Visual Memoirs- Notes of Nostalgia

This series of six mixed media images was created in July 2011 at the Vermont Studio Center at an Artist Residency, inspired by memoir and the power of music and how hearing a melody can bring back a flood of memories, recreating a time, a place and an event as if it were happening again. I use monotype, silkscreen, images, colors, and pattern to depict snippets of memories creating layers of visual memoirs.

From the top they are: Melody and Memory, Melodic Memory and Surviving Memory. They will be shown at the POST Open House on Sunday October 2 at Sherman Mills, 3502 Scotts Lane, bldg 2. Come see them in person. The layering and colors really show much better.

Art Excursion to Pittsburgh- The Mattress Factory

The four artists on an ART excursion to Pittsburgh made The Mattress Factory one of our main stops. Originally a Stearns and Foster factory, this unique and delightful art venue has changing and permanent cutting edge exhibits of local and national artists. It is such a freeing and enjoyable place; it brought out the child in us. Yoyoi Kusama's art installations allow you to enter and then we had great fun in the two rooms she created. The blue one is called "Infinity Dotted Mirrored Room" and the other with mannequins is called "Repetitive Vision." Valetta posed in the doorway! Sandi Neiman Lovitz danced, Mary Kane and Valetta posed again and I took pictures which went on into infinity. What fun we had!!

Where would you find a venue that cuts a hole in the floor for an artist like the did for Sarah Oppenheimer's work called 610-3356? Or a permanent house for Greer Lankton's eerie "It's about Me, not YOU," filled with skeletons and other very unusual things.

The gold lame curtain stage is from Dawn Weleski's "City Council Wrestling," an installation that took up most of the basement. It brought out the ham in both Valetta and Mary Kane.

The Mattress Factory is a must-see stop in Pittsburgh!!

ART Excursion to Pittsburgh- Fallingwater visit on the way!!

Three artists from ARTsisters and one from the Regional Center for Women in the Arts took a motor trip to Pittsburgh for 2 nights to visit points of ART interest in August 2011. We stopped at Fallingwater on the way there. Fallingwater is a home designed for the Kauffman family 75 years ago by Frank Lloyd Wright 90 minutes outside of Pittsburgh. It is quite amazing!!

Pittsburgh is a wonderful city. I had not been there in 40 years. The three rivers meet at the point. The city is small enough to get around. It is noticeably clean and friendly. There are more bridges in Pittsburgh than in Venice!! We visited many art galleries and had a wonderful time but did not have time to see the museums so we need to get back. In my next post I will tell you more about a unique art venue called the Mattress Factory.

Vermont Studio Center- Monotypes Part 1

These five monotypes are part a series of monotypes created at an Artist Residency at Vermont Studio Center which explores reaching your limits, exploring your edge, seeing the light both physically and metaphysically, and appreciating the wonder, joy and gifts of life, especially in the afternoon of life. The entire series can be seen on my website in the gallery As We Are Reaching.

They are from the top: By Gravity Alone 1, By Gravity Alone 2, Balanced for Now, Time Swept Up 1 and Time Swept Up 2.

Vermont Studio Center- The Object of My Affection

Now you know! The reason I was so happy and so directed for 2 weeks in Vermont at the Artist Residency- yes!! I was in love. and there is a picture of the object of my affection- the press that I had virtually to myself just a few feet away from my personal studio. I did all my printing on that press. And, as it turned out, even with more printers than presses, I never had to wait!! The timing was always perfect.

The amount of work I got done in 2 weeks of consistent creating and printing with no distractions, no chores or regular life responsibilities like laundry or meal preparation, no TV, Twitter or Facebook was comparable to 4 to 6 months of work at home. Of course, I would not be willing to give up everything I like to do for a very extended period of time- no social media, no TV (I do have shows I DVR after all) as well as friends and family I missed.

But going to an Artist Residency is something I want to do on an annual basis so I know I can focus for 2-4 weeks on my art and get a lot done in a short, saturated fabulous time in the mountains of Vermont with the object of my affection once again.

Vermont Studio Center-Barbara White Print Studio

Having a print studio available 24/6 (I observe the Sabbath and do not print on Saturdays) was a dream set-up! The Barbara White Studio on Main Street has a large print studio that accommodated the 4 printers scheduled for July very well, especially since Sage Dawson was preparing her collograph plates the whole time I was there and rarely used the press. Deborah Sosower did a lot of hand printing because she made some very large woodcuts. She and I collaborated on a short series of smaller woodcuts with chine colle as well. Mariana Smith, the fourth printmaker, combined various printmaking techniques and drawing into her prints, including burning which she did in the sculpture building.

As you can see from the photographs, taken by Sage Dawson, the print studio is comprised of 2 rooms and has two presses. There is a lot of room for preparing the plates and for cleaning up after. The pictures show the space for all of us. Each artist also has a private studio. In the next post, I will show more of the smaller print studio that was next to my private studio where I printed most of my work.

Vermont Studio Center- Fellow Artists

The joy of an Artist Residency is having studio space and the focus of undiluted time to spend on your work times the community of like-minded people around you who are also artists with the same passion and commitment to their work. It is a pleasure to be in such an environment and interact with artists of different media and styles, but who all love what they do.

Pictured above are some of the people I enjoyed meeting: Top photo shows Sage Dawson and Masako Miki both fellow printmakers.

The next photo is my dream Vermonter (who actually lived in Connecticut) but put here to be sure you are paying attention!!

Steve Locke is the Visiting Artist from Boston who lectured and then spent time with those of us who signed up for a critique. He was so generous with his time and insights.

The bottom photo is Lenore Shapiro, a writer, who roomed across the hall from me and was returning for her 6th visit to Vermont Studio Center to finishing editing a young adult novel on the Holocaust. She is 80 years old, a lively and intelligent person to pal around with and have late night conversation with.

There were so many others whose pictures I did not get. Unfortunately I rarely had my camera with me.