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.

 

 

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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.

Baby Its Cold Outside!

 

 

 

 

 

And you still need to do your holiday shopping . . . me too. But let me help make it easier for you. Brigidwell at 74 Seventh Avenue, just a few steps away from Cousin Johns, is carrying my leaf dishes and the Rosewood bowl. You can get a cup of coffee and one of Cousin Johns great pastries while you either contemplate which one or how many of the leaf dishes to buy because they are only $30 a piece or congratulate yourself for being the one to get the Rosewood bowl.

Each year I only make a couple of these in different shapes or sizes and different color combinations.

They also have one of my trays with my handmade tiles. For those of you who came to my open studio sale and saw the beautiful scarves by Victoria Beerman she has several of her beautiful silk scraves in the store. Several of the artist who were part of the Park Slope Windsor Terrace Open Studio Tour have things in this eclectic holiday pop-up store. Who knows if enough of you were to shop there it could be more than just a holiday pop-up.

Now for those of you who crave my landscapes and weren’t able to pick one up either at BWAC nor during the studio tour because they were cooling off in the kiln (sorry for all the heat that created in my studio) you can still get one or more for Christmas at COOP in Bay Ridge. Once again have a nice hot cup of tea or coffee and something delicious to eat at this wonderful little coffee shop in Bay Ridge at 9504 4th Avenue @ 95th Street. The R train stops right there so you don’t have to be out in the cold too long.

Please forgive me for the quality of the photograph . . . its not my medium . . . but you know that clay is and there is even a small paper collage. So for those of you who are missing your trips out to Red Hook and being in that great place where the sky and water are so much greater than the land, where you can sit by the water and watch the sun set while the water taxi makes its last stop for the day at Fairway, you can purchase on of my landscapes and from the comfort of your home gaze upon a city-scape that is changing faster than we would imagine.

You can even get a little peek into what I will be featuring for next year at BWAC as I reinterpret the changing city around me trying to hold onto the memories of what keeps me in Brooklyn. In the upper left and lower right hand of the photo above are images of the scene outside my studio window which I will see a lot of this winter.

Everyone have a safe and happy holidays spending time with friends and family.

 

 

HOLIDAY BAZAAR @ ST MONICA’S

For all of you who came to the Park Slope Windsor Terrace open studio this past weekend thank you for coming to check out my work.  I hope to see you again this coming weekend at  St. Monica’s  2016 Annual Holiday Bazaar. You will get to see what was firing in the kiln and had my studio and apt. so heated. I would show you a picture but its still cooling in the kiln. Check back on my blog in a couple of days and there will be pictures of colorful bowls, serving trays, small leaf dishes and my little individual cupcake stands.

I will be exhibiting my new work with a group of other crafts artist and there will be a wide array of craft vendors, fantastic raffle prizes, a special cash raffle plus a parish sponsored flea market. I found some great things last year I couldn’t live without.

So check back on my blog later this week to see what’s been cooking in the kiln or stop by my table next weekend at St. Monica’s at 413 East 79th Street in Manhattan. Saturday 12 noon to 8 pm and Sunday 10 am until 6 pm. I can’t promise you any lemon squares but there will be delicious homemade baked goods, snacks, and more. 

Don’t forget to subscribe to my post so you will always know what is new and where I will be.

PARK SLOPE WINDSOR TERRACE OPEN STUDIO TOUR

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Okay everyone so now we are just days away from the Park Slope/Windsor Terrace Open Studio Tour and aside from wanting to share with you my new paper collages there is my ceramic work both the sculptural pieces and functional work.

I thought you would like to see a few images of what you will see when you take the tour and stop by.

 

Victoria has been working away for months  getting ready for our studio tour making a diverse selection of beautiful hand dyed silk so there is the unavoidable possibility of something to give as a gift to yourself or another.

For those bleak winter days coming up silk is soft and warm and wonderful against the skin and she has found so many wonderful ways to create diverse and interesting patterns in a wide range of colors.

 

 

Now that you are all dressed up you or some person you gift  can equally set a beautiful table with one or more pieces from Lynn Goodman who has come back for a second year to show her work. But remember his is not just show and tell you can purchase these one of a kind porcelain functional pieces. I think she will have several large serving pieces like this one below.

 

These pieces are functional and decorative and come in a variety of colors and patterns. Become a new collector of her work or add to your existing collection. Better yet buy a few pieces as gifts and help start family and friends to become collectors of her work.

 

 

For those of you who have seen my work at BWAC you may also recognize the work of photographer Roy Capps. He has been showing at BWAC for a couple of years now but this is his first year being a part of the open studio tour. I for one love how he can capture the most stunning photographs of Coney Island in the rain. Images to follow soon.

And now me. A couple of summers ago it was just too hot to fire my kiln and I needed work for the BWAC show and decided to do something with the paper collage self portraits I had piled on the shelf in my closet. I volunteer at a local hospital in their psych ward and often had the patients do self portraits and I do one of myself making fun of myself so they can also have fun but then I’d bring mine home and as I said just stack them in in the closet. So in the heat of the moment as the phrase goes I took them out and gave them backgrounds. This fall I decided to also be more serious and took a leap in my approach and this was the result:

I am so proud of my new work and hope you will come and see whats new not only here at my studio and in my home with invited artist but the work of the many great artist here in Park Slope Windsor Terrace.

