Creative Expressions Art Studio and Gallery

Creative Expressions Art Gallery - Grand Opening!!

2009-10-29T20:18:00.000-07:00

Creative Expressions opened its doors to the public on Oct 22nd, 2009!
Our opening Exhibition was named " Art Fusion"
We featured the juried work of 18 local artists in various media.
The exhibition took several long hours and several late nights to set up but the end result was a feast for the eyes!
Oct 22nd rolled around, I was up at 5am barely able to control my excitement for the big event later that day.
So much to do!
The night before we were at the gallery until 2 am setting up and making sure everything was absolutely ready for the opening.
2 cups of strong coffee and I was ready to go! First stop Sendiks to make sure the appetizers were ready and to confirm delivery at 4.30 pm. Despite the slight drizzle, my excitement and enthusiasm and Dh's calm support were plenty to brighten my day.
Back home to get the kids off to school. They knew it was a big day for mom and gave me extra special hugs.
Then back to the gallery! Pleasantly surprised to receive flowers from my brother-in-law and his wife. Orchids! My favorite.Such warm wishes! My phone kept ringing and I got text messages galore from friends and family wishing me all the best.
Next Jeannette Gabrys, a wonderful young and immensely talented artist stopped by to drop off a handmade guest book.
Now I was almost ready.
DH and I adjusted lights and made some last minute adjustments and went back home for a quick lunch and to change.
Back at the gallery at 3pm.
Party Wizards were there to set up the food and drinks, Sendiks arrived on time with the hors'doevres and it all looked fabulous.
Brook arrived and set up the register, Jennifer Lee and Dave came in and set up the music.
Last minute setting up for LaVonne Nye who drove in all the way from Chicago to be a part of this event.
Once her lovely jewelry was on the last empty table we were absolutely ready!!

4.45pm, slight drizzle and absolutely quiet outside, not a soul to be seen, not a car in the front parking lot......my heart was sinking just a bit... what if no one came, what if we had all this food left over...what if.....

4.55pm...a car pulled in, 2 women bounced out and dashed out of the rain; "please, please, please let them be heading our way" I thought!
They opened our door and peeked in...."we're a bit early, may we come in?"

It was a resounding "Yes!' of course!

That was the beginning, it did not stop until 4 hours and 300 guests later!!
The artists came with their spouses and families; this made the event so colorful and exciting!
I took a few pictures when the place was a bit quiet but as it got busier, I could not get even a minute to take pictures.
Rishi and Maya came to visit after school, their eyes widened in surprise when they saw the crowd and the excitement. I was so happy to share this with my children.
It was a fun event and everyone loved the gallery and we got rave reviews about the art work.
It was a fabulous evening and my heartfelt thanks to each and everyone who came and made this event such a resounding success!!!

Voki dog created by my daughter Maya

2009-10-17T09:17:00.000-07:00

Get a Voki now!

Finding the right shade of white!

2009-09-13T21:05:00.000-07:00

There is white and then there is white!
Actually there are about close to a hundred shades of white! When trying to select a shade of white for the walls of the gallery, it became quite difficult to pick one!
An evening a week or so ago,I took several shades in mini paint cans and painted squares of white on the walls and decided I liked one shade and went out to buy several gallons of it at the Benjamin Moore place.
I went back at lunch time the next day to look at my handiwork and was terribly surprised! The "Almond Cream" shade of white that I had picked turned out to be a nasty yellowy color in the midday light!
When I lamented my plight on facebook my friend sent me a link about
the Cathedral at Rouen by Monet:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rouen_Cathedral_monet

So interesting!

