WATER, EAU, ECHAR AGUA, WASSER, The Essence of Life

Haiku Waves: Birth

This is one of nine works from the haiku water suite of paintings with watercolor and gouache on paper.    Size: 20” x 40”

Work is available for purchase.

Inquiries are welcomed.

Contact:  nefer(dot)nefertiti(at)verizon(dot)net

©Nefertiti 2008

The Passionate Collectors: Part I

Brett Cook: commissioned painting of the collectors

Sharon Burton-Turner: the First Vice Chair of the NJ State Council on the Arts. Chairs the African American Cultural Committee at the Montclair Art Museum and is a docent as well.
Lincoln Turner: Businessman and entrepreneur.

By Nefertiti

Lincoln and Sharon Burton-Turner, an elegant unassuming couple has been gracious in allowing me into their contemporary home to interview them about their passion for collecting.   Artwork and collectibles selectively appointed every wall, and rooms resonate their personal journey around the four corners of the world with panache.

Seated in the family room with the late morning sunlight flooding into it, I proceeded to ask them the following questions.

Both started collecting while in college.
N – When did you start collecting?
LT/ST - First we strongly believe in collecting artwork from artists in New Jersey (Ben Jones, Russell Murray, Janet Taylor-Pickett, Roy Crosse etc,) as well as other established artists.
ST - I have always been a collector and started in college.  It’s been one continuum.
LT – We collect antique furniture, such as Early American Oak, African sculpture and artifacts, antique dolls, Black Memorabilia and contemporary art.

N – Who are some of the artists in your collection?
Thornton Dial, Hale Woodruff, Elizabeth Catlett, Romare Bearden, Nanette Carter, Charles Seebree Jacob Lawrence, Brett Cook- Dizney, Charles White, William Carter, Verna Winslow, etc.

Hale Woodruff

N – Do you have a favorite work?
ST - Hard to say because we love them all.  We have art and artifacts from all over the world.  Sharon continued by naming a few of the countries: Holland, South Africa, Indonesia, China, Italy, Greece, Cuba, etc…

N – How has having art transformed your life, if at all?
LT - Meeting artists and art collectors has become our extended family.
With shared affinities, communication is easily facilitated at functions.
ST – For example: our trip to Cuba, and viewing the various architecture in Santiago de Cuba and Baracoa the Eastern part of the island with Afro-Cuban culture was just wonderful.  Seeing performing artists and visual artists was awesome.  We did this with the Metropolitan Museum travel program, “Travel with the Met” and the Center for Cuban studies. Saw the Cuban Biennale in 2005 too.  Visited artists studios.  Viewed the work of Manuel Mendive at his home, perhaps the leading Afro-Cuban artist and the famous Wifredo Lam.
N -They have several Cuban works of art in their collection.

ST– We have literally seen the world through art.  Have been to Spain, Amsterdam and  Italy visiting the Picasso Museum in Barcelona, The Rijksmuseum and The Sistine Chapel.
ST – Talking about our travels and experiences makes me want to do it again
In South Africa we visited the “Bag Factory,” a non-profit residency that has permanent studios for artists, located in Johannesburg.

Montebravo

N – Do you believe that art has the power to heal?
ST - Absolutely!  Just to give you an example, I had a friend who had cancer, and when she listened to music it would sooth the pain.  Just seeing art being created is… like adding life; it extends your life.
LT – On the flip side, inappropriate art can drain your energy or spirit.

N – Do you seek any particular aesthetic when purchasing work?
LT – We are eclectic.

N – Is it important to collect African-American art?
Both gave an emphatic “yes.”
ST – Our collection is comprised 95% of the Diaspora.

N – Do you look at what you collect in general as an asset?  And if so why?
LT - Yes, it appreciates in value and gives an emotional payback everyday.  In fact, I initially saw art as an investment.

N - What are the advantages of going to an artist studio to purchase for a collection versus an art gallery?
ST - You establish a relationship with the artist.  It is an opportunity to speak directly with the artist and get their insights and sometimes it can lead to viewing a wider selection of their work without an intermediary.

Charles Seebree

N – Do you feel that an artist has a social responsibility?
LT- Artists are the vanguard of social responsibility.

N – Why do you think arts are important to a society or culture?
LT - I think that they echo what goes on in the moment.  They are the visual historians and reflect who we are at a point in time.
ST - I simply could not imagine a world without art and a house without art.

