The studio of Alison B. Antelman

The last eight months have been an excellent time of growth and change.  “Driving a U-haul, no longer in Oregon, and wanting to expand into a greater degree of self-expression” kind of change. As a result, I have been forced to rethink the future of Canopy Gallery.

Wednesday found me in Berkeley, California, where I happened onto to an excellent community of artists and eco-champions.  Susan Brooks is the founder of Berkeley Artisans, now a 100 member strong collection of professional artists and craftspeople that offer free, self-guided tours for the Holidays of their Open Studios, on Saturdays and Sundays through this Christmas Eve.  Susan graciously offered to let me peruse her wonderful work even though it was mid-week.   Susan is a stylized (and stylish) figurative painter and jewelry designer whose hip work pulls from ancient cultures via a saucy New Yorker aesthetic.  I wasn’t the only one who was eager to meet Susan, as she had a friend in who was a top chef, but her friend charmingly demurred to refer to herself as anything but a cook.

Susan then recommended another nearby artist and jewelry designer Alison B. Antelman.  Alison creates jewelry from powerfully sculptural, hollow “puffed” forms. Alison favors unusual stones like raw diamonds and emeralds, which have a powdered-sugar quality, similiar to druzy quartz. I marveled at her ingenious clasps. She was very excited, preparing for an upcoming speaking engagement and will be teaching at Scintillant Studios on January 23rd and 24th, 2010. I give great thanks to Susan and Alison for their graciousness and inspiration, they should sell the pants off Santa.

As for the future of Canopy Gallery, I’m considering opening this website up to bloggers in many different locations in order to better catch the artistic pulse of America.  So write a comment and let me know your thoughts.  Would you enjoy becoming a local arts writer? What do you think of this as a catch phrase?

“The Local Art Scene, Nationally”