BENCHES ON PARADE
The Dixon Schwabl Bench - Part III
The bench – ah yes, THE bench. The place we’ve been sanding, shaping, glassing and smoothing as finally come to be another “ing” word. This is a big one, one that feels like a HUGE step in this process of bench-creation, PAINTING!
You’ve missed some steps since my last post unless you’ve stopped by the Dixon Schwabl Facebook photo albums. Allow me to show you where we’ve been:
Sanding:
Glassing:
Smoothing:
Dipping:
Scarfing:
And now as we head into the details of colorful leaves, texture in bark, shadow in grasses, and beauty in verses I’m reminded that we’ve yet to tell you who this very special bench is in honor of.
This year Dixon Schwabl was sad to loose a close friend in our work family, Jane Argenta. This bench is in honor of her. We conducted a brainstorm with members of the agency that knew her best and asked what could we do to make this bench as Jane-ish as possible. Colors, scarves, inspirational words, textures, themes, and feelings all woven together to form the concept for this Dixon Schwabl bench adventure. The keystone for the concept was a poem Jane had given some members of our PR team about an oak tree – the most inspiring verses will be on the back of the bench.
I can’t wait to show it to you, full and finished before it goes for clear coating and final touches. Stay tuned – the two weeks we have a lot to finish up!
Syringe Painting
We love these photos and couldn't wait to share them with you all!
Yesterday, patients on the play deck at Golisano Children's Hospital at Strong Memorial Hospital helped decorate the Time Warner bench with paint-filled syringes, alongside local artist Amy Frieling.
For almost an hour kids lined up for a turn at squirting their favorite paint colors at the bench. Squirting paint out of the syringes is just one of the many activities patients do with Child Life staff to become more comfortable with the hospital environment.
The final bench will be unveiled this spring when the benches on are parade in May. We can't wait to see it!
The EquiCenter teams up with MacKenzie-Childs
Earlier this week the EquiCenter sent the Benches on Parade team a few photos of the progress on their bench and we wanted to share them with all of you. If you couldn't tell from the photos, the unmistakable checkered work is that of MacKenzie-Childs. A team of MacKenzie-Childs' artists are designing and painting the bench for the EquiCenter, who will be using the bench as a fundraiser for future programming at the Center. Supporters, volunteers, riders and family member can purchase circle on the bench and put their family name in them. There are 25 circles being sold for $500 and $250.
The EquiCenter is a volunteer-based therapeutic horse center that benefits people of all ages with disabilities and at-risk youth and the center is participating in Benches on Parade. If you are interested in learning more about the EquiCenter or donating please visit www.equicenterny.org.
Visit to Pittsford Plaza BOP Studio
We went to check out Amy Freling Brown and her team of artists over at their Pittsford Plaza studio. They are doing some amazing work over there. Amy and her husband are working on benches for Strong Hospital, Hammer Packaging, Wilmorite and Wisteria Flowers & Gifts. Each bench is so different with different themes and messaging. They even crafted their own fiberglass backs for two of the benches. Above is a sneak peak of their work.
The fourth picture is a sneak peak of Steve Smock's work, he is working on a bench for Camille's. You have probably seen his work here and there around town in local shops. After quickly viewing his portfolio he is uber-talented with a very unique style. His detailed patchwork background is so whimsical and incising. We can't wait to see the finished product.
Sneak Peak
Yesterday, the Benches on Parade team visited Chris Pallace and Kevin Serwacki's studio over at BayTowne Plaza in Webster. We couldn't believe the work they were doing for Benches on Parade. The benches each have a unique theme and are beautifully constructed and painted. We can't wait to share these benches with you all, it will be so great once they are on parade. Above is our sneak peak!
An Evening Sky
We are from Thomas Jefferson High School, in the Rochester City School District. We are three teachers working with eight students, grades nine and 10. The students are part of an Entrepreneurship Program, which works in conjunction with the University of Rochester. We work with them to cultivate an entrepreneurial mindset by developing different attributes. The students are using their entrepreneurial way of thinking to design and create the bench.
After much brainstorming on the literacy theme, we settled on an evening sky design. Each student is involved in the process. We have sanded, primed, and applied the deep purple base coat. Each student is designing their own star to be surrounded by their favorite literary quote. We are using quotes as a way to promote this concept of literacy. In addition, a portion of Barak Obama’s speech on literacy will be used to tie it all together.
Although we are amateurs, we are having a blast!
Wrought Iron Rochester
I have just completed my first bench, so I thought it was time to write a blog. Here are a few photos of the bench I just finished. Two of my original designs were chosen by sponsors and I am about to start working on the second one. Each bench design has a Rochester theme.
The bench above was painted for Thomson Reuters, whom plans on placing the bench downtown and having a contest to name the bench at a later date. I used acrylic paints on this bench.
I have been painting furniture for years; I sell this furniture and my paintings locally. In addition to my painting I also teach local residents how to customize many types of furnishings and learn funky, fancy or classic styles to paint older pieces. What is really enjoyable is meeting so many new friends through my art. The Finger Lakes region is such an artistic community that really fuels my soul.
Realistic distortion
My name is Lawrence Seil. I'm an artist participating in the Benches on Parade. I'm painting a bench for my sponsor, WROC-TV, just your basic ol' painting, nothing much more fancy than that, although it is fair amount of work. It's a picture of two people sitting on a normal, park-like bench and the trick is to render the 2-D image on this surface that obviously has other things going on with it than your basic blank flat canvas.
I'm working to depict the two people "realistically," although a fair amount of distortion has to come into play to allow the image to make sense from various angles, most particularly where the seat of the actual bench has to correspond with the rendering of the people's legs. It also incorporates the skyline of the city of Rochester on the back side, which is also a challenge to render realistically and/or recognizably.
I would love to hear from other artists, through the comment section or the Facebook site, on successes and issues they have come across.
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March 1-15, 2010:...
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