Tag: art

Got Art? Birmingham Does!

Courtesy of SarahWoodallArt.com
Courtesy of SarahWoodallArt.com

Birmingham is awash with talented artists, from music to media to art and more. We are fortunate to have some of the best in the business right in our figurative backyard. Before I moved to Birmingham I never really cared that much about art, local or otherwise. However, after falling madly in love with Naked Art (thanks to my good friend, Lee) not long after moving to Birmingham, I jumped on the art bandwagon. Naked Art appealed to the non-conformist in me, carrying all types of strange and wonderful pieces by local artists. I had never seen anything like it before and I was hooked. Since discovering Naked Art, I have slowly, but steadily, grown my art collection and it’s full of some of my favorite artists like Sarah Woodall, Vero Vanblaere, Scott Thigpen, Chad Moore, Chris Davis, and others.

Sarah Woodall’s skylines are a must have for any Birmingham lover. She does commission work, but you can usually find her pieces during the year at ArtWalk, some of the monthly Art Crawls, and her web site sarahwoodallart.com. Being in love with all things Birmingham, we actually have a few of her pieces on our walls, some received as gifts and some just gifts to ourselves. From her depictions of Vulcan, the infamous Magic City sign, and more, Sarah creates masterpieces that work well in any decor.

Another one of my all-time favorites is local celebrity Vero Vanblaere. Vero actually owns the previously mentioned Naked Art gallery and that’s where I first discovered her work. Her pieces are so unique, many whimsical, and all tell a story. Vero also does commissioned work and her pieces can be found inside Naked Art, as well as many festivals around town. Vero’s talent has spilled over into filmmaking and she recently released her first short film Bottomless to rave reviews. 

Chad Moore’s photography business is called Piffle Pics and the name is perfect. His photography cracks me up. I’m not an art connoisseur (or even that good with words), so the best way for me to describe it is pictures with characters inserted into them, usually in somewhat ironic or funny situations. They’re not always funny though; my favorite piece by Chad is a “You Are Beautiful” photograph that he did.

Chris Davis is another local boy made good. Between his commissioned playful dog portraits, clay platypi, and Vulcan beards, his art can be found all throughout Birmingham. Add to that his amazing graphic design skills, improv and comedy acts, and you’ve got a first-class artist.

Rounding out my the top of my list are Scott Thigpen, John Lytle Wilson, Delaine Derry Green, and Eric Johnson. Thigpens creations are beyond witty, Wilson’s robots and unicorns feed my inner child, Green’s vintage-inspired pieces make me wish for simpler times, and Johnson’s Birmingham metal works give me the warm fuzzies.

Do you have any favorite local artists? If so, who are they and why? Tell me in the Comments below. 

Dragon Dancin’

793741_4945925939887_1815557832_o

This past Saturday we held the 3rd Birmingham Dance Walk in the streets of downtown. The impending rain moved the start time up an hour to 1 p.m., but we still had a wonderful turnout.

I always get nervous before these events, even when they don’t require a lot of preparation like this one. I had music from the previous dance walk that we didn’t use so decided to stress less and go with the flow. I had the music, I had the jambox, and all I needed (wanted) were the people. We had a special surprise guest coming and I wanted a good turnout for her.

I arrived a few minutes early so decided to stop by Urban Standard for water before people arrived. I never made it inside because Mary Jean was headed my way about the same time. After her came Erika, Rachel, Javacia, Amy, and Edward. More and more people started walking up as we milled around…waiting for the music man to appear with the speakers. Soon came Pierce, the music man, with Elaine, Andrea, Bobby, Matt, Olive, Katie, Paula, Bailey, Tanya, Heather, Drew, Jasmine, the other Drew, Jennifer, Shira, Ginger, Nathan, Emily, Clark, Larry, Lauren, and lots of others. We soon had a call from our special guest that she would meet us up the street so off we went. Birmingham’s 3rd Dance Walk was underway!

