A Common Thread - Barb Vogel

Barb Vogel, a well-known Columbus artist, has created two pieces to be included in the Sue Cavanaugh tribute show. Of her pieces, she says:

Barbara Vogel, Artist Statement

I have never strayed far from themes of loss and memory in my portrait images of family and friends.


Sue Cavanaugh was a renowned fabric artist and a good friend. She started her artistic career after working at and retiring from the Ohio State University. We went to Halloween celebrations, gallery hops, and art exhibitions together. I visited her studios at 400 West Rich Street and Chromedge, and we Zoomed during the COVID pandemic and until her death in 2022. We were board members together and shared artistic endeavors including two shows at the Mansfield Arts Center. Sue died of pancreatic cancer before the final exhibition (but had completed her installation for it).


My “clickless” portraits of Sue were created using a hand-held wand scanner, an instrument designed to be used on books and flat materials. I used to think photography involved a “decisive moment,” in Henri Cartier-Bresson’s familiar phrase, when my photographer’s eye and brain signaled my hand to press the shutter and capture a person’s character. With the wand scans, which take over five seconds, a different intimacy developed between Sue (the scannee) and me (the scanner), as well as a different image. The portraits of Sue were made in her final year, but when she still had hair (before she began her cancer treatments). I printed them on silk, adding to the image’s ephemeral quality. The surrounding fabric alludes to her history and interests.

Each artist that is participating is taking a different approach to the work. Some are directly honoring Sue, some incorporating the fabric into their own designs and creations without direct consideration of how it speaks to Sue or her work, etc.

A COMMON THREAD - Linda Leviton

Linda has created a full fashion ensemble from Sue’s fabric. Of the work, she says:

Title: “Myriade”

 I have always admired Sue Cavanaugh’s work. I got to know her through a small artist critique group here in Columbus. We shared our work, discussed our stuck points and supported each other’s process.

 At the time of my life when I met Sue, I was returning to an earlier practice of using vintage clothing in wall-hung fiber work. My fascination with clothing has been part of my life since I was a child. My grandmother and mother worked in a secondhand clothing store. I often picked out pieces when I visited them at the store and acquired much of my college wardrobe shopping there. Now we call it thrifting.

 My return to using clothing coincided with a slowdown of my commission work in metal due to the Covid pandemic.  I began experimenting with fiber techniques on thrifted clothing.  I felted, dyed, stitched, cut and printed fabric then used it on upcycled clothing.

 Sue showed me her technique of running long stitches through old curtains, parachutes and sheets and how she sprayed dye and paint on these pieces to accentuate the manipulation of form and texture. I used some of these techniques as well as countless others on upcycled clothing work, as I remade over 200 denim jackets in 2023.

This piece is a marriage of Sue’s fantastic sculptural threads and my love of making and manipulating clothing. When I first began to engage with the material I chose from Sue’s work, I thought about making a dress, but just making a dress was not enough. I hand sewed the dress over a mannequin leaving much of what made Sue’s work so distinctive as a focal point. But the garment was not complete and needed my energy in it. To stay with the repurposing vibe of the piece I used industrial felt that I had previously reclaimed from a dumpster. I think Sue would have loved me using these scraps to assemble a cape or train for the dress.

The train is an example of quilting small pieces to make a whole. The lengthy fringe is embellished with beads and threads to represent and mark the long hours of crafting such a garment and a way to echo the elaborate stitching on the dress.

This piece could be a ceremonial garment or gown worn by someone with power.  It represents the power of a single stitch, the resourcefulness of the artist in finding beauty in materials that others might discard, and the artistry of the feminine hand.

 

A Common Thread - Alice Carpenter

Alice was “on it”!! She was one of the first ones to complete the work for the shows (not that it was a race or anything), and it’s beautiful. Two small fabric pieces, described below:

Artist Statement.

“At first glance the idea of collaboration felt daunting.  Sue’s “for the wall” fabric works are big, bold, and most, with glorious color.  My works on paper are small in scale, intimate, and expressed in a neutral palette. Where was our “common thread”?    I was immediately drawn to her physical thread work, and knew I wanted threads to play a strong visual role in our collaboration.  In the beginning, I focused on Sue’s work without thought to what my work is about. It was not until I started to consider the themes I gravitate toward, that possibilities for compromise took shape.

I found inspiration in landscape to be a common thread. Of Impermanence, is a marriage of Sue’s fabric and love of color with my use of monotype and collage.

