“Beauty in nature is everywhere you look!” exults Cheryl Buhrman. “That is where I get my inspiration, and through the use of color and composition on my canvas I hope to portray my connection with all living things.”
Burhman has explored a wide range of subject matter, but has recently been working on a floral series. Like so many artists who explore such imagery, she finds the power of flowers as symbols for life and reproduction, finding these inherent qualities not through overt or pretentious awareness, but through a concentration on the delicacy of the form, petals enveloping the stamen, pistil and ovary of the plant. The idea of a flower representing femininity has long since entered the realm of cliché, but there is truth in every trope, and if the balance of strength and vulnerability expressed in “Orange Delight,” “Georgia On My Mind, or ”White Rose” is any indication, Buhrman has discovered that truth for herself.
"Georgia on My Mind" by cheryl Buhrman, 18x24in, acrylic on canvas (2017), $275 | BUY NOW
“Although I taught art for several years, life got in the way and after working for 30 years in a job that wasn't my dream, my dream became a reality in retirement when I decided to start painting! I hope my paintings will fill some people with the joy that it's given me!”
Buhrman studied under Wine Kemple Harrison, Elizabeth Dawn Johnson, and Susan Tolliver, is a member of LVA, and in 2016 became a juried member of the Louisville Artisan Guild in acrylics. She just appeared at the Butchertown Art Fair in June, and will be at The Highlands Festival Sept 9, and Holiday Showcase in November 2017.
For many, many years, the Bright Foundry was the primary metal arts foundry in Louisville. Even after founder Barney Bright’s death in 1997, the facility functioned under the stewardship of Barney’s son, Jep Bright until April 2016.
Artists: Matt Weir, Tamina Karem, and Scott Boyer
Matt Weir, Tamina Karem, & Scott Boyer all worked at Bright Foundry, and knowing Jep was thinking of shutting down, had talked to him about purchasing the equipment and opening a new Bronze metal casting foundry on property they intended to lease on Portland Avenue, just across the street from The Table restaurant. They followed through and have now moved the contents of Bright Foundry into that location at 1715 Portland Avenue. They are still sorting things out, but are already working on projects and some small casting contracts.
Barney Bright’s River Horse statue at 6th & Chestnut was, of course, cast at Bright, as was Ed Hamilton’s York statue on the Belvedere, Bob Lockhart’s Robert Bellarmine statue on the campus of Bellarmine University, and many other local sculptures. Over the years there seemed to be plenty of work, so the Falls Art Foundry team are confident about the opportunity for work once they are fully established. But the journey to that result will require a lot of work - and money.
Building plans by Mose Putney Architect
The building, with over 55,000 square feet of space, high ceilings, and land allowing for expansion, is ideally suited to the task, but it will require modifications that will run in the neighborhood of $350,000 before the three will have met all of their goals.
Currently, the location satisfies much of the needs for the functioning foundry, with some changes needed in the floor to accommodate furnaces, extension of some interior walls to the high ceilings, and a second double wide door, but the team also has ambitions to develop what Boyer describes as, “our ideal foundry,” (the new building is about 19,000 square feet larger than Bright Foundry). Plans include building an annex to house retail and educational spaces that would enable outreach to the community. “Our long-term vision is for a sculpting campus,” explains Karem.
Artist, Tamina Karem with one of her recent pieces
Between them, the trio can boast 40 plus years of experience working at Bright Foundry, and offer what Weir describes as, “a diversity of experience in materials and practices,” positioning them to be a full-service operation for artists in the area. “All foundries are collaborative efforts run by artists or, at least, craftspeople,” states Boyer, as he explains that the artists working to caste a bronze piece have a significant impact on the final result, often as much as 1/3 of the surface might change during the process. The observation underscores the importance of the relationship sculptors develop with a specific foundry. Bright Foundry enjoyed a strong reputation with artists, a reputation that Boyer, Karem, and Weir helped build and hope to carry over to Falls Art Foundry.
Artist, Matt Weir at work in Falls Art Foundry
The technique of lost-wax casting is complicated. Weir breaks it down to nine stages, each of which contains several steps. Although all three have university educations, they learned the technique working at Bright. Because there is no academic foundry in Louisville right now, the opportunity to demonstrate the technique is important. It is older than one might assume, with the oldest known examples being the objects discovered in the “Cave of the Treasure “(Nahal Mishmar) hoard in southern Israel, and which belong to the Chalcolithic period (4500–3500 BC). Conservative estimates of age from carbon-14 dating date the items to c. 3700 BC, making them more than 5700 years old.
The Falls Art Foundry team currently rent the building with an option to purchase, and they seem nothing if not committed, so the smart money is on them following through and realizing their dream.
On June 2, it was announced that Louisville Visual Art would bestow the 2017 Barney Bright award of $1200 to Falls Art Foundry.
(Editor’s note: an interview on LVA’s PUBLIC, broadcast on WXOX-97.1 FM on 12.16.16, was used as a source for this article.)
This Feature article was written by Keith Waits. In addition to his work at the LVA, Keith is also the Managing Editor of a website, www.Arts-Louisville.com, which covers local visual arts, theatre, and music in Louisville.
