Trying To Staying On Top of It!

Let’s see if doing this at 7 pm is better than 3 am in the morning where I tell myself my mind is more fluid, but that’s probably because its melting from yet another long night in my studio. I find great joy and solace in the solitude of the night but the next day when I have to move in sync with the world, being up all night seems like not such a good idea until that next night when I am once again alone with the sounds of the night, the blue light from my tv and the inspiring chaos of my studio.

It may be why I love these new pieces that speak of the same feelings of solace and inspiration I feel when I’m at a music performance. You are alone with the darkness, the vibrations of the instruments and the emotions they inspire. At the moment this piece is called The Grey Wall but this may change once its framed.

There is nothing like the sound of a mournful sax in a duet with a bass to make you think about choices made, to be made or undone. For years I have been attempting in these paper collages to make something that rises up out of the paper resembling the free form unfinished lines of the sketches that inspired them but I was always trying to do it from a sheet of white paper. Now finally the shades of black spoke loud enough for me to hear!

I totally digress from what I really wanted to write about,  this Sunday, May 20th at BWAC. Aside from several really interesting shows – the national juried show Wide Open #9 in our ground floor gallery, members exhibit in bays 1 & 2 on the second floor and the juried Recycled show in bay 2’s center aisle. Time your visit so you end up in the cafe/stage area first for two or three docu-films about making art from found objects or trash followed by a discussion with several artists. That will be followed by John Istel’s Word Cabaret for an afternoon of persona performance poetry at 4pm until 5:30 with “I’m Talking To You …” .

But don’t forget to first look at my piece in the juried show downstairs and then stop by and say hello to me at the second floor desk on your way to view my works on panel #152 in bay 1.

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Catching Up With Myself

So BWAC opened today to a huge crowd in spite of the horrible weather or maybe because of it. It was a great place to be on such a crummy, rainy, chilly day if only because you could be inside but mostly because of the two floors with its three bays of art and live music and for the opening food. Getting my artwork ready for the show is always an overwhelming challenging yet highly pleasurable adventure. I go in with an intention and then it tells me its purpose and I love the surprise of its reveal. This is or I should now say was my panel at BWAC for its spring show called Transformation. I say was because the piece in the upper left hand corner sold this afternoon.

It and the one below it are created from my collection of sketches drawn on the subway. The show as I said is called Transformation and there is a booklet attached showing the sketches that became transformed into these paper collages.

After I installed my panel I left my studio in its chaos because I wanted to continue in this same vein and cleaning up is how I clear out my brain. However after a walk in he park with a friend one day and a lovely afternoon lunch in the garden with other friends the next day, when I returned to my studio I had changed and the work had morphed into something different. After days in the light feeling the onset of spring I did this

I had wanted for the longest time to do pieces where the figures were appearing out of the background and it was always out of whiteness as the background. But as I said while sitting in the light with the warmth of the sun n my skin, laughing and enjoying a great meal with friends I came home and showed how I love sitting in darken rooms having my soul filled with the warmth of live music. So I am now working on a series of this life (light) that comes out of the dark and makes us dream.

So come to BWAC in Red Hook and see the wealth of interesting creative sculptures, paintings and photography and then of course my paper collages. I also have a collage piece downstairs in the national juried Wide Open exhibit and upstairs in bay 2 aside from our members exhibit there is the exhibit of artwork made from Recycled materials. so please forgive my delay in getting this to you but I almost always fail at getting the business of art out there while immersed in the joy of making art.

ART TOURS & SPRING

Spring may be holding back but a new season of art to inspire the imagination will still blossom for 2018 in just two more weeks. While the bears were hibernating and other forms of life lay dormant I found solace in my studio. Please come and see what I and others of the Arts Park Slope/Windsor Terrace Artists have been up to this winter. There is a hint of new things to come in State Assembly Member Robert Carroll’s office window at 416 Seventh Avenue where I am exhibiting with a few other artists from ARTSpswt.

 

But this will only give you a taste of what is to be seen at the Ossam Gallery where in two weeks for two weekends I will be exhibiting with 18 other artists   Food and drinks at the opening.

Ossam Gallery @ 3 Seventh St. btwn 5th & 4th  EXHIBITION OPENING April 20th 5 TO 7 pm. Hours ~ April 20th to 22nd – 1pm to 7pm, April 27th to 29th – 1pm to 7pm.

That second weekend several of our artists will be also show with the South Slope Open Studio Tour April 28th & 29th 12 noon to 6 pm. So to help warm the senses and get ready for spring put on your walking shoes, bring your friends and come enjoy some visual stimulation.

