April Show features works not yet found in typical galleries

 By Mary Lee Pappas / Star correspondent

Posted: April 30, 2010

David Hittle (right) is the host of the April Show. One of the artists, Jerome T. Neal, holds his work, "The Station." - Frank Espich / The Star

"Mother," an oil on plywood by Neal ($80), will be among works at the April Show. - Photo provided by David Hittle

The American foursquare, turn-of-the-century Victorian at 322 N. Arsenal Ave. is home to former social worker David Hittle. But for one night in April, it's transformed into a full-scale art gallery.

Inside, the steep walls become display space for the April Show, a salon-style art show and sale featuring works by artists who have not had access to mainstream galleries despite their talents and abilities -- artists who have overcome incredible odds.

"They've overcome an obstacle of one kind or another," Hittle said of the more than 20 artists participating in this year's show. "From physical disabilities to mental issues to emotional issues and various traumas, and we still have a number who were or are still homeless."

Now in its 13th year, the inaugural April Show in 1997 included three painters Hittle knew: Jerome T. Neal, Berry Connell and the late Harry Blomme. Neal and Connell are both full-time professional artists now.

"I don't know a lot about art myself, but I think it's a part of all of them that they couldn't suppress if they wanted to," Hittle said of Neal and Connell. "I think it's in them and something that wants to come out. They have to do art."

Neal said that in 1997 he was working a humble job and living in a meager apartment while creating his art. He was amazed at the turnout for the first April Show, which he said provides a great incentive to paint.

"I was surprised when it first started how many people showed up," he said about the show that attracts a diverse group of art lovers. "What really got me was that the kids liked my work. That's what it's all about. It's why I don't do so many nudes."

Neal creates colorful acrylic paintings, street scenes and figurative works. He said his business cards say he's a "modern artist," but that he always tries to "do something up-to-date, scientific or something in the news."

In addition to works by Neal and Connell, this year's April Show will showcase art by various other artists, including quilter Dorothy Caldwell, who will have two large pieces for sale. The daughter of sharecroppers from Wyatt, Mo., "(Caldwell) learned (to make quilts) in the Southern tradition of African-American women and from her mom. She's really good," said Hittle.

Throughout the night, patrons at the April Show will get the chance to peruse the art and meet the artists behind the work, which Hittle believes is a form of therapy for them. "That is probably the large drive for why they continue to do it," he said.

It's also an opportunity for them to make money.

"I think you could probably call a lot of them professional because they do sell their art, and in some cases that's all they do to make money," said Hittle. All of the show's profits are given to the artists, who donate 10 percent of what they make, sometimes more, to organizations they've benefited from.

The April Show

» When: 7 p.m. today. » Where: 322 N. Arsenal Ave. » Cost: Free admission. » Info: (317) 974-1163.

The April Show, Jerome Neil, David Hittle, Frank Espich, outsider art, art artist, painters, Indianapolis,  Berry Connell, Harry Blomme, Dorothy Caldwell

Casey Roberts - Indianapolis Star, April 23, 2010, Pg. 34

 Casey Roberts, Prints, Indianapolis, Indiana Artist, painter, Indianapolis Art Center, Freaky ForestBy Mary Lee Pappas/Star Correspondent

April 23, 2010

Casey Roberts is more than an artist. He's also concerned about the environment in his own way, which shows through in "Freaky Forest," his latest exhibit at the Indianapolis Art Center.

Roberts, 38, uses unique cyanotype paintings to offer a critical look at environmental issues, but with a bit of levity.

Warm blue and beige tones -- created through a Civil War-era technique called cyanotype, which includes the use of baking soda and mild bleach solutions -- lend an overall visual coziness and a dreamy, comfortable quality in which beauty overshadows any bigger message.

"It's real simple. I'm not a super conceptual artist," said Roberts. "I want people to relate to it."

Trees are his major artistic protagonists in the 20 new works on view. However, he's introduced some new woodsy characters, too.

"Tons of trees. Armies of moths. Lots and lots of moths. They are almost like protectors, or scouts," Roberts said, explaining their role in his illustrative scenes, in which plant and animal forms are blocky and flat but resonate as delicate.

"There are trees with magic, obviously," he says with a light laugh. "It's the only way trees can communicate -- through magic."

And you actually start to believe him as you become immersed in his imagined landscape's full pine trees.

"It's all fantasy," Roberts said about his work. But there's an antagonistic undercurrent, a dark side at play here, too. "It's not all bubble gum."

His color scheme and topics easily lend themselves to being spooky and eerie, quiet like a fairy tale. "Freaky," he said, with a sense of humor.

For example, "Home Town" features a hole-riddled tree whose trunk is graffiti-emblazoned. "It's kind of a conversation between nature and man and how we clash and relate to each other," said Roberts, who for the first time has introduced sculptures into his repertoire of characters.

