April 4, 2008

Mark Planisek, another former co-resident of mine at the Millenium Art Center, opened his show tonight at ther Arts Club of Washington. Sadly, an illness forced Mark to miss the opening bash (the kidney stone has since left the scene, hallelujah) but the event was well-documented by videographer Jim Dadey. 

Jim Dadey, meta-photographer

'Tis a sad tale oft repeated, although this time with a twist. About 30 of our region's serious artists were delighted to have studios and a thriving community in the huge if falling-down 1920's-era  Randall Junior High School, rechristened the Millenium Art Center by Bill Wooby. In 2006, the building was sold by the District of Columbia to the Corcoran, which at the time had grandiose plans to build a Frank Gehry-designed structure in downtown DC and relocate an expanded school to the Randall School. (Of course, you will not be surprised to learn that the package also involved having a private developer build 500 condos adjacent to the school.) The Corcoran, great friend of art, evicted the artists in November 2006, boarded up the building and surrounded it with chain-link fencing. Since then, the Gehry project has gone kaput, the building remains boarded and fenced, and we have been dispersed around the city and environs searching for affordable studio space.

Mark's documentation of the building as it emptied is beautiful and, to those like me, heartbreaking. He made me a box of my old studio that I installed as inspiration in my new one. I treasure it, as I do his friendship. 

April 4, 2008

Lucy Hogg, a former co-resident of mine at the late, lamented Millenium Art Center (for more about that, see Mark Planisek, above) opened her Flashpoint show tonight, Titled "Floating Faces," these paintings use faces captured from old master works, each floating on a monochromatic oval and each displaying what Lucy calls a "proto-photographic moment" - a fleeting expression. 

Lucy's work has for some years been concerned with moving the imagery of art history into contemporary terms. I often find that conceptual work leaves me cold, but this installation has a powerful aesthetic appeal based, I think, on the drama of the monochromatic effect (think theater masks), the compelling technique of the portraiture and the facial expressions. I find the just slightly smaller than life-sized faces quite eerily compelling. Some examples below:

Sondra Arkin

Jayme McLellan

April 4

My husband

Bob Weiss hauls art

Spencer the Installer

The Spectrum is a theater and meeting facility run by Arlington County Cultural Affairs. The Synetic Theater Company, an acclaimed experimental theater group, is resident at the Spectrum and well worth a visit. The Spectrum is located just over the Key Bridge from Georgetown The hours are somewhat irregular, so before visiting, check. Their website is http://www.arlingtonarts.org/cultural_affairs/RosslynSpectrum.htm

I will try and post some hours here soon. 

April 3, 2008

Rogue State

April 2, 2008

Here we are, all at work in our studios

Ellen Sinel

Betsy Stewart

except for me. I seem to be staring dumbly at a spot three inches below my monoprint. 

Ellyn Weiss

As you can see, the work we do spans a broad range of styles. Nothing sings, lights up or dances the meringue, but it's all beautiful and you can hang it on your wall. But don't hold that against us.

You've been waiting all year and now it arrives: the famous annual Mt. Ranier Day will be May 17 and many artists, including my group at Sinel/Stewart/Weiss, 3706 Wells Ave, will be open to the public. Also in our little creative complex are the Washington Glass School, (Tim Tate, Michael Janis, Erwin Timmers and their talented students) the Red Dirt Studio (Margaret Boozer and her talented students), Laurel Lukasczeski, Novie Trump and many others. 

It's a great chance to see lots of work, often priced below gallery prices, since it is purchased directly from the artists sans commission.

Stay tuned for more info - e.g. demonstrations, etc. 

March 9, 2008 

I am Ellyn Weiss. Welcome to my website. I live and work in Washington, DC and in Truro, MA during the summer. I plan to use this page to show my work and also to comment on the art I see in and around this town. That includes the galleries, studios and alternative spaces that sometimes get lost among the art-industrial complex of institutional Washington: the Smithsonian's empire (the National Gallery, the American Art Museum, Portrait Gallery, Freer, Sackler) and those that swim in its wake (the National Museum of Women in the Arts, the Corcoran, the Phillips, the Renwick and more).

And now for me:  I have been making art full time for more than ten years. Like most artists, I have been forced to move my studio far more often than I would have liked, but for the past year have found myself in a studio in the thriving little art colony just over the DC border in seedily historical and fortunately affordable Mt. Ranier, MD.

As you will see from the work featured in these pages, I work in a variety of media. I am very fortunate to own an old old old but functional etching press that lives in my spare bedroom in Truro, so I make monoprints during the summer, sometimes collaborating with guests. During the winter, I mostly paint.

This winter I have been painting primarily with encaustic, which is molten beeswax, to which I add oil paint sometimes while it is molten and sometimes as a glaze on top. Each layer of wax and/or pigment is fused to those below with heat. I love the deep, rich surfaces encaustic can achieve, although to an artist accustomed to working in a loose, gestural way, wax is a challenge; it dries almost immediately, making it impossible to achieve a large continuous gesture. Encaustic teaches patience, that's for sure.

I'd love to hear what you think of the work. You can see it in person at the Nevin Kelly Gallery at 1517 U Street NW in Washington, or at my studio. Contact me at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it .