Kristin Helberg: vinegar grained boxes, naive art, murals

Grandma Moses portrait on display at National Portrait Gallery

kristin — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 23:17:32 +0000

Grandma Moses c Kristin Helberg 1996, National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian

In May of 2011, my portrait of Grandma Moses was acquired by the National Portrait Gallery at the Smithsonian as part of their permanent collection. It is currently on display there at the museum in Washington with other recent acquisitions and the show will be up until the end of October 2012.

I was born in upstate New York and my family moved away. But on frequent visits to visit my grandparents, my mother would drive us by the area in Hoosick Falls, NY where Grandma Moses’s farm was located with the hopes that we would catch a glimpse of her. We never did, but I admired her greatly. In 1996, I made the portrait of Grandma Moses, working with photographs of her painting in her kitchen studio. I made sure to show the Maxwell coffee cans that she used to hold her paints and her little work table with the painted scenes on either end.

Maryl Robertson Moses, aka, Grandma Moses is a woman we can all admire. She ran her farm, raised her children and did not even begin painting until she was in her 70′s creating a career for herself and international acclaim.

Happy Chinese New Year

kristin — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 16:02:19 +0000

I do artist in residency projects here in public schools in Maryland that are funded by the Maryland State Arts Council. I just completed a month long project at Harlem Park Elementary/Middle school here in Baltimore City where I worked with art teacher Morag Bradford and her students. The older students created a three panel folding screen depicting Ancient China. We studied old Chinese prints and illustrations and each child drew and painted an image on the screen.

The younger children made paper Chinese Dragon puppets, portraits of Pandas, kites and working models of the abacus, the ancient Chinese calculator. The folding screen and other art will be on display at the Walters Art Museum here in Baltimore on April 28th with a party to celebrate the children’s accomplishment.

Happy Birthday Elvis

kristin — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 03:06:18 +0000

If Elvis Presley was still alive, he would be 77 years old.

Along with the usual celebration at Graceland, there are special Elvis cruises leaving Florida next week packed with hundreds of Elvis Impersonators.

This painting that I created called Bill and Elvis, is part of the permanent collection at the Clinton Library in Little Rock, Arkansas. Enjoy!

Happy New Year

kristin — Mon, 02 Jan 2012 15:06:29 +0000

The sun is pouring in through my windows. It is both a new day and a new year. Everyone likes to exault you with wishes for good fortune and success in the New Year. But I think that success is always relative and to be content, you must always return to that truth. I admire friends who have decided to be content with the life that they have. I wish that for you.

National Archives American Artisans Fair

kristin — Fri, 02 Dec 2011 20:23:40 +0000

The National Archives Museum sells my vinegar grained boxes and framed fraktur in their gift shop at the Museum location in Washington, DC at 700 Pennsylvania Avenue. Fraktur are illustrated documents recording weddings, baptism and birth. My fraktur art is derivitive of the Pennsylvania Dutch style.

This year the museum is trying an American Artisans Fair to honor and promote a group of American Artisans and they will be featuring my boxes and fraktur in the show as well as 6 painted and grained chairs that I delivered to the Museum yesterday. The chairs are all antique some of them dating back to 1880 and I have added vinegar graining and Early American motifs such as the Tree of Life image seen in quilts.

The fair will have several private showings for members and the board of directors but it will be open to the public on Friday December 2 and Tuesday December 6 from 10 am to 5 pm. I hope to see you there. The fair is being held at the museum at 700 Pennsylvania Avenue, Washington, D.C. Not only will they have housewares but they will be offering jewelry and apparel as well.

November Happy Thanksgiving

kristin — Sun, 20 Nov 2011 15:09:46 +0000

As you are gathering things for Thanksgiving dinner this week, instead of loading things in your car in cardboard boxes, why don’t you consider trying a “retro” tip from our grandparents and go get yourself some nice hand- crafted baskets.

My friend George Frazier sells a wonderful assortment of hand-made baskets at his booth in the Downtown Farmers Market every Sunday morning here in Baltimore. He carries the famous Peterboro baskets which have been produced here in the United States since before the Civil War, river grass baskets made by a woman’s free trade cooperative in Ghana and baskets made in Lancaster by an Amish craftsman.

