"Waste not, want not"

I have always loved color and how each one plays off of the other. Much of that play comes from layering when it comes to my silkscreens and now, my newest series of paintings.

As an art teacher, one gets left with lots of paint at the end of each day. Since my grandfather taught me to "Waste not, want not " I have always tried to use this paint rather than toss it and so began the series of small paintings, done rapidly and at the end of each work day. 

It is probably a good time to admit that until recently, I hate painting, in all forms. I hated it as a kid growing up ., when my dad would gather oil paint, canvases and my brother and I into the VW. He'd drive around the North Fork of Long Island countryside looking for farmland to paint. I hated everything about this experience and found it to be very boring and deeply frustrating. 

That created a divide that lasted through high school and college where I suffered anytime I had to paint. It might be one of the reasons that I fell in love with printmaking. It was so refreshing and different and mysterious. 

Much like my monoprint silkscreens, these paintings are 3-D : they have a front, side and back to them. And just like my silkscreens they are spontaneous : think visual jazz music.

This latest piece is the largest yet and like the others that came before it, it contains a little bit of each person who has participate in the Artist-In-Residence program in radiation / oncology . Like the quilts of yore ,made of shirts, dresses and all other manner of fabric scrapes that represented those who originally wore the garments now used in the quilt, each "artist" is symbolically present in these paintings that sometimes take months to complete. I love that idea...

New work in a new medium :ceramic underglazes.

The impact of one new thing

In February I incorporated one new thing into life : Pilates. Having come from the world of yoga, it was interesting to delve into a unknown world that at times felt as if it ran counter to years of yoga training. Since I knew nothing about Pilates, I had no preconceived notions , no idea, whatsoever, what to expect. There were beginner aches and pains and a wonderful, total absorption as I focused on what I was doing & how I was doing it. Soon, old pains ebbed away. Pains I had lived with for years and had assumed would be with me for life. I began to look forward to class as it got less foreign and slightly familiar. The challenge began to pull me in. Could I do this? Was there anything I could not do? I imagined those parts of our brain the activate when we learn began to buzz. My batteries,which had been at an all time low since last August when my mom was ill and came to stay with me, began to recharge. My mood lifted too. They say exercise is addictive. I think addiction comes from all of the good that comes from this working with ones body. I still struggle with aspects, 3 months into this new adventure: I have yet to meet my "core" but I am getting better at pretending it exists. And as warmer weather arrives, I revert to my training in yoga and try practicing with awareness , feeling those "edges" and taking care not to venture into the world of injury spurred on by pride and the thrill of being and doing. If you are ever able to-try this thing call Pilates. At the moment, I can not imagine life without it.

Home work

(fall comes to a Governors island picnic & the Highline)

2 relatively new things to do here in NYC that I actually give as "homework" to clients & friends because I have found both to be so wonderful (& often full of art) .

Governors Island & The Highline. This weekend is the last for Governors Island until next spring -which makes no sense to me as I would think it to be the perfect place to go in fall & winter & often I find myself wondering-what must Halloween be like on the island? What must it look like covered in snowfall? Until the island gets its own webcam-like Niagra Falls has-I will never know.

If you are in the process of creating a 2012 to-do list :add the island to it & go see the Highline today! It is fascinating how this one project has altered the surrounding area. (Chelsea Market has played a big part too . The hallways there are sprinkled with art & they really know how to take advantage of their space come Halloween & the winter holidays, making them another wonderful place to visit if you never have.)

color

I have almost always loved color as an element in both art & life. The only exception to this was the years that I focused on the magic of etching and lithography -which , for me was all about black and white and veils of gray.

Yesterday I was sorting through my flat files full of art, looking for pieces to submit for an upcoming show. As I put them up on the wall to better to see, I began playing around with my new favorite tool: photo booth. It has it's limits but those limits somehow also help to make using it irresistibly challenging.

I only wish there were a way for me to take it out & about. I would love to photograph the sky , birds, trees, snowfall and oh so many other images-just to see how it would or might not turn out.

New

I was in an Apple store recently and noticed "Photo Booth" on the tool bar and the artist in me began to play . It sure has a way of making a simple sheet of postage stamps look rather spectacular!

