebrate the joy and meaning that art brings to the world. See hands-on demonstrations by PSA artists. Our musical members will also be sharing their performing talents.

Various media will be on display, including prints, paintings, drawings, fiber, jewelry, glass, sculpture and more.  All works will be for sale. Art may be purchased directly from the artist. The event encourages all members to be actively involved by exhibiting artwork and engaging in on-site arts activities. Artist members of PSA will be selling small works as well.

This recently developed event space called the Mine Factory, was home to the  June 15 opening of the space with an exciting contemporary art show and open studio/ POTLUCK . The Mine Factory space was developed by (PSA member) Mia Tarducci Henry & fellow artist Merissa Lombardo… with their own hands patching and painting the walls, installing gallery lighting and building substantial movable partitions on wheels which allow for variability in dividing the space and for hanging art on. This was the flier for their opening party on June 15.

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You can get a last look at their great show before it comes down on Thursday night June 27, 2013 from 7pm-10pm. During the opening party for Mia and Merissa’s event space on June 15th, many of the artist studios throughout the building on 2nd, 3rd and 6th floors were open. A few will be available to the public during ARTday with PSA on Saturday, June 29 including Mia Tarducci Henry’s studio as well as Stunden Studios. PSA is hearing from others now. The expectation is that some other studios will be open to the public during this event.
Come on over to enjoy the event and see the great new art space in Pittsburgh! ARTday with PSA banner.

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Dollar Bank Ink Drawing

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

004 005

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Fundraiser for Cochran Ski Area

Illustration of Main St. Stowe, Vermont by Carol Skinger

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.  Print on bond paper is 12″ w. x 7 1/2″ h. and I also have cards of it 8 1/2″ x 5 1/2″.

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.

The family group I drew at lower right  is supposed to be my mother and me, Erica and Jody.  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.

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 was the wife of well known watercolor painter Wally Blodgett, whose paintings can be seen 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.

Alice sketched our home (which does not exist anymore) 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 (then called the Tucker House), but it came attached to the perfect barn for my father’s future Silver by Skinger shop and studio on the Mountain Road. Here is the drawing Alice made for the cover of our ski lodge brochure.

 

According to a real estate ad our house and barn were built in 1841. The barn still had cow stanchions and a dirt floor when my parents bought it in late 1950s.  Alice’s drawing at left was our living room (full of happy skiers) and on the right is how our place looked driving up  the Mountain Road after my father got his shop Silver by Skinger up and running. The living room drawing was part of Alice’s brochure for our ski lodge. The barn burned to the ground during first owners after us in early mid 1970s. It was a mexican restaurant in those years (Tortilla Flat I think).  Later it was a bed and breakfast called Woodchip Inn which my husband and our son and I stayed in once in around 2001. It was completely torn down to make way from some new venue in approximately 2014 or 2015.

It was located across from a meadow when my parents purchased it in late 50’s and after a few short years that meadow was sold in three lots and became 3 commercial establishments. The first is now called Northern Lights Lodge and when first built it was called The Grand. You can see the location of our house diagonally across the road from it. Our place shows as of April 2018 as a cleared out site.

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Buying Art in Pittsburgh

Carrie Furnace by Carol Skinger

 Carrie Furnace by Carol Skinger

Price, dimensions & order form of my altered photograph of 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. Then June 29, 2013 Saturday I will be exhibiting and selling small works at ARTday with PSA from 10AM-4PM at the Mine Factory 201 North Braddock Ave, Pittsburgh, PA
15208. This is in Homewood, just north of Forbes Ave, across from the East End
Food Co-op. There will be art demos, live music. Some of the art studios in the
building will be open to the public.

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

Schenley Park Map

I am an artist myself and lover of nature and hiking. I found no decent map of Schenley Park  when we moved here from Boston in the 80’s, so  decided I would illustrate it myself having discovered acres of wonderful hiking trails many of them former bridal trails, just by being curious. My research in several historic archives lead me to a copy of a Depression era line drawing with no color , likely made for the 1939 anniversary. This is it! No one can beat the illustrative style of this historic drawing and it should be available. I LOVED the orientation of the drawing with East at the top. Unusual but so right for this park.  All it needed was a brief history in the blank text box in the upper left, updated street names, and a few notes explaining some few elements that were illustrated but not built. Most important of all it needed an artist’s hand to add color, and I am an artist, so DONE! I created the color using color pencils.  Later comparing it with the Frick Park illustrated map I added the red border  which is so effective on the Frick Park map.

Perhaps you 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 (so to speak) into the park. Want to know more of the history of the park and it’s creation? Click here. And more info here.

I have now made the illustrated map available to see and order in the first public place inside the park itself: Schenley Park Cafe and Visitors Center . They have a large framed map right next to the counter where you order, and they keep a small inventory of the maps in 2 sizes. 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!

If you order through my  website 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.

What is shown in the illustrated Schenley Park Map, other than the park land, trails and park amenities? Carnegie Institute of Technology  (now Carnegie Mellon University), The Cathedral of Learning at the University of Pittsburgh,  Carnegie Library (Main Branch) Pittsburgh, Forbes Field, Phipps Conservatory, Greenfield Bridge, Panther Hollow Bridge, Charles Anderson Bridge.

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Historic Schenley Park Map with 2013 changes!

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 Southside Works. It is always for sale, available in two sizes on my website .

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Carol Skinger. All Rights Reserved.