>A Family In Progress

Posted on September 2, 2008 by jeanevogelart

>I know people get tired of hearing this from me, but it’s my litany: 

Art saves lives.
Art can save the world.
How do I know? Because I’ve seen it. I don’t mean to suggest that ONLY art saves lives. That would be silly. It’s equally silly to think that art is just pretty or angry or useless.
Want an example? I have lots, but let’s start with this one. Missouri Adoption Heart Gallery Project. 
The Heart Gallery has affiliates all over the country. The Missouri project was started three years ago by photographer Dana Colcleasure, who truly is my hero. She worked for a couple of years to cut through bureaucratic red tape, appease obstructive egos and recruit photographers. I bugged her for months when I first heard of it — long before she was ready for photographers — because I wanted to be part of this project.
Heart Gallery photographers are professionals who take fine art portraits of children awaiting adoption. We try to show their personality, their life-spark. The portraits then tour the state in galleries and shopping centers and community centers, hoping a family will be inspired to inquire about adoption.
It works. Hundreds of children in MO have been adopted in the last three years. I know of at least two children I have photographed who have found “forever families.” Thousands are still waiting. 
This year I photographed 12 children! Every one of them is beautiful and fun and perfect and loveable. Every once in a while I check the gallery to see how they are faring. WHOOPPIEEE! Xavier, Jordan & George Michael have a family in progress! Taking on three boys is a challenge, but this family will be the best!
So you might be thinking: I don’t know if I can do that. These kids are older. Some have “issues.” Some have disabilities. 
Yep. That’s right. But we ALL have issues. And I don’t know if you can do it either. But I know we have to do something! Each one of us who is successful stood on the shoulders of others. We were lifted and coached and encouraged. That’s what these kids deserve too.
Now, let’s see what we can do for Blaine, Willie, sisters Tiffany, Tierra and Sharda, James, Felicia and twins Kantriel & Keron. The Missouri Heart Gallery has been touring the state since May. It opened in St. Louis yestereday and will be in various locations throughout the month of September. See the whole schedule here. Please visit it and spread the word. 
Can art save lives? I made a simple piece of art in March and three boys will celebrate Christmas with parents and their “forever family.” I know I just had a small part in it, but it’s a part I’m humbled and privileged to do.
We can’t fix everything, but we can fix something. Art saves lives. Art can change the world.

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>An Opening

Posted on August 18, 2008 by jeanevogelart

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Candle Lighting Time, Sandwiched photograph, 30×24, $350, (c) 2008 Jeane Vogel

“Memento Chai,” my solo show of Judaica, opened on Saturday night.

A solo show is a gigantic responsibility. When an artist is part of a group show, curators manage everything: art selection, invitations, atmosphere, hanging the show, getting people to the opening, wine and food, labels. Every little detail is managed. The artist just delivers the work and maybe invites collectors and friends. The artist doesn’t even think about whether people will come. Of course they will.

Hang the art and people will come.

A solo show rests entirely on one artist and her reputation. Oy! That’s a bit of pressure!

Before I could even worry about who would come, I had a thousand details to consider, not the least of which was selecting the art, framing and hanging it. Fortunately I had lots of help. Husband Steve Sorkin managed the PR for me, getting press releases out and making the necessary contacts. Daughter Hannah worked on my mailing list. Friend and artist Ilene Berman listened to my endless, annoying rambles, and gave me advice (which I didn’t take, but I appreciated) about the invitation design. She also ran last minute errands for me and offered endless support and encouragements. And thanks to Ilene, we had lovely cups for our wine and didn’t have to swig straight from the bottle.

My friend and rabbi, Susan Talve, talked up the exhibit at every opportunity — and my talent seemed to be more grand with every telling. If your spiritual leader is going to talk about you, it’s nice that she exaggerates in the positive! Susan even modeled for one of the images, Hagbah.

Friend and neighbor Arlene Kerman catered the whole event with the most fabulous desserts. HaShemesh, a klezmer band, filled the exhibit with joyful, inspiring music.

And the people came. Art cannot exist in a vacuum. It needs an audience. It needs a relationship.

Thank you to everyone who came! It was an art opening I will not forget!


