meredith cutler :: arts marketing :: artist

After spending this last, (fabulous!) weekend sharing a cozy, lumpy tent with my husband, and the past three weeks lending my home office/guest room to my visiting brother-in-law, I have personal space on the brain. What better way to create your own personal studio oasis than with the KitHAUS modular building system!

kitHAUS offers modular, lightweight prefab units that assemble with a minimum of labor and offer extensive customization options. With an eye for sustainability and efficiency, all kitHAUS units utilize a lightweight, recyclable aluminum support structure and recycled/recyclable GreenWall™ Structurally Insulated Panel (SIPS) wall infills, with an impressive R-14 insulation value. They have even partnered with an outside California alternative energy provider to offer an optional 1-KW solar kit for the roof!

With my background in exhibit design and retail merchandising, I am also impressed by the kitHAUS concept team's adaptation of traditional slatwall as a canvas for endless accessorization possibilities. The icing on the cake? The kitHAUS K3 unit's modest 9'x13' footprint falls below most municipalities' regulations for special building permits, so this little baby can be installed on your property as a guesthouse, studio or office without any unpleasant fuss with "the man". With a little creative planning, a deck or breezeway can connect multiple K3's to create a dream compound! Yeah, I'm currently gazing out my back window and dreaming of my own...

Yesterday did not turn out as planned; which, in my newfound "on my way to becoming an Italian passport holder" relaxed attitude should have rolled right off of my back. Unfortunately, it was only after I was forced from my studio by an ungodly decibal level of compressor/power tool noise taking place in the workshop next door that my beloved, sneaker-shaped Subaru decided to explode (in solidarity for my state of mind, I suppose).

Okay, I'm exaggerating, but there was a good deal of black, acrid smoke pouring out of the right wheel well. I had the fire extinguisher in hand. Luckily, my husband and bro'-in-law were kind enough to shuttle me to the Design*Sponge "Boston Biz-Ladies" night at West Elm. The girl power networking event was a good remedy to my general state of frazz, (although the table of sugary treats blew my head off!) I recommend checking out Grace's page of Biz-Ladies notes on the Design*Sponge website to anyone (girl or guy) starting up their own indie business.

Meanwhile, as I await the fate of my Subaru and muse on the extremes I'm willing to endure to retain my Hyde Park studio, I leave you with this lovely "Subway Stories - St. Mary's" collage by Leah Piken Kolidas, a fellow Boston-based artist who also muses while riding the MBTA. Her work can be found on Etsy and her own site, Blue Tree Art Gallery.

When it comes to work, I'm a pretty focused person; but, I am susceptable to personal interest on occasion. So, while reviewing reference materials for my next Artscope article, I happened to take a side-trek through one particularly detail-rich website. If, like me, you happen to have an appreciation for the many manifestations of esoteric Buddhist art, the Dharampala Thangka Centre and teaching school maintains a fabulous online catalog of paintings.

Note that since this is an active workshop, a visit to the site gives you access to photos of *new* paintings, not antiques. However, the Center provides detailed notations, with clickable zoom-ins and mandala maps for many designs, which is great if you are interested in iconography. They even offer a photo CD if you need access to high resolution reproductions.

I particularly appreciate their photo progression of a thangka in progress. At least I'm not the only one laboring on a piece for what seems like an eternity! 20% of all Thangka center online proceeds goes towards the funding of the Children's World orphanage in Kathmandu, where some of the children are also trained as painters.

Okay, back to the earthly realm!

It's interesting what I can get into when the internet is down at my studio. Here is a little drawing I made today when all www distractions were effectively removed from my periphery:

It's based on a cell-phone photo I snapped in Asissi of an anonymous street-art installation, that also made it into my lost and found series due to its content. This one is particularly pithy. I really enjoyed the liberties of drawing this; it was a timely reminder to do this type of thing more often.

Before the internet abandoned me to my loftier pursuits, I added a blast from the past to my portfolio section, from my highly experimental days in the 9yds. art collaborative. I think the fact that Providence is such an incubator for funky artist collaboratives inspired me to dig through the archives. Ahhh, those were the days...it's nice to look back and remember when I did not need sleep to survive!

Speaking of which, ProvFlux decends upon us, August 7-11th. Keep an eyeball peeled for psychogeographers, and join in the festi-formance-games.

As my Italy tan threatens to fade, there is nothing I look forward to more than a steamy, early August beach weekend here in Little Rhody. I'm firing up the flipflops and prepping the watermelon already!

Lest I lose all self respect while lathering on the 45 SPF and a dab of Jergens Natural Glow, let me recount the various other good things in the world of art and culture that await this weekend, just a stone's throw from the sandy shores of the Narragansett Bay and Atlantic Ocean.

All this weekend, at Fort Adams State Park: The Newport Folk Festival draws the indie crowd alongside the tried and true folkies, with low-key-cool acts like She & Him, Cat Power and Calexico sharing the stage with legends like Richie Havens.

Having made the journey to Newport, stay awhile and check out Saturday's Gallery Night, with free parking available at the Newport Art Museum.

As shown above, opening tonight at Jessica Hagen Fine Art + Design, new mixed-media paintings by Rhode Island native, Kevin Gilmore. Read my full review in this month's Artscope Magazine.

Just up the street at DeBlois Gallery, Street Art: In & Out opens tonight, with graffiti artists creating a site-specific work live in the gallery's front window.

Heading back to Providence for the night, stop by Firehouse 13 for the opening of Straight Mixed Culture, a group show of Providence artists celebrating Providence culture "as it is". Word.