3rd Annual Love Exhibit

Comfort III

On display during the months of February and March, 2011 at Bangkok Cafe, 25 Poplar Street, Roslindale. 

Boston area (Roslindale, Hyde Park, Jamaica Plain and West Roxbury) artists selected used various mediums to express the theme of love. Participating artists are: Kasey Davis Appleman: Mixed Media;  Gert Condon: Photography: Kathryn Deputat: Digial Print; Amy Joyce: Silkscreen Print; Bill Mahan: Acrylic; Jeff Margulies: Stained Glass; Chris Roberts: Pastel; Alicia Shems: Fiber and Beads; Glenn Williams: Acrylic and Janice Williams: Digital Design.

There will be a reception with the artists on Thursday February 17 from 6-8 p.m. Free and open to the public. Light refreshments will be served courtesy of Bangkok Cafe. For more information visit http://www.roslindalearts.org

This exhibit was created to celebrate Bangkok Chef/Owner Raungdet Titisuttikul's ("Danny") birthday on Valentines Day February 14. Bangkok Cafe has been a strong supporter of local art for many years.

Come and visit the exhibit--we all need a little more love in our lives.  I will be showing one piece--Comfort III--as seen above and on a previous post.  In fact, as I was standing in line at the pharmacy waiting to pick up my family's prescriptions, I realized how uptight everyone is.  I had one woman practically sitting on my lap in an effort to get to the counter faster.  I could actually smell the peanuts she had been eating in line on her breath.  Anyone ever heard of personal space?  But then, as I was driving out of the parking lot and watching every driver's harried expression,  I realized, you just gotta chill.  There is nothing we can do about the weather (storm coming tomorrow and people are freaking out!)

Breathe In, Breathe Out
price: $245
Crystals, ceramic beads, jasper, and glass drops

What we can do is breathe and realize that a little kindness goes pretty far in making or breaking someone's day.  There was this one woman in line who let a pregnant woman go before her and started chatting with her two-year old son.  How sweet was that? Then, on the way home, I made room for some cars to go around a fire truck parked on the curb, and the looks of relief on the drivers' faces was just so gratifying.

Anyway, I have a whole series I am working on with photographs of people and if anyone wants to use one of their own photographs and commission me to make a piece that is meaningful and specific to you or the people you love, just contact me.  Let's spread some love through art.

migraines=lost time=guilt about missing things=stress=migraines

Eden: Fabric collage with beads and quilting.
Already Sold

Okay, so I woke up with a migraine today and anyone who has had them knows how time-consuming they can be  First, you have the pain and nasuea. (Well, not actually first.  First, you get the pre-migraine, which I sometimes miss.  Yesterday's was the junk-food craving that I merely attributed to PMS.  Enough said about that.)  Next, you debate, do you take the medicine or not?  If you take the medicine, you sleep for a long time.  If not, you can try other things like caffeine and OTC drugs, but if they don't work, then the migraine gets worse and you can lose the window of opportunity for breaking it, and then you're really screwed.  It's kind of like child-birth:  There is only a certain amount of time you can actually have the epidural.  Too early and either the doctor's won't give it to you or it will wear off too soon.  Too late and it's time to, you know, actually have the baby.  I have child-birth on the brain as my sister is having her first baby any day now. . . but to get back to the topic at hand.  So, even after the migraine ends, you get this kind of headache hangover, which interferes with how efficient you are and what you want to do, eat, etc....  In the end, I opted for the meds and proceeded to sleep on and off for about 5 hours.  Now it's 4:30 and most of my Saturday is shot: I couldn't meet up with a friend, and I missed out on hanging with the kids and the hubby for part of the day.  I am determined to go out tonight though, despite the foggy feeling in my brain.  As you can see, the whole thing could become a vicious cycle, which is why I decided to actually write about it and post it for the "world" to see.  My thoughts are multifold: One, if I share the guilty feelings, maybe they will disperse so widely, they will lose their intensity. Two, right now, I really can't work on such small things as beads and sewing, so it's just a lot easier to type and sometimes look up at the glowing screen.  Three, actually no one in the house wants to play games or do anything right now and I am avoiding folding the laundry, so why not use the time somewhat productively and erase some of the guilt for not doing much today.  Four, sometimes the more you say, the less stress you feel.