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>Solo Show

Posted on August 12, 2008 by jeanevogelart

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Aron Kodesh, Digital Photograph, 2008, 29×22, $350

My first solo show of Judaica opens with a reception at my home congregation, Central Reform Congregation in St. Louis, on Saturday, August 16, 7-10 p.m. It will hang until Sept 28. If you are nearby, please come. It’s an artist’s reception, so of course there’s food, wine and music by HaShemesh, a fantastic local klezmer group.

The show contains work that was commissioned for this year’s national Art Calendar published by the Women of Reform Judaism. Each year, the WRJ choose one artist to feature, and I was so honored to be selected. Some of the work is on my website now, but most will be added after the show premieres on Saturday. (Don’t want to spoil the surprise!)

The show’s title, Momento Chai, is a combination of ideas from Jewish tradition and 16th century portraiture.

The 16th century master portraitists spent a lot of time thinking about their relationships to God, and they were a bit fascinated by death — probably for good reason! Many put a “Momento Mori,” or reminder of death, in each of their portraits. It might have been a human skull, a rope or a knife. (Remember this from Art History class?) It was supposed to remind people of their mortality and ultimate obligation to God.

That’s a bit of a foreign concept to me, but I like the idea of multi-layered concepts in my work. I combined that notion with the Jewish tradition of Chai — LIFE (remember Tevye in Fiddler on the Roof? L’Chaim!) Every idea in Jewish tradition is centered on preserving, appreciating and treasuring life.

The result is Momento Chai — each image in the exhibit will have a reminder of life and the joy of living.

Memento Chai will travel to several area venues this fall and is available after November for installation. (Just email me at jeane@vogelpix.com for details.)

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>Death of a Film — Part II

Posted on July 29, 2008 by jeanevogelart

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Sunflower, Mixed Media Painting/Photography, 30×30, $750 SOLD

People are aghast when they learn that my Polaroid film has been discontinued. The hand-altered Polaroids are popular and they mourn the loss of new images. So do I. There are five packs of film in my fridge right now. That’s it. The film on eBay hasn’t been handled properly, I’ve found, and it’s damaged. I’m not buying more.

“So what will you do?” they ask. “Are you out of business?”

A one-trick pony is out of business. An artist moves on.

I have several bodies of photographic work — traditional color, traditional black & white, the new Infrareds (that I LOVE!) My favorite still is the Polaroids. They are interpretive and organic and fluid and emotive. Nothing else does that.

Except painting.

So that’s where I’m going. This year I’ve starting extending the image of the finished Polaroid onto the mat. I’m using soft pastels, which are so tactile and expressive that they match the mood of the original photograph perfectly.

I was at the Geneva (IL) Fine Art Fair this weekend. It’s a great show with some of the best artists in the country. The level of work here is exceptional. For the first time I showed a 30×30 Sunflower that I just completed. Maybe I priced it too low, but it sold within the first hour! The patron wanted others to see it and asked if she could leave it in my booth until Sunday. Sure!

Three other patrons were upset that they couldn’t have it! They can commission one!

I love the Sunflower, but my favorite is Dragon in the Clouds, below, finished just hours before I left for the show.

This body of work has a piece of my soul and I’m not letting it fade away. It’s getting a new life as mixed media painting.

A Dragon in the Clouds, Mixed Media Painting, 16×16, $395, (framed)
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Posted in Art, Fairs, NewWork, Pastels, Photography, Polaroid, Technique | 3 Comments

>Dealing with Loss – Update!

Posted on July 19, 2008 by jeanevogelart

>Good karma prevails! The equipment has been recovered. I’m not asking any questions. I have all of it back!

On the other hand, I had to replace it quickly and now have some duplicated equipment. The insurance company was dragging their feet, so there’s nothing to return to them, thank goodness! I did upgrade some lenses and I’m keeping them. I needed them for a while. Sometimes the universe tells us what to do — but I would have appreciated a less stressful message!

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>Telling the Truth

Posted on July 17, 2008 by jeanevogelart

>“Even a dog distinguishes between being stumbled over and being kicked.” — Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes

I got myself in a bit of hot water this week.

I won’t go into all the gory details, but let’s say I pulled out of an important art event in St. Louis, hosted by a respected art institution, because I thought the space that the artists were asked to use was worse than substandard and disrespectful to the art and the artists. When I saw the space I asked myself: would this group ask a visiting artist to use this space?

