Carol Taylor-Kearney   {  taylor-kearneyarts.com  }

"We’ve given everything we’ve got to our gallery over the last 14 years and so we’re determined to make it through." Tina Rocha and Michael Kowbuz, Owners of Cerulean Arts Gallery and Studio Galleries are places in the marketplace where artists and art lovers go for the sharing and selling of artwork. They are small businesses that are closed due to the pandemic. Recently, I got in touch with one of my favorite spots, Cerulean Arts Gallery and Studio. Cerulean Arts and its

Welcome to you and to 2020! Before beginning with the new year, I thought it would be informative to finish up 2019 at Cerulean Arts with their December events. Cerulean Arts was very busy in December. The last Collective Members’ Exhibition—which I wrote about in a previous post called "Expressing Expressionism"—was for artists Laurence Bach, Kitty Caparella, Jeanne O’Shell, Stephanie Rogers, and Ruth Wolf. During this exhibition, on Saturday December 7th, Cerulean hosted

When I hear the word “Expressionism” I think of Abstract Expressionism, the American post-war art movement centered in New York and characterized by gestural brushstrokes and marks. I also think of Expressionism, a style of artwork, particularly painting, in which the artist distorts the subject in an effort to connect to emotions or ideas. And finally, I think of Neo-Expressionism with its vivid colors and contrasts, distorted subject matter; and spontaneous technique and

Walking into Cerulean Arts Gallery this past weekend I was reminded of a little ditty from my childhood, “All the animals in the zoo are jumping up and down for you!” The exhibition before my eyes is “Menagerie”. It includes artworks by Phillipa Beardsley, Molly Sanger Carpenter, Matthew Courtney, Millicent Krouse, Dan Miller, Kerry Sacco, and Dori Spector. And “menagerie” is a perfect word for this group. It includes animal subjects that would be considered exotic or dom

Alas, I am late to writing my blog about this current exhibition of the artworks of Fran Lightman Gibson, Andrea Lyons, Tilda Mann[CT1] , Michael Moore, and Amanda Moseley at Cerulean Arts Collective Gallery. What is most frustrating is that I saw much of the work early as it was being readied to be hung for exhibition. And I was very excited to see these exhibitions. They are all so lyrical! As I moved from gallery to gallery different poems about the nature of “Truth” c

In the Realm at Cerulean Arts Gallery presents the paintings of Brian Boutwell and Tom Csaszar. These relatively smooth paintings are dense with materials making their surfaces feel like skins on a frame. But the change of colors and loose geometry of the shapes invites the viewer to see each painting as a Realm of its own and a perception of lived experience. For example, in Bounce, an extremely symmetrical composition, Boutwell stacks diminishing sized rectangles in the c

Close at Hand, an exhibition of artwork by artists Sheila Chimes, Elizabeth Heller, and Ed Kent, opens Cerulean Arts Gallery’s season with a nice flair. On the one-hand Close at Hand presents many paintings of traditional still life—that is, representations of known and commonplace objects. On the other hand, although the objects represented are familiar—I would even say “close at hand” to the artists who make these works-- there is an interesting twist to each artist’s way

Part 1: Cerulean Arts Associate Collective Members Exhibition Summertime is a time of heat. And what is hotter than meeting new artists and new artwork?! So, I was very excited when I not only received the invite to attend the opening for Cerulean Arts Gallery’s 7th Annual Juried Exhibition but also something new— Cerulean Arts Associate Members Exhibition. The Associate Members program is a result of the success of Cerulean Arts Collective. Fortunately, and unfortunatel

Part 2: Cerulean Arts 7th Annual Juried Exhibition As galleries enter the summer months of June and July, many group exhibitions appear on their schedules. Some are “themed”, some are based on a renowned artist or critic choosing the works to be presented, some do both. This is a perfect condition as newly minted “students” and emerging artists have received their bona fides and are beginning to network and build their professional resume while mid-career and even establis

Light is streaming outside and changing with the drifting clouds. This is also true as I visit the galleries at Cerulean Arts Collective this month where artists Cathleen Cohen, Ian Wagner, Mashiul Chowdhury, Denise Sedor, and Kimberly Hoechst are exhibiting their paintings. Each takes a very personal and distinctive approach to handling this element. Cathleen Cohen shows work that runs the gamut of representation to lyrical abstraction. Although the handling of her materia

