Yesterday I was lucky enough to take a trip to the Portland Museum of Art with Spindleworks supervisor Brian and a group of four artists. We spent our time exploring two of the current exhibitions- Richard Estes’ Realism and Andrea Sulzer: throughoutsideways. It was really neat to view the shows together and to travel from photorealism to pure abstraction.
On the first floor, we marveled at the precision and detail of Estes’ landscapes and cityscapes, which often featured views through glass and other reflective surfaces. On the fourth floor, in contrast, we admired the colors and forms of Sulzer’s work in a variety of media including drawing and prints. It was exciting to see the work of a Brunswick-based artist in the museum- one whose studio is right down the street from Spindleworks!
When I spoke to Spindleworks artist Diane about her experience at the museum, she was most excited to discuss Sulzer’s prints. Her favorite pieces of the exhibition were the ones with “scarf material put together with prints on top” and the “Black prints on top of the cloth”. She said that seeing the show has inspired her to try applying mixed colors to the cloth she works with in her own art. While she enjoyed the simplicity of Sulzer’s art, Diane thought “there was a little too much distraction” in Estes’ paintings.
Although she has been to the museum many times, Diane was eager to go again with a Spindleworks crew. Like many community excursions the Spindleworks staff organizes, the Portland Museum of Art trip provided artistic inspiration, change of scenery, and a break from the studios!