N – I assume that there is a certain amount of status or glamour to being a collector?
LT - Yes, there is glamour attending openings, art events and meeting extraordinary people, __ the best and brightest.  There is instant communication without saying anything.

N - Are African-American artists an endangered species?
ST– Yes!  I don’t think that they get the recognition, support, compensation nor appreciation.

N – How can the dynamics of African American art have a more positive prominence in American culture?
ST - Education and inclusion   …you have to start recognizing and advancing art/artists within museums/galleries, so that the glass ceiling can be broken.  Having a mentoring program (trustees mentoring new members) would make a difference. Selecting collectors who are knowledgeable and are trustees (of the institution) to the acquisition committees.

Thank you Sharon and Lincoln!

A New Release, Obama: Making Waves III

Obama: Making Waves III                                            ©Nefertiti 2009

Obama: Making Waves III is the most current addition to the Making Waves suite.  This giclée print is a fusion of Making Waves I and II.  The deep cobalt blue and green are reflective of nature, which complements the Obama administration’s determined advocacy of a healthier environment.

Medium:   Gicleé print
Size:        19.5” x 15.5”
Edition:    250
POR:         Available for purchase now, at the pre-publication price
Artist:       Nefertiti

Payment:   Via Pay/Pal
Contact:    nefer(dot)nefertiti(at)verizon(dot)net

HOLIDAY SALE WITH DEEP SAVINGS!

HOMAGE II                                                                   ©Nefertiti

Exquisite Original Prints and Paintings on Sale:  35-50% Off!

Art Lovers, take advantage of this very special opportunity to purchase artworks at deep discounts, to give as a gift or to acquire for your personal collection.  Enjoy.

Happy holidays!

Nefertiti

Please click on this PDF file to view images & price list: HOLIDAY SALE – DEEP SAVINGS!

Please Click below on “Second Group…,” which is the  PDF to View A Different Group of Images & Prices.

Second Group of Paintings & Prints to View with Price List: HOLIDAY SALE  – DEEP SAVINGS

Indelible Impressions: Les Oiseaux Au Jardin D’Or

Les Oiseaux au Jardin D'Or ©Nefertiti

By Jan Feighner

Nefertiti’s “Les Oiseaux au Jardin D’Or” is part of her “Tapisserie Florales Suite,” an extraordinary nine-piece series that demonstrates the talented artist’s gifted eye for detail, beauty, nature, and ancient cultures. Her love of printmaking, painting, sketching, and color translates into large works reminiscent of the finest Persian tapestries.

I first viewed her work at Ursinus College’s Philip and Muriel Berman Museum of Art in Collegeville, Pennsylvania several years ago. Immediately noticeable were meticulous designs and vibrant tones situated within exquisite borders. Many sported traditional Near- and Far-East shapes and symbolism. Others spoke of modern ideas presented as bold, lavish illustrations. All lured me further into their individual stories.

These images are reminiscent of the splendid Arabian Nights collection each narrating a part of everyman, requiring us to view life in different ways, to dream of what could be, and to appreciate what we know in our collective consciousness.

“Les Oiseaux au Jardin D’Or,” a 44 by 36 inch, 50-print edition, is no different. Its ovular center background draws the eye inward toward the main subject, an Oriental vase bedecked with bi-colored oceanic swirls and angel-winged Ryukin goldfish lightly plumed with two kinds of orchids.

Delicate tri-colored flowers drape the vessel’s sides like a flock of low flying gulls skimming water while six larger, more ostentatious blooms similar to graceful egrets taking flight flutter overhead. Their stalks anchor them to the vase’s fluted striped neck as if trying to chain them to the manmade earthenware: taming the wild within and around us.

Immediately framing this scene are two-toned leaves akin to feathers with birds in the corners and center feeding communally, reinforcing the print’s avian theme. Two at each end and four on both middle sides allude to nature’s pairing, that no creature is alone in this universe, sharing even basic necessities.

The border is very much Nefertiti’s: elaborate, detailed, and remarkable. Here she truly demonstrates her skill at recreating the feel of old world Persian rugs. “Les Oiseaux au Jardin D’Or” entails two rows of markedly different patterns not readily apparent at first glance that unite her inner shades with outer and create an edge that seems woven not painted.

Nefertiti begins with many sketches that she eventually transfers to linoleum plates. She cuts them with extreme precision and has prints made professionally due to her works’ large dimensions. Once the high-grade rag paper dries, she hand paints each usually with watercolor and gouache so every one is unique.

