the old torpedo factory

 On my last afternoon just before catching my flight home, I visited the old torpedo factory in Alexandria, Virginia.

Alexandria is about half an hour outside of Washington DC and is a historic town which may have been more important than Washington DCs current city center at the time of the founding fathers. It looks like one of those museum towns you can go visit combined with a rural English village. Some of the buildings are really cute and quaint, others are incredibly dilapidated.It's location on the banks of the Potomac river must have been logistically relavent in the past.

Now Starbucks

   Built in 1919 the old torpedo factory produced torpedos for the world wars. After the WWII it began to be used as a storehouse for both the Smithsonian museum and the US military- in 1974 a group of artists took it over and turned it into an artist collaboration with shared studio space. Today there are around 80 artists with studio/gallery space as well as an art institute which offers art classes to the public.

I was impressed by the great diversity of medium being used, the types of work being produced as well as the high level of the finished product.

I didn't have a lot of time so I am sharing the pictures of things that I liked or was impressed by without information about the artists. I am sure that if you are interested in any of the work I photographed you could find the artist at the website for the old torpedo factory.

 Chinese brushes:

 Sculpture:
Metal:

Ceramics/Pottery:

  I bought a small bowl from one of the ceramists. I asked if she gave a special price if you buy too and she was really shocked. That suprised me since I always give people a special price for more than one piece of art. So do the other artists I know. Oh well, she lost a second sale. I just bought one;)

Drawing/Illustration:

Paintings:

I really like paintings of windows

Do your recognize this pub from the photo above?

 Prints:

Photography:

   I found out after my trip that this photographer creates series usually of three elements, this particular one is rock, paper, scissors. Had I known, I would obviously have taken a picture of them all. He also does mixed drinks broken down into their elements- kind of a fun idea.

   I was pretty impressed with the coop itself. It seems to be well run and offer both a good working environment and nice gallery spaces. It would be fun to work in such a setting sometime.

My brother in law was kind enough to take me to a cafe in downtown Alexandria.

French pastries with gluten free variations seem to be all the rage in Washington DC at the moment.

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