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As December comes to a close, we’d like to wrap up with a look at what got people talking on WallSpin this year. Here’s a round-up of our most popular posts from 2011:

from 'Upset in San Francisco' post on WallSpin – Artist Tom Otterness Photo: Gawker.com

Upset in San Francisco – October 20, 2011
Gawker dropped a bomb on legions of animal lovers in San Francisco earlier this month. New York based artist Tom Otterness, who was contracted by the city to create a series of statues for a local subway station, is known to have…

from 'Sleeping With Art' post on WallSpin – Square Ring by B Perrino www.bperrino.com

Sleeping With Art – September 22, 2011
Barbara Perrino is an accomplished New York artist, versatile in many mediums. After spending years as a fine art photographer she turned to quilts. There’s no fuss, frill, or flower here. These are not your Grandma’s quilts…

from 'Journey to the East' post on WallSpin – Hiroshige "Swallows and Peach Blossoms Under a Full Moon" princeton.edu

Journey to the East – March 29, 2011
The minimalism and elegance of traditional Japanese brush work and woodblock printing has made its way into the work of Western artists of the past and present…

from 'Is It Done Yet?' post on WallSpin – "Untitled" by Fernando Velez Castro on Zatista.com

Is it Done Yet? – March 17, 2011
When I watch my wife, who is a painter, or any of our artist friends work on a piece, I’m always intrigued by how they know the work is done…

from 'In the Studio' post on WallSpin – Frida Kahlo – nytimes.com

In The Studio – Creating Community – March 15, 2011
We live in a time of reality TV and tell-all books, and I think involving artists and non-artists in the creative process sparks that natural curiosity we all have about other people’s lives…

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• HBR’s Most Popular Blog Posts of 2011 (blogs.hbr.org)
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• The 10 Best Art Exhibitions of 2011 (complex.com)

SVAC Historical Marker on kvabbottsartblog.blogspot.com

Located in Manchester, Vermont and nestled at the foot of the very majestic Mount Equinox, The Southern Vermont Arts Center is one of New England’s premier destinations for the arts.

Mount Equinox on the SVAC Campus Image by Brian Sylvester

Founded in the early 1920’s, the Center’s goal was to give local artists an opportunity to exhibit their works and served as a gathering point for community education and outreach, but quickly attracted attention and support beyond the immediate vicinity. What began as an idea among a few friends in 1922 has since flourished into a lasting institution.

View of the Yester House on svac.org

In the early days, up and coming artists such as Luigi Lucioni, Ogden Minton Pleissner, Dean Fausett, and Norman Rockwell all exhibited at the Center and later became world renowned. The great American artist, Grandma Moses, even held her 100th birthday celebration at SVAC in 1960, and at that time, Life Magazine commemorated the event.

SVAC Campus Map on svac.org

Today, the SVAC’s sprawling 100-acre campus is home to numerous galleries, education classrooms, a 400 seat performance hall, and a beautiful landscape featuring sculpture gardens, and hiking trails. The Center is open year round and offers plenty of activities for all ages, provides the setting for private events, and continues to expand its programs.

Outdoor Sculpture Garden at SVAC Image by Brian Sylvester

SVAC exhibits art from both its permanent collection and its ever-expanding pool of contributing Vermont artists, as well as from prominent artists all across the United States and the world, through its series of group and solo shows. The end result is a unique blend of exceptional work on view in what might at first seem like an unlikely location.

The Elizabeth de C. Wilson Museum on svac.org

Manchester, Vermont is just a short 200 miles from Manhattan, New York, though it may seem worlds away, and has become best known as a popular vacation spot. Visiting art enthusiasts and collectors who return regularly to SVAC know there is much more to the area than its natural beauty.

Brian Sylvester is a guest blogger on WallSpin, and an artist on Zatista.

Related articles

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The original Giving Tree cover on wikepedia.org

One of my favorite books of all time is Shel Silverstein’s The Giving Tree. This children’s book, originally published in 1964, remains a staple in the early-years reading lists and has been very influential to millions of readers around the globe.

Shel Silverstein on americanpoems.com

On the surface, the story is a sad and simple one. But upon further examination, especially with adult eyes, the meaning becomes much more profound and, some would argue, disturbing. Nevertheless, the power of the story is everlasting.

The Clearing by S. Josephine Weaver on zatista.com

Trees are indeed giving and perhaps we take them very much for granted at times. They are like silent partners in our lives, always standing nearby watching over us, providing materials required for everyday living, and indeed, helping maintain the health of the planet.

