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Debbie Mostel: A Talented Visionary

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Sunday, April 15th, 2012

I wanted to introduce you to a bright new emerging artist who you should definitely know about. I was recently asked to jury a show at the Lighthouse ArtCenter Museum and chose this artist to win first place. I immediately decided that I wanted to rep her in my gallery. To date her work has caused a lot of excitement. It is fresh, unique and makes a strong statement about the world we live in and the environment.

Originally Debbie Mostel was a very well known jewelry maker. Shots of her work on glamorous models have adorned many important fashion magazine pages over the years. She has incorporated castings of these jewelry elements into her paintings. Most of her work is half painted and half collaged with not just the jewelry, but many other found objects that contain special meaning to the artist. A lot of these elements include computer parts such as hard drives, wires, and mother boards. Globes of the world are another prevalent feature in her work. They are transformed by paint, cut up into sections and applied to her finished pieces in some very intriguing configurations. Some contain little rooms inhabited by people. You never know what you will find in a Mostel work of art. There are even mirrors so you can see your own reflection as part of her created world.

Winning work of art from the Lighthouse ArtCenter Exhibit

“Southwest by Sky,” the image immediately to the left is a commentary on how we may be losing our spiritual battle and the therefore, the world, to technology. It is a piece that is infused with a great deal of drama, packed full of individual symbols and found objects, yet never losing its way. Somehow it manages to hang together without losing itself in the minutia. This is not an easy feat to accomplish but this artist manages to walk the very pecarious line between much and too much without crossing it.

Below left is the “He Beast” one of two sculptures on display in my gallery. Notice the small globe on its right shoulder. Below right is a beautifully textured piece of the sea, a subject that the artist is extremely fond of portraying. Notice the silver crustacean crawling off to the right. This was one of her original jewelry pieces. To see a video on her work go to the following link:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZIyTDvn1FOQ&context=C39516d7ADOEgsToPDskLcyjLKrtnYu-4AS_WFM14-

"Kelp"

One of two of her sculptures on display at RosettaStone Fine Art Gallery

Categories : Artists, Inspirations, News

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November 8, 2010 Fund-Raiser For The YWCA and Harmony House

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Sunday, October 31st, 2010

Harmony House, a program that is part of the YWCA here in the Palm Beaches provides much needed shelter for the rising number of abused women and children that have no where else to go. Suzanne Turner, the Executive Director of Harmony House says, “that the number of people in need of our services are out-pacing our capacity to serve them. We desperately need help in trying to cope with this rising epidemic that cross over all socio-economic lines.” JB berkow decided to heed the call and hold a fun ‘Gift Giving Reception’ at her gallery this month. People are urged to bring something (worth around $50) that can be used in the silent auction, which will part of their main fund-raiser of the season being held in December. The following is an E-Blast sent out a few weeks ago.

If you are not on the gallery’s email list and would like to receive invitations to events held in the gallery, call JB at 561-743-3340 and she will take care of it.

Categories : Events, Inspirations

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Fine Art, Poetry, Cooking, Ranting and Inspirational Messages…

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Tuesday, May 25th, 2010

Introduction to the New JB Berkow Blog:

I am very excited about launching the new JB Berkow Blog. It is my intention to create something fun, informative, helpful, community outreaching, and perhaps even a little controversy. The latter is more for the purposes of getting your juices flowing and to instigate some quick-witted repartee and serious responses from my readers.

Because I have a lot of passions I don’t think the blog will be boring. Anyone who knows me already knows my first love is art. I’m a full time painter and sculptor. I have been painting seriously since I was fifteen, had my first one-person show when I was twenty-one, and have been exhibiting and selling my work for the last forty years. I plan to start each week by sharing a lot of helpful hints and tips on painting and sculpting not only through my blog but also as part of my video channel, RosettaStone Fine Art Videos. Some of these video portions will even be interesting to non-artists because they will be able to see the actual processes involved in creating a painting or sculpture. In some instances you will see a work of art progress from its inception to its completion.

It has never been enough to produce and sell only my own work. I have always been interested in helping promote my fellow artists’ work as well. This has led me to establish and run several galleries starting when I was only 26 years old. You can learn more about this from visiting my gallery website and hitting the ‘About Us’ button.