Actually, though, I had a thought yesterday that I forgot to mention and which I will do here and now.  As I had been saying, I have reading about John Adams, and he kept a constant diary.  Sometimes of esoteric thoughts, sometimes just scribbles of what he saw and did that day.  They seemed to me to be much like blogging, but a great deal more private.  If Adams were alive today, would he blog?  Would he write, for anyone who wanted to see, all of his thoughts and ideas that he did on those tiny little notebooks?  And is anyone who writes these kinds of journals--be they electronic of paper--self-absorbed or is he or she really just observant?

There is this whole movement in art of journaling--taking books and altering them, or making your own journal of art.  I wonder what Adam's art journals, if had made them, would be like?

Apres Snow Day #3

Sunset bracelet: on display at The Store @ the deCordova

Metamorphosis: On display at Chestnut Hill Chiropractors

How are you all today?  Now that I have some followers, I know I am not talking to empty space, which is kind of nice--to use a word that my 5th grade English teacher absolutely hated and, which when I do use it, I cringe and say a small internal apology to Ms. Welsch for not thinking hard enough of a more descriptive word.  I just started reading David McCullough's biography of John Adams right now and I said to Nessy last night that sometimes I don't like to read it, because I feel so inferior when learning about all that this man did, while not having running water, heat, electricity, cars etc.  But it was funny, one of the passages in the book talked about how inferior Adams felt a lot of the time.  How he was constantly criticizing himself, making plans to be more industrious, setting goals, and falling short of those goals.  Not that I would ever compare myself to Adams, but it did make me feel a little better to know that a man who helped change the course of our country had similar thoughts and concerns.  He also seemed to vacillate between many interests, which anyone who knows me will attest to being one of my struggles.  But in the end, today I focused on one of Mary Oliver's poems,  "Wild Geese."  The first line states,  "You do not have to be good."  And the rest of the poem is just quite beautiful.  This poem is, to me, about the moment, about letting yourself enjoy your own place in the world, about nature and love and disappointment and ultimately hope. So, when I sit down to work today, instead of trying to be as good as Adams, I hope to find merely today and all that it has to offer.  Things like my son's small smiles, my daughter's exclamation that she loves to laugh, and the teasing that my husband jokingly did before he left for work.  And I think, how nice (there's that word again) that there is some quiet today so that I can share these thoughts with you.  Anyway, enjoy your day!

Now for Another Topic

Crazy Quilt: In process for over 6 years.   I can't decide if it is going to be one of those UFPs (unfinished projects), or it just needs a little more time to gestate.

Does anyone like sports?  I seem to be a crazy blend of sports fanatic and artistic, sensitive soul.  Now that every team I wanted to win in the NFL playoffs has lost--and I mean every single one (though I was a little on the fence with Green Bay and Chicago--I know that is weird given their "till death do we hate each other" personas.  But, you see, I lived in Chicago for 13 years AND I have a lot of friends who are Packers fans, so I guess I get to be a little indecisive for this one.)  But back to the topic, being a Boston Fan (capitalization on purpose) through and through, obviously last week was a killer, but honestly, each team I wanted to win in each game lost.  So I am taking this as a sign that, really, I should be spending more time working on art and promoting art than watching the sports games.  Maybe I could find a way to watch them in my studio?  No, that wouldn't work, because I really need a fair amount of quiet when creating.  I tend to talk to myself--out loud--which my son reminded me of yesterday in the car to my great embarrassment.  And I need the quiet so I can "answer" myself when figuring out a composition or color problem.  I figure March Madness doesn't start for another 4-6 weeks, so perhaps I can get a lot done in that time so I can reward myself with some fun bracketing with college hoops!  Given the time crunch, I'd better go work now.

Change in Information/ Thoughts on Poverty

Comfort III
$295

Correction:  This is the piece that will be hanging at the Love Exhibit at Bangkok Cafe through February and March.   Other artists participating will be Kathryn Deputat, Kasey Davis Appleman, Amy Joyce, Glenn Williams, Janice Williams, Jeff marguiles, and William Mahan.  Bankok Cafe is located at 25 Poplar Street in Roslindale.  And, this is one of the fun parts, there should be a reception --most likely February 17th, 6-8pm.