In Memento Mori, the structure, a reoccurring theme in my work, stands alone, as we each, in reality, stand alone.  The most intimate, important areas of life are lived behind closed doors.  Here, my structure and neutral palette play out on Sue’s fabrics in a monotype collage.

Each work, Memento Mori and Of Impermanence reflect on the inevitability of death and how we choose to celebrate life.”

Bio.

Alice Carpenter, printmaker and painter, has devoted her printmaking practice to the monotype since 2014.  Her monotypes have received recognition in numerous regional juried exhibitions, as well as national juried shows, including The Butler Museum of American Art 85th National Midyear Exhibition, Directors Award, 2021. Recently, she was honored to have two of her monotypes selected and published in the Fall 2023 online Decoy issue of The Harvard Advocate.

Her work often reflects the nighttime magic found, as a child, in Appalachian Ohio. After the past 50 years of “city living” in Columbus, Ohio, a recent move to Wallingford, CT, has returned her to her rural roots.

OAEA Conference

I received the nicest note the other day.

“Hi Caren -

I just wanted to tell you again what a tremendous impact you've had on me though I only met you briefly.

My name is Arenda. I met you at the OAEA conference a couple of weeks ago. Not sure if you'll remember me but I am the African american woman who sat right in front of you during your session of the conference where you spoke very passionately about art and your galleries. I asked you about your connection to art. Your answer lit a fire in me that had been out for a long time. Listening to you speak so passionately and candidly helped me to remember what art is to me and what makes me an artist. I rediscovered my "Why" in that moment.

I came to the conference burnt out as an artist and teacher hoping for some rejuvenation. Among many other things over those 2 days, the session with you brought it all together for me. I came away inspired and creatively open again. I can't express in words how that brief interaction with you changed my life.

Thank you so very much.

Arenda E.”

It made me realize why I’m in this business, and how important art is to our lives. Whether you collect or create, art is important. Please, please, please support the arts. If you’re financially able, support by buying. If you’re an artist, help promote the arts as an important part of our community. And if you’re a community leader or politician, please read, research, realize that art brings a huge financial boon to the economy and is an important part of our stability as a city and country. The arts are important.

Another "take" on gallery representation (by Char Norman)

A Case for Gallery Representation


As a professional artist, a strong case can be made for the key role the gallery and gallerist play in the life and success of a visual artist. An on-going discussion of gallery representation for artists questions the need and reasonableness of the percentage of art sales retained by the gallery at the expense of the artist. This is a short-sighted view of the importance of the role the gallery plays in the career and development of the artist. I have spent time perfecting my artistic voice and techniques, while the gallerist has spent time honing business, marketing, and promotional acumen. 


My job, as a successful artist, is to maintain studio hours in which I develop concepts, perfect my technique and create the work that defines my career. Without the gallery, I would be pulled away from the studio to address the needs of my art business. These duties would include records from sales, inventory, tax records and all other accounting duties. Sales of the work would involve packing, shipping, and or delivery of the work. A major role of the gallery is publicity and marketing of the work through social media, press releases, articles and print materials. This does not even begin to address exhibitions and all that involves; from identifying spaces, transporting work, designing and installing the work, staging receptions and special viewings, and finally striking, packing and returning work to clients or to storage. If I were to do all of these things myself, I would have little time to actually create the work. 


One cannot be an expert in all things. I have no aptitude or inclination to learn, let alone, become an expert in the many duties the gallery performs for me. A good gallerist has connections and a client base, makes contacts, educates the public to the value of art and the voice of each individual artist, and teaches clients how to develop and maintain a collection.  

An eye for good art and the knowledge of the art market and its trends, serves the artist in myriad ways from placement of work, sales, constructive critiques, to the pricing of the work.  


Expenses associated with the development of artist’s career and the promotion of the work is the responsibility of the gallery. These costs include all overhead involved in maintaining a physical space, bills incurred to promote, ship, develop relationships, hold receptions, install shows, and countless other details of running the business. As an artist, I have the cost of creating the work and maintaining my studio. The percentage of sales maintained by the gallery, is in effect, the fee I pay the gallerist much as one would pay any professional who does work for you.  Without the partnership between gallery and artist, many artists would not be able to maintain and thrive in their chosen work and careers. 