Gallery View I

My current gallery/studio is housed in a 3,200 square foot warehouse-storefront in Jupiter Commerce Park. Here I share my studio with Philadelphia color-field artist, Rita Shapiro, and sell art that I bring in from all around the world including some fine local talent. I specialize in finding extremely talented mid-career artists who are incredibly talented but who have not yet skyrocketed in their prices. I am not interested in carrying blue-chip art or dead artists’ work, even though, if that’s what someone wants, I can definitely get it for them. Fridays will be devoted to introducing my readers to some of these new and exciting rising stars.

Gallery View II

My second passion is writing. I’m a published poet since 1994. My most recently published book is “Painted Poetry.” This is a monograph with poetry written for each one of the paintings pictured in the book. It is a collection of some of my best work from the fifteen years when I painted European landscapes. Thus, you could also consider a travelogue of sorts. I have also published a how-to book titled “What They Didn’t Teach You In Art School.” This is a great book for the artist who wants to become more professional and take their career to the next level. Both can be purchased emailing me.

Tuesdays are reserved for poetry and other inspirational thoughts that I wish to share with to share with my readers. Hopefully they will also share with me as well.

My third passion is cooking. There is so much to talk about here that I don’t know where to begin. I am currently working on a book called “Presto Pasta Plus.” It is not your average recipe book because it goes into a lot of actual cooking techniques and teaches rather than just putting a list of ingredients on a page and telling you how to put them together. It is geared towards the busy professional because most of the dishes take only a half an hour to prepare. I will devote Thursdays to helpful cooking tips and advice that will lead to some very good meals for your friends and family in time for the weekend.

My fourth passion is politics, however, I have been told by my blog advisor, Craig Berry of NuVision Media, not to delve too quickly into this arena as I may tick a lot of people off. So instead of writing about politics outright, I have decided to create something called “Rants.” This will occur every Wednesday and I want anyone out there who wants to get something off their chest to write in and share their gripes with your fellow bloggers. I’m hoping that this will make the ‘hump of the week’ a little less humpy and grumpy.

My fifth passion is educating the public on the importance of art in our everyday lives. To this end I have started a 501c3 tax-exempt foundation called the “Living Art Foundation Fund” or L.A.F.F. for short. My dream is to one day establish an art center in Palm Beach County that will include a museum featuring only living artists, a world-class foundry, a stone-carving studio, a glass-blowing studio, a print atelier, a sculpture garden/plein-air painting park, art instruction, and low-cost housing to house the craftsmen who will run and operate the various studios as well as visiting artists who will come from all over the world to give seminars or simply work on the premises as part of a fellowship program. Of course, I will be very anxious to keep everyone up-dated on the progress of this venture.

Blog Schedule:

JB in Hot-Tub with Friends

Monday: Art Matters

Tuesday: Inspirations

Wednesday: Rants

Thursday: Cooking

Friday: Artists

I hope that you tune in often!

Artfully yours,

JB Berkow

Categories : Art Matters, Artists, Cooking, Inspirations, Rants

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Quote of the Day: “Art washes away from the soul the dust of everyday life.” by Pablo Picasso:

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Tuesday, May 25th, 2010

Venetian Boats II

My love of poetry began at a very early age when my mother used to read poetry from her favorite tome, “101 Famous Poems.” To this day it is the finest small anthology of some of the greatest 17th and 18th century poetry. One of my favorites was “The Highwayman” by Alfred Noyes with its sultry beginning lines of, “The wind was a torrent of darkness upon the gusty trees, The moon was a ghostly galleon tossed upon cloudy seas…” Oh, they just don’t write them like that anymore. And of course, I was mesmorrized by Edgar Alan Poe’s “The Raven.” The list goes on and on. I highly recommend that if you enjoy great writings from those centuries, to go out and purchase a copy and then blog your responses. It even contains the Gettysburg Address!

My first book of poems was published by Triad Publishers from Atlanta, Georgia. It was titled “Shades of Love.” I was not happy about the way the book looked physically and vowed to self publish after that so that I could have total control over the way my books were produced. I plan on republishing it with new illustrations and a whole new format sometime in 2012. My other poetry book is also a monograph (which is a fancier way to describe an art book about a specific artist). It’s titled “Painted Poetry” and is available at the Lighthouse Center for the Arts or my gallery or on Amazon’s website. Currently, I’m working on two completely different books, which I will keep the readers of this blog updated on in the months to come. But today we are talking poetry.

The following is a sampling from my book, “Painted Poetry.” It is a poem written to describe one of my paintings from the ‘Venetian Boat’ series. All of the images from the book have a corresponding poem. Here is the one for:

“Venetian Boats II” (see image above)

Erotic vapors linger in the noonday sun,

Hear them writhe and twist

To lick each moss-stained stone.

