Allen C. Smith

Honorable Mention

2011-12-02T05:27:00.001-08:00

Whee! The ERAS Palette Awards ceremony at the Arnot Art Museum was last night. Happily, I was among those fortunate to be chosen by the 2011 jurors, Jean Stephens and Dan Roemmelt.

Palette Awards this year to a painting by Connie Berberian and a sculpture by Rob Thorborg.

Honorable Mentions to my painting, Deep Fried Manet, pictured here. HM's also to Fred Lawrenson, Lois Saia, and Barbara Kurcoba. Jeanine Stone was honored for her tireless work as the manager of the various ERAS exhibition venues.

So, the show is up till the end of the year. Please go visit the Arnot Art Museum, 235 Lake Street, Elmira. Go up to the Palette Award show and vote for the People's Choice.

2011-11-20T16:33:00.001-08:00

November 20, 2011
Just working in the studio. Listening to Aaron Copland, and my buddies: Chick, Bix, Django, Edith, Cab, Neil, and Bob.

The day after yesterday

2011-07-30T10:01:00.000-07:00

The 2011 Ithaca Artists Market has come and gone. Six brief hours of fun and chat, preceded by two weeks of my labors of love. Diane Janowski and I loaded up "Vanna White" with 20 paintings, ladder, lumber, signage, tools, stools, and foods. All the way to Ithaca the weather threatened, heavily. Couldn't even see the town when we hit the top of the hill coming in.

The farmers market was a blank slate. Artists began to arrive around 11AM. Saws, power drills (no nails, please!), some quiet four letter words. Power came on at noon. Activity began to build. Rain began to fall.

Here's my booth, almost finished.

We set up in booth #79, between Alice Muhlback (the famous) and The Ink Shop. Paul Colucci was nearby, Nancy Ridenour across the aisle, Carlton Manzano down the way. My buddy Ed Marion was way down the other end. About seventy artists in all.

Alice Muhlback and Carlton Manzano at Carlton's booth

Diane and I had started our day by reviewing Bettsie Park's wise advice about sales performance. We were focussed, primed and pumped. Diane had also done two really cool things: First, she set up my own QR code, so people could scan it with their smartphones/iPhones and get sent directly to my website. Second, and crucial, she got the "Square" for her iPod. This meant that we could easily take credit cards. It worked great and we used it for a nice sale at the market.

The third really cool thing that Diane did was that she took extra care in her morning beautifications. She was quite the attractant for my booth. That's important in Ithaca.

It was a whirlwind six hours. Thousands of visitors passed my booth. Hundreds stopped to look hard. We talked and talked. My smile muscles are sore today. The real pleasure of the Ithaca Artists Market experience is that the Ithaca audience is enlightened, prepared for the experience and anticipating a good time. People smile and engage with questions and polite comments. They bring their children and help them learn how to interact with artists. In fact, some of my most intriguing conversations were with young people.

Liz Tilley. What more can I say?

Robin Schwartz is the Program Director and Brett Bossard. the Executive Director, of Community Arts Partnership, the sponsoring organization. They make the show happen. Robin promised no rain and she delivered. The day was warm and sunny, a tad muggy at 2PM, but the evening could not have been more delightful.

OK, it's the next day, 1PM, and it's time for a nap.

Ithaca Artists Market preparations

2011-07-23T11:43:00.000-07:00

My studio has been a whirlwind of activity. You know me, I only like to show new work, and this year's Ithaca Artists Market is no exception.

I've been working mostly linear this past winter, some straight lines, some not.

The Color Target is about 19 inches round.

The three wavy lines, about 7 x 30.

My new frame molding is regionally cut American Ash. Hand sanded and finished at my studio, I cut it to length and fabricate my signature frames.

Put the Ithaca Artists Market on your calendar, this coming Friday, July 29th, 2 - 8PM. Arts organizations, food vendors, musicians, performances, and 68 fine artists.

HammondsREport

2011-07-11T08:40:00.000-07:00

The 2011 Keuka Lake Art Association outdoor show was this past weekend. Once again Diane and I joined the brave artists to weather the storms of criticism and, well, just plain weather.

This year Diane created 8 pieces specifically for the event - paintings of Janowski Gardens, created with Janowski Gardens dirt. It was her own concoction of chunky mud and acrylic polymer. Several people told her that she was "clever, clever, clever!"

I framed 16 watercolors, each 1 x 1 inch in a beautiful ash frame. At least nobody said I was clever.

We decided to forgo our vendor tent, and we hung on the snow fence. We enjoyed lots of visitors, many drove up from home, some staying at the lake. We truly enjoyed chatting with the artists. Only about 60 artists entered this year - some newbies, mostly regular faces. I'm afraid there are just too many competing distractions for the artists and the audience. Art shows in Rochester, Elmira, Wellsboro. All kinds of activities and just beautiful weather. If I had been lounging at the lake, you would have had to force me to leave the dock this weekend.

Anyway, we had fun. Next up for summer excitement is the Ithaca Artists Market, the last Friday of the month, July 29th, 2-8PM. More to come

KLAA at H'port

2011-07-07T05:17:00.000-07:00

We're packed and ready! Tomorrow evening we load the van. Saturday morning, at the crack of dawn, we head out on Rt. 17, stop for a bathroom break at the Tops Market in Bath, and arrive at the square in Hammondsport. Then, the mad scramble to claim your turf. Diane and I will be hanging on the fence this year.