Char Norman


From Caren: I’ve asked some of the artists what their thoughts are on galleries and representation, after fielding a few comments from potential collectors, so that the public may better understand an artist/gallery relationship. It’s so important that we make the case for each of us having our own, critical, valuable role to play in this business. I’m proud of what I do for the artists and for the community. I hope only to convey that my ultimate purpose is to expose and introduce great artists to this great city.

Char has shown with Muse Gallery for years. I am passionate about Char’s work; so passionate, in fact, that I own one or two myself.

Who needs galleries? (Written by David Senecal, artist)

Who needs galleries? They just exploit artists and take ridiculously large commissions, when everybody knows you’re better off just buying directly from the artist.

How many times have you heard this?
Is there any truth to it? Well yes, of course. There’s some truth in every good lie.

Make no mistake, there are predatory “galleries” and services out there who operate principally by bilking hopeful artists for thousands of dollars for the ‘privilege’ of having the artist’s name printed on a card for a limited time, to announce a mediocre reception with as many other warm bodies as the business can cram into the event.

But those aren’t real galleries. Not really.

There’s no curation, there’s no serious discussion of the work, or any attempt to understand where the artists are coming from, what drives them.

There’s no thought given to whether or not the artist is even a decent fit for the multitude of historic client relationships that a real gallery will have cultivated for decades.

There’s none of this because these so called galleries are only concerned with keeping the doors open long enough to keep their racket going and...it’s the artists who are paying the rent.

These are vanity galleries and they excel in generating generic art school diatribe burped out to anesthetize the hapless viewers (of which there are often only a few) and the unwitting artist participants, with the sole purpose of maintaining the illusion of the authority and legitimacy of the “galley”.

There are literally hundreds of articles online about these kinds of so called galleries. You can find more about this with a quick search of the term “vanity gallery”.

So. Let’s be clear.
These are not real art galleries.

Not at all. They can call themselves whatever they want but an actual gallery, one that truly represents artists, could not be further from this.

You want to know what it’s like being in a real gallery and why they matter for artists?

In a word, representation.
That's obvious right? You think you know what that word means because you’ve heard it before. But representation is more that selling pictures. Yes, galleries are businesses and selling artwork is what they do, but they’re so much more. than that, and there’s so much more involved in representation than that.

REAL galleries are creative incubators. They foster growth. They offer artists space to experiment and develop over time and while maintaining wisdom enough to avoid dictating or pressuring an artist to make “what sells”.

Real galleries continuously walk a precarious line between harnessing the chaotic and tumultuous output of artists and directing and shaping it into something meaningful and precious for the lifelong clients who trust and rely upon the gallery to provide some of the most important work that they will ever collect.

Real galleries are not just businesses, they’re stewards of creativity who deal in the currency of human emotion and they serve as translators between the languages of practicality and passion.

Representation then, is so much more than “selling” or having parties that look good on social media accounts.

Representation means the gallery asks about your health, your family, your friends, as well as the work you’re making. It helps you when your car breaks down. It invites you over on the holidays when you’re alone. It’s there when you lose someone close to you, and it safeguards your artistic legacy when you are gone.

When life, with all of its various obstacles and amazements comes knocking, a real gallery stands with you and helps connect your work with people who need it because they have felt what you’re feeling; or because you’re helping them feel something that they need help remembering how to feel.

Real galleries work tirelessly for their collectors and for their artists.

They earn every bit of their commission and enable artists to reach audiences and venues that the artist would never have a chance to access on their own.

They push artists to work harder, to improve, to become more, and they free artists to focus on making work without having to stress about the social and business details that can detract from creative processes.

Real galleries drive hours in the snow to connect artwork with collectors and make sacrifices to keep the channels between collectors and artists open.

You’re never going to get this from some random place that decides that in addition to being a... whatever... it’s also now also an art gallery.

Just as a good gallery can sense the potential of an artist’s work, the artist too intuitively recognizes the passion and work ethic of a legitimate gallery. The curatorial instinct, drive, and vision that is inherent to a legitimate gallerist isn’t something you find everywhere. It’s innate and unrelenting, and this is why that connection resonates with artists so deeply. In short, it’s why artists need galleries.