As we slip quietly up the stairs,

A cat finds refuge in a dim lit ally.

We close the shutters till only slivers

Are left to creep across the dark stained floor:

Into a bed of cool clean linens we slide,

A perfect nesting place

For an overly sunny Sunday afternoon.

<dl id=”attachment_72″ style=”width: 235px;”><dt><img title=”Venetian Boats II” src=”http://jbberkowblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/02/Venetian-Boats-2-225×300.jpg” alt=”Venetian Boats II is available as a limited edition print” width=”225″ height=”300″ /></dt></dl>
<div><dl id=”attachment_72″ style=”width: 235px;”><dt></dt><dd>Venetian Boats II is available as a limited edition printor an overly sunny Sunday afternoon.</dd></dl></div>

Categories : Inspirations

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Mourning the Passing of Cathleen McFarlane Ross

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Tuesday, May 25th, 2010

I read this last week about the passing of Cathleen McFarlane Ross. Though I couldn’t count her as a personal friend, I met her on many occasions and am sorry that I was not in a position to have known her better. She was always cheerful and struck me as a woman that was not afraid of anything. Back in the 80s we were both house hunting at the same time and I remember looking at the house she would eventually purchase. She had such a great sense of flare, drama, and beauty, whether it was designing a home or in her appearance she always showed her best side. However, when I was reading the article about her life, the fact that she had memorized the poem “Invictus” by William Ernest Henley (1849-1903) truly resonated with me. It is a poem that I believe must have described her attitude about life to the core.

In my last blog I mentioned my favorite poem book, “One Thousand and One Famous Peoms.” One of my own favorite poems among many in that tomb is “Invictus.” I think it is apropos to try and gain meaning from this incredible poem considering the world we find ourselves with its many disappointments, tragedies, and reversal of fortunes. In honor of a great woman and for your pleasure and inspiration…

Invictus

Out of the night that covers me,

Black as the Pit from pole to pole,

I think whatever gods may be

For my unconquerable soul.

In the fell clutch of circumstance

I have not winced not cried aloud.

Under the bludgeonings of chance

My head is bloody, but unbowed.

Beyond this place of wrath and tears

Looms but the horror of the shade,

And yet the menace of the years

Finds, and shall find me, unafraid.

It matters not how strait the gate,

How charged with punishments the scroll,

I am the master of my fate;

I am the captain of my soul.

Invictus

Out of the night that covers me,

Black as the Pit from pole to pole,

I think whatever gods may be

For my unconquerable soul.

In the fell clutch of circumstance

I have not winced not cried aloud.

Under the bludgeonings of chance

My head is bloody, but unbowed.

Beyond this place of wrath and tears

Looms but the horror of the shade,

And yet the menace of the years

Finds, and shall find me, unafraid.

It matters not how strait the gate,

How charged with punishments the scroll,

I am the master of my fate;

I am the captain of my soul.

Invictus

Out of the night that covers me,

Black as the Pit from pole to pole,

I think whatever gods may be

For my unconquerable soul.

In the fell clutch of circumstance

I have not winced not cried aloud.

Under the bludgeonings of chance

My head is bloody, but unbowed.

Beyond this place of wrath and tears

Looms but the horror of the shade,

And yet the menace of the years

Finds, and shall find me, unafraid.

It matters not how strait the gate,

How charged with punishments the scroll,

I am the master of my fate;

I am the captain of my soul.

Categories : Inspirations

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Dennis Aufiery A Great Artist At Work!

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Tuesday, May 25th, 2010

Categories : Inspirations

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Quote of the Day

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Tuesday, May 25th, 2010

Trees are poems that the earth writes upon the sky. We fell them down and turn them into paper that we may record our emptiness…by Kahlil Gibran:

A lot of you out there loved the movie “Four Weddings and a Funeral.” I loved it too. I also loved it because it introduced me to a great poet, W. H. Auden who was born in 1907 and died in 1973. The book, “Auden,” published by Alfred A. Knoff describes him this way…’(Auden) is the wittiest, the most urbane, the most civil, companionable, and worldly of English poetry’s great twentieth-century masters. He is also, with his exhilarating lyric power and his understanding of love and longing in all their sacred and profane guises, an exemplary champion of human wisdom in its encounter with the mysteries of experience.’

