Tucker Junior's Work to Show at Dogwood Arts Festival

Nejra Miljkovic's artwork has been accepted for exhibition in April.

Nejra Miljkovic, a junior at Tucker High's International Baccalaureate School, has had a piece of her artwork accepted into the Atlanta High School Art Exhibit as part of the Dogwood Art Festival. Her piece, titled 'Obstacles', was judged by a panel of local artists and art educators. There were 650 entries and only 96 were accepted, according to Susan Duncan, Visual Art Teacher at the school.  The Dogwood Art Festival is taking place at Piedmont Park in Atlanta April 20-22.

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Great Escape

Great Escape: Art Appreciation 101

To appreciate art, sometimes you really only need to take a few extra minutes to understand the artist and her inspiration.

A few weekends ago I had the honor of helping my friend Liza promote her art at the Altanta Baby and Child Expo.  In addition to children’s murals, she plaster casts a pregnant mom’s belly and then adds texture and custom painting to create a piece of art that is totally unique.  What I discovered as I helped promote her craft, is that beauty is truly in the eye of the beholder.  Meaning, moms either saw the beauty in a one-of-a-kind art piece or simply did not.  But beheld or not, what they all appreciated was the splendid detail and emotion in the art. Honestly, I admit I did not fully understand her art until that day.  I had not taken the time to feel the intricate textures, read the messages or learn about why the moms chose different…

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Tucker Arts Guild Holds Inaugural Meeting

A day in the life of the Tucker Arts Guild - minutes, contents, and impressions of its first 2011 meeting

The Tucker Arts Guild started off their yearlong series of meetings and activities last week with an unexpected change of plans. Though artist, photographer and writer John Mariana  was to offer a lecture on the work of legendary photographer Ansel Adams, a last minute “family catastrophe” prevented his appearance. Two audience members expressed disbelief – though John Gronwall, president of TAG, had sent out an e-mail announcing the change of speaker, some discussed having driven “all the way from Roswell” to hear Mariana’s lecture. Gronwall smoothed things over with a leader’s skill, and the tension dissolved upon introduction of the evening’s main speaker. Susan Ryles, a three-dimensional artist who was one of the founding members of …

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The Art of Selling Joy

A talk with the owners of Zen and Now Clay Studio

The earthy smell of clay and the calmness of the workspace are immediately welcoming as you walk into Tucker's Zen and Now Clay Studio. Christine Winokur and Martie Seay, business partners and friends for over six years, are passionate about what they do. "We sell joy, right Martie?" asked Winokur. "That's right, you want to buy some?" Seay replied, turning to me. We shared a laugh. As we spoke, Winokur worked on finishing a rattle—one of the recent workshops held at Zen and Now focused on making rattles—and Seay continued constructing frogs by hand. Winokur owned and operated Kickwheel Pottery Supply, Inc. from 1974 until 2010. When asked why she closed the doors, she chuckled a bit ruefully, shook her head and simply blamed it on the "…

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Art School for Kids Comes to Downtown Tucker

Main Street School of Art will provide classes for children ranging from toddlers to high school seniors and opens Jan. 4

An art school for children, possibly the first in a commercial storefront in Tucker, is set to open after the start of the New Year. Laurie Morrison's Main Street School of Art is scheduled to open Jan.  4.  However, Tucker residents can get a sneak peek at the new school at an open house reception this Saturday.  The school is located at 2323 Main St. Morrison believes she is the first to open an art school in downtown Tucker. "I'm pretty much 100 percent certain I'm it," she said. Morrison is certain that teaching children to draw, paint and make sculpture is much more than child's play. "I created Main Street School because I wanted to make a difference in people's lives," states Morrison on her website: www.mainstreetschoolofart.com…

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