Here's our entry from 2010. We're not doing this again. Diane was unable to walk for three days after last year.

This year all of my paintings are one inch square. All of Diane's have been painted with farm dirt.

Drive up. Hammondsport is closer than you think. Have a bite in one of the village restaurants. Bring cash to support your local artists. Dip your feet in lovely Keuka Lake. Buy some wine on the way home. A perfect day. Please join us.

Airport art show

2011-07-06T10:03:00.000-07:00

The Elmira Regional Art Society has installed the summer exhibition at the Elmira Corning Regional Airport. Above are my paintings that you can only see if you've passed through the security area. The colors fit well with the decor, yes?

And, here's the crack art crew at work.

Salon des Refusés

2011-07-04T09:51:00.000-07:00

Yes, once again my ego has taken a beating. My artworks were rejected by the jurors for the Southern Tier Biennial, sponsored by the Cattaraugus County Arts Council in Olean.

But the coolest thing has occurred. Loretta Crittenden Gallery has created an on-line Salon des Refusés exhibition for the rejected artists. Go there and view the artists who didn't make the cut. If you are one of those artists, you can submit your work. No charge, no obligation.

Summer show preparations

2011-06-27T06:10:00.000-07:00

The studio is in full production mode. (Studio assistant, Denny, has a good work ethic, and progress has been made.) The 1 x 1 inch paintings are for the Keuka Lake Art Association show at Hammondsport. Diane and I always show new work at H'port. This year is no exception.

Please visit us in the square, July 9 & 10. Saturday 10-5, Sunday Noon-5.

Franklin Street Gallery

2011-06-11T05:26:00.000-07:00

See my work at

The Franklin Street Gallery and Gift Shop
209 North Franklin Street
Watkins Glen, NY 14891
607-535-2571

DENNY SMITH - IN COLOR

2010-08-10T07:36:00.000-07:00

It's up! DENNY SMITH - IN COLOR

Diane, my talented partner, has created a panoramic view of my current show at the Spotlight Gallery in Corning. It's on my website at this link.

The show is up for a month. Gallery hours are Monday thru Friday, 9-5.

Please forward this to any of your art patron friends. We are now living on our art and Diane's books and vegetables, so we need your help and... The ARTS Council of the Southern Finger Lakes receives a well-deserved commission on each sale. SUPPORT YOUR LOCAL ARTS COUNCILS !!

A reception is scheduled at the end of the show, the "First Friday" event in Corning on September 3rd, 5-7pm. Please put it on your calendar!

Love,

Denny
Allen Crittenden Smith http://www.allencsmith.com

Press Release for In Color

2010-08-05T03:30:00.000-07:00

The Spotlight Gallery @ The ARTS presents Denny Smith - In Color

An exhibition of recent artworks by Allen Crittenden Smith will open at the Spotlight Gallery @ The ARTS in Corning on August 8. This marks the first solo exhibit for the artist in over three decades.

Smith states: "I was an art student cranked out of the late modernist school back in the 1970's. My teachers were second-generation abstract expressionists. Post-modernism was happening all around us, but it hadn't been validated yet."

"My strong work ethic drove me to support my family with a regular job. Now, at 60, I'm doing what I should have done at 25. I'm not a conceptualist. I make things - paintings and drawings."

Nine of these large watercolor paintings will be on display at the Spotlight Gallery of The ARTS Council of the Southern Finger Lakes, 32 West Market Street, Corning, from August 10 through September 8. A reception with the artist will be held on Friday, September 3 from 5 - 7 pm.

Of his work, Smith says: "For me, making art is a visceral experience and a meditation. Consciously deciding what the form will be, I allow my hand to follow a random path. In the end, the results are the routes of my synapses, evidential marks of my existence."

Allen C. Smith (his friends know him as Denny) is an artist living and working in Elmira, New York. Recent exhibitions include the 2009 Rochester-Finger Lakes Biennial, awards at the Arnot Art Museum in Elmira and State of the Art Gallery in Ithaca, and group shows at Exhibit A and 171 Cedar Arts Center in Corning and the Atrium Gallery in Troy, NY.

Smith received an Artists Crossroads grant through The ARTS Council of the Southern Finger Lakes for an art performance/mural project and was a featured performance artist at the Albright-Knox Art Gallery's Gusto at the Gallery. Similar performances have been made for the Arnot Art Museum, the ARTS of the Southern Finger Lakes and the Corning Museum of Glass.

A participant in the New York Foundation for the Arts MARK professional development program in 2008, Smith trained as a MARK Consulting Artist in 2010. He is a graduate of Pratt Institute in Brooklyn.

Ithaca Artists' Market

2010-07-27T15:14:00.001-07:00

Jazz Loft
watercolor on paper, 2010

Hello Friends and Family,

This Friday I'll be joining 60+ other artists for one of the best arts events in which I've participated: the Ithaca Artists Market.

Good food, music, weirdness, and plenty of art and artists.

You can find me at booth #13, at the entrance directly across from the main office.

It's a lot of fun, please stop by!

Denny
Allen Crittenden Smith