 

 

STILL LOOKING FOR IDEAS

Need that perfect little (or big) hostess gift for someone special and you wonder what?

Maybe a small dish to fill with your homemade cookies they just love each year. $35 each

Something a little larger they can serve you your favorite side when you come over. $60

Or something a little smaller or larger in an oval or even more than one. $35 t0 $80 each

Their favorite flavor of tea and a unique set of cups and saucers ($75) or the tray alone for those mornings in bed or afternoons on the couch with an engaging new book. ($80)

AFTER THE STUDIO TOUR WISH LIST

So you went on the Park Slope/Windsor Terrace open Studio Tour and it was just show and tell for you. But now its after Thanksgiving and you are totally ready to think about the holidays and gift giving or something new for your home to make it looks special.
Winter is bound to come at some point and then a cup of tea for two would be perfect. Teapots priced $100 to $140.

Or maybe you are having guest for dinner and want to set a table that is special or you want someone to know you think that they are very special and unique to you with a gift.

Maybe just to show how special the evening is or they are to you its a black tie affair and you want to not only dress yourself but dress the table as well. Tablewear returns ($120)

Or maybe your appetite wants to travel to foreign places and you would like your table to follow suit. The Egyptian Napkin Rings with 100% cotton napkins can be sold in sets of two ($65), four ($120) or six ($180) or Africans with cotton gauze napkins in a set of four.

Maybe you want to make a statement with the leaf dish in a variety of shapes and colors.

Use them for guest soaps, votive candles, jewelry, keys bread dish or you tell me what they can be. For just $20 each mix and match.

Or is it your walls longing for something new but don’t forget art makes a great gift too!

Wait! I was about to sign off totally forgetting another returnee re-imagined and special. The Japanese wall hooks with bamboo plaque to hold scarves or ties, keys, jewelry, soaps and guest towels. Once again don’t let me put limitations on your imagination. $70 each.

That’s all for now. See that thing you want or need, email me and set up an appointment.

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NOV. 2017 PS-WT OPEN STUDIO TOUR

Working link to PS/WT open studio tour
Almost as soon as the one year ends its time to start on the next so I feel like I’ve been working on things for this years tour since last year. I know the planning begins at least six months ahead so the work just never ends. I had planned to write about what to do with what you already have that will take you someplace new and do a little food talk but life had other plans. So now you will just have to come and see for yourself at this years 2017 Park Slope-Windsor Terrace Open Studio Tour. Click on the poster below and see

Be sure to also check out the work of Victoria Beerman, She will be here with her silk scarves but on her site you can check out her other work. Plus Lynn Goodman will also return with her colorful functional pottery. So three flights of stairs three artist, three times the experience of exploring art from many different directions.

Take another look at the images below to see all the different things I will be showing from the paper collage portraits to ceramic landscapes to dinnerware. The dinnerware includes the return of my functional art napkin rings which I am always telling people to take off the wall and use on their tables and unique serving bowls and platters.

Thank you again everyone who came to the Gowanus open studio tour and if you saw something you liked and weren’t ready to shop yet here is another opportunity to get a head start on the holidays or gift the walls of your home with a ceramic city-scape.

Thank You

For all of you who came by and saw me with the great group of artist I was able to show with this weekend during the Gowanus Open Studio Tour …. Thank you for stopping by. Didn’t we get a beautiful weekend! I was able to meet a many of my fellow artist at the Butler Gallery where an auction was held with a piece from each artist on the tour and I saw what a incredible group of artist I was exhibiting with this weekend.

So for those who stopped by my table thank you again and for those who didn’t you have the Park Slope/Windsor Terrace to look forward to in about a month. Here is the poster for a little preview of some of the interesting diverse art you will be able to see in peoples studios.

 

 

GOWANUS OPEN STUDIO TOUR

Okay this is me trying to stay on top of things. As luck would have it this weekend an opportunity opened up for me to be a part of the Gowanus Open Studio Tour with a group of ceramic artist. You can find me here on the map. I will be at 18 Whitwell Place  the Shapeshifter Lab. BWAC just ended and now I will be there with the artistic mix of what I do and its kind of interesting that BWAC just included “semi-functional” art as part of its Material Matters exhibit where I exhibited my functional art pieces like these

Egyptian napkin ring set above or the  African sculpture napkin ring set below

But maybe you would prefer to look at the landscape of a city in a constant flux trying to move forward and still hold onto and appreciate our past. I know I’m in Gowanus for this event but that doesn’t mean we can’t enjoy the wonders of Red Hook by the water.