On a beautiful afternoon in the city of Philadelphia, I traveled to Cerulean Arts. Leaving the agreeable sunlight outside was tough, but I was richly rewarded with colorful and bold interpretations of Nature inside by the artists Ruslan Khais, Gerry Tuten and Magda Vitale. Their exhibition titled “Sojourns in Nature” was precisely that and so much more. “Sojourn”, as the sound of the word implies, links to a journey or visit. And these works, all paintings, seem to be cele

Art has a way of taking us to places both familiar and exotic. The artists at Cerulean Arts Collective Galleries this month do just that. United in their approach, with bold color and decorative appeal, each of these artists—Lydia Hamilton Brown, Diane Pieri, Ruth Formica, Susan K. D’Alessio, and Liz Price— present a room with a unique atmosphere. Lydia Hamilton Brown takes us to an alternate universe. She presents both two- and three- dimensional works based on character—

What happens when you take Cerulean Arts and mix it with the Tongue and Groove Spontaneous Theater group? An improv performance called "ART" and an interactive Pop-Up exhibition at the Arden Theater! + = Arden Theatre Co. Half of the performance dates and pop-up show have happened on April 26th and 27th-- I went to the April 27th rendition. And you can participate at the next scheduled event on May 3rd and 4th. Where? At the Bob and Selma Studio Theater of the Arden Theat

The artwork of Laura Marconi, Nancy Neill, Gary Jenkins, Mary Powers Holt, and Jeff Thomsen is being presented at the Cerulean Arts Collective Galleries from April 10th through May 5th. These are all artists who work within the visual art tradition of drawing and painting. But I would also say that they go beyond the traditional-- whether in the way they handle their materials, the straight-forwardness of their compositions, and the pure joie de vivre of the moods they sug

Spring has arrived in Philadelphia and so has a new exhibition at Cerulean Arts. Fittingly, it is of landscapes by a perennial favorite, Jill Rupinski. Rupinki is a long-time faculty member and former chair-person of the Painting Department of the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts. So it seems fitting that this is an exhibition about the natural world plus about painting this world and the viewer’s experience of encountering the painting. “How?”, you might ask … The

Every month Cerulean Arts Collective presents five solo exhibitions simultaneously. This month the artists are Leslie Fenton, E. Sherman Hayman, Lisa M. Hamilton, Alysa Bennett, and Monica Kane. Like some kind of art sleuth, I look to see if there is a common thread, a theme or rationale for this mix. It is seldom easy and I suspect that it is all in my mind, but it occurred to me that many of these artists create by bringing pieces — whether of different materials, subset

I am late in posting this review. I was hoping to have it done before the exhibition ended. So, I am starting this review with the Artists' Talk from March 16th so that you have a better sense of the experience of visiting Reverberations and of the two artists whose works were part of this show-- Andrea Krupp and Lisa Sylvester. Reverberations is the title of the exhibition of works on paper by artists Andrea Krupp and Lisa Sylvester at Cerulean Arts Gallery through March 2

Cerulean Arts Collective is exhibiting the works of Andrea Beizer, Sean Carney, Carol Cole, Maria DiMauro, and Gus Sermas this month. Three of the artists—Sean, Maria, and Gus—were previously reviewed for their Cerulean Collective exhibitions on www.whatsartblog.com. The other two artists—Andrea and Carol—are also known to me. I had visited their work and even invited them to participate in a show that I was curating. So, I went to the opening with a certain level of anti

Carol Taylor Kearney loves to play with words, as with Plein Air, Plain Air, Plane Air. This is the title she has given to the exhibition that she has curated at Cerulean Arts Gallery in Philadelphia. The artists presenting their work are (clockwise, starting top, left) Ellen Abraham, Roni Sheman Ramos, Melissa Rubin, Susan Stefanski, and Joan Walton. It is on view from January 30th through February 24th and there is an Artists Talk by Carol and Susan Stefanski on February

Andre Breton once said, “The imaginary is what tends to become real.” The artists at Cerulean Collective galleries this month—Kathleen McSherry, Elaina Posey, Diane Collins, Rachel Romano, and Karen Rapp Bull—fulfill that rare ability to marry what they have at hand, that is their materials and observations, with their imagination to come up with the unique. And moving from one gallery to the next really calls on mental agility to contemplate each artist’s distinct vision.