I have loved Nefertiti’s art since that first moment I viewed it years ago.  Although I have not kept abreast of her progress until recently, her haunting images have remained emblazoned on my mind.

Jan Feighner: Writer and art critic residing in Pennsylvania.

dark5star(at)comcast(dot)net – email

PRICE ON REQUEST

Contact:  nefer(dot)nefertiti(at)verizon(dot)net – email

ALL IMAGES ARE COPYRIGHTED ©NEFERTITI.  THIS MEANS THAT THESE WORKS ARE NOT TO BE LIFTED BY SNAPSHOTS, USE FOR REPRODUCTIONS OR ANY OTHER INFRINGEMENTS WITHOUT THE CONSENT OF THE ARTIST!

FEBRUARY: EXHIBITIONS & ACQUISITION

The Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture has included their recent acquisition of the Obama: Making Waves I linoleum cut print in the present exhibition called “Becoming Americans: African Americans and American Politics.”

Howard Dodson, the Schomburg Center’s director and curator, stated “…as the Obama campaign was rounding out, it made sense to us to try to update it and bring people some perspective on his arrival at the presidency of the United States.”

“African Americans and American Politics,” offers portraits of such groundbreakers as Crispus Attucks, Frederick Douglass, the Massachusetts 54th Regiment, Mary McLeod Bethune, Adam Clayton Powell and others who have led the quest for equality and justice over the last two-hundred-plus years. This exhibit continues through April 19 in the Exhibition Hall/Window Gallery”

Admission is free. 212-491-2200
www.nypl.org/research/sc/sc.html

HAMPTON UNIVERSITY MUSEUM RELEASE OF NEW QUARTERLY

The linoleum cut print, “Obama: Making Waves I,” is featured on the back cover of the recently released quarterly, The International Review of African American Art, published by the Hampton University Museum.

If you desire to purchase this edition, Volume 22 – number 2, you can place an order by clicking on the URL as follows:
http://museum.hamptonu.edu/iraaa_publication.cfm

VICTORIOUS ELECTION DAY SPECIAL GIFT OFFERING!

A SPECIAL GIFT OFFERING!

In the Spirit of Change on this Unprecedented Historical Day

30% Off On Obama: Making Waves II and I

November 4th-15th, 2008

Please contact me ASAP to take advantage of this special offering of these two works.

Nefertiti: 11/4/08

CONFLUENCE OF POWER AND VISION

By A.M. WEAVER

In Obama “Making Waves I”, Nefertiti creates iconic symbols, using an illustrious repetition of Barack Obama’s last name in conjunction with his image.  The three quarter view of Obama’s head highlighted in red against a cobalt blue background is an electric an ennobling portrait of America’s seventh son.  A seventh son embodies special qualities and gifts of insight and power.

Encased in the first letter of Obama’s name is the peak of an ocean wave, which according to Nefertiti represents Hawaii, where he spent his youth.  The wave also translates as a metaphor for change—the wave of the future.  Obama’s call for change has caused Americans of all persuasions to pause and take note of the current state of affairs in this country and wish for an alternative reality.  Obama’s plan for the country contextualizes in very concrete ways real hope for the future.

This eloquent tribute to Barack Obama is a suitable emblem symbolizing enlightenment.  Beauty and power converge in this linoleum cut print. Each element in the print is carefully thought out and put together and tells a story like a tapestry.

A.M. Weaver is an independent curator and writer based in Philadelphia, PA.  She specializes in modern art from a global perspective with a special interest in contemporary African art.

Contact Weaver: amweaver43(at)aol(dot)com

10/31/08

A Schomburg Calendar

HOT OFF THE PRESS

365 Days of Black History: In Praise   of Women
2009 Engagement Calendar

This year’s 365 Days of Black History engagement calendar focuses on the achievements of black women, among them pianist and composer Natalie Hinderas, jurist Jane Bolin, artist and teacher Dindga McCannon, and many others. Each of the calendar’s fifty-three images is accompanied by a concise biography or essay, and each day of the year lists an important birth date or milestone. Also included are full-page 2009 and 2010 yearly grids and a list of international holidays.

Published with the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, New York Public Library. Size: 6 5/8 x 8 in.; 112 pages; hardcover Wire-O bound. ISBN 978-0-7649-4465-9.

365 Days of Black History: In Praise of Women 2009 Engagement Calendar
D245$14.99

Publisher: Pomegranate.com

Cover art: Getting Fixed to Look Pretty, linoleum cut print, 40″x29,” created by Nefertiti