Well the teapot show that was at Cinema Gallery is traveling to Millikin University. Located in Decatur, IL it is an hour away from my twin city. The opening recption is Friday, February 10 from 6p to 8p. This gave me the chance to make another teapot.

My second teapot.

My first teapot which was bought as a Xmas present.

I spent an enjoyable two days in Indianapolis. Although I grew up in Chicago and Indianapolis is only two hours from Champaign, I’ve not spent any time there except driving through. The reason for my Indianapolis exploration began with an exhibition at the Indianapolis Art Center. The opening reception was Friday night and was a perfect reception tripartite; bar, catering, and best of all people. Everyone at the reception was very gracious and gave me some great recommendations for what to do while in town.

Some things I did:

Went to the solo exhibition of Brian McCutcheon: Out of this World at the Museum of Art. I also walked through the Contemporary and African Collection.

Dinner at Brugge Brasserie & Brewery, where I had the Red Curry Moules Frites, Price Edward Island mussels cooked in red curry served with pomme frites and warm French bread along with a glass of Harvey a sour beer.

Breakfast at Maxine’s Chicken and Waffles and yes I ordered the specialty. They offer several waffle flavors, I had sweet potato.

Lastly, I saw Lars von Trier’s Melancholia. Although I’m sure it is going to come to my local art theatre eventually (I think), I could wait no longer. While a bit problematic, visually stunning and engaging.

Kyle Herrington (Exhibitions Associate), Patrick Flaherty (Director of Exhibitions & Broad Ripple Art Fair) & Carter Wolf (President & CEO).

New work: Diminutive but Hopeful Expectation Contraption, Negotiation Voicepipe for Impending Doom, and Optimistic (l to r)

New work: Expectations for a Hopeful Interlude (l to r)

Almost perfect: I had a duel identity in this show, I was both Rubin & Ruben. Patrick was very apologetic and it will be corrected.  On a scale of snafus I rate this as low, once at a group show that I could not attend my work was hung upside down.  I only knew because a friend happened to be in that city and let me know. What made this so strange was this work was featured on the postcard to promote the show. At another show a wall work was placed on a pedestal. Things happen.

I have a solo exhibition at the Indianaplis Art Center. It is quite a large center with three separate galleries. My show is in the Sarah M. Hunt Gallery. The opening reception is this Friday. In the other galleries are paintings by Lori Larusso, furniture by Tom Laird, and in the hallway videos by Hillerbrand + Magsamen.

Unpacking and Installation 

Quick gallery shots of the space after installation

I just attended the opening reception last night of All Steamed Up at Cinema Gallery. The exhibition looked wonderful and it is always interesting to meet other artists. This was the first teapot I've ever made, and it was a good challenge to translate my sculptural hand into this historical form. Carolyn Baxley (gallery owner) greeted me with the news that my teapot was sold. Yea! Maybe I should make more.

I'm also in a Small Works show at the Anderson Gallery at Bridgewater State University, MA. I've been in several small sculpture exhibitions lately, one advantage of making intimate work. I find it funny that my work gets to travel more than I do. I've never been to Massachusetts.

I was in PA during Thanksgiving week. It was nice to getaway and have a short break. On Monday I gave a lecture along with the artist Jeffrey Chapp who is an Associate Professor of Visual Arts at Lincoln University. On Tuesday I taught a master class demonstrating how I create my sculptures. Students had a short time to create tiles using some of the techniques. The day flew by and I enjoyed my time there. My cousin, Dr. Karen Baskerville is an Associate Professor in the Biology Department. I spent the rest of the week hanging out with her and my cousin (her sister) Sonya. They did the majority of the cooking for Thanksgiving. I made a yam casserole (the store did not have sweet potatoes) and mixed our lemon drop cocktails.

Students working. Professor Chapp is the guy at the very back. He put in a lot of work to have the classroom ready for the demo and class.

Demo piece. One part refused to stay on, uhh.

All the side dishes. My yam casserole has marshmallows on only one half since one person is not a fan. Crushed pecans also covered the top.

Sonya making gravy. The turkey came from a local farm.

My plate, note the sauteed brussel sprouts. They were delicious.

My exhibition at the KU Art and Design Gallery is up through Nov 11. It is a beautiful gallery space and the gallery assistant, Jonathan was extremely helpful. The art and design building actually sits on a hill with a great view of the rest of campus. I'm looking forward to going back for a lecture and to meet with grads on Nov 10. Images to come soon.