arts&life

fairs & festivals

New To
Michigan

The 16th-annual Orchard

Lake Fine Arts Fair brings

165 artists to town, including

fi rst-timer Gail Markiewicz.

SUZANNE CHESSLER CONTRIBUTING WRITER

A

mong the many hundreds of art-
ists visiting Michigan to show
their creativity at summer fairs —
and perhaps getting a chance to enjoy the
waters of the Great Lakes — is one mak-
ing a debut appearance with a unique
credential relating to both activities.
A project by Gail Markiewicz has been
chosen for display at a new museum dedi-
cated to bathing suits.
Markiewicz, immersed in clay designs that
can seem like the real thing, will be repre-
sented at the emerging Bikini Art Museum in
Regensburg, Germany, where planners want
patrons to delve into the history of this
fashion favorite. Scheduled for a museum
opening in 2019, contents will include a clay
torso draped in a clay skimpy suit as imag-
ined by this artist.
“It’s another decorative form,” says
Markiewicz, who designs vases, handbags,
hats and other objects that look as if they
could be put to use. In reality, this three-
dimensional specialist turns clay into
a variety of strictly decorative pieces
with the goal of enhancing environ-
ments.
Working in a studio next to her
Connecticut home or in a garage-
turned-studio adjoining her
Florida residence, Markiewicz
spends her days going
through many processes
to achieve one-of-a-kind

details

The Orchard Lake Fine Art Fair runs July 28-29 just
west of Orchard Lake Road, between Powers and Daly,
just south of Maple Road in West Bloomfield. $5 (age
14 and older) admission supports a nonprofit initiative
to promote arts programming for kids. Hotworks.org.
org.

The Bathing Suit Torso

30

July 26 • 2018

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