"Scooch Over, Hon" by Tom Cannady, 48x60in, acrylic on canvas (2016), $3600 | BUY NOW
Tom Cannady describes his paintings as, “nostalgic representations of Americana,” and he has expressed that notion primarily through the use of mid-20th century automobiles, vacation images, and signs. Iconic images filled with the sunlight and faux innocence of Frankie Avalon and Annette Funicello.
There were often people before, but they were typical – middle class Americans living the dream on a hard-earned vacation, but in newer work, Cannady introduces some of the same over-exaggerated quality that we find in the 1950’s cars: sleek, fins and detailing that call attention to themselves and remind us of a time when how a car looked mattered more than fuel efficiency, into human female figures. “They Went That Away” highlights the kind of emphatic sex symbol of the period, while “Scooch Over” completes the relationship between objectification of women and automobiles that has never left us, but which was in much greater bloom at this seminal moment.
"OneTwoThree" by Tom Cannady, 24x36in, acrylic on canvas (2016), $1800 | BUY NOW
Cannady creates paintings in what he describes as, “a pop impressionist style creating new perspectives or recreating unique moods from another time. I use vintage photographs acquired from multiple sources as reference points and inspiration. Many were originally printed in black & white, which gives me complete freedom to choose the pallet best suited to the composition. I lean to warm, bright hues with strong contrast.”
Cannady is currently showing works at Makers Crucible Showroom and Craft(s) Gallery & Mercantile in Louisville, Kentucky. In November 2016 he was selected as one of twenty artists representing the sixty participants in the LVA Open Studio Weekend in a group show of work at the University of Louisville, Hite Gallery.
Hometown: Louisville, Kentucky Age: 59 Education: BS in Marketing and a minor in Art, Murray State University Website:http://www.tjcannady.com
"They Went That Away" by Tom Cannady, 36x48in, acrylic on canvas (2016), $2400 | BUY NOW
"Launch Party" by Tom Cannady, 48x24in, acrylic on canvas (2016), $2400 | BUY NOW
"Hurry Up, Fred!" by Tom Cannady, 48x36in, acrylic on canvas (2015) $2800 | BUY NOW
“How much monster, Duke’s Paintings ask us, are we willing to feel in ourselves, to accept, to affirm? What are the limits to which our egos restrict us, and what attractions and sensations liberate us from the cage of self? What aspirations and endeavors, Ben Duke’s paintings keep asking, lead beyond all compromises and reveal to us, finally what a body can think and do and feel.” — From Brian Kubarycz’s introductory essay to the catalogue entitled: Benjamin Duke 2001-2010: Ten years of Work with essays by Brian Kubarycz, and Su YuAnn, published by Garden City Publishing.
"Persistent Remainders" by Benjamin Duke, 60x65in, oil (2016), $8500 | BUY NOW
Benjamin Duke returns to exhibit in Louisville 11 months after presenting his painting “Louisville 2015: Full of Life, Now” (2015), to Metro Hall. He was Louisville’s first participant in a visiting artist initiative, introduced in 2015 as part of the Mayor’s Music & Art Series. The painting is on display in the Mayor’s Conference Room at Metro Hall.
Duke’s work takes our recognizable existence and twists it with pretzel logic. It is immediately accessible yet touches upon deeper currents: “In my paintings I ask myself “Is this the way the world is?’ I reshape and retool my painting experience to answer that question. But while the question begins with the world, it ends with the work itself: “Is this the way the world is in this work?”
The search is for the world in painting and painting in the world (painting worlds / painting’s world). Am I in the world or is the world in me? I allude to my life, to writers works, to imagery and it is my hope that this record of allusion conjures and creates the same. I am referring to text, theory, idea but I am also finding myself already there, looking out to see in.”
"Awakening as Self-Identity Matrix #2" by Benjamin Duke, 60x60in, oil, $8500 | BUY NOW
It wasn't a Dream, It was a Real Place, Duke’s new exhibit, will run December 16, 2016 through January 27, 2017 in University of Louisville’s Cressman Center for Visual Arts at 100 East Main Street. There will be an Artist’s Reception open to the public December 16 from 6 pm to 8 pm.
"Lingua Franca #2" by Benjamin Duke, 60x72in, oil (2016), $10,000 | BUY NOW
Duke is Associate Professor of painting at Michigan State University. Born in Louisville, Kentucky, he received his Master of Fine Arts from the Maryland Institute College of Art Hoffberger School of Painting. His work has been exhibited in solo and group exhibitions from Chicago to Taiwan. Duke has also been awarded international residencies at Bamboo Curtain Studios, The Kuandu Museum of Fine Art at Taipei National University of the Arts, and the Vermont Studio Center.
Hometown: Louisville, KY Education: BFA, University of Utah, Painting and Drawing Emphasis, 2002; MFA, Maryland Institute College of Art, Hoffberger School of Painting, 2006. Website:http://www.bendukeart.com/ Gallery Representative: Ann Nathan Gallery (Chicago), A Gallery (Salt Lake City)
"TXT" by Benjamin Duke, 65x87in, oil (2016), $10,000 | BUY NOW
"Awakening as Self-Identity Matrix #4" by Benjamin Duke, 65x72in, oil (2016), $8500 | BUY NOW
"Lingua Franca" by Benjamin Duke, 44x54in, oil (2016), $8500 | BUY NOW