Tree Lane by Corey Ulrich on zatista.com

Beyond the fruits and nuts that they contribute to our diets, they give us some of the raw materials for paper, building materials, and many cellulose-based products.  They are one of our few renewable resources, and with smart forest management, the cycle of give and take can remain equitable and sustainable.

Where Evening Begins 1 by Konnie Kim on zatista.com

Given their prominence in our lives, it’s no surprise that trees were chosen to be and remain one of the primary symbols of the holiday season, subject of songs and greeting cards, and assigned an honored place in our homes and year-end celebrations. They remind us that this is a time of year about both giving and receiving.

Alone by Doug Hockman on zatista.com

The aesthetic nature of trees cannot be denied. As specimens in a landscape, they are magnificent. A quick search of Zatista‘s offerings proves their popularity with artists of all media. They give us a yearly four-season show, with each different aspect more beautiful than the next. We enjoy their company in any form because they pass the time with us, and let us know that all is well.

Brian Sylvester is a guest blogger on WallSpin, and an artist on Zatista.

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Hero from Miguel Endara on Vimeo.

What?! Another crazy-great video about an unusual art making process? This one also seems like an advertisement for a pen company, but it’s not.

I find these types of videos to be fascinating – especially when they’re this well made. They can give you a great window into an artist’s method in a very short period of time. Of course, with our rapidly diminishing attention spans, we now demand to be shown every bit of information that a video like this has to give in less than three minutes, which can be problematic.

An example of stippling via Wikipedia.

Simplicity and succinctness are cool and everything, but in some cases, pared down filmmaking leads to heavy editing. What I’m getting at here is that I think I learned more about the video and what was happening once I read the “FAQs” added by the artist/filmmaker Miguel Endara on Vimeo.

Hero by Miguel Endara miguelendara.com

For example, the ongoing tally of dots on the screen is pretty amazing, but I was floored when I learned that the piece took Endara 210 hours to complete. I also learned the term for his process: stippling. Similar to pointillism, in which dots of different colors come together to create the appearance of a single color, stippling limits artists to just black.

An example of stippling via Wikipedia

Artists who focus on stippling alone aren’t tremendously prolific because the style is so time-intensive, but it’s hard to argue with the outcome. If you’d like to learn more about how Miguel does what he does, visit his Vimeo page. There are all sorts of goodies there, including how he estimated the final dot count (3.2 million). It’s also a nice reminder that even in this age of ever-increasing digitalization, it’s good to read up on what you’re seeing online from time-to-time.

You can also check out Miguel’s website here.

Related articles

• Miguel Endara needed 3,2 Million ink dots to create the Hero portrait (designmadness.wordpress.com)
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Kay Sage and Yves Tanguy on artloversnewyork.com

It was on a recent trip to the Davis Museum at Wellesley College to view the collected works of Kay Sage and Yves Tanguy that I found myself in a discussion of famous artist couples. More often than not, these pairings lead to a collaboration and enrichment of creative energies, but sometimes, they lead to tragic outcomes.

Le Passage by Kay Sage on wikipedia.org

Artists are famously known for being “lone wolves,” but when they do find a suitable mate, the ups and downs of the creative life are intertwined with the ups and downs of domestic life.

Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera on creativecouples.net

You only need to ask yourself: Where would Frida Kahlo have been without Diego Rivera, or Jackson Pollock without Lee Krasner, or Christo without Jeanne-Claude? Some might argue that these couples would have been better off without each other, and some might argue the reverse, that it was actually the conflicts that arose from two artists living and working together that brought their art to new levels.

Jackson Pollock and Lee Krasner on artecony.blogspot.com

What can’t be denied is that these couples have left a lasting mark on the art world. Their contributions, more likely than not, were profoundly influenced by their connection – whether stormy or harmonious, direct or indirect, whether one existed in the others’ shadow, or like Sonia and Robert Delaunay, they were equal partners in productivity and involvement with the art world.

Indefinite Divisibility by Yves Tanguy on wikipedia.org

Kay Sage and Yves Tanguy had a relatively brief time together as a couple, and they made a point never to exhibit in the same space, with the exception of a 1954 show in which their work hung in the same museum but in separate galleries. In the exhibit at the Davis, “Double Solitaire: The Surreal Worlds of Kay Sage and Yves Tanguy,” their paintings for the first time hang side by side. One can easily see how they influenced and supported each other, and that at least in this instance, two artists were better than one.

Brian Sylvester is a guest blogger on WallSpin, and an artist on Zatista.

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