Touching Crystals

Another awesome gallery to talk about (I'm on an art kick this week) and it comes courtesy of Echt Gallery in Chicago (of course!). It was an extremely surreal experience going there. First of all, the beautiful dog that came to greet us when we entered, a French Bulldog whose name I can't recall anymore, was the sweetest. She was kind and gentle and let me pet her, which is always a plus. But then we wandered through the gallery - which currently has an entire exhibit on Dale Chihuly - and found ourselves lost in the beautiful of glass and colors. It makes perfect sense why the lights in the gallery are dim (and why the door is locked - the works are SUPER expensive!).

The shot was taken by my brother, and it turned out so perfectly that he had me take a version with himself. Looking at the structure felt as though I was looking into space.

Going Up

Another random Sketchpad image I created. There was no initial goal on what it would be (I had been messing around with creating mountains beforehand) and it felt as though it were a winding passageway into some icy mountains. Then I started messing with the other tools available and it turned into something a bit more...different. I like it. Not as much as the first one.

Painting with Smoke

(Picture credit to Perimeter Gallery)

During a weekend visit to see my godfather's paintings at the Ann Nathan Gallery in Chicago, my brother, my sister-in-law and I decided to make it a morning of visiting the galleries on that block. It was, by far, one of the best times I have had in Chicago. Lollapalooza was happening, but we found ourselves in the part of the city were very few tourists were in. The heat was strong, but the fun was worth it. And Perimeter Gallery was one of the few galleries I went into that day.

The girl at the desk was extremely friend (some others were a bit snobby, though I won't say any names) and informed us that there were in fact more works on the second floor. Which leads me to one of my favorite exhibits of the day: Dennis Lee Mitchell.

(Picture credit to Perimeter Gallery)

At first we couldn't believe that the works were actual smoke (or ink as we first thought) and thought perhaps it was computer generated. The helpful assistant let us know that somehow, Mitchell actually manages to "paint" with smoke! How fascinating and beautiful. Make sure to check them out, and all of the other extraordinary works at the Gallery.

Bloom

Recently discovered Sketchpad (while at work) and found myself carefully creating intricate patterns with the various tools it provides.