I recently went to an exhibit by Maryland sculptor Margaret Boozer, which was a part of the Art and Coffee series put on by the Luce Foundation Center for American Art.   Now when it comes to art, I don’t really get into the abstract pieces.  I love details, accuracy, and perspective, but, done the right way, I appreciate some distortion.  Anyway, this artist had a fascination with clay cracking and drying, and in a lot of her work, you are going to see those natural crack lines and the lines that she encourages the cracks to form on.  As she discussed her process and her inspirations, I started to appreciate her technique and focus more and more… and I was able to see the art and beauty and skill in cracked and dried clay.  Well, while I was at the exhibit, I was hesitant to pull out my camera because I know that you cannot take pictures in some of the buildings in DC.  So, after I saw the museum worker start snapping pictures with a flash, I knew that it was alright for me to pull my camera out.  Well, wouldn’t you know, she came over to me to ask a question.  No – she did not ask me to put my camera away.  Rather, she asked if I would not mind posting the pictures I was taking on the museum’s facebook page.  I was all too delighted to post my images on their facebook page, which they actually had a business card for.  It is truly amazing to see how times have changed in a relatively short amount of time!

See images from this trip below, and if you’re ever in the DC area, check this site out!  It’s definitely worth it!

Now this is the clay fireplace facade that I would have her do in my house.

I just loved the line she made with her arms to depict what was going on in the image on the computer screen.

This was Margaret Boozer’s actual exhibit at this museum.

Now since I was at this museum, I just had to look at the other exhibits.  Among my favorites was this collage of African-American paintings with familiar stories.  Even though the style used was very simple, the painter was still very effective in capturing these moments in time.

Then there was this beautiful folk-art styled necklace… I don’t know if I’d ever wear something as ornate as this one, but I was drawn to it at the museum.