ArtPrize Ann Teliczan 2013
ArtPrize 2013 work by Ann Teliczan, Moonglow 103, made of betona tiles, and located at 50 Monroe (building shares the parking lot with The BOB). Vote Code: 55228

ArtPrize 2013, in Grand Rapids, Michigan looks like it’s going to have some great art in it. That’s me up there with my entry. After taking a couple of years off from ArtPrize, I decided to join back in this year.

My entry features unique art process I developed which does not use a paintbrush or camera. This spring I was approached by betona tile® about printing large scale installations of my art on their unique tiles made of recycled glass and concrete.

I scan botanical materials and combine them on my computer, sometimes in hundreds of layers. After seeing the potential of combining my art with betona’s capabilities we both decided to use ArtPrize 2013 to debut the above signature piece of my work, “Moonglow 103.” This unique piece is 20’ tall x 8’ wide comprising of 84 custom tiles.

Here’s a little movie short that I did about my ArtPrize piece this year.

ArtPrize runs from September 18, 2013 – October 6, 2013 and was named one of Time Magazine’s “Five Festive Events You Won’t Want to Miss in 2013” out of a worldwide list of contenders. The event uses a spectator voting system where anyone who is registered for ArtPrize can vote for the winner. The top prize, $200,000, is decided entirely by public vote.

“Moonglow 103” is located at 50 Monroe Place in Grand Rapids, MI, with the ArtPrize artist vote code: 55228. In the coming days, I will be adding to my ArtPrize coverage and sharing other works of art that I love. If you can make it to Grand Rapids for this, it is are truly fun, one of a kind event.

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Michigan beaches are among the best in the world and are regularly voted as top destinations. In fact, this summer, the Grand Haven beach was named #14 by CNN Travel as a “Must See Beach.”  Here are some of my favorite Michigan beaches:

This is not even close to a complete list of nice Michigan beaches, it’s just ones that I am familiar with and love. Please add your favorite beaches in the comments section.

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This evening after a surprise trip to Spoonlickers with my parents (thank you very much Mom and Dad,) that the sky was looking rather unique. there was a storm off to the northeast and the sky was clear towards the lakeshore. So, I just started driving around until I found this beautiful view. It was truly a spectacular sunset.

Michigan sweet spot michigansweetspot
Shower made from “ann teliczan designs for betona®” tiles. See how the tiles almost have a luminous quality to them?

Several months ago I heard about betona® tile, a gem of a company based in Spring Lake, Michigan. Their graphic designer had seen my MichiganSweetSpot blog and wanted to use one of the photographs to show how vivid and perfect their printing is on their unique tiles. One thing led to another and I now have a tile line with betona, featuring my fine art. The “ann teliczan designs for betona®” line launched this week in New York and Las Vegas.

The tiles are not anything like a typical tile. They are not ceramic, and are cured at room temperature, so the surface looks more like an art surface, not at all like a ceramic tile surface. The printing is amazing, they match colors and shading exactly, even in the areas with subtle details.

This was a tough project to print and was thrilled with the results.
This was a tough project to print and I was thrilled with the results.

This is a USA owned and operated company with everything produced here in West Michigan. 50% of the materials for the tiles are made from recycled glass and even though the tiles are produced as a work of art, they are extremely functional. The tiles are appropriate for multi-surface applications such as floors, walls, counters, showers, backsplash, reception areas, wayfinding systems, donor walls, murals and more. And, are perfect for healthcare, hospitality, residential… virtually any environment. They are lightweight, produce no VOC’s, slip and stain resistant and have a 10 year limited wear warrantee.

This is from my Kaleidoscope collection, I just love how it turned out on tiles.
This is from my Kaleidoscope collection, I just love how it turned out on tiles.

When I call betona, an actual person picks up the phone and answers. A dedicated in-house design team is on staff at betona to customize art to your project needs and specifications, as well as a friendly, helpful, knowledgeable tech support and customer service team.

For more information about my new “ann teliczan designs for betona” tile line, please visit the betona website here. Or call them at 866.248.8832.

 

Michigan Sweet Spot Crabapple tree blooms
Beautiful spring crabapple blooms at Ada Park.

A couple of days ago I saw on facebook that Betsy Ratsch, from Betsy Ratsch Pottery, had commented on the amazing crabapple blooms in Ada Park on Buttrick. I decided to blast on over there and see what all the commotion was about and was sure glad I did. First off, there was this wonderful crabapple perfume permeating the park, topped off by beautiful blooming trees everywhere.

As I was leaving this dude with a guitar walked by and told me that he comes there just before sunset because the light is so pretty and “it beats playing at home.” Well played sir, well played.

ADA FLOODING 2013 UPDATE: 4/19/13, evening… downtown Ada is starting to flood. Ada Drive is now impassable. The river is clearly higher than it was just a few hours ago.

