The dance performance by the Jane Franklin Dance Company that featured the bone bridge went very well. I love this photograph from the performance.

On Saturday I received a studio visit from Candace Groot, Christina Bothwell and Stanley Shetka, who were all in town to jury this year's Virginia A. Groot Foundation grant awards, along with Tim Tate, who was last years recipient of first place.

The Virginia A. Groot Foundation was founded in 1988 to award grants to sculptors so that they may have the opportunity to devote a substantial period of time to the development of their work.  It's a foundation that has made a significant impact on the lives of many sculptors.

Below is  a group photo, showing Candace Groot in the center surrounded by former winners of the award, two of whom have studios in our complex!

Left to Right: Martha Jarvis Jackson, Tim Tate, Candace Groot, Stanley Shetka and Christina Bothwell.


The visit turned out to be great fun. It's always a treat to talk shop with other artists, especially if they work in your medium.

After meeting Christina, I was intrigued by her description of her glass and ceramic work
 and was delighted to discover her work online. Simply incredible. I especially love the glass birds embedded within the figures.



Christina Bothwell



In my work I am drawn to the processes of birth, death, and renewal. What lies below the surface fascinates me and I try to capture the qualities of the "unseen" that express the sense of wonder that I feel in my daily existence. I am attracted to glass because it can do everything that other sculptural media can; in addition, it offers an inner space and transmits light.

My subject matter includes babies, animals, and children as they embody the essence of vulnerability that is the underlying theme in my work. Currently I am exploring metamorphosis as a topic, and have been incorporating figures within figures in my pieces. Within each glass figure there is a smaller figure seen through the surface of the glass.

I think of these pieces as souls, each being pregnant with their own potential, giving birth to new, improved versions of themselves.

Christina Bothwell

SOLO SHOW Laborious Futility by Elena Patino

Friday night was the opening night for the solo show of my studio mate, Elena Patino  at Hillyer Art Space near Dupont Circle and, as usual for their openings, was hugely crowded with live music and tons of people.

It was so much fun and really gratifying to see the works completely installed after only glimpsing small sketches in process in the studio.

One of the things I enjoy the most about sharing studio space is being exposed to work that is 360 degrees different from my own. I have been really intrigued by Elena's transformation of small, common, everyday objects into larger installations, a process so different from my own work with clay.

It was difficult to determine my favorite piece- I was torn between the rhythmic installation of clear drinking straws that wrapped around two walls and the colorful installation of wire and felted balls that exploded in orderly profusion from the wall.

Elena in front of her installation of felted balls and wire

Materials: Felted wool balls, wire

Materials: Glass baby food jars, water and colorants

Materials: Drinking straws and pins

Materials: Clear plastic tubing and fiber

The accumulative processes used in the making of Elena's pieces make reference to a variety of different aspects of the human condition.  Labor, migration and consumption are all subtly examined through her obsessively replicative methods of construction and systems of assemblage.

Laborious Futility adapts from Patino's previous engagement in the construction of organic structures based on repetition with a strong connection to fiber arts. While not always made with fiber materials, the work borrows from the pliable quality of textiles.

Hillyer Art Space

9 Hillyer Court NW, Washington, DC 20008 USA

T 202.338.0680 | F 202.333.0758 | www.artsandartists.org | 

Gallery Hours: 10am - 5pm Monday, 10am - 7pm Tuesday - Friday, 11am - 4pm Saturday.

I went to  the American Craft Council show this past weekend and saw some gorgeous artwork. One of my favorites was Michele Renee Ledoux, who creates lyrically beautiful encaustic paintings which incorporate found objects. To see more images and read more about her work CLICK HERE

"Tapping into primal archetypes—recurring symbols and experiences shared by all across time—is a primary focus of my work. A philosopher at heart with a passion for metaphysical debate, I am drawn to the duality of all things, the complexity of simplicity and the perfection of imperfection.  I am further inspirited by the study of quantum physics and theories of consciousness and energetics, all of which are reflected either explicitly or obscurely in my work.

Free from commitment to any single style, my work reflects an ever-evolving organic synthesis of mixed media including found objects, recycled material, printmaking, photography, painting, drawing, poetry and encaustic and aims to reveal our original source—a peeling back, if you will, to reveal our deepest truth.  By means of building up and breaking down, texturing, and layering, my work seeks to scratch the surface of true human nature and often addresses social, political, environmental and spiritual matters.

Cloaked in abstraction, stark horizons split the work into two fields, one above the other, and refer to a more spiritual landscape highlighting the energetic alignment of subject to source, but more abstractly represent the link between science and spirituality. Although the element of “line” is prominent in the work, the found object framework and carefully arranged recycled elements also play a significant role.  And, underpinning all the work is a constant theme—the intention to evoke spirit and inspire alchemy—the transmutation of the mundane into magic."