We rounded the corner at 23rd Street South and danced in place for a while, waiting for our special guest. Soon after we stopped to “break it down”, she appeared.

20130203-220233.jpg

Madge, the Magic City Dragon, was coming over the hill toward us. The squeals from the dance walkers were audible for blocks. Many had never seen Madge before nor knew that we had a new dragon in town. Madge is the brain child of Carrie Hill and was created with the help of local artists and friends. She is a 31 foot long dragon that takes about 11 people to handle and maneuver. There were walkers on the outside directing and guiding her and a boatload of people inside her pushing and pulling her along.

Madge joined us for the entire dance walk which lasted about 4 city blocks down, around the block and back up 4 blocks – all the while stopping traffic and garnering honks from passing cars and trucks. There were close to 60 dance walkers – we picked up some along the way – and quite a few talented photographers capturing the Dance Walk and Madge. The dance walk lasted about 20 minutes total and we danced to Queen, Unk, Black Eyed Peas, Rihanna, Michael Jackson, Metro Station, Pink, Snap, Justin Timberlake, Vanilla Ice (I had to), Will Smith, and finished off with the full length “Praise You” by Fat Boy Slim. After all, we HAD come a long, long way together. I think some people underestimate the workout you get from dance walking – I came out panting and sweating.

This was the most successful Dance Walk to date and it was in large part due to our guest of honor, Madge, and word of mouth from our wonderful friends and fans. So many people helped make it possible or better including Daniel, Emily, Pierce, Elaine, Jeanne, and our talented photographers Larry, Clark, Tanya, Rachel, Sarah, Emily, and Madge herself along with video from Jennifer. Those behind Madge were Carrie, Daniel, Justin, Wade, Billie, Bruce, Mandy, Kelly, Wesley, Drew, Kelsey and a few others. What an amazing crew and a wonderful addition to our Dance Walk. I hope she’ll consider joining us again – she was a huge hit! madge

Extra special thanks to Javacia for letting us make it a See Jane Move event, and to Edward for this awesome article on al.com and to Emily at Magic City Post for always being our biggest fan and writing a wonderful recap which you can read here.

For more information on the next Birmingham Dance Walk, keep an eye on bamdancewalk.com and be sure to ‘like’ our Facebook page here. For pictures from our Dance Walks you can check out the bhamdancewalk Flickr stream here. Hashtag on Twitter: #BhamDanceWalk

For more information on Madge, the Magic City Dragon, you can check out her Facebook page here or her Bham Wiki page here. She’s also on Twitter as @MadgetheDragon.

Girl Power

I’m feeling very empowered these days.

It began after my accident when I rented a Ford Mustang Convertible for a weekend. Wow, talk about powerful. I felt invincible in that car, though I was well aware I wasn’t. I had always wanted to drive a convertible and thought it would be the perfect time to treat myself after such a horrible experience. The car was amazing on the way to and from Atlanta, as well as in downtown traffic. I came back wanting one. It’s not a mid or quarter-life crisis; I’m just more aware each day how precious our time is here, how quickly it passes, and how we need to enjoy it to the fullest while we can. Sure, a convertible isn’t necessarily practical, logical or even a smart choice, but I’m young (relatively), not married, have no children and currently rent my townhouse. So why not do something crazy once? I wouldn’t have to keep it forever, it would likely be cheaper than my current car – I’m looking at used ones – and it would bring me joy. I love to look at the sky, I love to watch airplanes over my head, I love to daydream. Why not buy something fun I can do that in any time I want? Drive to a quiet spot, lean the seat back, and count the stars? Alabama is hot, but a convertible is doable here because we have so many “nice” days. I have been researching them online am leaning toward a 2011 V8. I’m open to color options although I know I don’t want black. So, that’s been my latest fun hubby taking up some extra time…car shopping. It never hurts to look, right?

