Images from Catfish Friday, the Exhibit

Having a good time at the exhibit; Shenita & me, Crystal & me, LaShay & me, Josh, Kelly & me again; Everybody; Mixed media artist Bisa Washington with "Rough, Dry and Nappy" (left) and "Double-Ended Promise" (right) by Ade Tugbiyele Sedita (not shown); Artist/Curator Toni Thomas with poet Esther Morales.


LaShay with mixed media artist/gallery owner Ade Sedita; the Eyeshadow Series with artist Diana Jensen, shown; poet Esther Morales; poet Elaine Lee (left "The Gift" by Gladys Grauer, not shown and right "Double-Ended Promises"by Ade Sedita).



Artist/Curator Toni Thomas with "Mermaid West" (acrylic on fabric with quilting) and "Mermaid Observing Wolf", mixed media on paper; performance by poet Esther Morales; artist Sadee Brathwaite with "Private Conversations", oil on canvas; LaShay with Auntie Joan.




"Private Conversations" by Sadee Brathwaite; my "kids" Josh & Kelly; LaShay with Auntie Gillian.


Earthlocz Spirit Dolls #5 and #6 - cloth, paperclay, acrylic.

The opening was a huge success – the art of Sadee Brathwaite, Mary Baldwin, Gladys Grauer, Diana Jensen, Tara Lamount, Toni Thomas, Ade Tugbiyele Sedita and Bisa Washington was phenomenal – the spoken word art of Esther Morales and Elaine Lee pulled it all together and made our spirits soar in Spanish and English! The guests were delightful. I am so gratified and humbled to have been included in a circle of such warm, accomplished, energetic and spiritually generous women. Please visit my new sidebar, Catfish Friday and Friends, for more on these visual artists.

Special thanks to Ade Sedita of Newark Art Supply for inviting us to share her gallery space (and for her kind encouragement to me over the last year), and to Toni Thomas for curating the exhibit (and for pushing me out into the deep water). You put everything together so smooth, you make it look easy (and I know it ain’t).

Also, thanks to my family/friends, Kelly & Josh, Shenita, Crystal & Co. (Crystal, your design of my postcards is off the chain!), Joan, Gillian, and of course, LaShay, my starchild who works the room as only she can. I love you all!

CATFISH FRIDAY, THE EXHIBIT - July 7 through 31, 2008

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

Contact: Toni Thomas Contact: Newark Art Supply
Phone: 973-699-3269 Phone: 973-230-2828
Email: tthomas743@aol.com Email: info@newarkartsupply.com

Arts E.T.C. and Newark Art Supply proudly present Catfish Friday, the exhibit.
This exhibit features the work of women artists who participate in the women artists support group called Catfish Friday. Catfish Friday is the brainchild of Newark artist Toni Thomas. Each month for the past six months women artists from Newark and surrounding communities from New Jersey and New York have come together to share, discuss, and critique their art. This exhibit highlights the diverse, artistic explorations
of this very talented group of women.
The visual artists are Janice Anderson, Mary Baldwin, Sadee Brathwaite, Gladys Grauer, Diana Jensen, Tara Lamourt, Ade Tugbiyele Sedita, Toni Thomas and Bisa Washington. The featured poets are Elaine Lee and Esther Morales.

The women in this exhibit represent over 25 years experience in the arts with some extraordinarily talented artists on the cutting edge of the visual arts scene in this area. This diverse group of visual artists, writers and poets come together each month to share and nurture their artistic practices. They have created a contemporary art community for women that is positive, nurturing and non-competitive.

The exhibit at Newark Art Supply on 61 Halsey St. (on the corner of New St) in downtown Newark opens Monday July 7 and runs through Thursday July 31, 2008. Works can be viewed Monday – Friday from 9 AM - 7 PM and 9 AM -5 PM on Saturday. Opening reception is Saturday July 12 from 6-8 PM with poetry readings starting at 7 PM.

Garden State Doll Artisans at NJQuilts Convention 2008

I was thrilled to have my dolls show for the first time with GSDA doll club at the State Quilt Guild of New Jersey 2008 show at the Raritan Center, Edison, NJ, June 12 - 14. Our exhibit generated quite a bit of interest.

I was also really pleased to see Lisa Shepard's Cultured Expressions booth, where I was able to shop and add some amazing Ghanaian batiks to my stash. Lisa is the artisan who I credit with starting down this creative path when I took part in her African Mosaic Quilt workshop a couple of years ago. Please visit Lisa at http://www.culturedexpressions.com/.

If You Danced to LaBelle - Lady Marmalade - in the 70's .... Hollah! This is my Hoffman Challenge Doll.

I decided to enter the Hoffman Challenge for the first time after seeing the traveling exhibit in March of this year at the Quilt Show at Garden State Convention Ctr. The Hoffman Challenge fabric was something I never would have picked to work with, but I guess that's why its called a challenge. I purchased the challenge fabric and several of the coordinates - and was stuck for several weeks on what to do with it. One night, while I was sleeping, I awoke with the thought of a peacock as the bird of paradise. From there, I thought of Nona Hendrix, one of the original LaBelle trio, singing the original Lady Marmalade in the 1970s. Thirty something years, and I can remember dancing to those ladies in their feathers, leather and plumes as if it was today. That was the inspiration for this doll, who I call "Lady Bird of Paradise Sings the Blues. " (Hey Sista, Go Sista, Go Sista, Go Sista...)

This is the African-American counterpart to Rebecca Gets Married. I made this one for me, and for show and tell.

Goddess Dolls

I made these mini-goddess dolls for the secretaries in my office for Administrative Professionals Day. They were a big hit.

Mary Lou Klawatter is a very talented doll artist and member of Garden State Doll Artisans. Mary's beautiful dolls with their unique hand embroidered faces made in the tradition of her Icelandic heritage have been featured many times in Art Doll Quarterlymagazine. She will be holding her first show on Saturday, May 10 at 600 Mule Road, Toms River, New Jersey. Congratulations Mary Lou!