You can't spell Heart without ART

"You can't spell heart without art" via Keep calm o matic.

February is the month known for the heart. With Valentine's Day falling at the halfway point in the month, the CDC creating awareness of Heart Disease by proclaiming February American Heart Month and the American Heart Association's: Wear Red Day on Feb 1st. Hearts abound and  surround us during this month long tribute to hearts everywhere.  Even in Llano, Texas at Lou Quallenberg Studios the heart takes center stage as annually on February 14th Lou creates a mesquite heart for the quote "love of his life".   You can't spell heart without art!  This month I wanted to show support for a few wood Artists with heart that we are trying to support through KickStarter.

If you are not familiar with KickStarter it is an online funding platform for creative projects similar to IndiGoGo another online crowdfunding platform that is a bit more global and less specific project oriented. Both sites have their advantages but we seem to be drawn to KickStarter projects for some reason. The KickStarter funded film  Inocente — the story of a 15-year old girl from California who refuses to give up her dream of being an artist — just won an Oscar for Best Documentary (Short Subject). It was one of three KickStarter films that received Oscar nominations.

Lou Quallenberg's Mesquite Heart for 2013

The first KickStarter campaign that we contributed to was our artist friends Al and Mary Hone's Freedom in a feather project to purchase  PMC clay, tools and a kiln. We have always loved the wood carving and artwork of Al Hone and credit him as the reason Lou started doing the Western Design Conference in Cody, Wyoming.  The project was unfortunately unsuccessful at funding but it got us hooked. We began regularly looking at the projects to see if anything new was of interest.  We were hugely disappointed to miss out on Joshua Harker's 3D printed filigre skull Crania Anatomica Filigre: Me to You.

We were excited to discover the work of James McNabb of  McNabb &Co. with his City Series. Even more excited when we realized that he would soon be doing a KickStarter Project, which meant we could have a small piece of his amazing work. We also felt it necessary to support him winning a Laguna Tools Band Saw in their Show us your Love Contest.  A great bandsaw is a required tool for the kind of work he is doing.  We love the fact that he works with his wife and has his dog featured on his KickStarter and website. As we post this he is less than $100 from his $5000 goal on Kickstarter and with 16 days to go we think you should go sign up and support him and his amazing work.

James McNabb
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
www.McNabbStudio.com

The next artist we discovered on KickStarter was Gustav Reyes with his unique bent wood pieces of furniture and jewelry. He was looking to purchase a  wood compression machine for $135,000 and we had hoped to really help push him the next two weeks of his project but as I started to write this we discovered that he has canceled his project. :(  He is still a very talented artist and we won't be surprised to watch as his work increases in popularity. 

Gustav Reyes
Chicago, Illinois
www.GustavReyes.com

The thing about these two wood artists is they each have unique vision and an obvious passion, putting their HEART into their work.  We truly love to be around and support talented artists in as many ways as we can. I know that if we had unlimited resources this is where it would go. With that said an idea has been brewing. As we outgrow our current location and begin the work of finding and relocating to a larger property and  pace. Perhaps it is  an opportunity to create a place of  art. A place  of  learning and sharing between artists and our rural community.  A place for artists to reside on location in guest houses to pursue their passions.  As the dream or vision comes more into focus perhaps a KickStarter project will help make it into a reality.

Time keeps ticking away

"S-curve" an early more primitive piece shown at 2011Texas Furniture Makers Show

Time is ticking away. The year is already winding down. Is it just me? or is time moving faster? It seems as if there is not enough time in the day to get all of the many things that are required to function in this day and age, accomplished. Most of the things originally considered time savers have actually snuck their way into the time waster category.  Cell phones make us slaves to their tones and vibrations.  The internet that connects us to everything and everyone, tempts us with meaningless info, cute cat photos, bizarre happenings, and viral videos. Don't let me get started on social media.....

Lou is often overheard saying he does not have enough time left in this lifetime to complete the many projects he has bouncing around in his brain.  I have seen some of his sketches and I know he is right. Don't get me wrong,  I know he will definitely be leaving behind an artistic trail of mesquite furniture and objet all photographed, cataloged and assigned to their original buyers and locations.  I suspect this feeling is true of most artists and probably one of the very catalysts that drive them to produce that thing that they each do so well - their own individualized "art."