NEW years resolutions

Can it be too soon to be mulling over one's New Years resolutions? I think not. Especially not this year.

2010 was not the greatest of years. Too much medical goings on for my taste. But maybe that was meant to be. Maybe things have to happen in order to propel us on to other things. With that in mind I am going to begin thinking about what I would love to have 2011 be about.

Henna , before and after

I was lucky enough to have a real artist do one last display of henna on my left hand today. The first photo is of the henna paste drawing-thus the dark and even color. The paste is very 3 dimensional and the process of application is reminiscent of cake icing. (Any lighter areas show where the paste has already dried and flaked off)

The second photograph shows the stain left behind once the paste is removed-shades of reddish brown and very uneven. Seemingly, different parts of the body stain differently-the palm being one of the areas that shows the color most deeply.

Fascinating.

henna and L.A.F.

Still not much new here. Some excitement though: Clients at the hospital I work at were wonderful enough to bring in some henna and they created lovely designs on the hands of the nurses & I. (I happen to love henna and explored it's use years ago-perhaps it is time to return to this "medium" as it is all about pattern & design...)

And on the same day, Mr. Lance Armstrong came to visit at the hospital. Thus the LIVESTRONG bracelet. Quite exciting.

Nothing new here...

There is very little that is new going on these days here.

I did try acupuncture for the very first time last Saturday as past of a mind body lecture . Much as I believe in alternative and complimentary approaches I am sorry to report I noticed nothing during the 30 minutes I sat with 5 needles in each ear and felt no impact afterward either. Very disappointing!

Summer feels as if it has gotten off to a very slow start. Everything interesting seems far off-on the horizon. One thing I am looking forward to is a collection of all different types of Volkswagens that will congregate on Governors Island this August. Should be very interesting-my parents always loved their Volkswagens and I have lots of childhood memories that revolve around them...

Baking

I usually do not bake. The kitchen is the size of a closet. The oven no longer works. The cats get in the way. The music on NPR/WQXR is never right for baking.

This Sunday I baked-because I had to.

I had read about a poppyseed and lemon rind pancake w/ ricotta cheese and actually bought ricotta cheese and poppy seeds several weeks ago and I now knew the ricotta was going to start to go if I kept it any longer. So I had to make it now. Underwhelming.

A whole bunch of bananas was turning ripe over night, simultaneously. That meant banana bread was the next project. Burned the top in an effort to cook the middle. Hate that burning thing that sometimes happens. Then you have to say "Want some banana bread?You'll just have to cut off the burned part...." . I made sure to feed it to people who had not eaten home made anything in weeks. They loved it. Thanks Mom & Dad!

Next up cookies and cake for a good bye party Tuesday evening. I mixed up batches of things only to realize I had run out of chocolate and vanilla. Hate that running out of key ingredients thing. Back from 2 stores I battled with the new convection oven -cookies seemed to do O.K. but cake iffy. This might not be the oven for cakes. Good bye cakes!

Made mocha whipped cream to cover any sins visible on the cake top surface.

I like baking because it makes everything smell wonderful. I also like that home made anything is probably better for you that store bought stuff. And I do try , more and more, to cook with organic and healthy versions of ingredients (did you know maple sugar -supposidly better that regular sugar-costs an arm and a leg!)

But here's the odd thing: I am never floored by food. It always falls short when I make it.

This could be one of 2 things: maybe it is like my love of the smell of coffee: it almost always smells delicious but that taste of coffee never matches up to the aroma.

Or maybe it is the artist/creator in me-that high standards ,perfection ,expectation thing that never gets me where I want to go. Cookies were good though...

surprises, changes, welcoming the unexpected...

I usually say I like surprises. (Letters in the mail being one I love. ) I have often said I like the unexpected. (walks in nature provide many unexpected delights:flowers, the odd song bird, beautifully frosted dark blue beach glass by the surf...) And change is almost always good. It shakes things up, keeps you on your toes. Keeps one from getting too settled & complacent -without change , the unexpected and surprises life could easily become very boring. At least that has been my mind set.

