An Artistic Triumph Over Cushing's Disease: J. Jordan Bruns

Wonderful interview with the Yellow Barn Studio Manager, J. Jordan Bruns on WAMU 88.5 last Friday.  If you missed it, you can hear his story here.

http://wamu.org/programs/metro_connection/11/12/09/an_artistic_triumph_over_cushings_disease_j_jordan_bruns#.TuIxCBD4qyJ.facebook

Stone Tower Residency at The Yellow Barn

 

Applications for Stone Tower for 2012--

The Stone Tower studio space, a beautiful place to work and show art,  is available during February through June 2012 for rent to members of the Friends who have shown their work professionally. This can be for a month or more, a single artist, or a team of two. Applications should be submitted to Jordan Bruns at jordan@jjbruns.com by January 15, 2012. Decisions will be announced after the Friends Board meeting on January 23.  Applications must include the following:

1) Resume of education and exhibition history including name, address, e-mail and phone contact information, and the month(s) you would be available to work in the Tower.  

2) Describe work you would do while resident in the Stone Tower Studio which would be inviting to the public, and enriching to the Yellow Barn community, include demonstrations & lectures. Certify your ability to keep the studio open at least 30 hours a week, including at least 16 weekend hours each week.
3) Explain what your previous experience with the Yellow Barn has meant to you, and how your presence in the Stone Tower studio will serve to introduce the public to the Yellow Barn, encourage new students, and attract potential buyers for art available in the Stone Tower, and at weekend shows in the Yellow Barn Gallery.  (If you have no experience with the Yellow Barn, please explain how and what you know about the Yellow Barn)
4) Submit a portfolio of photographs of recent work as email attachments (6 to 10 paintings/drawings) or provide the url of your website.

email "jordan@jjbruns.com" with questions

17th Members Show Reivew

Thanks to the Potomic Patch for promoting the YB Members show!

http://potomac.patch.com/articles/2011-yellow-barn-members-show#photo-8615202

Paint the Park Green!

A “green” landscape painting event with the mission of preserving and protecting America’s national parks to help build better futures for families, children and our planet.  The Paint Out is designed to educate and inspire artists to become more environmentally aware and health conscious with their materials and methods in creating art.

How to dispose of Acrylic Water by Golden Acrylics

Paint the Park Green!

Working our way up to the big event on October 22nd and 23rd, the Yellow Barn Instructors will be working in the Stone Tower Studio and avaliable to answer any questions you may have about the event and plein air painting.  Be sure to stop in and visit!  Here is a tentative list of when they will be working!

Paint the Park Green! October Stone Tower

October 6^th – Thursday- Natasha Karpinskia

October 7^th - Friday- Eric Garner (1:00-4:00pm)

October 8^th – Saturday- Vacant...

October 9^th – Sunday-  J. Jordan Bruns (11:00-3:00pm)

October 10^th – Monday- Walt Bartman (1:00-3:30pm)

October 11^th – Tuesday – Lida Stifel (1:00-4:00pm)

October 12^th - Wednesday- Walt Bartman (1:00-3:30pm)Bonny Lundy (4:00-7:00pm)

October 13^th – Thursday- Martha Spak (1:00-3:00pm)

October 14^th – Friday- Tom Semmes, (10:00-4:00pm), Eric Garner (1:00-4:00pm)

October 15^th – Saturday- Gavin Glakas

October 16^th – Sunday-  

October 17^th – Monday- Walt Bartman (1:00-3:30pm)

October 18^th – Tuesday – Christine Lashley, Lida Stifel (1:00-4:00pm)

October 19^th - Wednesday - Walt Bartman (1:00-3:30pm), Bonny Lundy (4:00-7:00pm)

October 20^th – Thursday- Natasha Karpinskaia

October 21^st - Friday – Set up for event, clean space (no artist)

October 22^nd - Saturday – EVENT, Reception Area (no artist)

October 23^rd – Sunday - EVENT, Reception Area (no artist)

October 24^th – Monday- Walt Bartman (1:00-3:30pm)

October 25^th – Tuesday- Martha Spak (1:30-4:00pm)

October 26^th – Wednesday- Walt Bartman (1:00-3:30pm)

October 27^th – Thursday- Martha Spak (2:00-4:00pm)

ARTOMATIC Frederick!!!!!!

