WALKABOUT: Artwork on Display for Art Walk in Montpelier

By Theodore A. Hoppe

Art Walk is this Friday, December 10, from 4-8 PM. Montpelier Art Walks are presented quarterly by Montpelier Alive, which strives to "enhance a vibrant community center" and create a "unique sense of place." They have also scheduled a number of holiday events in coming weeks to help celebrate the season that include a Holiday Window Contest, a tree lighting ceremony and wagon rides.

In all there are twenty-four locations that will feature a variety of art along the walk.
A handy Montpelier Art Walk Guide is available at many locations in the city, which includes a preview of Montpelier's First Night Events, or you can simply look for signs in the windows of the downtown merchants and other public spaces that are participating as Art Walk locations.

Kellogg-Hubbard Library and City Center both feature the member artists of the Art Resource Association (ARA). At the Kellogg Hubbard Library, Rebecca Kibby has several photographs on display, among them a glowing glimpse of the golden dome of the Statehouse, and a large black and white piece titled Touch-Green Mount, one in a series of photographs from a study of marble sculptures.

ARA member William Steinhurst has two interesting digital photos from a far-off place: Sunrise - Death Valley is a breathtaking landscape that can only be captured from a lofty perch on a mountain peak in the early morning. Salt Marsh - Death Valley is the opposite extreme, an abstract design created by nature. Gladys Agell has a delightful acrylic painting that is a bright and colorful interior study, titled Oh!

The second of the ARA exhibits is at City Center, which will present the MSMS Glee Club Holiday Concert on the evening of the Art Walk. Joy Huchins-Noss’s two paintings at City Center are consistent with the style she brings to her pastel work, such as Kelton Field, which is part of the library exhibit. Anne Unangst's pastel still life Nesting is precise in its execution and worth searching out.

The Drawing Board is displaying more new paintings by Ray Brown for the Art Walk. Some of these paintings build on the style of his exhibition at the Supreme Court, which were inspired by his travels to Italy. The newest paintings (at left) set off in an entirely new direction.

As we have noted in the past, The Skinny Pancake does its best to make art a part of its decor, and this month they are featuring the Tritography of Mark Chaney, whose work I reviewed in Vermont Art Zine past spring.

Community College of Vermont will be exhibiting the art work of the students of seven visual art classes, including Drawing, Photography, Printmaking, and Design, at 50 Main Street., with a reception until 8:00 P.M.

So if you're in Montpelier, get out and Art Walk this Friday!

Images: Joy Huckins-Noss, Undercurrent; Anne Unangst, Nesting; two new paintings by Ray Brown at the Drawing Board

WALKABOUT: Ethan Azarian Mural in Burlington

On Flynn Avenue, across from Flynndog, there’s a new mural by Ethan Azarian at Upstairs Antiques, east side of the tracks, up on the wall in time to be fresh for Art Hop this weekend.

Ethan is the son of well-known woodcut artist Mary Azarian and “Tom Banjo” Azarian. He was born and raised in Vermont, and now makes his living as a professional artist in Austin, Texas, where he sells his work locally out of his home (the In House Gallery), as well as at restaurants, cafes and galleries. Ethan spends the summers in Vermont with his family, working on art and music.

Ethan's piece is accompanied by a South End Arts District flamingo; stay tuned for many more South End Arts District Signs of Life in the coming days and weeks!

WALKABOUT: Stone Art at the Dog River in Montpelier

By Theodore A. Hoppe

People have been building with stones and rocks probably since the beginning of recorded time, stacking them and fashioning them into buildings, monuments, and sculpture. There are endless examples: Stonehenge, the Pyramids, the Easter Island Moai. Frank Lloyd Wright is credited with the philosophy of "organic architecture," the central principle of which maintains that the building should develop out of its natural surroundings. It would follow that art should be organic as well: use the material in the natural surroundings. Vermont has no shortage of stone and rocks, and so it makes sense that people would find creative ways to make use of them, including using them in art.

Rock sculpture is an organic art form, and is Vermont's equivalent of sand castles at the beach. Lots of folks try their hand at it to while away the time on a summer day, but few turn it into an art form the way Bob Harris, of Montpelier has. Harris works in the evenings performing culinary art, which allows him to spend his daytime at the river creating a garden of sculpture with a Buddhist sensibility. Rock sculptures are about balance and centering and styles can vary. Some people stack them up, others seek ways to counter-balance them on end in seemingly precarious ways. Bob Harris's style is a blend of both, and can incorporate drift wood and tree roots carried downstream.

Since Harris's rock sculptures are all constructed in the river bed, he knows that at some point the waters will rise, and the river's force will carry the stones to a new resting place. There is also the chance that someone could come along and just knock them all down, which sometimes happens. Luckily, most people respect the effort Harris puts into his work. Indeed, many have trekked to the spot along the Dog River, which one person referred to as "Bobtown" just to take pictures of the towering pieces. With the notoriety Harris is receiving, he's been taking his art a little more seriously. He's been commissioned to create some sculptures for a garden and is creating a portfolio of his creations.