Call For Artists

We need you!!

The Allegany Arts Association is counting down to our first   “You’ve Been Framed” Art Sale and this is a reminder that we need your help! 

Frankly we are getting a bit nervous since we do not have any way to request a presale sign up and there is the thought of the utter horror of putting all of this together and then not having anything to sell!  We are putting our faith in your generosity and your sense of adventure to produce some wonderful items for our sale.   If you are a painter or a ceramist; a quilter or a basketweaver.  If you do any sort of art, which can be displayed in a frame of some sort - we need you!!   Please don’t worry if you don’t have a beautiful frame for your work.  Though it would be preferable we would much prefer to have a beautiful piece of art ready for a nice frame rather than an empty frame.  It just must be able to maintain its shape and be able to be hung.

How the sale works:

On Tuesday; May 7^th from 12 to 3 pm; Wednesday; May 8th from 12 to 3 and Thursday; May 9^th from 4 to 7 we will be accepting entries.   Any genre is acceptable as long as it can be framed in some way and hung.  It must be no larger than 20 inches in any direction.  You may submit up to 3 pieces of work to the sale.   Be creative.  Be fun.  Be artistic.  Be you.  (Just be.  Please.)

On Friday we kick off the sale with a Wine Tasting and Hors D’oeuvres from 5 to 8.  Advance tickets are $10 and may be purchased from members or at several sites around the county (watch for more advertising on this).   Tickets at the door are $12.  What a great time to schmooze with fellow artists and art lovers!  The sale continues on Saturday with no admission for the general sale.

At the sale framed items will be displayed with only a number on colored tags.  The color indicates the price of the item.  Any item 10 inches or less is $20.  Items between 10” and 16” are $25 and items greater than 16” are $30.   A buyer selects a work of art by requesting the number from one of our runners.   Once the item is purchased the new owner will discover who the artist is and the name of the work of art (if it has been given one) by the tag that is on the back of the artwork.   I guess we will find out if a signature does indeed sell artwork or whether it is true that  “Beauty is in the eye of the beholder”  when it comes to art.

Since there is no age limit for artists and the media could be as varied as the talent of the contributors there should be something for everyone at the sale and show.   Expect the best pieces to be snapped up on Friday evening but then again….maybe not.

You will be given the opportunity to indicate to us whether you wish to donate the item if it doesn’t sell at this sale (to be sold at a later date at another location) or whether you will pick it up after the sale.

All proceeds from the sale of donated items will be used to help finance AAA’s free art programs for children held throughout the county both in the summer and at certain vacation times.

Thank you in advance for your help.  See you in May at the sale!!!

Support SheilaLynnK Art Studio

Not ready to purchase art? 
NOW you can Support SheilaLynnK Art Studio art projects and community action goals. 

Portions of this funding make it possible for the studio to:
support arachnoiditis awareness efforts, provide art donations to benefit local community projects and groups, stay informed and keep you LynnKed to Art news and opportunities on the Studio blogand Facebook page. 

Balloon Rally Painting News Coverage

Meeting Vocational Rehabilitation Goals
 The painting, "Safe Landing" completed April 15, 2013

Interviewed, paraphrased, written by
 ~Kathryn Ross/Wellsville Daily Reporter
Despite debilitating disease, Kalkbrenner is flying high.
The 2013 Great Wellsville Balloon Rally artist is well aware of the work that goes into the Rally. She pays tribute to that in her painting. The new artist is Sheila Kalkbrenner, of Wellsville. 
Only a few days before the due date, Kalkbrenner, once an organizer with the Balloon Rally, decided to enter a work in the search for the 2013 artwork which would be used to represent the 38th Balloon Rally on shirts and posters. The committe had issued a directive to artist the the Wellsville Country Club was to be featured in the work, as well as several specific balloons. 
"Most everyone views the country club from the front with the balloons on the other side of the road on the golf course," Kalkbrenner said, "I didn't want to put the road in the painting, so I decided to take my own photos."
Kalkbrenner said she found herself behind the country club and decided that she liked that view better than the front.
"I've never seen many balloons land back there, probably because of all the trees and power lines, so I've had to take out some of the trees in the painting," said Kalkbrenner.
The painting shows several balloons in various stages- flight,landing, deflation and packing up. It also features many children and adults as spectators.
"It is important to include that perspective in the work, to show people that a lot of hard work goes into ballooning and the Rally,"she said.
The painting, done in acrylic, will be completed by mid-month.
After a spelling mistake made the 2012 T-shirt a collector's item, Kalkbrenner said she made sure that she wasn't in charge of the writing that will go on the shirts and posters.
With a master's degree in education, the 2000 graduate of Alfred University, who also has a degree in fine arts, says her work is most influenced by Paul Gauguin. 
The artist said she doesn't remember a time in her life when she wasn't involved in art. "I was using crayons and pencils before I could walk."
Even when she was physically unable to paint and sit for long periods at teh easel following a diagnosis of adhesive arachnoiditis, which causes chronic lower back and/or leg pain, weakness and sensory loss, Kalkbrenner focused her artistic instincts into photography. She hoped to use those photographs for her paintings. 
Her goal is to make her work studio on South Main Street "s self-sustaining studio" and to enter her work in national competitions.
Last summer, as part of the Art Takes Times Square project, Kalkbrenner's "Honesty & Hope a.k.a. No Pain, No Gain" an artwork relating to the apin of arachnoiditis, was featured on a Jumbotron in Times Square in downtown Manhattan. 
"It is very inspiring considering that there was a time not too long ago that I couldn't paint at all," she said. 

Welcome to the Art Room

Years ago, when I was student-teaching, these thoughts emerged upon re-visiting the public school setting. I came across them again today as I was planning to teach a summer art class for the Allegany Arts Association 2013 Summer Arts Festival.

Long ago I heard of a place whose boundaries could protect but not

confine the endless information welling in

my mind.

Unspoken questions and unheard of answers battle for dominance over 

my changing voice.

Through chaos and chilling passageways, I search the brick and mortar.

My stifled thoughts reverberate against the brittle steel that lines the walls.

Rumor has it that there is a secret door to the room that can 

house my hope

and acknowledge my turmoil.

The echo tells me that I have the key.

The lonely lint curled inside my pocket confronts the echo for a liar. 

Do I search for the key or the door?

I turn the corner, light streaming through the window before me informs 

me that presently I am the master of both.

Heart on my sleeve, 

enveloped in the fresh Crayola scent of possibility, opportunity, 

and the familiar unknown

I enter a solid room of vanishing walls and frozen time.

A shifting wood grain whispers in my ear,

"Creativity, Imagination, and Optimism welcome all those who enter here.

Upon departure you shall

know all that you have brought with you.

For best results: 

Check your ego at the door. 

Welcome to the Art Room"

~Sheila L. Kalkbrenner