Season 13, Episode 7

[Narrator] Funding for The Art Show is made possible by the L&L Nippert Charitable Foundation, Montgomery County, the Carol Ann and Ralph V. Haile, Jr. Foundation, The Virginia W. Kettering Foundation, The Sutphin Family Foundation.

Additional funding provided by... (no audio) And viewers you.

Thank You.

In this edition of the art show, telling stories of the land.

(bright upbeat music) Weaving hope and light into textiles.

(upbeat music) And seeing the world in black and white.

(bright upbeat music) It's all ahead on this edition of "The Art Show."

(bright upbeat music) (bright upbeat music continues) Hi, I'm Rodney Veal and welcome to "The Art Show," where each week, we provide access to local, regional and national artists and arts organizations.

When landscape photographer Rick Braveheart goes outside with his camera, he finds beauty wherever he looks.

His deep connection to the land was forged through artist residencies at some of our country's magnificent national parks.

But you don't have travel far to experience your own personal connection to nature.

Let's join Rick on one of his outings to find out more about his process.

(gentle music) If you're a photographer, in a way, you're a storyteller.

And I just thought the land had so many stories to tell.

And nature is endangered.

And I would see it more and more when I was out in nature, so I also wanted to find a way to tell its story and hopefully make a difference with some people in how they perceive it.

(gentle music) The National Parks Service has a program which is for artists-in-residence where you can apply to be an artist, live in the park.

So at night, it would be just you and the coyotes.

So ever since, I've done 16 residencies in 16 different parks or national monuments.

I'm not very good at going someplace for one day to take pictures.

I want to convey the personality, the energy of a place.

So to be in a National Park for six weeks, the land starts to talk to you.

You see it in different ways.

(gentle music) (gentle music continues) I am giving thanks to the land for welcoming us, tell it we will be considerate and respectful of all of its creatures and all of its plants.

And show it in the best light possible to others, not just the beauty of the land, but to ask for its protection in the future.

Aho.

So let's walk a little.

(birds chirping) This is like going to church for me, it is.

There's so much beauty.

(bird calling) I'm always looking for something that calls to me.

Not visually, but energetically, spiritually, just something that says stop, look at me.

Just that scene to me is a beautiful portrait of a tree that's stood there for decades.

(camera shutter clicking) (birds chirping) I believe there's a spirit and an energy in everything, whether it's a flower or a tree or a rock.

And most people don't have the time to listen quietly to the land and all these little beautiful plants or creatures to say, hey, look at me.

I mean, even these little daisies.

Well, I just see this beautiful arrangement.

It's like this family of contrast.

Normally flowers don't talk to me as much, but these happen to, and it's just like greeting the day.

The sun is out.

(camera shutter clicking) They're just, like, looking up at the sun.

It just looks glorious to me.

(birds chirping) There is a sacredness to this, all of it, and this supports us and life.

People don't think about it.

We're so dependent on nature like this.

You just watch the creatures that come to sustain themselves, and then it kind of decomposes and it feeds the earth, which creates new trees.

It's a beautiful cycle and it's also in danger, which is hard to watch.

(gentle music) (gentle music continues) The National Parks are large.

They're spectacular and a lot of people travel to them, but MetroParks are a little piece of nature that everyone can get to easily.

It's a big deal for a lot of people to go to a National Park, but the MetroPark is like right here.

Most cities I go to, they have some kind of park, and so people can quickly get away into nature and just have a little touch of It.

It doesn't have much different of a feel than a National Park, in a way, if you connect with nature.

I'm as happy here as I was in Badlands National Park or Yellowstone.

(gentle music) (camera rattling) There's something ancient about this.

(birds chirping) Tree roots to me are like the history of a park.

You know, they're so grounded.

They hold the earth together and you can see this.

I don't know how old that tree is.

Maybe 100 years?

And you just see how it's survived.

(birds chirping) It's like fingers or toes that are just gripping the earth.

(birds chirping) (bag rustling) (camera clicking) So there are these beautiful water drops on this leaf that the sun is hitting and they catch the light like diamonds.

Even this little leaf right here, just the little drops all along the edges.

This one up here, it's all across it.

I know its funny someone can get so happy just looking at drops of water on a plant, and I'm just... (Rick chuckles) It's nice to see.

It's just drops of water, but it's no more brilliant than the Grand Canyon.

Glorious.

(footsteps thudding) (water running) That is gorgeous.

(water running) (water running continues) It's absolute excitement.

It's also just, I'm in the right place.

I've been accepted and nature is like welcoming me.

There are places I go where it's not right, and I always ask permission before I make a photograph.

So there's been times it's not right.

I don't feel I've got permission.

There's other times like this, it's just...

It can make you a little teary.

It couldn't be more perfect.

(bright upbeat music) I've been photographing for a long time, and I've never had a single day that was like that.

But I do believe it's because I ask permission to be there from the blessed land, and I believe that's part of it.

(bright upbeat music) So the land had stories to tell, and I think we got some unusual stories.

(bright upbeat music) If you'd like to learn more about this, or any other story on today's show, visit us online at cetconnect.org or thinktv.org.

Our next artist, Janice Lessman-Moss, was drawn to textiles decades ago.

Not to make clothing, but to make art.

The longtime Kent State University professor offers an up-close look at how she creates her work, as well as how she's begun to weave hope and light into each one.

When I say that I'm a weaver, people generally assume that I am making garments or that I am making fabric for function.

And it takes a while for me to convince them that, in fact, it is a medium, just like painting, that allows you to create abstract images for the wall, for contemplation, for visual enjoyment.

And it usually doesn't resonate so well until they seem them.

And then it makes sense because they recognize that I can do all of the things that other people can do with other mediums, with color and with form and with texture.

But it happens with that intersection of thread.

I work digitally.

I do all my designs digitally and I am interested in kind of the mathematical aspects of working with geometric forms and the count of threads in both directions.

You know, I like that right brain, left brain kind of intersection that weaving allows.

They allude to my interest in walking, and walking is a very linear movement and weaving is a very linear process.

Walking allows you to kind of move forward, but also to kind of linger.

It's a slow movement.

Weaving is a slow process.

I always call it a slow art.

It's a very slow art.

And when I am designing, I'm actually thinking of that same notion of movement, kind of following a path.

So I create a path on a template of circles within squares, and I create these paths, and those paths end up being kind of the contours or the outlines of shapes and they create, sometimes they're just lines and sometimes they establish shapes, and I put other patterns within those shapes.

So everything kind of builds in that same systematic way, in a kind of ordered way, and yet deviates from any kind of real plan.

It's just that it is ordered because of the nature of the structure.

Once I've done the design, the weaving process itself is really following through on that plan.

I feed it to the loom, and then the loom reads it, and then I press a button and the threads are raised according to what I have programmed.

However, I mean, it's like an architect.

You have some design you know, you can visualize, and you can see from your design this is what's going to happen.

What actually happens is sometimes different.

And the whole experience of coming in contact with this material and having it grow before your very eyes is amazing.

I've been working with metal introduced into the weaving for years, minimally.

Work that I did in the spring of 2020, at the beginning of the pandemic, I started to put more and more metal into the weaving, which adds an element of shine.

And I felt, you know, in thinking about it, that it was this attempt to kind of create a sense of hope, just have some little bright spots in my weaving.

They appear as you move around the weaving.

You see the shine kind of emanating, and then it'll tuck back behind.

So it's this sense of almost shadow and light.

And I like that kind of surprise, that mystery.

And I started working with those smaller kind of orbs or circles of metal.

And then I, this one is...

I went kind of crazy with introduction of the metal because I just felt like I really wanted some light in there.

And I really love in this piece, they almost look like little trails, like slug trails, that kind of a wet trail that is illuminated depending on what the lighting is like.

And I love that it's so imperfect that it has that sense of organic movement that is more like nature.

You learn so much every time you make something.

You see something that maybe you didn't think about before.

And it's a very satisfying journey.

I mean, you're going through life and you're able to make these visual statements.

Pieces that you hope other people will enjoy looking at and finding meaning in, whether they see what I see in it isn't totally relevant.

The work is directed by a personal interest and inspiration, but people may look at it, they bring other histories to the engagement with the colors and the engagement with the relationship of lines.

And they might say, oh, it looks this, it looks like that, it reminds me of this.

And it's okay.

Well, good, if you're looking at it and you're taking the time to think about it, I am happy about that.

I'm grateful for that.

(no audio) If you need more art goodness in your life, the podcast Rodney Veal's Inspired By is available now.

You can find it on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to podcasts.

Learn more and find show notes at thinktv.org or cetconnect.org/inspiredby.

Now let's travel to Hampton, Virginia where artist Dathan Kane is making a mark.

His mural and canvas work is easy to spot, abstract compositions of shapes painted using just two colors, black and white.

Let's watch to find out how he does it and learn about his connection to one of NASA's hidden figures who helped send astronauts into space.

There's no need to adjust your set.

Just like Dathan's artwork, this story is presented in black and white.

Take a look.