But in reality there is duality. Good change/bad change/ good surprises/bad surprises. So when one says exuberantly : " I love surprises!" one is thinking unexpected flowers at the end of a long day-not finding out you have lost your keys or you tire is flat-and so on.

On April 1st I fell. On uneven pavement, my foot got caught, I went down (while walking down hill) and while the fall was broken by my left knee, my right wrist and the right side of my face, I did get hurt. I have not fallen like that since I was a very young child. As an adult there are consequences and ramifications : the sprained wrist leaves me unable to do a long list of things we all take for granted. I was so used to being able that being temporarily unable left me shocked , frustrated and bewildered . I simply was not used to being unable to do things.

When one is younger, a fall or injury is usually quickly recovered from. But as you get older things like this take on new meaning. They provide windows into what it might be like to get older, what it might be like to be permanently disabled in some way.

The last few days my right wrist had been getting noticeably better. I had really been enjoying being on the mend & seeing the light at the end of the tunnel, so to speak. Then on Wed. evening my neck got unexpectedly sore. (I had noticed it was hard to look both ways when crossing the street since I had fallen but that was such a small thing that I had not given it much thought-besides, my wrist and the slowly healing scars on my face over shadowed it.)On Thursday evening the pain in my neck became incrementally worse as time passed. Finally it got so bad I got worried. It was on a level where nothing felt comfortable , where just existing was getting hard.

And while I wait for the doctor to call and give me an appointment it has given me an even more intense lesson in the unexpected. In both cases, I had plans to do. Lists of things to do and put behind me. And suddenly, all of that fades and I am left adapting and reconfiguring.

I yoga we try and see things in perspective, try to erase the words "bad" and "good" and see all as experience. And since I am getting older and these types of things probably will be, more and more, a part of my life experience, I am going to try and do that most yogic of tricks, welcome this type of event rather than resist and fight and deny it's existence and reality.

The accompanying photo was taken on the long ride home from Cape Cod a few weeks ago. I picked it for it's double meaning. Wrenches tend to be tools we use to fix things. But they are also famously seen in an opposite way:"So and so really threw a monkey wrench into my plans..."

I am mulling over the cosmic duality of the wrench, the monkey wrench...

Good book to read while lounging under a tree in the springtime air:

I was returning books at the library and this book jacket caught my eye. I have been plowing through it as fast as I can (it is a 7 day book and as the weather gets nicer there seems to be less and less available time to read ) . It is indeed along the lines or "Eat, Pray, Love" but has a nice mix of recent politics and long term history mixed into it. I have just a few hours to tear through the last 150 pages and there is so much calling out to me that needs to be done!

I have not put any focus on my love of reading -so much that I read is on some level not worth the effort. But this one might just be one to check into . (And check out of your local library-an environmentally friendly way to indulge in a love of reading . I also love that I am not investing $ if it turns out I do not find the book to be worth reading...)

More instant happiness

I got around to downloading photos today and found these last few from our very last snow fall. I had NO IDEA there were orange salamanders in our neck of the woods!(It has turned cold here the past fews days and I have to admit I wish we'd get one last snow storm. I know, it costs MILLIONS each time it snows but I can not help wanting to see more snowmen and women. And salamanders.

Memories of trees...

...I have the most vivid memories of my childhood Christmas trees . I can't give you the year or my age:my memory does not work like that. But I can recall the searching through the woods of New Hope PA. & the "Motel In The Woods" where we would stay when we went to pick a tree . I remember the decorations - some made by my parents who are both artists. My dad treated Christmas trees like they were works of art-one year he did a tree entirely covered in silver tinsel. That was the one and only year a tree of ours had a strand of tinsel on it. The tree looked like a sea monster covered in silver seaweed.

In my memory it seemed like my dad always waited until Christmas eve to put up the tree. And we always left it up -sometimes for months. I can recall it being up (and decorated for) one Valentines Day. It also somehow managed to last until Easter one year.

