I'm Back

The Hunterian Museum & Art Gallery in Glasgow, Scotland.

Well where to start, it has been awhile and a lot, I mean A LOT has happened.  First of all, let me update you on my show in October. This is the last painting I finished and one of the most fun to paint. I had a fun opening and I am very grateful that in this economy I sold two paintings. No press, but you can't have everything.

Because of this economy, I will not be taking the the winter off from my Trolley job. I will be working, driving in circles and talking history all winter. It has med me think about my priorities, I would really like to hobble together a life that revolved around art. To that end I have launched another venture.

I am making beautiful felted wearables, teaching felting classes and selling the materials and I am the gallery coordinator for a friends store/gallery, Bead + Fiber Gallery. It is located in the hot hot section of Boston, Sowa, at 460 Harrison Ave. I know what your are thinking at store in a downturn economy?  Well so far so good, I mean if we can keep our heads above water now, which we are, just think what will happen when the economy turns around.  It is a unique concept. Bead + Fiber Gallery shows contemporary Bead + Fiber artists. sells the materials  and has classes to teach. I am the felt maven.

This is an example of  the type of my work. The scarf is a Nuno felt scarf, which means wool and silk are laminated together during the felting process. The earrings are beaded felt beads.

I do love making things it is very satisfying, and then to see someone buy them and use them gives me a kick. 

Anyway, check out the website, www.beadandfiber.net, for my classes and I will soon launch a website devoted to B.felt complete with an Etsy store to sell my finished goods and supplies.

I went to Scotland to see my son Oliver perform at his school, the Royal Academy of Music and Drama in a performance called a "Panto". It was so much fun, they have nothing like this in the states. It, is geared toward children, the title is Mother Goose, but a lot of the jokes and gags are strictly for adults. If I had to compare it to something it would be a cross between, burlesque and variety. I loved seeing my son in his element. His girlfriend had me over for dinner and I swear she was rehearsing for the role for Mrs Poole. It was a wonderful dinner complete with meet the aunt, who is a delightfully chatty women. Though that said I  only understood every third word was said. I know they are speaking English, but there is only so many times you can say, What?

The economy really bit us for Christmas, I pared back to what really mattered. Having all my family and friends over for wonderful, calorie laden dinner. I made most of my Christmas gifts and the kids got only what they needed, new coat, jeans no big ticket items this Christmas. And guess what? I didn't miss them, and neither did they. It was a delightful day.

As I am getting ready to drive in the parade for First Night here in Boston I want to wish everyone  a Happy, Hopeful and Healthy New Year.

In Peace and Hope

 

A Sad Week

Work in progress 24"x36" acrylic on panel

This is a very hard week for me, there has been family illness, a friend and colleague is battling breast cancer and my husband is having trouble in his company. Sometimes I wonder if I really should be doing something, like painting which during times like these it feels very self-indulgent. I have not been able to make a living from my art, I do sell, but it is barely enough to support my art habit. But then I go to my studio, pick up my paints and the rest of the world disappears, so perhaps by working in my studio, I am keeping myself out of the mental health care system and thereby saving room form someone who truly needs it. 

Today, is one of of those beautiful New England days, my crab apple tree is blooming in my little "yardette" and the smell is intoxicating. I went to the garden center yesterday on my way home from the hospital and picked up some beautiful pale pink ivy geraniums to plant in my window boxes. Because I have to drive this weekend, I have asked that for mothers' day,  my family please plant my window boxes. That way, when I come home from my shift on Sunday, I will be surprised with the work all done. I am looking forward to seeing that.

Heard form my son Oliver, who goes to school in Scotland. He chastised me for not calling! An absolute first, usually, it get ragged on for calling too often. The year is winding down so I think he is getting a little homesick and looking forward to coming home. They go to school until July 2 so he still has a ways to go. His twin sister, who goes to school in Montana will be coming home the end of the month. She has already informed me that our home is going to be a youth hostel this summer, with dozens of her friends coming to Boston to visit. I don't really mind, secretly, I really enjoy all that youthful energy.

New Routines

Work in Progress (no title yet) for the series Pulp Fiction acrylic on wood 24"x36"

I just spent three days driving in circles talking history on the streets of Boston. It was not as hard as I thought it was going to be, and, indeed, I remembered about 90% of my spiel from last year. I really felt more relaxed about it, and I was able to joke and kid more with the guests. Still, by my last tour on Sunday I was pretty tired and couldn't wait to get home.

So today was my first day back in the studio. It is going to be a real challenge to get all the work done I need for October and get all Life stuff done. Like getting the car inspected, calling and scheduling the exterminator (ants), getting the garden ready, etc., etc., etc. Plus, my husband and I have started an exercise program, every morning, off we go to the gym. We both hate it, but we like how we fell afterwards. We have promised each other, that if we make it to 80 we will just let everything go. I'll take up cigarette smoking and eating foi gras, and drinking whiskey, while Chip will take up cigar smoking and eating double bacon cheeseburgers. I mean, hey, if you make to 80 you have earned it !

I have come up with a title for my show in October, "Pulp Fiction", which I believe will make all these narrative paintings hang together. I am very excited about this new painting, it is so much fun and so free not to censure myself.

