The Orchard Lake Fine Arts Show will celebrate the 10th anniversary of the high quality fine art and craft event July 27-29 at the West Bloomfield Plaza on Powers and Daly Roads in West Bloomfield.
This year, special guest mixed-media artist Dan Neil Barnes has been invited from Lexington, Ky., to share his contemporary work with art lovers in Michigan. Barnes goes beyond traditional ideas about lamps and windows by adding treated metals, crafted wood and unique lighting to stained glass. His work moves the craft of stained glass into a new creative art form.
Hotworks executive director Patty Narozny worked him into the show to expose people to the well-respected gay artist who stands as an inspiration in the art world to adopt a new way of thinking.
"Dan can build anything for anyone," says Narozny, who owns the company, http://www.Hotworks.org, which produces the show along with others in Indiana, North Carolina and Florida. In planning the West Bloomfield show, she contacts artists from in and around the country.
"World-renowned and top-notch local artists are invited to sell their paintings, clay, glass, sculpture, wood, fiber, jewelry, photography and more. All work is original and handmade by the artist who is present at the show and happy to answer any questions about their work," she says.
Barnes tours the country as a juried artist and has been recognized at many art shows for his outstanding booth design and display technique. The love of creating his own designs led him to open his own business in 1986. "I am fortunate. It's easy to create when you love doing it. My work is inspired by travel to places like Egypt and Hawaii. Sometimes an idea comes to me while riding down the highway or I wake up in the middle of the night to sketch so I don't forget," says Barnes.
In the business for 15 years, he earned a degree in Human Environmental Design from the University of Kentucky where he met his partner of 18 years. "I will have pieces at the show ranging in price from $50 to $15,000. I want people to take the time to experience my work. I hope my work takes the worries off their mind, takes away their pain, or enlightens them in some way."
Three judges – Ann Kuffler, director/owner of Ariana Gallery in Royal Oak; Les Slesnik, a retired Orlando photographer who remains active in the field by volunteering his time at various art fairs around the country; and Jill Marks, curator for Outside Gallery in Dearborn – will be honoring and awarding the artists for their creative works.
"The show is for everybody: from collectors to a child with no art experience to learn some form of appreciation. If people are true art collectors, this is the show to come to. Do not be intimidated," says Narozny, "There is a price for everyone."
The show also helps support the Institute for the Arts & Education, Inc., a 501(c)(3) non-profit charitable organization dedicated to educate and promote fine arts and crafts among all artists and students, of all age groups and diversity, and the general public.
Orchard Lake Fine Art Show
West Bloomfield Plaza
6668 Orchard Lake Road
West Bloomfield, MI 48322
http://hotworks.org/orchardlakefineartshow