We are currently under a serious time crunch as Lou tries to finish up a new piece for the Texas Furniture Makers Show and a few commissioned pieces that are due to the clients in early November.  This has been an incredibly busy year for us and we feel so very blessed to have such great clients, both old and new.  Last year Lou did not even have time to attempt creating a new piece for the Texas Furniture Makers Show and we ended up putting in an earlier more primitive piece.  Lou Quallenberg's work has become much more sculptural and artistic. This years entry piece will clearly show how much his work has evolved.

 Texas Furniture Makers Show 

A Statewide Competition of the Finest Custom Furniture Makers in Texas

November 8 through December 8, 2012

Kerr Arts & Cultural Center
228 Earl Garrett Street

Kerrville, Texas 78028

Reception November 17, 5:30 - 8 pm

Gallery Hours:
Tuesday - Saturday, 10 am - 4 pm
Sunday, 1 - 4 pm

We recently had the opportunity to visit with our friends, Utah Artist Les Powers and his wonderful wife Tauni. They stopped by Llano on their way to a show in Austin to visit, see the shop and pick up some mesquite wood. Les makes such amazing sculptural pieces combining wood and stone that wrap, twist and weave around each other. Each one carefully named and thought out with a story full of meaning. His work can be viewed online at NaturesForms.net.  During our visit Les made the same comment Lou does about not having enough time to produce all the work floating around in his head.  I think Lou feels the way about Les's brain that I feel about his.  "In awe" is a probably a simple way to describe it.

Sharing ideas and info.

Les Powers, Lou Quallenberg & Simba

Les Signing a piece for the show

Tauni makes a beautiful background

Les even stacks his wood artistically

 
We met Les & Tauni at the Western Design Conference in 2008 the first year it was held in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. We connected immediately and chose to meet up and hang out again at the Western Design Conference the following year, along with Tim Carney and his beautiful artist wife Maureen Shaughnessy - who by the way encouraged us to start this blog. Meeting and sharing with incredible artists is one of our favorite social pastimes. We met Tom Dean of Milo Creek Carvings at the 2009 WDC and continue to joke and tease with him to this day. We always enjoy connecting, sharing and feeding the inspiration and energy that occurs as artists gather, socialize and share.

This quote sums it all up: 

"Artists are some of the most driven, courageous people on the face of the earth. They deal with more day-to-day rejection in one year than most people do in a lifetime.... Every day, artists face the financial challenge of living a freelance lifestyle, the disrespect of people who think they should get real jobs, and their own fear that they’ll never work again. Every day, they have to ignore the possibility that the vision they have dedicated their lives to is a pipe dream. With every role, they stretch themselves, emotionally and physically, risking criticism and judgment. With every passing year, many of them watch as the other people their age achieve the predictable milestones of normal life - the car, the family, the house, the nest egg. Why? Because artists are willing to give their entire lives to a moment - to that line, that laugh, that gesture, or that interpretation that will stir the audience’s soul. Artists are beings who have tasted life’s nectar in that crystal moment when they poured out their creative spirit and touched another's heart. In that instant, they were as close to magic, God, and perfection as anyone could ever be. And in their own hearts, they know that to dedicate oneself to that moment is worth a thousand lifetimes.” - David Ackert

We would have never known about the show if we had not discovered the incredible work of Al Hone in a copy of the Sourcebook from the Western Design Conference. His work and the opportunity to meet him was one of the reasons we decided to do that final 2006 Western Design Conference in Cody, Wyoming. (That and the fact that Sam Maloof was one of the judges!)

Al and Mary Hone and their pup named Roxie are the authentic faces of Western art and design.   Al's award winning carved masterpieces and sculptures are so incredible in their detail and design.

Check out a few of his available pieces:

Spirit of the Tetons 46w x 26d x 30h

Executive Desk

Credenza: 93w x 98h x 22d   

Desk: 60w x 32d x 30h

Longhorn Cabinet 90h x 46w x 21d

Raven Magic Mirror 52w x 44h

For  more take a look at his website: AlHone.com.  Mary uses antique trade beads and creates beautiful beaded jewelry, leather work and accessories inspired by native Indian patterns and design. Together they are traveling the country in an RV, creating their art and living their dream.  I suspect that even living that lifestyle they still feel time leaking away here and there.  Who knows maybe quelling that feeling of time shrinking away is why they chose to pack up and hit the road in the first place.