Back home and ready to work...

The past two weeks have been a whirlwind of travel first to Hawaii, then West Virginia and Rehobeth Beach. It was great stepping into my former life in Hawaii with friends in Honolulu and on the North Shore. Went there to celebrate my dear friend and former employer Pegge Hopper's birthday and for my teacher and Dept. Chair of Printmaking at University of Hawaii, Allyn Bromley's retrospective opening at The Contemporary Museum http://www.tcmhi.org/cal_exhibits.htm. Two incredible women, whose work as artists http://www.peggehopper.com/and vibrant members of the art community in Hawaii is far reaching. They both at ages 75 and 82 respectively, look incredible as well!

Now back home, my Koi Pond Series is hung at Empowered Yoga Studio in Newark,DE and am getting ready for the reception next Saturday, July 17, 5:30 - 8:30 pm.

Also, continue to work on my nets for my installation at Fashion Center's 38th St. window... boys go to camp next week and I am looking forward to a block of time to be with the work and put it all together.

Spins

First Friday in Wilmington is a great opportunity to see what's going on around town.

Scott and I headed to the Delaware Museum of Natural History where Scott's squash buddy Halsey Spruance is Director and Stan Smokler had the opening for his exhibition Steel Currents. It was a very fun evening on many levels....Turns out that Stan the Man on the squash court is also Stan the Artist that I had heard about. Stan is a wonderful sculptor using found metals and objects that he transforms into organic forms that are unique beings unto themselves. The piece above is not in this show but has that lyrical and fluid sensability found in is work. Stan also teaches a week long summer welding workshop at his home studio in Landenberg, PA. Also, that night, we met a couple other accomplished sculptors Dennis Beach and Dave Meyer who assist during the week at the Stan's "Art Camp" (!)

What was really fun for me was going out to Buckleys for dinner and a local brew and talking about art with my new art buddies. It's always an adventure when you move somewhere new as we did a couple of years ago, but it is also a challenge (and yes an adventure) finding kindred spirits. I find that my studio time is that much richer when my time outside the studio is being fed by art and ideas.

Dennis recently sent me this link to her video on youtube that shows a piece currently on exhibition at the Delaware Center for Contemporary Art. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3gGFykAAO7M

Learning to Look...Remembering Mary Buckley Parriott (1926-2010)

I received my new issue of Gateway- The Community Newsletter of Pratt Institute in the mail today. Browsing through it, I learned of the passing of Mary Buckley Parriott. Mrs. Buckley (as we knew her) was my teacher foundation year for the Light, Color and Design course, and truly taught me to LOOK at light, color and the relationships between the two. I have thought of her often over the years and continue to remember her as I notice the red light filtering through the trees at sunset in my backyard. I continue to remind myself to pay attention and truly look, as well as pass on her teachings to my students and my own children, urging them to lift their eyes from their books or ipods to truly look out the car window and notice the beauty in simply looking.

This news comes at the heels of learning about the death Louise Bourgeois another artist whose work I have always responded to and loved. Truly an icon and a pioneer, I remember seeing her in person at the Max Hutchinson Gallery in Soho in 1980-81 where I had my real first art job as a gallery assistant. Max represented Louise, and there she was at an opening - diminutive with her long graying hair in a pony tail wearing a tuxedo T-Shirt!

As I work in my studio these days, preparing for my window installation on 38th St. in NYC, I think of her work and how it first influenced me as a young art student and continues to resonate with me as a mature woman and artist.

Life as a daring adventure or nothing at all..

I Love that Quote by Helen Keller. It is paraphrased of course, but the gist of it speaks to me about risk and adventure and not playing it safe. Spoke to my brother in law Larry yesterday as his beloved daughter Katie is off on a great adventure in Peru. Katie is a beautiful soul, inside and out and well travelled for the 20 year old she is. Larry dropped her off on Saturday at Philly Airport for her amazing adventure to Peru. She is down there doing internship and community service with an organization called Cross Cultural Solutions. I will be following her blog and invite you to do the same. There are wonderful opportunities to experience the world while serving others.

http://katiemaeinperu.blogspot.com/

Here's a picture of proud Papa Larry with love Katie.

PS. What I am working on these days:

Getting ready for my Koi Pond Exhibit at the Empowered Yoga Studio in Newark, DE

Installation ideas for my 38th St. Window in NYC

Painting my boys' playroom- the back wall is a bright blue called SNAP!

For Love not Money: A Global Mail Art Collaboration

Some of the best made plans, don't always go as you want but turn out just as well- especially when it is a labor of love! Paul Bonnelli and I were each given mail art partners in Mauritius for this Global Mail Art Collaboration curated by Eileen Foti of NJ, USA and Eve Kask of Estonia. Our Mauritius counterparts never did send either one of us a piece so Paul Bonnelli of Manasquan, NJ and I exchanged pieces. Here are the results which have been forwarded to Estonia for the 15th Tallinn Print Triennial.

Go Big or Go Home!

I did a second On Site Evaluation for NJ State Council on the Arts in April. This time it was to evaluate a residency in its 3rd year. Teaching artists Julie Deery and Baily Cypress is this amazing team of mosaic artists- neighbors and friends they have collaborated over the years in schools and public spaces. This was the first opportunity to see their work and wow! Working with art teacher Heather Hackl these 3 women are a trio of creativity and hard work that can blow your socks off. Here are some images from Heather's camera that I just have to share with everyone. What is possible, or even what is impossible. But as my friend Jeff Russell said in his speech to his son Isaac at his bar mitzvah these past Saturday- "Impossible is an opinion, not a fact."!

Something to remember as my intention is to tackle new projects in the next few months - Go Big or Go Home! (a quote from Maple Shade H.S. principal Scott Amauer speaking about Heather to me, but hey I am gonna steal that one!)

YOU inspire me

Albert Einstein said it best when he said, "There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle." I feel that way about inspiration... the good, the bad, the beautiful and ugly... can be inspiring - a call to action - even if that action is "to be." Of course, New York City as inspiration is a given- every where you turn. A beautiful spring day, just makes it easy!

I took the Double Happiness bus on friday from Wilmington, DE to NYC (an adventure in and of itself!) It was a beautiful sunny day full of friends, family (with a surprise visit to my brother), art and more art. I went to see the window I am doing an installation for in June, had lunch with Laurette and Jennifer, went to MOMA (William Kentridge and Marina Abramovic) and then meandered back to midtown and found this wonderful space filled with art. Habitats for Artists (HFA) has an exhibition up until tomorrow (!) at Chashama on West 44th St. They are a collective project that uses the idea of an artist's studio as a catalyst for mutual engagement between artists and communities. Laurette and I stopped by, chatted, drew on the walls and chatted with the founder- a very friendly guy named Simon from Wales. Fun, fun!

Here's a shot of one of the places I take my inspiration... my studio!