Preparing for New Options in Vermont!

Beside taking all the familiar supplies I have become used to having in my possession as I have described before, I am also taking new materials to experiment with while I am away. I have purchased canvas board to see if I can print on canvas and collage on it. Instead of doing works on paper, I will try my hand at making an image with ink on canvas. I have also bought varnish and matte medium so I can seal the work. Then I will not put glass over it. It is an experiment and I will see if I like how it looks.

I also bought colored 3-in-1 pencils called "Woodies" at Dick Blick online. They are like watercolors, colored pencils and wax crayons all in one. Several painters I know use them and like them and I like the effects they get. I am willing to try them and see what happens when I use them in my mixed media work. Art is an adventure and I am willing to take a journey to new and unknown places and see what happens. I have an open mind. If I like it, you will see the results. If I do not like it, you will not get to see the results. The art will stay in the back of my closet.

Meanwhile, I am beginning to get my things in order for the trip on June 30. I will be in Rhode Island for the weekend and then go to Vermont Studio Center for my 2 week Artist Residency on July 3.

Packing for Vermont Artist Residency- How Much Is Too Much?

I have been fortunate enough to have done a considerable amount of traveling in the last 12 years and each time I go, I travel lighter and lighter. I hardly bring any clothes with me. I wear the same things and wash them out. After all, who is going to see me if I am moving along the itinerary?? Also, who wants to carry the heavy load? My poor husband calls himself the "camel!" Another trick we have recently adopted, is not to check luggage unless absolutely necessary. We pare down to bare necessities.

We also need to leave space for purchases along the way. On the trip to Paris in Fall 2010, I had only a carry-on for a week stay. I did buy quite a bit and found I had to leave a weathered pair of sneakers and an old, but oh! so comfortable, pair of shoes to make room for the new purchases.

For this trip to Vermont, the clothes are not an issue- a few T shirts, pants, a Shabbas outfit, enough underwear and nightgowns not to do laundry and I will be fine.

BUT, I am wanting to take everything in my studio! I have overbought supplies like crazy, my rationale being "What happens if I run out of things and I am stuck in the middle of Vermont? So I bought 100 sheets of BFK Rives, my favorite printing paper. Or what if I want to collage a lot of things and I run out of the kind of non-toxic archival glue I prefer? So I bought out the store and got all 48 large tubes of it as well as fixative and more matte medium. I overloaded on printers' ink just to be sure and bought tons of fabulous hand-made and designer papers for collage. I will have a carful of supplies, enough to last a lot more than 2 weeks, I expect I'll run out of toothpaste before I run out of art supplies.

Vermont Studio Center- Artist Residency

I am preparing for a two week Artist Residency at the Vermont Studio Center in Johnson, Vermont the first two weeks in July. Founded by artists in 1984, the VSC is the largest international artists' and writers' residency program in the United States, hosting 50 visual and writing artists each month from across the country and around the world.

The VSC provides 2 to 12 weeks studio residencies on an historic 30 building campus along the Gihon River in Johnson Vermont, an hour and a half north of Burlington, a village, in the heart of the Green MountainI am collecting all the supplies I think I will need to print and create mixed media pieces for two weeks with 24 hour access to a press!! How exciting and exhilarating!! I can't wait. I have several unfinished pieces I am bringing. A few pieces I need to do for the Fringe Festival in September. Some work I started at the Main Line Art Center in June that I want to complete and several ideas for new series I want to implement and then... and then... and then... we'll see what percolates up in the creative environment of artists......

Absence and Reunion- Trip Down Memory Lane

The exploration of memories and what remains in one's mind's eye in visual snippets is a fascination for an artist. What informs my work is what images are sarked by what i see today and what they remind me of from my past. I use circles a lot to symbolize the circle of life and how patterns are repeated in life. Harry Chapin said, "All my life's a circle, sunrise and sunset..." As I get older, I agree more and more as I see so many things repeated and oen thing reminds me of another years later.

Of course, it is not only visual memories that come back, there are smells, sounds and tastes that bring back past memories as well. Old songs, favorite foods or special smells that recreate experiences or special times.

These three mixed media prints are from high school years in the late 50's- early 60's. The use of black and white are reflected of the 50's, the 55 Chevy was my favorite car, the prom pictures as well as other yearbook pictures as well as the old television and other pictures and ads of the timed are intersperse with patterns from the times as well as monotypes printing in colors.

Trip Down Memory Lane- Absence and Reunion

In my most recent work I have been focused on memory and what remains in one's mind's eye. Images from memory are often included in the mixed media works. On May 22, I attended my 50th high school reunion so memories of high school have been on my mind. Reading over my high school yearbook and remembering incidents from those years as I reconnect with old friends, listening to oldies (some of my favorite music anyway)and remembering my hopes and dreams when I was a teenager inspired a series of 6 mixed media works on paper I have called Absence and Reunion. Here are three of them. I will post the others next time.

Revisiting the Edge- Immaculata University Art Show 2011

Southern Patagonia and Tierra del Fuego, the uttermost part of the earth, offer native forest and glaciers, fjords and channels. These unique and mysterious places at the end of the earth are some of my favorite places. So much so that we went there twice!! They intrigue me, capturing my imagination and stimulating my creative process. There are such extremes in nature there and so few people. It's so far from everything. There are not many people there but, the ones that are, are very friendly.

Several works inspired by visits there are included in the Immaculata University Art Show which runs from May 14 to 22, 2011.
Here are four examples ( from the top) Revisiting the Edge 5, 3, 4 and 6, mixed media prints. Oops, they got placed out of order.

Silent Narrative- The ART of Memory

I just got back from spending 10 days in Norfolk, Virginia at my sister's house in Ghent which is a wonderful neighborhood in the downtown area. The city is located at the southeastern corner of Virginia at the junction of the Elizabeth and James Rivers, bordering the Chesapeake Bay. Though Virginia Beach and Williamsburg have traditionally been the centers of tourism for the region, the rebirth of downtown Norfolk and the construction of a cruise ship pier at the foot of Nauticus in downtown has driven tourism to become an increasingly important part of the city's economy. There are many museums and attractions in the area. I especially enjoy the Chrysler Museum of Art and the d'Art Center both of which are very close to where she lives.

The two images I have shown are from a series I call Silent Narrative and are # 1 and 2. They were inspired by bits of memory and what comes forward into the present when you spend time with family.