Walt Bartman, Glen Kessler and Evan Goldman, Yellow Barn Instructors will have work in Frederick, Marylands Artomatic, Sept. 28th – Nov. 6th, 2011

Hours:
Wednesdays & Thursdays
11 am - 9 pm
Fridays & Saturdays
11 am - 12 am
Sundays
12 pm - 6 pm

During the 5-week event Artomatic@Frederick
will feature:
Art Exhibits
Musical Performances
Theatrical Performances
Film Screenings
Poetry Readings
Open Mic Events
Student Art & Performances
Dance
and much, much more...

http://www.artomaticfrederick.org/

(e)merge Art Fair

Make sure you go see instructor Eric Garner at (e)merge!
http://www.emergeartfair.com/

Paint the Park Green!

Click the link below to check out the new article on the October 22nd and 23rd event.  Sign up now while spaces still remain!

http://potomac.patch.com/articles/yellow-barn-embraces-environmental-stewardship#photo-7674311

JoAnn Clayton Townsend, September Artist in Resident, Stone Tower 1st Floor

http://gaithersburg.patch.com/articles/a-portrait-of-the-artist-joann-clayton-townsend

Great Review of the First Annual Drawing Exhibition!

http://potomac.patch.com/articles/four-artists-discuss-underrated-medium

J. Jordan Bruns, in cooperation with The Friends of the Yellow Barn, is holding a drawing exhibition open to ALL members of the Friends of the Yellow Barn.  The exhibition will take place on Saturday and Sunday, August 20th and 21st, 2011, from 12:00pm-5:00pm.  An opening reception for the exhibition will be held on Saturday from 5:00-7:00pm.

Eligibility Requirements 

·  All work must be created with a drawing medium (no paint!)

·  Artists must have framed drawings, ready to hang

·  Artists must be a "Friends of the Yellow Barn Member"

·  Artists must be willing to share the promotional and reception costs

To Participate:

1-3 drawings can be submitted to the exhibition, no size restrictions

Please send the information: Name, Title, Medium, Price for each piece and make sure that the info is on the back of the drawing upon drop off.

Email J. Jordan Bruns, Yellow Barn Studio Manager, at jordan@jjbruns.com to let him know you would like to exhibit. 

Include a jpg of one of your drawings if you would like to be included in the promotional material.

Please indicate if you are able to 1) help hang the exhibition on Friday night or 2) able to gallery watch while the exhibition is running on Saturday or Sunday, 12-5pm.

You must have your work dropped off at the Yellow Barn on Friday, August 19th at 6:30pm for installation. 

Rachel Collins at Art Space

Ebb & Flow

featuring watercolors by Rachel Collins and sculptures by Jessica Beels

Exhibiting:  July 7th - July 31st

Opening Reception and Gallery Talk:  Saturday, July 9th, 7:30pm-9:30pm

The soft colors and ethereal feel of these paintings and sculptures immediately transport you to the beach.  Shells and bones washed up by the tide, while intriguing enough as pure form, are even more interesting as reflections of what used to surround or inhabit them; their structure wholly revealed only after their original function has ceased. 

Rachel Collins’ watercolors and Jessica Beels’ paper sculptures explore the spaces in and around shells and bones as landscapes and abstracted forms, examining light play and shadows and revealing inner structures and hidden echoes. 

ArtSpace is extremely pleased to be presenting this exhibit by talented local artists.  “This is a wonderful summertime exhibit that will capture the imagination of all viewers and evoke a youthful sense of the wonder of nature and the forms and structures around us,” said Robin Carroll of ArtSpace.  Rachel Collins watercolors are beautiful and Jessica Beels’s sculptures are airy and light.

