TonyWardStudio.com

Dalet Gallery: January 21 - February 25, 2012

Posted on February 3, 2012

.

Editor’s Note: Dalet Gallery is located at 141 N. 2nd Street, Philadelphia, Pa. To see more of Leah MacDonald’s work, go to the search bar at the top of the page: enter name and click the green icon.

Stiletto

Posted by Mikel Elam on May 25, 2011

.

I wanted to create a line of art which might have some of the elements of a fine art painting – yet could be functional and useful. At first, I thought I would incorporate a similar visual vocabulary used in my paintings. After careful deliberation I decided to create imagery which women and some men might find fascinating.

.

Art Bag - 1

.

The first image which came to mind was the shoe. I have many memories of women chatting about what a great pair of shoes meant to them. They evoked stories of times gone by, the people they were with and of course what they wore.

.

Art Bag - 2

I then thought back to great shoe imagery I had seen in both paintings, photographs and illustrations which lead me to the great Andy Warhol – and the equally great Antonio Lopez. Both superstar illustrators back in the sixties, seventies and beyond. Warhol and Lopez have passed on but their imagery has stood the test of time and will remain with us forever.

.

Art Bag - 3

.

Their images have inspired me to create this one of a kind original line of art bags. Once the image has been executed it will never be repeated again. I wanted the owner of the bag to feel they will have something special and exclusive to them. The personality of the owner merges with the artwork. Also, if the owner decides later they really would like to have the image adorn their walls – they only need to decide how they would like to frame it.

.

Art Bag - 4

.

The bags will be shown in several art festivals and events throughout the summer at a special price. From there, several stores will carry them in the fall.
If anyone would like to order a bag, they only need to contact me at: www.MikelElam.com.

Indigene 5

Posted on April 19, 2011 by Mikel Elam

.

……….The last month has been quite interesting for me. I found people I have not seen in years and people have found me. The magic of Google and the Internet. A German art collector I met many years ago found me by way of my website: www.MikelElam.com and decided she wanted to buy a painting yet needed to see them in the raw. So she decided to fly to Philadelphia to visit me and to rediscover Philadelphia as she had been here many years ago. It was a glorious time showing her how our city has grown, and in the end she purchased not one but three paintings to become part of her vast collection.

.

Facing West

Then came along a sale from my dealer in Puerto Vallarta entitled: “Facing West”. From there – a very successful and highly renowned audio documentary producer purchased two small works (“Chance” and “Indigene 5″) for his home in Seattle, Washington.

.

Chance

.

Life can be both fair, unpredictable and yes challenging. The hope which remains alive in me is knowing that things can change completely in a short amount of time. So keep hope alive.

.

Provocation

To learn more about Mikel Elam’s work, log on to www.MikelElam.com

Dani Waagen Braatveit

Posted on March 7, 2011 by Dani Waagen Braatveit

.

……….The beautiful, and the de-construction of it`s form and shape has always interested me. Taking what is looked upon as “the complete” and destroying it, for maybe uncovering something even more powerful and seemingly less. The human body, in all it´s grace and glory, is for me the perfect element to further explore my way of both thinking and making artwork.

Dani Waagen Braatveit

Dani Waagen Braatveit

Dani Waagen Braatveit

I work only with analog, medium and large format, and all the manipulation is done by hand. I often take up the construction and de-construction of “the perfect” and how the two sperate “poles” either can work together or function as a gap between the elements.

Dani Waagen Braatveit

www.MikelElam.com

Posted on February 26, 2011 by Mikel Elam

.

The image was created as a portrait of myself – a much younger Mikel Elam. I chose this image because now it feels like someone I hardly remember more than twenty years ago. I do recall how optimistic I was and remember how I thought the future would be bright. All of the issues of my early years would be erased. It didn’t happen. Many good things did happen for me, and I am extremely grateful to the powers that be. Many things also caught me by surprise. Some of my friends managed to succeed in the shake up, yet many more remained on the periphery of annihilation. Along comes Barack Obama: A young man using modern devices to communicate new ideas to a thirsty audience. When I merged those thoughts with the urban legend and the visual artistry of Shepard Fairey, The word “HOPE” was reborn.

Perfect timing. Many Americans need HOPE today. Life isn’t what we thought it would be. There are fewer jobs, a bleak future that includes only the rich and poor now. A nation extremely divided with no resolve in sight. The surprise was Barack Obama. A man of color in a sea of color blended Presidents. It seemed as though his speech on HOPE reached beyond our country and throughout the world. So many people want to HOPE for a better day – a better month and a greater lifetime. I know I do- so politics meets art. Someone came up with a wonderful idea to allow its user to take his or her own image, preferably a photograph and convert it into a “Hope” poster. So I took it one step further and took one of my paintings of myself as a young man hopeful for the future and emerged it with the powerful graphics called ”Hope”. Perhaps in some small way I still believe a better future is possible and if nothing else I got the chance to express it through the infinite power of art.

Little World-1

Posted on February 5, 2011

.

Artist Statement

.

The aesthetic goal is to have the images look like miniature scenes through the tilt and shift style of photography. By doing this, the images become more vivacious and inviting. This allows the viewer to rediscover the locations. Representing the locations this way – enables the viewer to reconnect with childhood by recalling the feeling of living in a smaller world where scale seemed less cumbersome. Viewers can recall creating scenes of playing with Lego’s or action figures. These images are reminiscent of childhood memories in hopes of inspiring a playful and innocent feature from that time frame into my images.

Little World - 2

Little World - 3

Little World - 4

Little World - 5

Little World - 6

Little World - 7

Little World - 8

To learn more about Bryan Solarski’s photographic work, log on to www.BryanSolarski.com.

In My Body

Posted on December 27, 2010

.

……….As I walked through the crowded opening at the Wexler Gallery in Philadelphia, I noticed several models that were familiar to the Studio, but depicted in a way uniquely imagined by the gifted mixed media artist Leah MacDonald. A 20 year retrospective exhibition of her work is in its last week at the Old City gallery located at 201 North Third Street. I highly recommend seeing the exhibit before it closes on December 31, 2010. To learn more about Leah Macdonald’s work log on to www.LeahMacdonald.com.

IMB-2

IMB-3

IMB-4

IMB-5

IMB-6

IMB-7

IMB-8

IMB-9

IMB-10

IMB-11

IMB-12

Zeppast

……….”HELLO” is a representation of technology and its effects on our society as a whole. The mask represents our society speaking through technology, rather than speaking themselves. Statement from the artist. ZEPPAST