I'm gonna be the movies ( at least my art work will be)

Pamela Boll, the women who produced "Born into Brothels" has just finished a documentry, titled "Who does she think she is?". It is about 5 women artists, visual, literary and performing, who against all odds continued to make art. Now, I am not one of the artists, but my artwork will be featured in some of the scenes. The movie is not up yet, but here is a link, that will eventually lead to more information. The actually took three of my paintings, but I don't have the others on digital yet, as soon as I do, I'll post them.

Me and one of my fellow conductors going on the NEW Tour

I am feeling a little frazzled now as I am  starting work tomorrow. Driving in circles and talking history, it can be a lot of fun, but after three tours a day, you are pretty wasted. I really love the people I work with, I have never laughed so much as when I am around these guys, and they are mostly guys. Remember in middle school, all the smart-ass guys who got sent down to the principles office for having a smart mouth, or being just a cut-up ? Ever wonder what happened to them? Well, I know, they all work for Old Town Trolley . They are a great bunch of guys, knowledgeable, irreverent, but now they have learned how, and when to be cut-ups. As jobs, go, if you have to work outside the studio, this is not a bad one to have. As a result of my working on weekends only, I will probably not have the energy to be blogging after work. So I will be posting Monday - Thursday, unless I get an unusual burst of energy, who knows it can happen.

Happy Earth Day

We could have saved the Earth but we were too damned cheap.

Kurt Vonnegut Jr.

Today is Earth Day, I sometimes curse myself for having been born in the Northeast where cynicism is practically a birthright. It is always an up hill battle to fight my natural inclination. So here's the joke. 

question: If today is earth day, what happens the rest of the year ?

answer: Pollution.

I know, I know not very funny, but it is right on the mark for me. I was watching some innocuous day time show while I was exercising in my gym, and this "celebutante" gets all gushy, with how she is saving the planet by buying Green sneakers. She already had over a 100 pairs. Now, does anybody besides me see what's wrong with this picture?  

Enough ranting and raving, time to go to work. I hope to re-finish the painting I started at VSC. I thought it was finished but after my crit, I noticed all sorts of ways to change and improve. 

Plus, I have to spend some time today driving (yes I know adding more pollution) around Boston, reviewing my history. I go back to work on Friday. I started reviewing my spiel, and have discovered to my utter amazement, that I actually remember a good deal of my blather. I tell the worst jokes ! 

Self-doubts and Affirmations

The Fall 24x36" acrylic on wood panel, 2008

What a wonderful day today was. It is so beautiful in Boston when we have spring, and it seems like we might. This is my last free weekend, starting next week I will begin my seasonal job at the Old Town Trolley Company. I will drive around in circles all day talking history. This year I will be only working part time, 3 days a week, Fri, Sat, and Sunday. This week I had to take my drug test, I don't know maybe there is something anatomically wrong with me but I find it virtually impossible to pee in those little tiny cups. And you are under such pressure, they mark the cup off with how much you have to produce, they stand out side the door to make sure you are not doing anything nefarious with your collection. You feel guilty even though you are not! Next Wednesday, I go and get certified with the safety conductor, I will have to spend the next few days rereading and memorizing my Boston history, as all those dates have flown right out of my head.

Last night my son helped me hang all my current work around my studio for a visit with our newly formed crit group. I was very apprehensive about the crit as I am suffering now from huge self-doubts, with the cancellation of the shows and going back to work, I start to question my artistic dedication and lets face it, my chops. Well, what a wonderful, talented, generous group of artists I have the pleasure of being part of, of calling my peers. Their attention, encouragement  and suggestions helped me to feel connected to my work and to my peers, and to even feel like a peer. The more I do this the more I realize the need to develop internal success markers and one of those markers has to be the respect of my peers, today that was affirmed. 

Man Makes Plans and God Laughs

I finished all twenty of my hula paintings, hung them and am more convinced than ever that I should do 100. These twenty paintings were destined for a show in Chicago, but do to unfortunate circumstances the show has been cancelled. This makes the second show cancelled for me this year, I hope this trend ends soon as I am amassing a great deal of work with no place to show them. I will put them up for the upcoming May open Studios in the South

End, which is not the same.

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Randy Garber at the Newton Art Center (my photo does nod do this piece justice)

Friday I went to a wonderful drawing show, titled "On Drawing, Surface, Line, Mark at the New Art Center In Newton. One of the artists, Randy Garber, who is a personal friend of mine had some of the more interesting work in the show. She was the only artist that presented  a different idea of drawing, her work was on paper, but because it extended out of the wall it became sculptural. The paper she used was a non traditional, piano scroll, and by suspending in on the wall she created yet another dimension for the drawing, light and shadow. The holes on the scroll, became marks on the wall and at the same time they were the absence of marks on the paper. Her work directly relates to her hearing impairment and the way in which language is construed and misconstrued. My picture does not do it justice !!! The other artist in the show whose work I responded to was Thaddeus Beal. He refuses to believe a drawing is dead and keeps working till he has it resolved. I loved reading his comments on his process. In he said. "I saved the drawing with the exuberant use of the erasure."   I wish everything could be saved that way.

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Thaddeous Beal, charcoal on etching.