J. Jordan Bruns on Artistspeak

http://arttistsspeak.blogspot.com/2011/06/jordan-bruns.html

1. Where and how would you display your work in an ideal situation?

Image a tall stone tower.  Let's say 5-7 stories tall.  It will have a spiral staircase in the center, and at the top of the stair case, a big white cube-shaped room with tons of strategically placed sky lights and very nice track lighting that adjusts with the time of day.  White walls, very clean oak hardwood floors with comfortable benches placed around the hole in the center of the floor where the stair case emerges. Climbing the staircase would make the viewer a bit dizzy, which I think would be kind of fun.

2. If expository writing is good at elucidating and proving a point and descriptive geometry gives us the tools by which to map objects in space in relation to one another, what kind of an apparatus does art afford us? What does art do best?

Well, I'll answer this question as it applies to painting. Good painting asks questions.  It's at its best when the viewer has to work to connect the dots. This means that not everything is explained at first, and the viewer is forced to ponder, decipher and examine the painting to get the most out of it.  I get very bored when people try and paint a painting just like a photograph. It's equivalent to someone giving you $10,000 for doing nothing; the work would not be worth as much as if you had worked for the $10,000, except for the emotional worth. Good painting asks questions of/for the viewer, and when/if that happens, it is more rewarding and enjoyable.  People grow from art.

3. What can you expect from your audience/fans/viewing public? What would you like them to know about your work?

I don't expect anything, really. However, I do wish that everyone did not just see the post apocalyptic world in my work.  I don't deny that there are elements of destruction, but I still see the rebirth in it too. The themes I explore are akin to a yin and yang. I think everyone is just so depressed about the state of our economy, jobs, wars that everyone just looks for the negative in every situation.  At the same time, I don't want to be known as the guy who is "so cheerful in person, but paints such disturbing subject matter!"

4. Marcel Duchamp said - "Enough with retinal art!" What is your reaction as an artist to this statement?

I would say, "Have fun playing chess for the rest of your life!" I remember going to Philadelphia and seeing some of his work.  Duchamp painted a painting for every art movement from Impressionism to Cubism, and Philly had one of his from each - all in a row.  It looked like he mimicked the movement, got all he could out of it, and moved on.  As if all of Cubism could be explained in one painting! This is not to say I don't agree.  I think that there needs to be a balance between retinal and thought-provoking.

5. Do you think that there is still room for art movements in today's pluralistic climate?

I think it kind of depends on how artists persevere. When painting first had to deal with photography, everyone said that "painting was dead." Painting evolved, thankfully, and was more interesting, said more, and it truly was better off. Now, photographers have to deal with all the Sunday afternoon digital photographers.  Everyone is a photographer now, and the skill and craft loses some importance.  Not everyone is trained to understand what makes good pictures. I think that when everyone can do art as well as everyone else, art will cease to exist.

6. What is one question you wished we had asked you about your art? Please feel free to answer it.

How about the age old battle between form and content.  Which is more important?

Free Forms and Faces

Great Review of Tom Semmes!

Yellow Ban instructor, Tom Semmes, is reviewed in the Gazette for his exhibit in Orchard Gallery.  Check out the great article below!
http://www.gazette.net/stories/05042011/entemon112329_32535.php

"An Evening with the Arts: A Benefit for the Children's Inn at NIH"

Friday, May 20th 2011 

6:30-9:00pm

The Bumper Car Pavilion at Glen Echo Park

Tickets are $40 and available at 

www.niharts.com

The Washington Conservatory of Music will perform "Music from the Village, Dave Brubeck to Miles Davis", while artists Jordan Bruns, Walter Bartman, Jackie Hoysted, Margaret Panas, and Lida Stifel will render their unique expressions of the performance in paint.  Guests will be entertained with extraordinary sounds and sights and have the opportunity to purchase the original artworks created that evening through a silent auction.

