Mixed media at LeMoyne

Betsy Markowski using a jeweler's saw to demonstrate how she makes a silver chain

I just came from Betsy Markowski's talk at LeMoyne Center for the Visual Arts. Her work reminds me of Joseph Cornell's collages: she takes detritus -- incidental pieces of wood and metal of no immediate consequence -- mixes it meticulously with more, and breathes life into it. Her work is small scale, refined, and maybe even obsessive. Markowski grew up in Tallahassee, and now lives in North Carolina. 

Markowski is sharing LeMoyne with stunning pieces in many media by members of Affiliated Artists of LeMoyne. The show runs through July 26. Admission is free.

And then there's LeMoyne's Live Oak room, a community-wide invitation to be on the walls of LeMoyne now through July.  It invites you -- yes, you! -- "to take a photograph or create artwork of trees and bring them to LeMoyne. We will pin them to the wall and create a room filled with trees." For inspiration, there's a young live oak in the center of the room. I just told C about this, and he grabbed his second-favorite photograph, drove straight to LeMoyne, got accepted, and saw his photo on the wall. Does this inspire you?

Detail of LeMusée 
Mixed Media
Betsy Markowski
$10,000