Legendary Auctions

Dick Perez specializes in dynamic, evocative paintings representing characters and key moments from the history of baseball. His mastery of paint combines with his lifelong affection for and interest in baseball to create images of heart-stopping power.

The crowd of more than 200 client-collectors at 'Legendary Auctions' 4th Annual Live Auction clearly felt this way recently - Dick's painting 'Cobb Sliding,' which is part of his iconic Conlon Collection that pays homage to the work of the great baseball photographer Charles M. Conlon, sold for a truly marvelous hammer price of $24,498. And as if that weren't enough, Dick received a rousing ovation, right on the auction floor!

The Art of Writing

Combining all aspects of the "creative impulse," artist Laurence Steenbergen recently participated in a workshop at the Art Students League. Read below as she shares her experience and insights:

"I heard about The Art Students League through the Chelsea International Art Competition, which in 2012 was juried by the Executive Director of The Art Students League. While in New York for my reception opening at Agora Gallery, I took the chance to join an interesting art workshop, 'Experimental Writing in Art' by Silya Kiese.

Silya Kiese turned out to be a very inspiring personality. She started her workshop with the question “What is art?” She said that, for making art, you need an instrument: a pencil, a brush, a musical instrument, a camera. However, before you can use this instrument, you need IMAGINATION. And for imagination you need DISCOVERY.

I thought to myself: now I understand why I always want to travel and why curiosity is my biggest drive in life. Silya continued with: "Imagination is about seeing (not only seeing, but experiencing with one or more of your senses, like feeling, hearing, tasting or smelling) and transforming. The moment you have created, you have done something.” Silya made me realize that for me creativity has to do with my connection with nature and my connection to my spiritual guides. For me, art is making visible the invisible. If all I’d got from the workshop had been this insight, it would have been worth it. But of course, there was much more.

By looking at images, while listening to sound, the students had to give expression to it. This is why I liked this workshop so much. It was not only about writing or about painting. It was also about giving a ‘face’ to a feeling. I think this is what inspiration is: something that gives you a certain feeling that you want to transform into something visible. And this is just what I like most in making art, the thing that makes me happy and enthusiastic – it’s almost the best thing in the world. TO GIVE SHAPE TO AN EMOTION.

There are many ways of writing and Silya talked about 'playing tennis without a net.' This is about writing in your own rhythm; speaking your own language, which is different to using the canon and its norms. And Silya also made a distinction between writing from the subconscious and writing from experience.

The last thing I’d like to mention about this workshop is that writing helps you with making art and art helps you with writing. I use notebooks myself to make things clear, but I see now how just one or two words can help the creative process.

This workshop was enriching, inspiring and has opened horizons for me. "

Humanitarians - Michelle Hold

In this section of the Agora Gallery newsletter, we like to feature the wonderful work that artists do to improve the lives of those they meet, and the wider world. It's also important to acknowledge the importance of cultural efforts as well. Artists can have an enormously positive impact on their community and others by using their skills to encourage an appreciation of the cultural and historical richness that surrounds us. Italian artist Michelle Hold is an example of one such artist.

For the last four years I have been working together with the Ecomuseum of Cellamonte, www.ecomuseopietracantoni.it, whose aim is to preserve the cultural heritage of the Piedmont region of Italy, and introduce people in the area and anyone visiting or interested in the region to the unsuspected treasures it holds. There is much of historical and cultural value in the area, but sadly over time a great deal of this has been forgotten, and it was feared that unless something was done to preserve it, and bring it once more to the forefront, it would be lost entirely. This would have been a great shame for the area, for Italy, and even for the world.

Art is a natural way of promoting this aim, and enabling people to reconnect with the lost past. In 2011 we organized the exhibition “The Dream of Water,” which showed the paintings and sculptures of twelve different artists. This had two main aims. The first was that we wanted to awaken the sensibility of the visitor, to change their attitude towards this precious element that generates life, but is all too often overlooked. In historical terms, we hoped that by showing people that at the end of the 19th century springs and waterways were considered an element of joy and celebration, we would remind them of the beneficial and positive contribution they play today and encourage them to treat water with increased respect.

The second goal was to encourage interest in and awareness of the part water had played in the past life of the region. For example the little village I am living in, Moleto, once had a source of water called Fonte Curella, and in the 19th century thousands of visitors came there to enjoy and benefit from the resulting thermal waters and baths. This had been forgotten for years, but after our exhibition excavations were begun. It was found that the source still exists, and there are now plans to build a spa around the magnesium sulphate waters, to share the waters with the world. It was very exciting to see such a direct benefit arising from our exhibition!

We were very proud when even the Region of Piedmont opened their doors to exhibit our show at Palazzo Lascaris, the seat of the regional government in Turin. From there, there is no telling what impact it could have.

This year we are working on ROSSO VIVO, an art show that explores the importance of the color red in combination with red wine, of which Piedmont is a major producer and which has had an important role in the history and culture of the area. The exhibition starts on September 2.

Tips to Survive the Summer

It’s July, and to children all over America, and in much of the world, that means just one thing: summer vacation! Many of us treasure memories of precious summer days without school or responsibilities, which could be used for getting on with the important things in life.

However wonderful this time is for kids, though, it can put pressure on their parents, and artists are no exception. If you're wondering how to get through the summer with your sanity intact and your art unimpaired - read on! Tips to Survive the Summer - Agora Art Blog.

Kudos and Accolades

Catherine Raynes is featured in the Summer 2012 issue of Coastal Home Magazine .