LOWELL FLOODING 2013 UPDATE 4/19/13

GRAND RAPIDS FLOODING 2013 4/18/13

Because of the flooding in Grand Rapids I spent my afternoon and evening exploring the flooding in Grand Rapids, Ada and West Michigan, I’ve not seen anything like it, ever. The worst part is that the flooding won’t peak until this weekend when the Grand River will hit 24.76 ft – the record is 19.5 ft. I made the YouTube movie in this post this afternoon when the river was at 18.89 ft.

WMEAC (the West Michigan Environmental Council) is requesting volunteers on Friday 6/19/13 beginning at 8:00 AM to to sandbag the Grand Rapids Wastewater Treatment Plant at 660 Market Ave SW, Grand Rapids, MI 49503 please sign up here to help.

For those of you caught up in the flooding, my heart goes out to you. Please be safe.

 

I’m looking forward to ArtPrize this year. I have a great piece to enter, was mesmerized by the Chinese Lantern Launch in 2012 and Time Magazine listed Grand Rapids’ ArtPrize as a top five festive event that people won’t want to miss in 2013. All in all, after two years of sitting on the sidelines, I’m in. I took the YouTube movie featured here during last year’s event.

 

Michigan Sweet Spot
You never know what you’ll find on an early morning walk. Permission is granted to use this photo as long as it links back to MichiganSweetSpot.com.

Ever notice how the world looks different in the morning? The sun shines a little prettier, the air smells fresher and the birds sing louder? One early morning my buddy Amy and I were walking on a favorite trail in our neighborhood and spotted spider webs everywhere. We were both surprised at how busy the spiders had been overnight. The picture below, gives a hint at the scope of their work. I need more morning walks now that spring has started to sprung. For a comprehensive list of trails in Michigan, check out the MichiganTrailMap website here.

Even the trees were loaded with spider webs.
Even the trees were loaded with spider webs.
Michigan Sweet Spot Spider webs
Spider webs coated everything that morning, including the fence along the river. Permission is granted to use this photo online, as long as it links back to MichiganSweetSpot.com.
Michigan Sweet Spot hdr photography
I took this photo when camping in Petoskey, Michigan at the Petoskey State Park. Photo approved for use in blogs and websites linking back to MichiganSweetSpot.com.

Michigan’s fun loving Kid Rock was probably singing about this Michigan campsite or one like it in his hit song “All Summer Long” where he references summer in northern Michigan.

It’s a bit of a joke among my family members that I “hate” camping. I’ve been rethinking that after my trip last summer. This photo was taken at sunset, right on the beach just a few feet from my campsite. It’s hard to complain about roughing it when you can go to bed with this nearby and wake up in the morning to a refreshing walk along the sugar sand shoreline.

If you would like to plan a northern Michigan camping trip, here are a few campsites to consider. Please feel free to add your favorites in the comments section and tell me about them. I would love to hear from you.

Petoskey State Park: 2475 M-119 Hwy. Petoskey, MI 49770;  Approximate Size: 303 Acres; Phone Number: (231) 347-2311; 180 total campsites

Fisherman’s Island State Park: Bell’s Bay Road, Charlevoix, MI 49720;  Approximate Size: 2,678 Acres; Phone Number: (231) 547-6641; 81 campsites

Clear Lake State Park: 20500 M- 33 North Recreation, Atlanta, MI 49709; Approximate Size: 290 Acres; Phone Number: (989) 785-4388; 200 campsites

Platte River Campground: 5685 Lake Michigan Road, Honor, MI 49640; Phone Number: (231)325-5881; 122 sites campsite map

Sand Lakes Quiet Area/ Guernsey Lake State Forest Campground   Driving Directions  Phone Number: (231) 922-5270; 36 Campsites

Leelanau State Park Campground  15310 N. Lighthouse Point Rd., Northport, MI 49670-9717; Approximate Size: 1350 Acres; 52 Campsites; Phone Number: (231) 386-5422

Lake Dubonnet State Forest Campground Lake Dubonnet; Phone Number: (231) 276-9511; 50 Campsites

More Michigan Campsite suggestions: here’s a website that has additional ideas with Michigan campsites ranked by customer satisfaction: Tripleblaze Best Campsites in Michigan

 

Fresh snow, a perfect way to wake up on a sunny Michigan winter morning.
Fresh snow, a perfect way to wake up on a sunny Michigan winter morning.

Snowfall has been disappointing here in Grand Rapids, Michigan the last few years. However, last night made up for a lot of that. This is what we woke up to this morning. I broke our snowblower blasting away at the heavy, wet snow, but luckily my awesome neighbors came to the rescue and helped us out.

On another note, today I noticed that Grand Rapids, MI was named the number one city to raise a family in the United States by Forbes Magazine… and ArtPrize was recently named one of the “Top 5 Festive Events in the World that You Don’t Want to Miss” by Time Magazine. It is so wonderful to see this state getting some love from the media.