His "Freaky Forest" includes the outrageous addition of white ceramic, ambiguous animal heads with blue eyes. The busts, which have accompanying portraits, range in size from 15 to 24 inches and are among the exhibit's many surprises.

"I am so happy with them. They crack me up," said Roberts, who maintains a studio in the Murphy Building in Fountain Square. "These are the things I am most excited about in the show.

"With every show, I make a few steps forward. I feel like I'm progressing. (But) I'm still kind of chicken," he said. "One of these days I'm really going to break out and freak some people out."

Freaky Forest: Works by Casey Roberts

» When: Today through June 6. Center hours are 9 a.m. to 10 p.m. Monday through Friday; 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday; noon to 6 p.m. Sunday. » Where: Indianapolis Art Center (Churchman-Fehsenfeld Gallery), 820 E. 67th St. » Cost: Free. » Info: (317) 255-2464, www.indplsartcenter.org.

State museum to showcase Indiana artists

 By Mary Lee Pappas / Star correspondent

Posted: February 19, 2010

Jeanne McLeish, watercolor and oil painting, "Blue Canoe," Morgan County.  - Photo provided by The Indiana State Museum

The Indiana State Museum will shine a spotlight on 93 artists who live and work in Indiana during its seventh annual Indiana Art Fair this weekend.

Having a show with such a large local connection is a source of pride for the museum.

"When going to many of the larger outdoor art fairs, Indiana artists are dispersed among artists from around the country. Our event allows art lovers to support local art made right here in Indiana by coming to one venue," said communication director Kathi Moore. "And these are not just artists from the metro area, but from around the state."

A record number of artists from 30 counties will be represented in this year's show, thanks to a partnership with the Indiana Artisan Program, a state government entity created in 2008 to market locally crafted goods.

"The Indiana Artisan Program and the Indiana Art Fair focus on the same thing: to bring attention to locally made fine art, craft and food," said Joanna E. Hahn, cultural history education specialist at the museum, who's headed the art fair for three years. "It seems only natural to team up and pool our resources with regards to attracting artists, as well as audiences. It helps to bring more diversity to the art that will be seen at this year's event."

That eclectic mix includes everything from marshmallows to wine to classic Indiana landscape paintings.

"In past shows, we haven't had food and wine artisans, and it will be interesting to see how our audience reacts to this new addition. I can only bet that they will be enthusiastic to sample locally made wine, maple syrup and homemade marshmallows," said Hahn.

While at the fair, expect to see Shaker-style furniture, boxes and trays by Ron Huhn and woodwork. Jewelers Lee Cohn of Bloomington and Mark Grosser of Carmel, both of whom sculpt modern, sleek gold pieces with a major "wow" factor, will be there, too. On the whimsical jewelryend, Carolyn Aylward of Indianapolis uses recycled buttons, typewriter keys and cuff links to create pieces.

"Often times, these artists get lost in many of the bigger shows," said Hahn. "We're able to highlight not only their work but the region of Indiana they represent."

With such a diverse mix of works, what's the strongest medium this year?

"I would have to say our strongest medium is painting. Each painter has a very specific style and subject matter. Some use Indiana as the subject of their work while others find inspiration outside our state's borders," said Hahn. Indiana Art Fair

» When: 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday; 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday. » Where: Indiana State Museum, 650 W. Washington St. » Tickets: $7 (includes museum admission); free for museum members. » Info: (317) 232-1637, www.indianamuseum.org.

Indiana State Museum,Jeanne McLeish, Kathy Moore, Indiana Art Fair, Indiana Artisan Program, Joanna E. Hahn, Lee Cohn, Mark Grosser, Jeweler, art, Artists, Indianapolis

 

Chelsea van der Meer's silk-scarves come from need to make art

By Mary Lee Pappas / Star correspondent

Posted: January 22, 2010

Chelsea van der Meer has a home studio painted bright pink that's the hub for her silk-scarf business, which was born from her inherent, nonstop need to make art.

"My whole life I've just needed to be making something all the time, whatever it was with whatever I had," said the 23-year-old artist.

Originally from Williamsport, Pa., van der Meer majored in graphic design at Pennsylvania College of Technology. After moving to Indianapolis five years ago, she earned a degree at Ivy Tech Community College, where she thrived in traditional fine-arts courses.

Since then, van der Meer's works have been exhibited at Wug Laku's Studio and Garage on Indianapolis' Eastside and in the Stutz Building at the now-defunct Pivot Gallery. A notable design project of hers is the 2007 CD and Web site art for the band blueprintmusic. She also interned with the design firm Lodge Design.

Van der Meer exhibits through Midwest Emerging Artists, and she created the artwork for the 2009 Broad Ripple Music Fest sampler CD.

But it was a fabric-arts class with Ivy Tech's visual communications department chairwoman Stephanie Lewis Robertson years ago that inspired van der Meer's current path.

