Beautiful experiments

Working on these experimental mini paintings has been a lot of fun. These pieces all have one material in common: paper towels. Defective paper towels, to be specific. Something must have gone wrong in the Viva factory the day mine were manufactured because the ones I picked up shed lint everywhere. My refund from Target paid for a replacement, but I decided to keep the linty paper towels so I could make art with them. I was initially considering running them through a blender with some water to make pulp and my own handmade paper, or even papier mâché. But then I decided to try something else. 

I used them to create textured surfaces and painted them with my inks and watercolors. I was impressed with how thirstily they absorb water-based media.

After I finished painting them, I sealed them with acrylic varnish. 

I have really enjoyed the process and am pleased to have some new work to sell at my in-person events. Now that I see what I can do with this material at a smaller scale, I look forward to incorporating it into larger works. That's the beauty of experimenting with miniature artwork.

The 2024 Millennium Art Festival

Over the weekend, I had the pleasure of visiting the 2024 Millennium Art Festival in downtown Chicago. Here are some of my favorites.

Dane Shue Art

David Epps Photography

Quique Photography

Douglas Nelson

John Markese

From The Ground Up by Jackson Ocheltree

Rosie Josie Studio

SoloArtBF

Pater Noster Designs

Murray Henderson Art

Since the summer is just beginning, I may see these artists again at other art fairs. Visit their websites to see where they will be next!

The 2024 Gold Coast Art Fair in Grant Park

I consider myself very blessed to live in a city that hosts so many wonderful outdoor art fairs in the summer, including the Gold Coast Art Fair in Grant Park. Here are some of my favorite artists who were selling their wares there this year.

 

Jason Watts

 

Quri Andino

Designs by Uchita

Annie Flynn

Leslie Emery

Olmox

Dawn Bryant Fine Art

Maddox Designs

Streeterval Art

Mark Hersch Historical Rephotography

Hannah Long Jewelry

The 2024 57th Street Art Fair

 Here are some of my favorite artists from this year's 57th Street Art Fair in Hyde Park:

Daniel Lai

Athlone Clarke

Studio Takada

Igor Menaker

Ayala Naphtali

Rhinoglass

Jean's Clay Studio

Kim Wilson Designs

Carrie Haase

Many of these artists will be showing their work at other fairs this summer, so be sure to take a look to see their lists of upcoming shows on their websites and social media, or sign up to be on their email lists!

Finally getting around to posting these pictures

Earlier this year, I went to a few art shows and museum exhibits that I hadn't gotten around to posting about until now. I had initially planned to write separate blog posts about them, but since 2024 is half-over now, this post will be a photo dump with some links and captions.

Black Creativity 2024 at The Museum of Science and Industry

Lessie Venardo Dixon

Myrya Johnson

Desirae Brown

Desirae Brown

 

Marvin Eans

Nicole Van Dyken

I've met this guy before. 😒

Eric Louis January

Rose Summers

Joseph Roache

Keila Strong

Kaima Akarue

Kaima Akarue

Tony J. Smith

Eddie Filer

Chase Williamson

Dwayne Mitchell

Keith Conner

Moore's Marvelous Minis at The Museum of Science and Industry

Anyone who's been to my studio knows that I love miniatures and dollhouses. I think that love affair began with seeing Colleen Moore's Fairy Castle at the Museum of Science and Industry when I was a little girl. Local author Kathleen Rooney recently published a novel inspired by Colleen Moore's life called From Dust to Stardust and the museum had a special event called Moore's Marvelous Minis to celebrate. 

Author Kathleen Rooney in conversation with Alice Hargreave

I took lots of pictures of the Fairy Castle that day. It's so exquisite and enchanting. I never get tired of looking at it. Every time I go to the museum, I have to see it.

Over in the Yesterday's Main Street exhibit, the movie theater showed what remains of one of Colleen Moore's silent films from the 1920s, Flaming Youth. It was my second time getting to see one of her films.

The museum also showcased a Mini Marketplace full of vendors selling dollhouse furniture.

My favorite vendors were Atomic Miniature and Mod Pod Miniatures, which I've ordered from before and highly recommend.

The Blue Paradox at the Museum of Science and Industry

The title and subtitle say it all. This is an exhibit about plastic pollution. It's everywhere. What are we going to do now?

I do take issue with a multi-billion dollar multinational corporation that has sold plenty of products in plastic packaging over the years asking us to consider, as individuals, the amount of plastic we consume.

It would be great if every washing machine had one of these to filter out the microplastics and keep them from getting into the water supply.

Thought-provoking and important, though frustrating because I didn't ask to live in a world where a lot of the things I need come in plastic containers. I try to recycle plastic, but apparently it's mostly a scam?

Faith Ringgold at The Museum of Contemporary Art

Not long after this retrospective closed, Faith Ringgold passed away at the age of 93. I am so happy that she got the recognition she deserved at the end of her life. As someone who became familiar with her art through her illustrations for Tar Beach, it was really powerful to see her early work from the 1960s.

The artwork below is by other artists who were inspired by Faith Ringgold's work.

Looking forward to the art experiences I'll have in the second half of 2024.