I’m also feeling pretty empowered these days by my new fitness regimen – Iron Tribe Fitness. My boyfriend has been going since January and is a huge fan. So much so that he recently landed his dream job there and is now promoting and spreading the word about this local success story. As a lot of you know (if you’re on Facebook with me or follow me on Twitter), I’ve been regularly working out with Graham at G57 Fitness and Training and have been more than happy. However, as it sometimes happens, we’ve been pulled in different directions and I found that Iron Tribe is a better fit at the moment. The BF had been asking me to try it for a while, but knew I was happy with Graham. Recently, the opportunity presented itself and here we are. I’m in week 2 of their “intro” class which is called 101. It’s a month-long series that teaches you about Iron Tribe, the exercises and workouts they do, and their recommendations for living a healthier you. The first day was horrible and I did a lot worse than I thought I would. It upset me because I’d been doing a lot of the same exercises with Graham for the past few months and thought I would do well. The BF had told me before, “Nothing prepares you for Iron Tribe.” I “pshawed” him and went about my way. He was right. The first day I didn’t even finish the “baseline” workout. I did as much as I could and then promptly got sick. Score one for me! The next workout was much better and I’m now working on week two. For this particular intro series, we go to class three times a week: Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. We will graduate on August 3rd. Once that happens, we start the REAL workouts. Don’t get me wrong, this intro class has real workouts, but they are seriously modified versions of a regular workout (or ‘WOD’ as they call them). They “baby” them down for us until we graduate. Gee, thanks. 😉

In conjunction with the 101 class, I decided to participate in their Transformation Challenge. It’s a 40 day challenge with two divisions: weight loss or performance improvement. I entered the weight loss division (duh) and we’ll see how it goes. They recommend a diet comprised mostly of proteins, good fats (olive oil, avocado), and good carbs (veggies). I’m on day 2 and already missing sugar something fierce. But, it was a nice kick in the pants when they took my measurements and weight for the starting figures. I swear that scale hates me. I’m on a mission now!

I’ve always been interested in calming my inner being, relaxing, and meditation though I’ve never practiced. I think I would practice Buddhism if I ever took the time to sit down and explore it more. It just so happened that a new 21-Day Meditation Challenge was starting on the same day I began my physical Transformation Challenge (TC) at Iron Tribe. This meditation course is being offered online for free from the Chopra Center (Deepak Chopra). I thought it would go great with the TC seeing as how I will likely be angry, cranky, and catty from the lack of sugar, chocolate, and bread. We’re 2 days into it and I love it already. We get an email each day to go over the day’s meditation and then a link to an audio file that we listen to while meditating the thought of the day. The theme of the entire challenge is ‘love’ so I am doubly happy – we can all stand to love more, especially ourselves. 🙂 I’m pretty sure you can still sign up if you’d like, so click here for the page. I would love it if you take this journey with me and we can have a lovely dinner to compare thoughts at the end.

I got my car back from the accident and all is well there. I did have to pay for my part of it, but I know it will all wash out in the end and it could have been much worse. Now that I feel comfortable in it again, I’ve been a busy little bee around Birmingham. I love this city. The happiness and love I have for it oozes from my pores. I would shout it all the time, everywhere I go, if I thought I wouldn’t get locked up. I’ve joined a blogging/writing community of women online here in Birmingham, as well as a larger one for general bloggers in town. I’ve attended a few functions and am constantly inspired by the people I meet there, the stories they share, and the insight they provide to new bloggers like myself. I’m also in awe of our talented artists, all kinds. My dear friend, Billy Dupree, recently opened a new art gallery dedicated to showcasing local and emerging artists. How inspiring is that? Words can’t express how fortunate I feel to have met these writers, artists, thespians, entrepreneurs, and the like. We have such talented souls here in Birmingham and the diversity and number of local theatres and galleries we have to choose from any given weekend is impressive. There are events galore this summer; something amazing going on every weekend. I keep everything on my calendar and just looking back at all the events fills me with pride and happiness for this city I call home. If you are ever wondering what there is to do in Birmingham, please call or email me – I will fill your Inbox.

Love yourself.
Find peace inside.
Share happiness.

~Namaste~