Anyway, I hope you are all doing well in this dead time of the winter.  We are bracing for yet another snowstorm and, honestly, I am not sure if when I shovel, I can toss the snow high enough onto the snow mounds.  They are seriously over 6 feet tall!   I have been saying for a while that I want to work on my upper body strength, so I guess this is a cheap way to do it--no gym fees and the like.

Next thought:  I have been reading a lot of inspiring stories of how people start non-profits to help the poor or how they think of ways to use surplus food to feed the hungry.  So, then my mind starts churning and I think--maybe I should change professions and really help people.  And then I think maybe I should do a series of pieces on these issues and then donate some to charity.  

In other words, as an artist, how does one reconcile the luxury of art with the necessity and need that pervades our world?  Yes, there are always arguments that art lifts one's mind and enlightens one's perspective. But it has to be out there to do that and it has to touch those that need it.  It's a conundrum.  I mean if I were a doctor, I could just say that my profession in an of itself helped others.  But art . . . that is a profession were the help and altruism is a little more subtle.  I would love to hear thoughts on this.

Things are looking up--as long as I don't slip on the ice!

Comfort II
$395

This piece is now hanging in my one-person show at Chestnut Hill Chiropractor Rehab.  It will also be shown later at a show in Roslindale, MA--theme of "Love."  I  like this theme--it is something we all need a little more of and need to give a little more to others.  It has been a good professional week.  Sold a few pieces at the deCordova Museum shop and was accepted into the Roslindale show.  Moments like this are too few, but are greatly cherished.  By the way, has anyone else out there become a cookie monster?  It must be the weather, but my family and I are eating cookies faster than we can bake them.   It's a little freaky.  Maybe the next series I will work on is Food!  Anyway, gotta go stitch, sew, and bead.

Apres Snow Day

Another day, another post.  Trying to keep up with all the Web-advertising/marketing is a job in and of itself.  However, work must go on.  We all enjoyed the snow day yesterday--especially my dog, who I think could live in two feet of snow quite happily as along as there was someone out there to throw snowballs at her--and I do mean AT her.  She loves it when they hit her in the face.  Go figure?

As for art, I am working on a new necklace design and am kind of jazzed about it.  In addition, I have started another version of Pear/Pair Trees and have applied to a juried show. We will see what happens.

I keep thinking of the Arizona tragedy and am speechless by its sorrow and loss.  Really, I keep erasing my sentences as I try to talk/write about it.  One sits here and creates art in the hopes of making people feel connected--be it to an idea or a feeling or a thought--and then all that seems so small in the face of such tragedy and evil.  I don't know perhaps if everyone would just find one beautiful thing each day--a smile, a photograph, an action--and carry that thing in their hearts throughout the day, then these episodes would decrease.  A simplistic idea, perhaps, but one I try to enact as I go through my days.  Today I will be remembering the park where I brought my dog and the icy snow-laden branches with the huge expanse of white untouched snow (that is until we got there!).

I wish an image of that kind of peace and beauty to you all each and every day.

Slow Day

Hello again . . . it's been a slow day.  Have you ever woken up with intentions of being productive and then the day just slips along and you find yourself procrastinating?  Well, that has been today, but seeing as it is only 12:45  I am hoping to make up for lost time in the later part of the day.  I did manage to find more storage space on my computer and take the dog for a long walk and think about pieces I want to make.  I must also be a little honest and mention that I had a nice long breakfast after getting the kids to school and read a bit--that was a real time-sucker!  So, after taking care of computer business, house business, and even defrosting a piece of fish for dinner, I am off to the creative races.  I wonder how many tired cliches I can use today?

But let's talk turkey (3rd cliche of the day):  I have been working on some of those pieces from the 100-day challenge and have combined them with a project idea from Cloth Paper Scissors Magazine.   The result is a nice little set of small mixed media pieces.  Does anyone else out there in the blogosphere also absolutely hate to cut matte board?  I find that no matter how well I measure I am always just a bit off and have to fiddle around with the board to get it just right.   It's kind of like adding the clasp to a necklace or bracelet--truly my least favorite part of the project, but also one of the most important aspects of making a piece look professional.

It's been nice chatting, but now I have to go actually work!