By Cathy Kimmel-Srock
Review Staff Writer
It’s called “Anything Goes” and that’s because it does at the Orion Art Center’s all-media art show. Whether you like watercolor, photography, sculpture or jewelry, the show, running now until August 28, offers that and more.
Orion Art Center Executive Director Lorene Porter explains the benefits of having an all-media show.
“It’s a way of paying respect to a number of mediums,” Porter said. “It welcomes a whole variety of artists.”
She believes that it creates an “eclectic collection” that is extremely colorful and can actually help people appreciate a variety of art, even in their homes.
“You don’t have to just buy classical pieces,” Porter added. “You don’t have to just buy fun pieces or whimsical pieces. The mix can be wonderful to have around you for the fun of it, the joy of it.”
This kind of art show does create a challenge for the jurors, according to Porter. Rather than all of the pieces being judged by the same criteria as it might in a specific medium or themed show, an all-media show is different. For example, Porter explained, if it is all paintings, they may be judged on composition, form, etc. The juror in this show could not do this.
“What he then did for us was tell us what it was about the piece that was compelling,” Porter said.
“For one piece, it’s because of colorization. In another piece, as he said, its inventiveness. So you broaden the criteria for deciding.”
Another thing that made this show a little different is that they did not separate the youth pieces from the adult pieces and they were all judged together in the determination for honorable mentions, as well as third, second and first places, which lead to a fun surprise, according to Porter.
“The third runner-up was viewed by the juror as having wonderfully interesting composition and wonderfully displayed interplay of light and dark and so that award goes to one of our youngest members, and that is Brooke Muzzy,” said Porter during the awards ceremony. “It is a wonderful, wonderful piece of photography.”
Muzzy, who is 12-years-old, has been taking photographs for a little over a year. This was her first time entering her photography in a show.
“So actually this picture I took in my backyard,” she explained. “I was just bored one day so I went outside into the woods and all around my backyard and I took a bunch of pictures.”
Muzzy prefers taking nature photographs as “it stands still” for her. She had a few photographs entered in the show, and her award-winning one, entitled “Stone Stairs,” was one that she was proud of for its variety of lighting.
“I like the lighting most about it, how there is different sides,” she explained. “When I framed it, I made sure that part of it would represent one side of the lighting and the other part would represent the other side of the lighting.”
Second runner-up was awarded to Amy Cole for her piece “Sonda,” in which the juror appreciated the classical proportion in the piece. Third runner-up went to Doreen House for the “charming pairing of materials” in her piece, “Petherbridge & Margaret.”
Lake Orion High School art teacher Sam Rimi took third place in the show for his piece, “Wagon Landscape.”
“Third place was reviewed by the juror as very inventive and unexpected,” Porter explained of Rimi’s piece.
His piece was created from the stumps from his parents’ Christmas tree farm.
“For many years, I’ve wanted to create a piece of recycled materials, things that were naturally found,” Rimi said. “All of these stumps are scraps from the winter season from selling trees.”
“People want a fresh, straight cut on the bottom of their tree, so all of these are scraps I found in our fire pile that I cleaned up by sanding them and adhering them to a board,” he explained.
Once he adhered the stumps to the board, he first drew a design in pencil and then used a few different art materials to create the finished product.
“I just wanted to try something different,” Rimi added. “It was kind of an experimental piece for me.”
Rimi, who also encourages his students to enter the art center’s shows, enjoys entering all-media shows.
“I feel like it’s open to anything in interpretation, too, so you don’t feel confined to a certain material or theme,” he explained. “I think it’s nice for all artists to maybe enter something that they feel truly passionate about or that they make that might not fit a certain category.”
Second place in the show was awarded to Cathy Huntoon for her piece, “Mitsy The Cat.” The juror appreciated Huntoon’s rich color and form.
First place went to “Wash Day” by Lynn Thompson-Garland and was described by the juror as having “elegant textural and atmospheric quality,” according to Porter.
The watercolor painting was inspired by a photo Thompson-Garland took on vacation.
“It was a photograph I took on the island of Martinique, and as I was walking the street, I was just fascinated by the contrast of all the textures on the building and the steel, rusted wall and then the clean wash hung out to dry, so as I turned the corner, I said ‘oh’ and I took a photo,” she explained.
She then used watercolor, which is her favorite to work with, to create a painting version of the photograph.
“I find (watercolor) very challenging and most of all, I love the happy accidents when colors blend together to create something really special that I couldn’t have planned but then I have to work with it and that’s what I find exciting about it,” Thompson-Garland explained.
All of the art is on display at the Orion Art Center until August 28. The art center, located at 115 South Anderson Street in downtown Lake Orion, is open Wednesday through Friday, noon to 6 p.m., and Saturdays from noon to 3 p.m. They can be reached at (248) 693-4986 or orionartcenter.org.