  All ticket and art sales benefit the Children's Inn at NIH. 

The Children's Inn at the National Institutes of Health is a residential "place like home" for sick children and their families.  Families stay in residence with the child while he/she receives ground-breaking medical treatments at the NIH.  While the NIH takes care of the child's medical needs, The Inn tends to the child's heart, soul, and spirit.

Graciously sponsored by The Yellow Barn Studio and Gallery, Banfi Wines,

Plaza Art Materials, Gamblin Paint, Norman's Farm Market and 

The Arts and Humanities of Montgomery County

Instructor Tom Semmes at Orchard

Tom Semmes


Orchard Gallery
7917 Norfolk Ave in Bethesda, MD
orchardartgallery.com


April 22 - May 12
Reception 
Saturday April 23 from 6:00 to 9:00 pm

Opening, Saturday April 9th from 5:00-7:00pm

Art Opening for "An Evening with the Arts"


Featuring the work of:
Walter Bartman
J. Jordan Bruns
Jackie Hoysted
M.M. Panas
Lida Stifel


From 5:00-7:00pm
The Pop Corn Gallery at Glen Echo Park
7300 MacArthur Blvd.
Glen Echo, MD 20812 


This exhibition features the work of the five artists painting in the May 20th, "An Evening With The Arts: A Benefit for the Children's Inn at NIH".  Tickets of the the May 20th event are available at www.niharts.com.  All proceeds go to arts supplies for the Children's Inn at NIH. 

More Great press from Christine Lashley!

Click here!

Christine Lashley

Check out the giant image by Christin Lashley!  This was featured in last weeks "The Weekend Section".

Review of the Instructors Show at the Pop Corn Gallery

Check out the great review of the Instructors Exhibition!
Click here!

Jordan Bruns

Great review of instructor Jordan Bruns!

Christine Lashley

You are invited to Christine Lashley’s solo show:

Artist in the Garden

On exhibit: March 30 - May 1, 2011 at ArtSpace Herndon

Opening reception: Saturday, April 2, from 2-5pm

Christine will demonstrate painting flowers April 2, 2-3pm

750 Center Street, Herndon, VA 20170, 703.956.6591(www.artspaceherndon.com).
Hours: Tue/Wed/Thurs 10am-2pm, Fri 10am-8pm, Sat/Sun 12pm-5pm, closed Mon.
Located near the Fortnightly Library and W&OD bike trail in downtown Herndon.

"Iris Garden" oil, 30 x 40"

SPECIAL PLEIN-AIR WORKSHOP
Paint Flower & Gardens with Christine on April 28 & 29 from 9:30am - 3:30pm at Tree Frog Nursery in Great Falls, VA (indoor studio space at ArtSpace in case of rain), tuition $190. More details and register online at www.christinelashley.com (classes) or click here.

ABOUT THE ARTIST
Long-time gardener and environmentalist, Christine Lashley, will exhibit her impressions of natural spaces, from the formal gardens of France and Italy to her own Certified Natural Habitat backyard. Christine’s artwork explores the role of plants in our lives in traditional and less conventional ways. 

Christine Lashley earned her BFA at Washington University in St. Louis, after studying in Paris at the Parsons Art Institute and the Sorbonne. She has held many solo shows in different areas of the country and has competed in numerous juried exhibitions, winning many top awards.  Christine’s work has been featured in publications such as: American Artist Magazine, Elan Magazine and The Washington Post.  She has earned signature membership in several juried art organizations. An art instructor for over 10 years, she is a faculty member of several art academies  in the DC area, including ArtSpace.
MORE UPCOMING EVENTS:
- Spring Plein-Air Watercolor, Yellow Barn/On-location, Fridays May 6 - June 24, 10-12:30 (only 1 spot left!)
- Summer classes in watercolor, Yellow Barn, see my website for 3 class offerings. Enrolling now.
- Baltimore Watercolor Society Annual Juried Watermedia Show, Strathmore Hall, MD, April 5- May 21

Christine Lashley
christinelashley.com

Artists Speak

Hey Artists,
Check out "Artists Speak", http://arttistsspeak.blogspot.com/
Great place to get yourself know!