When the answer came back “of course not!” I knew what I had to do. And I did it publicly — but as respectfully as I know how to do — because I wanted to start a discussion of how art and artists should respect themselves and each other.

Apparently we don’t so much.

Within moments of my post appearing on a St. Louis listserv for visual and performing art, I was getting private emails and phone calls of support.

“I wish I had the balls to do what you did,” I heard on more than one message.

But the public responses called me ungrateful and whiny, insisting that I was “biting the hand that feeds you.”

Really? Artists are lapdogs who gobble up any scrap thrown from the big art table where the master sits and then wag our tails in gratitude? Or are we servants who dote on the master and do his bidding, accepting his blows with a “thank you, sir”? Or are we children who are to be seen and not heard?

When did this happen? Artists are supposed to enlighten, entertain, enrich and inspire. But mostly we’re supposed to tell the truth! The hard truths. The ugly truths. The uncomfortable truths.

To do that, artists must be equals at the art table.

I demand to be an equal. Artists and art institutions and collectors all need each other. We have to understand and respect and try to meet each other’s needs. Without artists, the museums are empty. Without collectors and art institutions that will show my work, I will starve. I get that.

Without artists, our lives are empty and bleak and hopeless. And pretty damned bland.

I AM grateful for the opportunities, but I have to tell the truth. I, and my sister and brother artists deserve respect. We have to respect ourselves and our work. We deserve a place at the table.

We are not lapdogs.

P.S. Thanks to one of my public supporters for the quote above. It sums up the discussion perfectly!

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>Dealing with Loss

Posted on July 7, 2008 by jeanevogelart

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Taken June 24, 2008, in a little cave on the Current River

From the picture you’d think I’d be dealing with the loss of my youth or dignity or my svelte self (bad angles here!)

But really I’m dealing with the loss of equipment. The equipment I’m holding that was in the yellow waterproof case peeking out at the bottom of the picture. My daughter Hannah took this picture of me — I hate pictures of myself, but it’s the only one of me with my trusty, wonderful Fuji S2Pro and Nikon 28-105 lens.

What? Did it drop in the river? No. It but it is gone, apparently snatched from my house when I was away at an art fair. Nothing else seems to be missing except the equipment in that yellow case, which I think was on my dining room table, in full view of the front windows of our house.

It wasn’t my best camera — in fact it’s a back up that I don’t use that often but I do love it. I have three 35 mm film cameras, 2 medium format film cameras, a dozen or more Polaroid cameras, and a film APS camera thats just for fun, a Canon digicam that fits in my pocket and a couple of digital SLRs. Each has lenses and filters and flash units and gadgets galore.

Apparently, I’m more attached to my equipment that I thought. One of my film cameras is one of my first — a 35mm Canon Ftb. It’s a work horse, worth about $5 now, but it’s not going anywhere! I started to learn my craft on that camera! (I probably COULD drop that one in the river and shoot with it later!)

Lots of people — amateurs photographers and students, mostly — want to know what equipment that pros use, hoping to duplicate results if they just had the right equipment.

I always say that it’s the eye and vision of the artist — not the equipment – that makes a difference.

Apparently the equipment matters too.

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>A Trek

Posted on June 26, 2008 by jeanevogelart

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From the Current River series, (c) 2008 Jeane Vogel, Infrared photograph, $400

We celebrated Hannah’s 12th birthday with a 3 night, mom-daughter camping and canoe trip on the Current River. I used to know this river well, but I haven’t been on it in 20 years. I wanted Hannah to see all it’s wonders. It’s one of the most beautiful spring-fed rivers in the country, and most of the springs are only accessible by water.

It’s a cold river too, because of the springs, and the recent wet weather means that the springs are flowing strong and the river is deep and quick.

Perfect.

And, as long as we’re going, I might as well shoot! I decided to photograph infrared because it’s beautiful and different. But shooting infrared can be challenging. It requires long exposures because it’s capturing a spectrum of light not visible to the human eye. Long exposures means tripods. And to get the right angle I needed to be in the river.

So there I am , waist deep in 65 degree water (at it’s warmest), a quick current, several thousand dollars of photography equipment and 10 second exposures.

Hannah was even braver. She shot underwater video! This is definitely my kid.