But that doesn’t take away from the peace I feel when I look out my studios window.  I like repetition of shapes. There is something calming about it like listening to waves. So here is the view from my studio window. Sunny days, rainy days grey days its like a lullaby  to see the multitude of windows and ladders to the roofs and endless sky.

Hope to see you this weekend and if you can’t make it the PS/WT open studio tour is only one month away.

CATCHING UP (with myself)

So yes once again I have failed with making things and keeping you informed about what I have done. But I’m sure these are opposite sides of my brain and one side keeps trying to retire. But my goal right now is to finish catching you up while my bath is running. This weekend is the closing of BWAC’s fall show. Yes I’m just now telling you but you can still see some of what I have done.

I love these pieces. They’re a new favorite toy I had to keep showing people.     

    

My latest paper collages based on sketches drawn while watching musicians perform. These are all in the regular BWAC members exhibit INTERACTIVE. But This is where I get to use the excuse that I’ve been busy as one of the 3 co-chairs for MATERIAL MATTERS: Innovations In Clay, Glass, Wood & Metal. Its a juried show so that fortunately I also was lucky enough to be chosen for. It was always the joke amongst us that we could not get into our own exhibit and last year we didn’t. But this is my design that was selected.

And these were rejected  but I was able to hang them in the regular members exhibition.

    

Napkin holders set of four with the napkins and the two wall hooks with bamboo plaque.

They all sold on opening day and are now replaced by the two holders in the upper right corner of the photo and there were two other wall hooks. These are all actually a revival of old designs of mine that first got me into working in clay or I should say when I first learned to work with clay. Back then in 1982 I drew their features on and now emboss.

But I intend to move backwards in time with this and show what was missed from the Spring Show. The collage below is called At Least I Have My Coffee. you will find it on the

poster for the 2017 Park Slope/Windsor Terrace Open Studio Tour (details to come) and if you come you will see Honeysuckel Days   and  What Now on November 18th and 19th.

       

But I’m getting ahead of myself because before that I will be part of the Gowanus Open Studio Tour. I will not be in my studio for this but you will see my functional ceramics. Well my bath is ready and I’ll be bringing out the teapots and there will be snacks.

Goodnight. My bath awaits.

I’m BAAAAAAAAck

I still have not been able to master creating the work and promoting the work. When I refer to this as my poorly attended blog people always think I’m talking about readers . . . but no I am talking about how badly I attend to this part of my business. I think if I had to pay for the site I’d might be better about this part but pay attention to the fact I used the word might. Its more about switching the brain back and forth.

BWAC opened this weekend and it has been a marathon for me to get there. Aside from my board responsibilities to get us to the opening and to stay ahead of the race I have also been working on Material Matters, the fall show within a show I co-chair at BWAC. There is not only the endless details of paperwork to get there but also trying to finish my submissions for that show (and I know for a fact its no fun not getting into your own show) but to make my new work for BWAC’s summer show.But I love every minute of the “work”!

Still in love with making paper collages this new piece is called “The Contract”

and I learned today my collage implies I know more than I actually do because a contract does not need to be on paper.

If or WHEN you do come to the summer show take a slow visually stimulating stroll through The Black and White Show, BWAC’s national juried exhibit in our downstairs space and you will see my paper collage The Long Ride home.

Sorry the better image is locked in my comatose laptop but then all the more reason to come and see the real piece. I love this one. Both of these pieces are based on drawings I did on the subway. Some people ignore me as I draw them, some move and some settle in for the experience. That is if they even notice what I’m doing.

The other piece in our upstairs exhibit (and you will come upstairs) because that’s where not only will you find our members’ exhibit but great music on Sundays at 3 pm and on Saturdays reading either from a Staten Island group or Word Cabaret a Brooklyn based group. But I digress. I was going to show you one of my other paper collages The Luna Sisters another subway drawing reinvented combined with my love of the Red hook landscape.

But before you even get to all of that there is my new fundraiser project for BWAC the ART FAN and just to prove how on point I was with this the CBS Sunday Morning Show did a spot on fans this morning. Last year was talking with Deborah Woodbridge from the Conference House on Staten Island and we were discussing the unbelievable heat of summer and came up with the idea of BWAC artist painting fans our patrons (get it art fans) could purchase and it would be a fundraiser for BWAC.

And our membership really arose to the challenge and did not disappoint. I love the diversity of what they created. Its so creative and reflective of who we are as an organization. Thank you BWAC members.

And now after a rough week I need to head to bed. My week began last weekend with my recently fully stocked refrigerator dying (turned out to be dust and heat exhaustion) and in all that heat I had to find something creative to do with the leftovers and also had to cook everything in the freezer. Good night.