Gallery 322 New Website

Check out the new webpage of Co-Opp gallery in Frederic, Gallery 322.  Started by Yellow Barn Director Walt Bartman.  http://www.gallery-322.com/

Yellow Barn Instructors at the Pop Corn Gallery, Glen Echo Park

Come check out the Yellow Barn instructors showing their work in the Pop Corn Gallery.  The show will be open Saturdays and Sundays from 12:00-6:00pm this March.

PLEIN AIR COMPETITION AT RIVERBEND PARK

In fact a series of competitions--twice a month--the first to be a a week from this Saturday--that's Saturday, March 12, 2011.

All painters are welcome to compete for the $100.00 prize--winner to be determined by vote of the participants.

There is a $10 entry fee--with ALL proceeds going directly to the park.

The rules are simple: show up at the park between 7am and 9am and have your canvas stamped--all artwork must be produced on the day of the competition and on the grounds of Riverbend Park.

Prize money will be contributed by local sponsors.
Have your canvas turned in and ready for judging by 12:30pm. There will be a grace period of five minutes, after which artwork will be disqualified!

If fewer than four artists show up there will be no competition, so encourage your friends to take part.


In fact, please forward this notice to every artist you know!

Questions? Phone Jack Warden at 703-437-9681.

Thanks for your interest and good painting to all!

Day 23- Tom Semmes, Glen Kessler

Day 23- Glen Kessler snuck into the Stone Tower early today to fix the upper left corner of the Self Portrait/Still Life painting.  "It has been really bothering me," said Glen, "I wasn't planning on working on it anymore, but I had a great idea and came in early to knock it out."
Tom Semmes finished up the day with some decisive surgery to the Carousel Painting.  "Now it's exciting!" said Tom, "It was kind of hovering between a really serious painting and... the hot dog painting.  I think that it's more unified with the balloons."
Personally, its a welcome view of a carousel that has been painted so seriously for so long.  It's nice to view the carousel much like a kid does, exciting!

There are a few loose ends that will be tackled when Jordan Bruns paints on our final day in the tower.  "Just clean up the last of the loose ends!" Bruns says, "For the most part, the paintings are done and I'm really excited about the work we ended up with.  I had moments of fear, but I  think that we came together in the ends to make good paintings."
 
Be sure to stop by tomorrow for our "Yellow Barn Open House" from 11:00-5:00pm.  You can see demos by our instructors and also have the chance to bid on the 3 collaboration paintings we've been working so hard to create!  They'll be worth something someday!

Keep checking back to our Yellow Barn Blog for any news regarding our instructors and their events.  They'll notify you here about art openings or events in the future!

Cheers!
-Jordan  

Day 22- Martha Spak

Day 22- Martha Spak, (with a little help from Walt Bartman earlier in the week) brought us a little closer to order in the paintings.  With the last couple of days before we say goodbye to our masterpieces, we are working hard to bring the pieces to a "finished" state.
"The abstract painting is closest to being finished at this point," says Jordan Bruns, "you could work on that one forever, but I think that all the major kinks are getting close to being ironed out.  I also think that once the upper left corner of the still life/self portrait painting is resolved, that piece could be considered finished too.  Tom's got a little more work ahead of him on Friday."
Let us know what you think!

Day 19- Walt Bartman

Day 17-  It was only a matter of time before something like this happens.  "Don't mess with my portrait."  Bartman says.  "I think it comes down to respecting what other artists do.  When your going to build on an idea its good, when you eliminate it, its not good."   We're all trying to make a painting that is our own personal signature.  If you take those personal signatures out, your deluding the uniqueness of the project."