Greorge Frazier's Basket Booth

If you don’t live here in Baltimore, you visit George at his website at www.baskits.net He will gladly ship to you. Have a lovely holiday gathering.

November J. Edgar Hoover

kristin — Tue, 15 Nov 2011 18:29:25 +0000

Clint Eastwood is a film director who has created some of the most interesting and thought provoking movies in the past five years, in my estimation. His new bio film of J. Edgar Hoover is further proof of this ability. I was glad to see him take on the man who held Washington political figures hostage for decades because of the knowledge he had of their private lives. In short, Hoover had created true job security because everyone was afraid to fire him.

In 2004, I made a satirical portrait of him, eluding to his rumored transvestite escapades, when he assumed his alternate personality known as “Mary”. I felt it was pay-back time for Mr. Hoover for all the horrible things he had done to people such as Dr. Martin Luther King and to Melvin Purvis, the star of the FBI who expunged all the famous outlaws, including John Dillinger.

J. Edgar Hoover c Kristin Helberg 2004

For nearly 14 years, I was represented by a gallery in Hilton Head, S.C. called America Oh Yes which was owned by Joe Adams a famous collector and expert on Southern Folk Art. Joe had also owned the renown Red Piano Gallery as well. In 2005, Joe was to appear on a tv show in South Carolina to talk about Southern Folk Art and to show some of the work of the artists he represented. Joe took along my portrait of J. Edgar Hoover and they told him that he could not show the painting on television. So the strong hold that Mr. Hoover had on others existed even in 2005.

I found it interesting to poke fun at a man who lived a secret homosexual life, while cruelly attacking others for trying to do the same. Kudos to you Clint Eastwood.

November Resurrection St. Paul Mural

kristin — Wed, 02 Nov 2011 19:14:58 +0000

: Another photo from school mural projecct

Just going through photos from the mural project from the Resurrection-St. Paul school and I have decided to post a few more of the fourth grade artists at work. The photos of the children are from the back to protect their privacy.

Learning to use the brushes

I was very lucky to have an assistant while we created this mural. Michelle Ruppert a gifted artist and former art teacher herself ,added her joyful spirit and artistic abilities to the project. Resurrection-St. Paul is a school that values art and creative thought. They went out of their way to help me establish a real art studio atmosphere where the fourth grade could work on the mural project. I hope to be able to return for the school for another artist-in-residency next school year.

Michelle Ruppert

November

kristin — Tue, 01 Nov 2011 21:44:07 +0000

For the month of October, I was fortunate to be chosen for an artist -in-residency project at the Resurrection-St. Paul School in Ellicott city. The project was jointly funded by the school and the Maryland State Arts Council.

Working with the entire fourth grade, we created a mural which shows the state of Maryland from the western lake district, down through the Cheasapeake Bay and ending at the Atlantic Ocean. The three panels, each measuring 4′ x 7′, will be installed in the front entry hallway at the school

: Painting on the beach panel

Each student drew and painted two or three images on the finished mural. Staff and volunteers had a day when they could add their artistic touches as well. The principal Mrs. Murphy and the Vice Principal, Mrs. Cottrell showed up on staff painting day as well as Monsignor Diezenback and Father Matt. The school will celebrate the mural unveiling on November 7th.

The Monsignor adds to the mural

October Fells Point Farmers Market

kristin — Sun, 16 Oct 2011 17:15:46 +0000

October is one of my favorite months. The clear skies and bright sunshine make the brightly colored changing leaves even more intense.

This October has found me very busy with updating my website and working on a three panel mural at Resurrection St. Paul Catholic School in Ellitcott City, Maryland. Our topic for the mural is a view of Maryland from the mountains to the ocean. I am working with the entire fourth grade. Each child gets to draw and paint images on the mural. I will post photos of the progress later this month.

I am also involved with the Fells Point Farmers Market on Saturday mornings from 7:30 to noon here in Baltimore. My booth features examples of my painted and grained furntiure and boxes. This little butterfly came to visit me this past weekend, drawn to the bright colors. I will be there on the 29th of October as well.

A butterfly at the Fells Point Farmer's Market