You may ask, “How in heaven’s name did this movie serve as the introduction to such a great poet? I mean Hugh Grant’s movies are all very good and entertaining, but not very deep!” Ah … but do you remember the funeral scene? To eulogize his beloved companion, his lover reads a poem. It was without a doubt one of the most beautiful poems I had ever heard, and its title, aptly enough, was “Funeral Blues.” I share it with you here:

“Funeral Blues” by W. H. Auden

Stop all the clocks, cut off the telephone,

Prevent the dog from barking with a juicy bone,

Silence the pianos and with muffled drum

Bring out the coffin, let the mourners come.

Let aeroplanes circle moaning overhead

scribbling on the sky the message: He Is Dead,

Put crepe bows round the white necks of the public doves,

Let the traffic policemen wear black cotton gloves.

He was my North, my South, my East and West,

My working week and my Sunday rest,

My noon, my midnight, my talk, my song;

I thought that love would last for ever: I was wrong.

The stars are not wanted now: put out every one;

Pack up the moon and dismantle the sun;

Pour away the ocean and sweep up the wood;

For nothing now can ever come to any good.

Categories : Inspirations

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JB Berkow Designs New Award for the Executive Women of the Palm Beaches

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Tuesday, May 25th, 2010

“Free to Be” The New Women In Leadership Award

I have been a long time member of the Executive Women of the Palm Beaches. It is an incredible organization of vibrant, inspirational, career-minded women who believe strongly in giving back to the community. Each year they give out three ‘Women In Leadership Awards’ to exemplary women who have demonstrated extraordinary achievements and leadership in the private, public and volunteer sectors. There are other such organizations but we were the first; we initiated the paradigm. Some of these other groups have grown in size. Our membership, in contrast, is capped at 200 for regular membership, which we believe is an attribute to the selective process involved in becoming a member of EWPB.

Oil, Pastel and Acrylic on Paper

However, these other organizations had something we did not. They had a physical look to their awards that has actually helped to brand them. This year’s leadership felt the need to correct that. When they asked me to design a new award I was greatly honored and enthusiastic. I knew immediately, that I already had the perfect sculpture to fulfill their needs.

“Free to Be” was a sculpture that I created in the same year that I became a member of Executive Women of the Palm Beaches. Who could have imagined that eight years later it would become the basis of our new award! But the history of “Free to Be” spans an even longer period of time. It goes back to the beginning of my career when the main focus of my paintings centered around the female figure (example to the right). Most of them pictured women surrounded flowers. Eventually I fell in love with landscapes of Europe and I abandoned the female figure.

Many years later, however, I returned to the female figure, but this time in the form of sculpture. Again I combined her with flowers, specifically the rose and created a series called the “Gilded Rose Collection.” The series explores women in the process of self-discovery. It also depicts women who have found their voice and inner strength. The top-selling sculpture in this series falls in this latter category and was done in reaction to 9-11. “Freedom Rose” (image bottom center and right) shows a strong women determined to make a difference in the lives of not only Afghan women but those all over the Middle East.

"Discover" Cast Bronze

Cast Bronze Back

Cast Bronze Front

While researching books specifically made for sculptors, I fell in love with a particular pose. It portrayed a woman standing on tiptoes, leaning forward, head held high, and arms flung out to her side. It inspired three sculptures. The first two were meant to be a pair. “Budding Beauty” depicts a demure young girl standing atop a rose bud while “Fully Bloomed” shows the confidently posed woman described above on a fully bloomed rose. The figure turned out so well that I felt it deserved a platform of its own and hence “Free to Be” was born. It is the only sculpture that is not part of the Gilded Rose Collection.

Cast Bronze

I believe that personal experiences subliminally drew me to that particular pose and the ultimate creation of “Fully Bloomed” (pictured left) in order to portray qualities I wanted to see more of in myself as well as in other women. These qualities are determination, fearlessness, the ability to ignore stereotypical limitations, and the confidence to be all you can be. When asked by the Executive Women of the Palm Beaches to create an award for its W.I.L.A. recipients I knew “Free to Be” (pictured at top of article) had found its perfect purpose.

Categories : Inspirations

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Photographic Work Reproduced as Limited Edition Giclees

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Tuesday, May 25th, 2010

As a gallery owner, I get confronted all the time with issues brought up by my artists that take thought and patience to figure out. One of the issues that recently came up stemmed from a conversation that I had with one my photographers. He was trying to make the argument that, unlike painters who make money on the sale of their originals, photographers should make more money on their giclee sales to make up that difference.