"She (Roberts) was amazing," said van der Meer. "She motivated me and taught me the basics with dying silk."

"I was really thinking about why I took to it," she said. "There's just something about the quality of silk that's like water."

Using mostly charmeuse and chiffons, van der Meer applies many dying techniques to her one-of-a-kind scarves that vary in size from 25-by-25-inch squares to 30-by-90-inch wraps.

"The results are very organic and subconscious. Art I've made in the past is very conscious -- I've decided everything. When I'm doing a painting or something, I decide how everything is going to be. But, with this, it's organic," said van der Meer. "You really never know what a dye is going to do when it meets another dye. It's a surprise when the wax comes off sometimes."

She said those surprises are luscious colors and fluid patterns that complement the fabric and look great. Her techniques include stamping, masking off colors, wax batik and multiple layers of color and painting swaths of color in with a brush.

This winter, a cotton scarf series she produced sold out, but more will be available through her Etsy shop soon at www.Etsy.com/shop/chelseaofthesea.

She also produces how-to videos and charming thank-yous for customers across the country while packaging up their orders. "I want people to feel a connection from the time it's made to when they have it, that there's a spirit and energy in it."

Of her videos, she says, "I want to be a very transparent artist. If someone wants to know something, I will share. I wouldn't have any problem with more creators in the world. There is just really nothing like the feeling you have when you are creating."

Chelsea van der Meer, Artist, Ivy Tech Community College, Pennsylvania College of Technology, Broad Ripple Music Fest, Stephanie Robertson, Stutz, fabric art, Indianapolis, Indiana

Jack C. Hartigan, May 11,1970-January 2, 2006

It saddens me deeply to report that artist Jack Hartigan has passed away. 

Jack exhibited his large photographic works at the IUPUI Cultural Arts Gallery last year (where I am the curator) and was scheduled to do so again this winter. At Jack's request, his show was tentatively rescheduled for this spring because of his struggle with Non-Hodgkins Lymphoma which sadly took his life this week. He was at peace. 

Jack had amazing vision with his photographic works that were politically poignant delving into the touchy subjects of contemporary civil rights issues while all the while being very elegant and intelligent. Few artists in this city have had the depth of intellect and the artistic aptitude to not just tackle sensitive topic matter, but to make it approachable and beautiful. 

It was an honor to work with someone so gracious and thorough, and also to host the fruition of his ideas. I'm thrilled IUPUI hosted his challenging work. The angel piece above was on the lighter side and features Erin Elizabeth Finn, a friend, as model. IUPUI had even discussed making Jack the "resident artist" at the Cultural Arts Gallery because of his abilities, his standards, his personality. And, Jack liked the idea too. We had discussed transforming his photos into installations and performance pieces...we discussed a lot of ideas. Jack was always very inspired (thus inspiring me), so ideas were always forthcoming. 

 Jack's funeral will take place this Saturday, January 14, 1 p.m. at St. Matthews Catholic Church. An exhibition of his work (venue to be determined) will be later this spring, with sales benefiting the Damien Center. I wish I could have known him better, but I admired and respected the person I did know. Thank you Loral Tansy for being an angel. May his memory be eternal.

"What's New?" - G.C. Lucas Gallery - Feb. 18, 2004 - 4 stars

Always consistent in presenting quality, G.C. Lucas now delivers work by more homegrown artists up to snuff with his national fare and very much in keeping with his keen aesthetic sense. John Reynold's farm animal paintings are beautiful beyond their subject matter. Using old bed linens, paint and a multitude of other devices, Jen Swearington's works are sophisticated autobiographical narratives. Quilted scenes of powerlines, bears and cars assemble to symbolically conceptualize her life experiences and create unique visual treats. Eric Jacobsen and Angel Mercado join the impressive fold of outstanding artists represented at G.C. Lucas as well as the notable Debra Delbecq. New works by Lorraine Sack are on view also. Through Feb. 26, 2004; 317-255-4000. -Mary Lee Pappas G. C. Lucas Gallery, John Reynold, Jen Swearington, Eric Jacobson, Angel Mercado, Lorraine Sack, Artist, painting, drawing, Indianapolis, Indiana, Debra Delbecq

"Intangible Spirit" An obituary for artist Harry Blomme published in NUVO August 13, 2003

