meredith cutler :: arts marketing :: artist

Suggestion? Make a plan now (before it's too late) to visit "Welcome To The Conversation": the Annual RISD Graduate Thesis Exhibition, on view now at the Rhode Island Convention Center. I'll be posting highlights from the show over the next few days. Don't wait for me though, join the conversation today!

Highlights from RISD's MFA class of 2008 will be open to the public until June 1st. Regular exhibit hours: Daily, from 12-5pm. 12-8pm extended hours on May 31st.

Often, the best creative materials can be found off-the-beaten-path, rather than at your local art supply store or out of that glossy wholesale catalog. As a supply junkie, some of my most triumphant finds have been courtesy of tag sales, personal or business move giveaways, and downright dumpster diving!

Over the years, I have utilized my collection of unique materials to create many pieces of original artwork and, more recently, collectible designs and accessories.

Today, however, I hit the supply jackpot. My lovely studiomate, who enjoys a very interesting career as a trend forecaster, let me have at a gigantic pile of sample books that have outlived their rather short life at the top of the trend pile. Because she forecasts color and material trends four years ahead, the sample selection (albiet yesterday's news for her) is super space-age in my book!

I'm already drawing up a list of project ideas so that I can breathe new life into these squares of fabric, leather and beyond!

Readers: if you have creative ideas for reuse of sample fabric and material swatches, post them to comments below. I will be putting together a "Wicked Cool" crostini*VS grab-bag prize from these designer footwear sample materials that will go to a winner, chosen at random from your project idea comments. The winner will be chosen next Friday, May 30th! Good luck!

I'm in the studio today, and using my costly time well with stitch, canvas and scissor. Nevertheless, I deserve a coffee break as well as the next laborer, and my hot-plate espresso tastes best while surfing Etsy for my virtual wedding gift registry (the one in my mind, since I typically forget to bookmark things I want in favor of things I want to buy for others!)

The below selection, a set of "Old School" Magnetic Chalkboard Coasters by purposedesign, happily fits both criteria! I love that you can stick them to your fridge to keep them handy and visible, yet off of the table when not in use. Plus, in today's slick, whiteboard and powerpoint world, the soft scrawl and irregularities of chalkboard markings hit a nostalgic note. I love home goods that encourage creativity.

Purposedesign, out of Montreal, offers these coasters in sets of six (including chalk), for $22 plus shipping.

Friday sneaks up on you, which is no reason to cover your eyes and shriek. High gas prices have kept me a bit closer to home this week, and in my wanderings I've turned out a few Providence tidbits for your easy consumption.

For those who prefer one-stop shopping, hop on your jalopy and bike on down to Olneyville for a weekend of events at The Steel Yard. As part of their annual fundraiser, a full menu of celebratory events and competitions of kiln and foundry peaks with a "Steel Yard Is Burning" dance party on Saturday night.

DownCity, drop by the Gallery at 17 Peck for their special 3rd Anniversary exhibit and sale, pending their June move to a brand-spanking new location on Federal Hill. Particularly stunning: Malcom Furlow's acidicly edgy Coyote paintings.

Above: Malcolm Furlow: "Coyote In Providence", Acrylic on canvas 30"x36"

Across the "way" at 75 Weybosset, fit yourself with some sexy frames at Providence Optical. Now that you can see clearly, step up the winding staircase to Above Providence Optical Gallery, for a glimpse of "Your Idols", a series of close-cropped portraiture prints by Philipp Rumpf.

Opening tomorrow at Gail Cahalan Gallery, photographer Alexandra Broches' "The Natural World Redefined". Her "design-inspired", black and white prints feature collections of fragile, natural materials such as feathers, bone and eggshells. Broches will give a gallery talk on May 21st, 6:30pm. The show runs through June 7th.

I have always had a love for paper that goes beyond the expected excitement of a blank, white sheet ready for the artist’s first mark. As a small child, I spent hours poring over the decorator’s hefty wallpaper sample books, left over from our 1977 home renovations: the mirrored backgrounds…the bold florals or geometric patterns rendered in one exciting colorway after another. In my early days, these enormous, psychedelic volumes rivaled even Dr. Seuss and Eric Carle for my affections.

Many years later, I helped fund my way through art school by working in the cataloging department of my college library. My love for found papers, combined with my passion for words inspired me to stash away hundreds of colorful book jackets, typically discarded during the cataloging process. Fast-forward another decade or so, and here I am in my studio, surrounded by several Tupperware storage bins full of vintage paper ephemera that desperately needs purging!

Unlike my vintage giftwrap and wallpaper collections, these heavyweight, coated book jackets don’t offer enough regular patterning or figuration to make them appropriate for the mixed-media art collages that I often create. They are text heavy, and extremely varied in coloration. With some creative experimentation, and using some tools I had available, I created this unique DIY project for my sturdy and colorful paper source. Click here for my full, illustrated tutorial: