October is Artist Month in Chicago and Cyd Smillie joins the fun with showings at the DANK HAUS and AVRAM EISEN GALLERY. The DANK HAUS show, "Facing Walls" features work by artists responding to a prompt about walls--emotional and physical. Check out artslant.com for pictures of some of the artwork and furniture. The show opens October 3rd and runs through November 29th.

The special exhibit at the Avram Eisen Gallery features artists who are parents and faculty at Chicago's Bell School. Originally a 3 day celebration, the artwork has been held over for the month. Cyd Smillie will be showing both watercolors and traditional oils all for sale with a portion of the sales benefitting the school.

Summer Classes a Great Sucess: Looking Forward to Adult Classes in the Fall

This past summer of 2008, Cyd Smillie and AUGUST HOUSE STUDIOS teamed up again to present a two week long summer camp experience in two parts. In session one, "If I Ran The Zoo" young artists from the Chicago area experienced block printing, pastel life drawings, watercolor, and many art related games. The camp culminated with the creation of "Artemis" the wonderful creature designed, executed, and painted by the students, complete with the zoo backdrop of his natural habitat.

Week two's theme was "Joining The Circus". All the campers started the session by developing their "circus character", notably "The Amazing Psychic" and "Duck Man". Cyd's focus was to have the kids play and have fun throughout the experience while exposing them to some new and unexplored art territory. The final circus performance included a parade of animals (hobby horses with paper-mache details), and performances by the circus stars. Cyd, the acting ringmaster, introduced all the campers, from the "tightrope walker" who walked on a jump rope on the ground, to the magnificent "tumbling triplets" who all showed off their fantastic gymnastics skills. Without a real Circus Tent for shelter, when the performance was over, thunder rolled and the audience and performers all rushed inside to keep from getting too wet in the celebratory rain.