David Senecal, 2019

As a note and point of reference, David started visiting Muse Gallery when it was located in Grandview, in the early years of opening. He used to say that someday he hoped to be good enough to show in Muse Gallery. He was always been complementary of the work, always humble, always supportive of the gallery. At the time he was doing digital work, which I started showing almost 10 years ago. He then moved into wet media (paint), and has painted tirelessly for several years now, taking every opportunity to show the work, take criticism and critique, practice, and advance. He is the embodiment of an artist, and works as an artist should work to perfect their craft, i.e., daily, relentlessly, without concern of salability or commercial potential, but with ultimate respect for painting principles and techniques.) Thank you David for respecting me as much as I respect you. It’s a beautiful thing.

Carson, New Mexico

As many of you may know, we have land in northern New Mexico, in the high desert area at the top of the gorge. It’s beautiful, surrounded by mountains (which are often snow capped) on three sides, with trailheads at the entrance of our property leading down into the gorge. We regularly see coyote, elk, bighorn sheep, golden eagles, kit foxes, jackrabbits and, yes, rattlesnakes (oh, and scorpions too). It’s the wild west, still untamed by man, and we love it that way. It’s a breath of fresh air, a way to reconnect with nature, a solitude so desperately needed. At night, you can see the entire Milky Way (since we don’t have light pollution on our land). It’s a million or a bajillion stars lighting up the black night sky, and it’s amazing.

We just returned, and I’m still trying to readjust to city life. I sleep like a baby out there. But besides the personal recovery time, I visit with artists and go to studios to see what the artists are working on. This particular visit was a little more casual. I met with a potentially new artist who is considering showing monumental sculpture on our land for what is to be a sculpture garden (in the next 2-3 years). He does amazing, gigantic pieces that are about form, each welded and constructed by him personally (as opposed to sending it to a foundry). Out of Colorado, but small world that it is, his wife is from Bexley.

To understand a little about what we really had to do to make the place livable (besides actually build the structure) and to maintain it and make it comfortable for ourselves and guests that visit through Airbnb and VRBO, here’s a little rundown of what we did just this 10-day visit:

re-stucco’d cracked walls; had 45 ton of gravel delivered (and picked up 4 more ton ourselves), which we had to spread); picked up and spread a ton of dirt, which I then planted with wildflowers and squash seeds for the animals to eat; tore out our kitchen sink and counter and built a new kitchen island with granite countertops, had 4 cords of wood delivered which then had to be stacked; went to the spring for 250 gallons of water to top off cistern; repaired broken wood fence; reburied clothesline poles; moved rock out of old footers and then refilled footers with dirt; in addition to the regular maintenance stuff like 11 loads of laundry (which are hung to dry), emptying compost toilet, vacuuming, changing all sheets, washing couch cushion covers, shopping, dishes, and general cleaning. It’s exhausting but exhilarating. I feel accomplished afterwards — I can see the results of my labor, and I come home feeling a little better about how we left the house for the next guests.

For the artist community, our intent then is to start small with maybe Char Norman teaching a weaving class on the land, where people can stay in the house and I would provide breakfast and lunch as part of the program. We would like to start installing monumental sculpture within 2-3 years, to make a sculpture garden that would be part of the experience of staying there or could be a day trip for those staying in town. We have plans to offer workshops in assemblage work, weaving, clay, sculpting, and then building workshops such as “building off grid”, “building a fireplace”, “working with solar”, “ organic gardening in the high desert” and more.

We are making progress, and are excited about the coming few years.

MUSINGS....A BLOG HIGHLIGHTING THE HAPPENINGS OF MUSE GALLERY

Welcome to our blog!

Follow us on our journey through the art world as we highlight and discuss our travels, artist spotlights, pop up shows, gallery exhibitions, the artist community we are building in New Mexico-"The Woman, The Rabbit and The Moon", and so much more.

Muse Gallery is a fine art gallery representing over 40 international mid-career contemporary artists. Muse Gallery was founded in Columbus, Ohio in 1997 by Caren Petersen. 

Whether you’re looking for a specific artist or just browsing, you’ll be impressed by the stable of artists represented at Muse Gallery. Representing some of the finest painters and sculptors in the country, these artists work in all different mediums and have a common thread in style or sensibility, yet each with their own distinct voice. Many are privately collected, in major museums and corporate collections, and published/reviewed in notable publications. Owner, Caren Petersen, is constantly searching for and showcasing beautiful, thought provoking, and well-crafted fine art.  

"I believe art collecting should be a personal journey. I am passionate about the art I represent, and wish to convey that passion to you in your process of collecting. If I can help with your decision in any way, please let me know. I look forward to meeting you!” -Caren