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>An Amazing Thing Happened Today

Posted on June 5, 2008 by jeanevogelart

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Got Game, (c) 2004 By Jeane Vogel
22×30, $350

Girls Want to Play, from the What Girls Want series, (c) 2005, Jeane Vogel
22×30, $350

An amazing thing happened today — Mamie “Peanut” Johnson was drafted by the Washington Nationals. This amazing pitcher, virtually unknown, is the only woman to have played professional ball with men.

She played for a short time in the old Negro Leagues. With and against some of the best players in the game. Of course, most baseball fans never saw any of them, because they weren’t allowed to play with whites. Most people pick up the story with Jackie Robinson in 1947.

But long before Jackie, there were men and women who played. If the black men were discriminated against, women of all colors didn’t have a chance. Except Peanut. She was that good.

Maime “Peanut” Johnson and 29 other living players from the Negro Leagues were ceremoniously drafted by major league teams today.

It’s about time.

There’s a scene in the movie “A League of Their Own” that makes me cry every time I see it.

The “girls” of the All American Girls Baseball League are playing. A ball get away and rolls in front of a young black woman who’s watching the white women play. The black woman fires the stray ball back to Geena Davis. They have a moment of understanding — the black woman announced her power and skill, the white woman acknowledged that the black woman should be in uniform with them. The story line doesn’t allow for much more and you might miss it if you didn’t know the whole story, but It’s a nod to Peanut. There aren’t many directors who would have bothered to include the scene, but it’s part of our story as women, as baseball fans and as a racially divided country. Kudos to Director Penny Marshall for reminding us that even something like baseball, as frivolous as it might seem, as annoying commercial as it has become, is still a reflection of our values and dreams.

Oh yeah, and the Democrats nominated Barak Obama for President. Wow! What a week!

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>Hype

Posted on May 19, 2008 by jeanevogelart

>There’s a lot of hype in this world. “We’re the best!” “New and Improved!” “We’re #1!”

Blah, blah, blah. It hardly means anything anymore.

You can believe it when the organizers of the Belleville Art on the Square fair proclaim themselves #1. They are!

I was privileged to be one of only 5 St. Louis artists (of 100 artists from 30 states and 8 countries!) chosen to be part of this fair. It did not disappoint. Part of the St. Louis metro area, Belleville is a historic town in its own right. The people are amazingly friendly. The town is grateful to have the artists there and the artists are grateful to be there. It’s a win-win!

The patrons are art-savvy. They understand art and want to collect it. It helps that the show is so competitive that only the best art gets in. There’s no “junk” art here. Anything you see at Belleville you will see in a gallery. That can’t be said of most shows.

The Art Fair Source Book, the reference for fair artists nationwide, dubbed Belleville #1 in 2007. The rankings come from artists ourselves. We judge fairs on sales, hospitality, ease of set up, etc. We love this life, but the art fair business is hard — physically and emotionally — and a fair that respects the artists, pampers us a little, and makes our lives in their town a little easier gets high marks.

Lots of fairs are good. Volunteers are helpful. The food is generally pretty good, even if it’s just bagels and coffee in the morning.

So what makes Belleville Art on the Square different? Part of it must be the community. Everyone, it seems, is part of this show. And everyone in town wants the artists to be there. The shop keepers aren’t grumbling that the artists’ tents are blocking their streets. The community leaders go out of their way to introduce themselves. I got personal visits from the Fire Chief and Chief of Police, both stopping by to let me know what their departments had planned to do to protect the artists. The Chief of Police even babysat my booth for 20 minutes while I attended some business with fair personnel. Who else does that?

This show is so dedicated to art (instead of making money, like many shows), that they have year-long artist-in-residence program that puts artists in area schools, and they sponsor a regional high school art exhibit that displayed student work that was so exceptional, it could have been displayed with the professional art in the booths.

And the fair buys art itself. The fair buys art for the town square and for city hall. That level of dedication to displaying art publicly is rare — and so refreshing.

Patty Gregory, the show’s founder & chair, and co-chair John Rule put together an amazing team. (John didn’t even yell at me when I drove in the wrong way!) It’s a long, exhausting show that brings 85,000 people to a small, four-block area of town to see some of the best art in the country. As exhausted as I was Sunday night at the show’s end, the volunteers worked even harder.

I’m not being modest when I say I was thrilled to be part of this show. Thank you Belleville! You are deserving of every accolade sent your way. Please, please, please, invite me back!

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