By Mary Lee Pappas Published in NUVO August 13, 2003 Harry Blomme knows what God looks like. “It’s supposed to be a surprise,” he once told me. Blomme, a local artist, passed away suddenly the weekend of July 12. He was 69. “He lived his life in preparation for this,” Bill Bickel, director of Holy Family Shelter, said. In 1997, Bill became Harry’s caseworker at the Homeless Initiative. A former Southern Indiana farmer, a Flemish Canadian export, Harry was homeless and epileptic. “Health was always a concern,” Bill said. I first met Harry six years ago when he and Bill visited a Massachusetts Avenue gallery where I worked to check out the art. I can’t recall whose art was hanging on the walls, but Harry I remember vividly. He gave me a deftly drawn charcoal portrait of a girl as a token of his visit. This was typical Harry. “It always amazed him when someone would take an interest in him,” Bill recalled. “He was spiritual and approachable. He looked at situations so optimistically and held by his convictions. He was much, much more than a homeless artist. That doesn’t begin to explain who he was. He broke stereotypes and boundaries about homelessness without knowing it. He looked at himself as being one of us and folks treated him that way. That’s what we want. No one should be labeled.” When U.S. Rep. Julia Carson was presented with two of Harry’s paintings, “She was, I think, very humbled,” Bill said. One was of Carson and the other was of Rosa Parks, who Harry had read was an inspiration to Carson. Harry sold some of his paintings at Utrillo’s Art, owned by Greg Brown. “He intelligently approached his work. His method was fascinating and impressive. It’s stuck with me and affected my own work,” Greg said of his friend Harry. Three years ago, just before Harry got settled into his apartment (called “studio-studio”), he lived with David Hittle, of Lutheran Child and Family Services. The annual April Show, an art show inspired by Harry’s talent, started from their close friendship. “Very intangible” is the only way David could explain the impact Harry has had on him. “Harry had a clear and profound effect on people he may have only met once or twice.” Harry’s passing was sudden. “He was doing very, very well,” Bill said. “I saw him the day before and he was having a blast,” Greg recalled. “He’s kind of a gad-about. He was full of life and having fun.” Harry’s funeral was July 19 in his hometown of Rockport, Ind. “It was packed. It seems that the people of Rockport knew Harry as we knew him here. He was known for pulling out his sketchbook,” David said. “The music was awesome. Southern Indiana shoutin’ Pentecostal music. Very bluegrassy. Real good stuff.” “I would put Harry up there as one of the greatest teachers I’ve ever had,” Bill said. David had difficulty putting the effect Harry has had on his life into words. “Gargantuan is the only word to describe it.” A memorial service for Harry will be held at Roberts Park Church on Aug. 14, 6:30 p.m. If you own a piece of Harry’s work, please bring it for a display after the service. For more information on Harry’s art visit www.aprilshow.org. The Web page for an interview with Harry July 3, 2002, can be found at www.nuvo.net/news/archive/002660.html. Harry Blomme, Julia Carson, Bill Bickel, David Hittle, Roberts Park Church, Greg Brown, Utrillo's Art Gallery, Indianapolis, Indiana, The April Show

Oreho tehkhnee/beautiful art - Christos Koutouras - May 15 - 22, 2002

 

Christos Koutouras, paintings, drawings, Samos, Greece, Greek, Harrison Art Center, Harrison Centre for the Arts, Indianapolis, Indiana, artist

April Show - April 27, 2001

 This is the program from The April Show, April 27, 2001

David Hittle, Harry Bloome, Zara Stephens, Thomas Curtis, Jeanette Tibbs, William McKenna, Berry Connell, Jerome Neal, The April Show, Painter, artist, Indianapolis, Naive, outsider

Bizarre and all true: Greg Brown

Greg Brown of Utrillo's Art is an intellectual social historian wild man. Two-D specimens of mundane popular “art" pieces of the 20th century - every man’s art – fill the crotchety confines of his rather unarchivally sound gallery space. Fashionable wall art of the middle classes, and then some, is staggered about. Kitsch. Campy. Bizarre and all true. Once upon a 1963 suburb, someone’s Aunt Lula displayed a self-generated paint-by-numbers of kittens on black velvet. These cheaply framed relics are again appreciated, salvaged from salvage stores, shedding a new dim and dusty light on how our culture has perceived art and the length (Mother, may I take one giant step to the craft aisle at Walmart?) we’ve gone to do it ourselves in our instant coffee worlds. Greg knows this. He is a cultural historian. A thinker.

Brown is also an apt painter, a good one at that, putting his pop collections to shame. A series of monumental wood panels (15 major groupings, containing a total of 126 panels) inspired by “The Secret Kingdom,“ a pamphlet written by Brown, the thinker, will open Friday, September 1 with a reception beginning at 7 p.m. The body of work is called The Kingdom of Heaven is like the Psychological Realm. Pieces have a religious orientation. They resemble stained glass windows with deep cobalt hues and geometric patterns. Arches of light look like doorways to heaven and or entries into a lion filled arena. The exhibit will run through September 4 in the Legion Hall directly across from Utrillo's Art, 3318 E. 10th St. Call (317) 684-3883 for info. Hours are 11 a.m. to 7 p.m.

*Artist, Utrillo's Art, Greg Brown, Visual artist, Indiana, The Secret Kingdom, Painter, Indianapolis gallery