I immediately remembered my little neice who is a budding artist.
She was about 6 or 7 years old when I visited and she gave me a little creation of hers as a gift.
It was a a little still life of a bowl of fruit done with crayons.
I asked her why the mango was orange in some parts and yellow in some parts.
She looked at me thoughtfully, I could sense that she knew the answer, she was trying to form an answer using the limited vocabulary of a 6 year old. She finally said "the fat part shines more, so I used yellow there, the side parts are not so shiny and are a bit darker so I used a darker yellow, not orange." she ended chiding me a bit.
I was simply amazed! This little one instinctively realised the effect light has on an object and that the convex part of the mango reflected more light than the rest!
What was amazing is not just noting that fact but the ability to use her skills as an artist to translate that in her artwork as a shaded still life.
I have been looking all week at works of art and the use of light, "Girl with a Pearl Earring" by Vermeer is such a stunning example of the use of light!
I went with a friend to an art fair to day and noted how the artists uses light in their compositions. Whenever the play of light and shadows was used well the art work was stunning!Oterwise, it looked flat and boring.
To get back to my story of finding the right shade of white, I finally did find a shade that looked right at all times of the day! "Studio White" by Ralph Lauren"!

2009-07-25T11:30:00.000-07:00

Welcome to Creative Expressions Art Studio and Gallery.

I am Minnie Bhupathi, Jewelry artist and owner.
I am thrilled to announce that Creative Expressions will be opening it's doors to the public on Monday October 4th.
The reason for me taking the leap to opening a teaching art studio and gallery is because I love and enjoy art!

My favorite subject in medical school was anatomy.
I did really well in all those tests; it wasn't until much later that I realized the reason I did well in that subject was because the textbook "Gray's Anatomy" was my favorite text! I loved looking at the pictures! The drawings are simply amazing in their detail and precision. Beautiful too, in my opinion.
Almost all the illustration and there are several hundreds of them ar painstakingly drawn by hand with obsessive attention to detail and are stunningly accurate reproductions of the insides of the human body.
This is art,too!
Art, in general, is for enjoyment and for uplifting the spirit!
Art is not utilitarian, but who cares?!
I wholly believe that art and the enjoyment of it for everyone! i absolutely do not agree with the opinion of a few that art is for the educated few and that one needs a degree in art to appreciate, enjoy or create works of art.
Art in its earliest form was used a means of communication before written language, but even back then people created artwork for enjoyment. Think Lascaux caves in France with all the prehistoric art!

http://www.culture.gouv.fr/culture/arcnat/lascaux/en

I love how thomas Hoving , past director of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, defines art : "Art happens when anyone in the world takes any kind of material and fashions it into a deliberate statement"

I also don't agree as an artist one has to carefully select the audience to whom art is presented.
I believe that appreciation of art is visceral and elemental and anyone and everyone can and will appreciate artwork if given the opportunity though not necessarily the same works or style.

One can however learn to refine the level and range of appreciation through a process of saturation.

Here is an instance to prove my point;

I took Maya to the Fine Art Show at our local library and as we always do when we visit a museum, we wrote down the names of 3 works that we would want to take home with us.

I wrote down my three works and she noted down hers and why we liked each work so well and why it called to us more than the others.

We compared notes afterwards and we actually picked 2 of the same works but for totally different reasons! Her reasons were more to do with the colors and how they made her feel, mine had more to do with the impressionist style of the artist and how well it was translated on to the canvas.

So...my little venture is my way to reach out and share, to bring art into more people's lives,to educate and inform, and to bring artists and their adoring audience together!

Luckily I have a few like minded intelligent individuals who are passionate about sharing their knowledge and their talent, and believe in my idea and have been encouraging and supportive of me throughout!

I want my little gallery to be where one can walk in and enjoy the art work, learn and engage in a discussion in a warm friendly atmosphere without being intimidated.

I want it to be a place far different from the"high brow", pseudo intellectual , art galleries that would try (how dare they?!!)and keep art from the common man!!

I plan to exhibit art on consignment, primarily focusing on local talent, both emerging and experienced and also offer a variety of classes.

I am going to teach a few art history classes;

There will also be several art, glass and jewelry workshops at beginner to advanced levels, taugh by several talented artist/instructors.

I am also planning an Art Tour to New York in Early December for those interested!

All this thanks to my wonderful, loving,absolutely supportive family and friends who have never once asked the question" you are a pediatrician, what do you think you are doing with an art studio/gallery and teaching art history?!!" and encouraged me throughout the process.

Thoughts and ideas, anyone?

Minnie