(gentle music) When you think of art, then you tend to think of color.

But black and white to me represents the basis of this form of expression.

What can I do with pencil?

What can I do with pen?

What can I do with charcoal?

This is something that really speaks to me and I wanna see how I can push that forward.

I've always known I wanted to be an artist.

Grew up as the only child, so started doing a lot of drawing.

It was like a form of entertainment.

My folks recognized the hand talent, and they decided to put me in programs to further develop my skills.

My love for art began to be something I could not ignore anymore.

Virginia State was just a different world.

My major was art and design and my concentration was in illustration, so there was always that constant thread of black and white.

Right out of school, I was having this show honoring different dignitaries and men in position throughout Virginia.

It was my first major opportunity.

And while I was working, I knew that I was done with doing something that wasn't really true to myself.

I wanted to just evoke emotion and have people respond to a feeling more so than something that's representative of something else, so I started sketching out shapes in a sketchbook and seeing where that could take me.

And I've been doing it ever since.

(gentle music) While creating, I'm in this place of peace.

I'm not thinking about anything besides painting.

And it allows me to break free from the world for a second.

It's therapeutic expressing myself in that way and I'm able to find this balance of the negative and positive.

These shapes translate what I'm going through, but then it's also something that people can form their own relationship with.

There are circles representing this continuous thing, something that's like ongoing.

Even with reading from left to right, going larger, it represents moving forward in life and not looking back.

People see all types of things within the work.

"Oh, I see the panda, or the teacup."

Then each time you look at it, you see something different and that's the fun of exploring different shapes.

If it does impact your audience, that means you're doing your job as an artist.

So, it's definitely something on my end that I want to continue with as best as I can with the tools that I have.

(gentle upbeat music) ♪ Make it hot, make it hot, make it hot ♪ Working on murals, it's the small areas that make the difference.

(gentle upbeat music) Mural is a path in a different mindset.

It can be challenging at times, but then that's why we're doing it.

I want it to appear flat as possible.

You have bolts and curves and different things, so this is the surface telling me what to do.

Projects like this, it's extremely important because it's bringing art directly to the public.

So, if having that exposure, something that can encourage or inspire the next artist.

What way can I put my work out there and have it be seen over and over and over?

Katherine Johnson is my great-aunt.

She never really spoke on things she's accomplished with NASA.

After seeing the movie and realizing the impact that she left, how can I honor that legacy?

What can I do?

I recently completed the mural in downtown Hampton.

I titled it "Next Door," it being close by to the Air and Space Center.

I was like, "Oh, I have to do this, like I have no choice."

I've always wanted to hit different markets so people are able to see you being consistent.

At Canvas Coffees, I did two wall murals and into a full installation of paintings, works on paper, works on canvas.

And then I also designed one of their bean bags.

I have an installation in the Dollar Tree Headquarters at Summit Point.

There's a total of six works that were sold to their collection and you can see them on display.

And I'm also super grateful for all of the work I've been able to accomplish with my peers at the Contemporary Arts Network.

(gentle upbeat music fading) (bright upbeat music) The show is titled "World of Shapes," really to represent this visual theme park that you can fully be immersed in as soon as you step foot into the space.

I also look at, it's a summary of the mural work that I've been doing for the last couple years.

I can now bring this inside where it can be viewed on the ceiling, on the floor, on the walls, for them to really just be inside of my world.

(bright upbeat music) It allows me to see that things are possible, be able to get into spaces that you may not think that you could.

The gift that I have is for people to enjoy and it is not just for me to hold onto.

Thanking for collectors and the different companies, you wanna be a part of that story, so that's something I never take for granted.

(bright upbeat music) (bright upbeat music continues) (bright upbeat music continues) (bright upbeat music continues) (no audio) Did you miss an episode of "The Art Show?"

No problem!

You can watch it on demand at cetconnect.org and thinktv.org.

You'll find all the previous episodes, as well as current episodes, and links to the artists we feature.

And that wraps it up for this edition of "The Art Show."

Until next time, I'm Rodney Veal.

Thanks for watching.

(bright upbeat music) (bright upbeat music continues) (bright upbeat music continues) (bright upbeat music continues) (bright upbeat music continues) (bright upbeat music continues) (bright upbeat music continues) [Narrator] Funding for The Art Show is made possible by the L&L Nippert Charitable Foundation, The Robert and Adele Schiff Family Foundation, the George and Margaret McLane Foundation.

Additional funding provided by... (no audio) And viewers like you.

Closed captioning in part has been made possible through a grant from The Bahmann Foundation.

Thank You.