Love Thursday: Fleeting

The other day when I was downtown hosting our ArtPrize Venue, I had a little time to make a video of the piece I made.  We have had thousands of people come through in the first week and a half, but I had a few quiet minutes here!  Well, except for the siren...

Fleeting

Some of the kids featured in my ArtPrize piece...

I was very honored that the piece finished in the top 25 of the Monroe North neighborhood.  So many people even told me it was their favorite!

Fleeting

"Fleeting", my ArtPrize piece

The name of the piece comes from the lyrics of the song "Psalm 62" by Aaron Keyes:
"Though life is but a fleeting breath, a sigh to brief to measure,
My King has crushed the curse of death, and I am his forever."

To read more about it, click here.

Open to Grace

By Rachel Hyde

This past Sunday, Rachel was interviewed about her piece during church and she talked about why she created this piece.  This is from her work statement:

"Open to Grace expresses a chapter of my personal journey where I learned how to settle into my body and the reality of my life, become strong and open, and as a result learned to experience profound peace – Energizing and life-giving Grace.
In this piece, there are several representational elements at play. The steel ring in the center is my visualization of an open heart. The fabric that provides the backdrop also carries streams of grace, which have translated to river rock when they reach the ground – solid and tangible reflections. When these streams reach the open-hearted steel ring, they are transformed into vibrant life. This is the gift of Grace in action. The new life is tempered by strong attachments to its real surroundings. These connections are like tent strings – enabling the tent to remain both open and grounded at the same time.
My hope is that Open to Grace will connect the viewer with the Love and Grace that I've experienced, gifted to me by God the Creator."

Cool ArtPrize Photo at MCC

Tunnel of Trees by Bill Vriesema

This photo makes me want to try this!  He did it while he was driving - I really don't think I should try that though!

Love Thursday: Artprize!

Birth of a Dream, by Robin Protz

This awesome piece is being shown at Monroe Community Church right next to mine!

ArtPrize 2011

It's that very exciting time of year again - the 3rd year that ArtPrize is taking place in Grand Rapids and the 3rd year that our church is a venue.  This year, I am entering a photographic piece called "Fleeting" and I spent about 10-12 hours this past Saturday installing it with the help of some friends and collaborators.  When I get a picture of it, I'll say more about it, but in the meantime, here are 3 exhibits in our venue that I did get so far:


Brian Whitfield, The Final Nail


Katie Gotch, Untitled


Claire Johnson, Brick Wall

Flash Back Friday 219

 
 
ArtPrize at Monroe Community Church 2009

Tomorrow we are installing my piece for ArtPrize 2011which will be there with works by 20 other artists!

Forever Blowing Bubbles

This past week when Maria was home for Spring Break, we went out one evening on a photoshoot. When she had the idea of taking bubble pictures, I was all too happy to oblige, if you can't tell.

This week, I'm entering this one called "Fleeting" in an art show:

Healing Hands Photography Exhibit

Yesterday was the last day of the Healing Hands exhibit which I blogged about when I was taking the photos. Here are some pictures of what it looked like when it was up.

"My love of photography began over 30 years ago when my high school geometry teacher encouraged me to take photos for the yearbook. Perhaps she knew already then that my aptitude for math would grow into a passion for finding beauty and symmetry in the chaos of everyday life through photography. I bought my first Canon 35mm camera when I was 16 and have been a “Canon girl” ever since. Through the years, I have carried my Canon to capture some of the shining moments in this blessed, fleeting life because I believe that photographs can help us remember this blessedness in our times of forgetfulness and doubt.

My greater hope is to show glimpses of God’s glory and to affirm His beauty in people and in the world. When presented with the idea for the “Healing Hands” project, I was excited about the opportunity to show the larger picture of how we are all connected and how we are all striving to praise the Great Creator through our work, and that no matter what we do for Him here at Pine Rest, we are part of the mission to provide Jesus’ healing to our patients. I hope in some way to have captured some of that beauty. Thank you to all for lending me your hands!"-Julia Smilde

I took a picture when Maria came to see it:

These are some of the 230 smaller photographs:

And some of the 27 larger ones:

Sometimes I do get to places just when God's ready to have somebody click the shutter.

~Ansel Adams

Chihuly

A couple of weeks ago, Bridget, the Queen Mother and I saw this rise out of the pond at the Frederik Meijer Gardens...

We walked around to take pictures of it reflecting off of the pond...

...and the things which surrounded it.

This is part of the exhibit by Dale Chihuly who is one of the most sought after artists in the world. It was fascinating to see how his pieces were installed to be one with nature :)

A Grand Celebration of 10-10-10

This past Sunday was my friend Cathy's daughter Emily's 15th birthday. They invited Bridget & me to go along with them and a few other of her friends to the final day of ArtPrize and to have birthday cake in a random point in the city. We checked out a few ArtPrize highlights and captured some fine memories along the way.

Stopped for coffee...

Ran into some friends and gathered for a sweet moment together...

Imitated art...

Went for a carousel ride...

Walked up the city streets...

Posed for photos...

Enjoyed the sun and fall colors...

Ate birthday cake on the Grand River...

Pretty grand!

the Amethyst One

This tall Chihuly piece which looks like it is made of large amethyst gems looked quite beautiful amongst the fall colors, the blue sky, the Queen Mother and Bridget.

Wow Wow Wow

When we left off, the Queen Mother & Opa were on their way. We spent a wonderful day seeing many of the exhibits I have previously blogged about. We had a wonderful supper downtown with a salmon entree worthy of the ArtPrize logo. I wish I had a photo. Saturday morning, we headed over to the Frederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park to see their ArtPrize exhibit and the Chihuly exhibit which was held over to October 31. I was happy to see it this time with the Queen Mother and without being rushed. Here are a few wonderful pieces:

Love Thursday: More ArtPrize and the Queen Mother is Coming!

"Engulfed" in front of the GR Public Museum and across the Grand River from the Amway Grand Plaza. Ritch Branstrom assembled the components of this dirty water bird with auto parts, oil barrels, gas tanks and cylinders, and blown-out tires. The heron constructed from these petroleum-related materials evokes the potential loss of wildlife and species, as well as the possible obsolescence of our rich car culture and heritage.

Invasion by Lisa Murch

This installation captures a school of Asian carp working their way up river. These invasive species pose a serious threat to the Great Lake ecosystems and native fish.

Reminisce by Jennifer Surine

...a visual representation of the process of accumulating and storing our memories ... conveys how sacred and precious each one is.

Pieces of ArtPrize

Parts of some pieces caught my eye and I didn't get the name of them. Here is some nameless beauty:

And to round out my fascination with floating art:

ArtPrize: Identity

When you walk in the front door of our church these days, you see the above three drawings by Danielle Dix who is a member of our church. This is her ArtPrize entry which is titled, "The Walk of a Woman" and consists of a drawing of herself, her mother and her grandmother.

The below entry was done by Katherine Johnson, who has an MFA and teaches art at Kendall College of Art & Design.

Yesterday in church, Pastor Amy interviewed both of these artists and talked about Identity. Based on Psalm 139, she talked about how God is the only one who fully knows us and we find our identity in Him.