I don’t agree with this thinking at all…at least not when it comes to photography that is reproduced as giclees. The reason for my disagreement comes directly from my role as an art dealer. I’m the one facing the art-buying public on a daily basis. And believe me when I tell you that the average buyer does not differentiate between a giclee made from a scanned painting or one made from a photograph. All they see is a limited edition giclee print of a captivating image that they may want to buy. If I were to tell them that the photographic one costs more than the other because the photographer didn’t have an original to sell, they would not be able to wrap their heads around that. In all good conscious I would never be able to put forth such an argument. However, this dilemma only arises when photographers choose to reproduce their work as giclees.

If photographers want to charge more for their work, it is my advice that they choose a different form of reproduction. For example, I represent photographer who reproduces his manipulated images on brushed aluminum sheets. Currently he has created a highly unique series based on a stamp motif where the printed sheets have scalloped edges like a postage stamp. His name is Andre Van Der Kerkhoff. He is an Australian artist who is starting to make major inroads into the New York art market (look forward to a blog devoted to this artist in the near future).

Painters are truly limited in the type of reproduction techniques open to them. After all, if artists are trying to replicate the look of their original oil or acrylic paintings done on canvas then giclee reproductions printed on canvas is by far their best choice. By contrast photographers have a plethora of reproduction substrates open to them. By choosing a different reproduction technique photographers can price their work any way they wish, thus eliminating any problems of comparison.

Categories : Inspirations

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Making Cooking Fun Means Having The Right Equipment

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Tuesday, May 25th, 2010

Playing around in the kitchen can be a great source of fun and relaxation. However, if the recipes are too complicated and/or call for a long list of ingredients, then much of the fun and relaxation can be lost. That’s the reason I decided to create a cookbook specifically designed for working people who don’t have a lot of time but who still want to make something scrumptious for their friends and family.

Another thing that makes cooking fun is ‘knowing what you’re doing.’ That is why a good portion of the book is devoted to teaching good cooking skills and the theory behind them. I think this approach is a lot more productive than simply putting together a long list of recipes that can seem like a compilation of undecipherable mish-mush to most beginners. In other words, the main goal of this book is to give its readers a solid foundation from which they can go on to create their own distinctive dishes.

“Pasta Plus,” which is the working title of my cookbook, is mainly about how to prepare pasta dishes in less than thirty minutes. However, beside these recipes I decided to also include many of my other signature dishes. This explains the ‘plus’ in the title. There will be appetizer, salad, main course, and great desert recipes. Everything necessary to make an unforgettable meal.

The Right Equipment Can Make All The Difference

In order to minimize stress in the kitchen and make your cooking experience a happy one, it is absolutely necessary to stock your kitchen with the proper equipment. It is no fun trying to build a house without the proper tools. The same goes for putting a dish together. The following is a list of items needed to make any of my thirty-minute pasta dishes:

A Large Pasta Pot

A Large Non-Stick Six-Quart Chiefs Pan

Three Non-Stick Covered Sauce Pans in Large, Medium, and Small Sizes

A Pasta Scoop

Two Wooden Spatulas

Two Wooden Spoons

A Non-Metal Cooking Spoon

A Non-Metal Slotted Cooking Spoon

Three Extremely Sharp Knives in Large, Medium, and small sizes

Measuring Cups in 1 Quart, 1 Pint, and 1 Cup Sizes

A Garlic Crusher

A Large Wooden Cutting Board

Macy’s is an excellent resource for the pots and pans on this list. They carry top-quality brands at often half the price than other cookware stores. For the smaller items Bed, Bath, and Beyond may prove very adequate. They have a good selection of knives at very competitive prices. Everything on the above list can be purchased for below $400. In the near future I will be sharing some of my thirty-minute pasta recipes with you so be sure your equipment is lined up and ready to go!

Categories : Inspirations

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Archive for Inspirations

Debbie Mostel: A Talented Visionary

November 8, 2010 Fund-Raiser For The YWCA and Harmony House

Fine Art, Poetry, Cooking, Ranting and Inspirational Messages…

Quote of the Day: “Art washes away from the soul the dust of everyday life.” by Pablo Picasso:

Mourning the Passing of Cathleen McFarlane Ross

Dennis Aufiery A Great Artist At Work!

Quote of the Day

JB Berkow Designs New Award for the Executive Women of the Palm Beaches

Photographic Work Reproduced as Limited Edition Giclees

Making Cooking Fun Means Having The Right Equipment