It would have been a great night to start a fire and cuddle with my hubby, but instead we braved the slush and visited several galleries along IDADA’ s First Friday Gallery walk.  Before I go into detail about what I saw, I want to reflect on the similarities of the three shows that I saw this evening. They all had layers of ideas and used a type of collage method. They were all bodies of work that were abstract with identifiable realistic elements. Two of the shows were more serious in nature. One was in fun. At least one had self-portrait elements.
We started out by visiting the Harrison Center for the Arts and seeing Elizabeth Guipe Hall’s exhibition entitled A Beautiful Mind. Her show was based on the theme of the the brain and the mind. She creates encaustic paintings with layers of wax, some translucent while others are opaque, and collage elements. Examples of some of the layers in her paintings include the following: an underlying drawing, geometric spirals, ribbons of color, and more clean cut shapes that have a ‘stenciled’ or ‘stamped’ look. Her paintings are designs that sometimes contrast exact geometric shapes and free imperfect forms with uneven edges. Colors, such as red, orange, blue, and purple, are used purposefully, while an overall off-white layer gives the pieces an atmospheric translucent dimension.
The theme of the brain is expressed with images of the nervous system and branching patterns. Titles, such as Long-term Memory, or Connecting, initiate thoughts inside the viewer of the functions of the brain and mind.
Then we went down to Fountain Square to visit the AV Framing Gallery and view Strumpets and Squares, mixed media works by Jenny Elkins.  Her materials ranged from clippings, to photos, to buttons, to fabric and beyond. It is a juxtaposition of design and humor. A strumpet is an archaic term for a loose woman, and a square is a slang term for a nerd.
After narrowly escaping being stuck in a parking lot in Fountain Square, we made our way to the Circle City Industrial Complex. I saw the third collage exhibition of the night in Wug Laku’s Studio and Garage. Undertow by Kate Oberreich was a series of collage paintings reminiscent of landscapes of the west Michigan shoreline. Symbols of pebbles and homes were repeated in a few of the paintings. She used a limited palate in many of the paintings and the shapes became important in her design.
Congratulations to the opening of Flame Art Studios! I stopped by and saw the new space that is occupied by the female flame artists: Nancy Lee, Jari Sheese, and Bonnie Ramirez. Along with displaying their beautiful works of art (that you can often wear!), they also offer classes and workshops in a variety of mediums such as metalsmithing, beading, jewelry, clay, enameling, lampworking, sculpture, and welding.
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