a visit to the torpedo factory art center
A collection of thoughts about all of the wonderful art I saw
A few weekends ago, my family and I went to the Torpedo Factory Art Center in Alexandria, VA to celebrate my mom's birthday. She's the reason I'm an artist, so it was the obvious choice for all of us to head to VA to check out this awesome space. I went into it with zero expectations or understanding of what the space was but was very quickly blown away by everything I saw.
There were three floors of art studios and so much incredible art to look at that I very quickly became a little overwhelmed. I’m not joking when I say that if I had a million dollars I would have walked away from the visit with a WHOLE lot of new art to enjoy.
While I sadly did not walk away with a ton of new art, I did walk away with a ton of business cards and I wanted to write some thoughts about the artists I saw if only to remember their incredible work a little longer than my memory will allow.
Ruth Gowell ✦ www.ruthgowell.com
Ruth's work was an optical daydream. She creates fused glass pieces that had a layer of glass with bubbles suspended in it that created even more optical abstractions of the bright colors and shapes she chose for the pieces. They were a wonder, and I couldn't stop staring at them.
Ellen Delaney ✦ www.ellendelaneyart.com
Something about Ellen’s use of color was magical. I loved the way all of the tones played together in her landscapes, creating calming scenes that I would have loved to hang on my wall. Reading about her background, I learned that she has experience as an architect and that just made sense. There was a sense of order to her paintings despite the simple architectural subjects and abstracted shapes and colors.
Tara Barr ✦ www.tarabarrart.com
Tara’s work was downright fun. She has a pop art aesthetic and her soft pastel color palette and retro subject matter make for some beautiful pieces. I loved how she packaged her art in a square canvas with flat bold color. I could easily see her work fitting in my life and I found myself eagerly looking through all of the paintings to see if any were in my budget (spoiler warning - they weren’t sadly). I’m eyeing a number of her prints though 👀
Sonia Nayar ✦ www.sonianayar.com
On the first floor of the center, there was a juried gallery with work from all kinds of artists. One painting by Sonia captured my attention and I couldn’t stop staring. It was title “Girl with Flowers” and was a portrait of a beautiful woman with flowers in her hair. The use of colors and the depth in the hues to depict her glowing skin and colorful flowers was stunning and I couldn’t look away. I wish there was a whole studio of more portraits exactly like that one to look at.
Veronica Barker-Barzel Kelly ✦ www.behance.net/VeroBarkerBarzel
Veronica’s work captured my attention in the gallery space where I saw a Mer-Rat print and immediately I was excited to see more. Her studio space was filled with imaginative mythical creatures and I loved the textured, printed quality of her artwork created by the blocks she carves them out of. I ended up walking away with 4 cards of charming little creatures and I can’t wait to hang them on my walls.
Donna Lomangino ✦ www.lomanginoart.com
Something about the color in Donna’s sea and sky landscapes completely captured my attention. I couldn’t stop staring. The skies were made up of so many different colors that created a depth and richness that helped her paintings make a big impact despite their simple subject matter. When I win the lottery I’m coming right back to her studio.
Niki Pickett ✦ www.torpedofactoryartists.com/participants/niki-pickett
Niki’s work was a riot of color and movement and fun. Her floral had so much expression in her paint strokes and the soft pastel colors she chose were charming and beautiful. They perfectly captured the fleeting beauty of a bouquet so it can last forever. Plus she had some work where the bouquets of flowers were set against a graphic checkered background and I absolutely loved the contrast. This was another studio where I couldn’t stop staring at the art and marveling at the color choices and brushstrokes.
Claire A. Meyer ✦ www.printmakersinc.org/claire-meyer.html
Claire’s work was in a printmaker studio amongst a number of other artists. However when I saw her Pigeon print on the wall, I immediately fell in love. The detail in the feathers of the pigeon’s puffed out chest and the way she captured the pearlescent hues of it’s feathers perfectly was amazing. Plus it was juxtaposed against a city backdrop and was called “I run this town.” I was completely smitten and haven’t stopped thinking about it since.
Marsha Staiger ✦ www.marshastaiger.me
Marsha’s work had a number of different themes, however her work with abstract stripes in different inks kept capturing my attention. The way the stripes layered with different inks and shimmering colors was incredibly eye catching. Such a simple idea but the execution was mesmerizing and beckoned you to look closer. Plus her color palettes were beautiful and I would have loved to have one of her pieces of art hanging on my wall.
Annie Bowler ✦ www.anniebowler.com
Annie’s studio was closed the day we visited, but a quick glance inside her windows had me wishing that wasn’t the case. Her illustrations were so playful and I would have loved to have seen them closer.
Saya Behnam ✦ www.sayabehnam.com
Sara’s work was stunning and entirely made of pigments from nature. She even had a display of all of the pigments in their powder form and it was awesome to see how she took the building blocks of those colors and made the expansive pieces of art on the walls of her space.
Dane Hamblin ✦ www.danehamblin.com
One of the coolest parts of the space was how they laid out the studios with windows so you could get a look in at their process. At one point, my family and I were taking a break at some chairs and had the perfect view into Dane’s studio. He was in the process of painting a landscape with a neon sign and while watching him paint, I was surprised to discover he was left handed like me. Just earlier that day I had told my mom I didn’t think I’d be good with oil paint because I’m too fastidious with my art making. But to watch Dane paint so perfectly crisp and exact with oil paints, it prove to me how incorrect I was. His work was stunning with it’s photorealistic details and helped me imagine what I could accomplish as a left handed artist.
Plus they had the most beautiful view. How can you not be inspired by this?
I walked away from the torpedo factory with my head swirling with ideas about all the art that I can be making. It was the perfect trip for a creative like myself and I have a ton of new ideas of projects I want to work on and art I want to create and put out into the world like each of those brave artists.
Every town should have a space like the Torpedo Factory and I honestly can’t wait until I can visit again. If you’re ever in the Alexandria, VA area, I highly recommend you check it out!