Signs in the subway say the Coney Island bound trains are not stopping here so you need to get off at 7th Avenue and then work you way here checking out other artist along the way or ride to Church and take a Manhattan bound train coming back.  I tried uploading it but didn’t work so I’m hoping that if you click on this  link 2016_map_listing_version6   it will allow you to download the map.

Of course as always there will be warm apple cider with ginger tea and a variety of edible treats. See you.

NOVEMBER EVENTS

As I wind down from BWAC and the Art In Clay Exhibit I am keeping myself occupied trying to ignore the ache in my jaw and the tooth extraction happening tomorrow and all that will follow. So I’m making myself delicious but soft roasted butternut squash soup that will sustain me for the next couple of days. But thought a more useful way to pass this time might be to talk about what upcoming events I have in November.

November 12th & 13th from 12 noon to 5 pm I will once again be part of the Park Slope Windsor Open Studio Tour and not that I think its not enough to come and see me and my landscape and functional art and maybe eat some lemon squares and cranberry ginger scones and drink warm ginger apple cider but I have artistic company. Fellow BWAC artist Roy Capps will be here with his stunning photographs of Brooklyn. Lynn Goodman returns with her beautiful functional pottery for a second year in a row. Plus fellow BWAC artist Victoria Beerman will be here with her unique handmade silk scarves. So come prepared to get a jump start on your art collection, holiday shopping or just nesting in your own home.

Then the following weekend, November 19th and 20th, take a trip into the city and come to St. Monica’s Holiday Bazaar. I will be there with a great group of crafts artist selling made in New York jewelry, soaps, candles, pottery, clothing, body products. You will have the experience of these treasures go from the hands of the artist to yours. Plus there will be food, raffle items and even a flea market table. So check back in a couple of days and I will post some photos of the work you will see when you come.

To make sure you don’t miss out on anything please click on the link to subscribe to this post. Thanks.

NEW SHOWS

Here are all the things going on since I last posted I guess a year ago. Sorry I’ve been so busy making art there hasn’t been time to write about it. I will try to do better this year.

BWAC will open again this weekend for our fall show Brooklyn Is . . . This show will include two juried exhibits. Downstairs our second annual Really, Really Affordable Art Show and upstairs along with the members exhibit of Brooklyn Is . . .  in the center aisle of bay two Art In Clay IV: Up Against The Wall with incredible work by 30 great artist. I am one of the curators for that exhibit along with Susan Handwerker. Stop by for the opening. To celebrate the art and artist there will be live music & great food!

But don’t forget to check out my new paper collages in bay one panel 160 right next to the desk so you can say hello to me while looking.

My landscapes and city-scapes have always celebrated the land and the beauty of Red Hook but last summer when it was too hot to fire I brought out my paper collage portraits that had been hanging out on a shelf in my closet. They demanded to be seen and now have taken hold of me. I love the experience of creating them, meeting the challenge of how to express what I want you to see and feel. Tell a story in an image. You decide what the story is and the relationship of the characters. Here is The Jay Street Stop

Some of the new pieces like this one are based on old subway sketches. I love being able to re- invent an idea. Whenever I am asked how long it has taken me to make something I have to ask you mean from when I first thought about it or the idea occurred to me . . . or when I first began working on it. Are we including the changes? The re-thinking and what it became. When I have taught I always said there is what you intend and there’s what you get and they are both valid. When working with clay you really learn this lesson if you allow yourself to surrender to the process the clay will tell you what it wants to be you just have to be able to let go and let it be. A little bit harder when working with paper it can be not as forgiving.

And what about my clay works you may be asking. I didn’t get into my own exhibit but I do have some of my favorite pieces on the auction wall. They just can’t live at my house anymore. There just isn’t room for both of us. I needed to let go of them to make something new because I’m ready for a leap. I took one last year or was it the year before with the whole Red Hook series but now I’m ready to re-see the land. But as I said I do have a few pieces on the auction and in the Brooklyn Is . . . exhibit. On the outskirts of the clay exhibit you will find a few of my clay pieces like the one here on the left. Its a rethinking of ASL for thoughts explode but with the hand over the mouth I’m calling it Unspoken Words. I’m not done with the sign language yet. All these “words” are hanging out in boxes in my studio and I am now beginning to “hear” them murmuring from inside their boxes that I let them out and do something with them so this winter should be interesting when the BWAC show is down and my crafts shows are over (I’ll talk about that later) I have time to think and experiment and that is the fun of creating.

But before I forget If you are up in Westchester or want to take a ride up to Port Chester NY on the same day as BWAC’s opening . . . but in the evening so you can do both you can catch one of my teapots on display and sale at the Clay Arts Center. The show is called Hot Pots.

This is my tribute to ladies who lunch of which I am one. When I have more time I will give you my recipe for my killer lemon squares. But back to the show. Its September 24th until the 10th of November 40 Beech Street, Port Chester, NY.

By the way if you wait until that first week in November to go you will catch The Hudson Valley Restaurant Week. There looked to be some great farm to table places plus a wonder time in the country. We’ve had a rough couple of days here in the city and looking at the water along the river and trees and grass sounds good. Not to blow off Prospect Park where you will find some great outdoor sculptures during this weekends continuation of Artslope and then take a stroll through Park Slopes stores and restaurants to see more art as part of Artslope. Bye.