Day 18- Jordan Bruns

Day 18-  Not sure how he did it, Jordan Bruns resolved his likeness in the self portrait/still life painting today.  It may take a magnifying glass, but he's in there doing his "James in the Giant Peach" impression.
"Not sure why I decided to paint that small... it took a brush that looks like it has 3 bristles!"

Article on the Yellow Barn Collaboration!

Check out the second article on our collaboration event!

Remember, next Saturday is the Open House where the auctioning of these three paintings concludes!

Day 17- Glen Kessler, Drawing and Painting

Day 17- Glen Kessler began the unification process today, using the previously painted information and melding it into a more cohesive painting.  Glen, a classically trained painter, created a dramatic space by using black paint.  He also brought up the light as was discussed with Eric Garner the day before.
"I approached the painting as if I were discussing it with my students," Kessler says, "three quarters the way done, it's time to start pulling it together."  Tomorrow, Jordan Bruns and Lida Stifel will be painting from 11:00-5:00pm.  Let us know what you think on Facebook!

You can also watch the interview with Glen Kessler here!

Day 16- Eric Garner

Day 16- While working on the Abstract Painting today, Eric Garner and Glen Kessler talked about the importance of pulling all the pieces together.
"We have a week left," said Kessler, "tomorrow I'll work toward unifying the pieces."
In our latest interview, Eric Garner talks about his suggestions for the three collaboration paintings.  "I'm most excited about the abstract piece," Eric says, "I think it's really coming together to be an interesting painting."
Watch Eric's critique on the three collaboration pieces here!

Day 14- Bonny Lundy and Walt Bartman

Day 14-  Just when you thought the Carousel painting was getting boring.... something happened.  It came in the form of a hot dog bought at Seven Eleven.

"It actually really breaks up that foreground space beautifully!"  Said Bonny.

The two of them worked on the carousel piece yesterday, bringing new life into the project.  No one said we weren't having fun.  

"You know, I go home and dream about this," Bartman says, "I keep thinking of ways to improve the paintings!"
Watch the interview with Bonny Lundy here!

Tell us what you think on Facebook!   http://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Yellow-Barn-Studio-and-Gallery/185292206369

Join Facebook to see the progress!

We're posting the progress of each painting, day by day on Facebook.  You can check it out and "like" our page here!
http://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Yellow-Barn-Studio-and-Gallery/185292206369

It's the best way to see how the painting changes by each painting session!

Day 13- Jordan Bruns

Day 13- After continuously observing the great work being done by the Yellow Barn artists, Jordan Bruns worked into the abstract piece.  "Needs more color balance",  he thought as he worked into the oranges and blues, attempting to create spatial effects with color.  "I still think that the piece needs a better entrance to the composition, but I did what I did."

It's really not an easy feat to preserve what other have done before you while still staying true to your beliefs as a painter.  There is a fine to walk between improving the piece and wrecking the fine work that had been done before you.

Day 11- Daniel Wise, Pastel Instructor

Day 11- Daniel Wise, a magician with pastels, chose to work on the Carousel painting today.  I often marvel at how patient some of our artists/instructors are here at the barn.  Daniel is definitely one who gives a lot of thought to the paint color, tone, and thickness before he places the brush to the canvas.
During our interview today, I found out that he paints every day from 5:30am to 11:00am, before going to his "day job".  Talk about passion and dedication to the craft!
Hear Daniels take on the "challenges the artists face" of the collaboration project here!

Day 10- Glen Kessler and Gavin

Day 10- Glen Kessler decides to throw us all a curve ball and a call to raise the bar.  He thoughtfully renders his likeness but as his fellow artists had envisioned. He juxtaposes his head into the painting as if it were a still life object. An an interview you won't want to miss.
He explains more here!  
Once Glen has left, Gavin Glakas,  paints his ode to his first art teacher, Walt Bartman.  He explains here...