Since "we" are products of our parents it only stands to reason that I do something very similar - our tree was "procured" on Christmas Day (in the pouring rain) and it never really got decorated this year because of it's late arrival. But I did cover it in homemade hearts come February and it technically made it into March this year:

Last weekend I cut off all of it's branches. The needles had gotten to the point where they would fall off, en masse , if -by mistake of course-a small cat toy happened to be throw at it. Imagine a raining down of needles, cats standing there covered and stunned. It was fun but it was also time for it to go. So I cut everything off late one evening and -being my parents child and an artist in my own right-I saved some of the needles in the tallest vase I could find and arranged some of the branches in another vase. I love nature and since I live in an apartment these little touches are my way of bringing the out door in.

The de-branched trunk stayed in the tree stand for the week-atop the dining room table. The artist in me pondered what to do with it each breakfast. That is what artists do-we ponder what to make of the things that come our way. At its worst-it can be a disease of sorts , leading to a unhealthy collecting of things and plans that never see fruition. At its most functional it is one's take on Robert Rauschenberg's & Joseph Cornell's fantastic assemblage/collage/boxes.

Back to memories of trees: my other strong memory is of the weekend day when my dad would finally take the tree down. He would spread out the big canvas paint clothe and haul the garbage can into the living room and turn on the radio and cut the tree apart-a lot like I did last weekend-minus the drop clothe and garbage can.

I knew I would be making more of last year's candle sticks out of this years trunk. I envisioned a forest of candle sticks grouped together on the dining room table.Late this morning I got out a plastic dry cleaning bag I had been saving and covered the kitchen floor. I sawed the trunk into sections and dug up my Uncle Peter's drill and the largest bit I could find(3/8") and got to work making holes for thin candles. The smell of the tree resin was momentarily wonderful. Sap covered my hands. It was fun and once done I assembled the sections on the table and fell in love with the look-the forest on the table top.

I realize I am the only one in the whole world who still had their tree up so this next part is pure silliness but: next year-try this with your tree. You will love it. There are no other candle sticks on the face of the earth that I would rather have and I love that they are made from Christmas trees and required so very little , resources wise. Photos to come...

interesting reading

There is lots of stuff going on in this world of ours. None of it new. Little of it good. On the subway ride home today I pulled out the latest copy of AUDUBON magazine (March/April edition) . I used to always read on subways rides - in fact this used to be how I got the bulk of my reading done as when else is there time!?! But I have gotten out of the habit lately, preferring both to carry a slightly lighter back pack & to rest , eyes closed , on rides to and fro.

Audubon is great reading and has delicious photos :this month's cover shot is a black and white classic of an elephant that looks more old time fashion shot than nature photo...actually it also looks like it could have been taken at the Museum Of Natural History from one of their dioramas I LOVED as a kid!

Inside was an article on endocrine - disrupting chemicals . They are everywhere, are largely unregulated and are thought to be having a terrible impact on the health of both humans and animals -an impact that might be long lasting if not irreversible. My heart sank. I got sick to my stomach. It is not that the information is new to me. I have heard it all before. It is just that the cumulative effect of what "we" are doing to ourselves and the earth is really weighing on me.

I know we can do better and need to do better. What stymies me is that "we" know what needs to be done-for our own good-and yet we are not doing it. I know it is tied to profits and convenience -the great loves of the modern world. But when the consequences are spelled out I am left wondering why "we" decide to take the self destructive path almost every time. "We" are brilliant and can solve these problems-if we decide to tackle them. And the resulting solutions will, no doubt, end up creating profit and giving us a different kind of convenience so why are we resisting this beneficial path that's win-win?

During my (brutal & disillusioning ) yoga teacher training course we were taught about "resistance". It is a complicated concept that vaguely explains why we resist what is good for us. But as I get older the idea of resistance seems such a poor excuse for not taking responsibility and doing what is right for all.

This is a long way of saying there is no excuse for our lax "Toxic Substances Control Act" and there is absolutely no reason why these substances-known to be harmful with well documented side effects-are still being included in an array of products (from cleaning products to food containers to lotions) . The Audubon article states that other countries are leading the way in this area and it actually hurts me to know my own country (and the big businesses that make the products we use daily) do not care enough to do more.

You can go HERE to check out Audubon's magazine and this article in particular and read back into their archives for more on issues like these. If this topic is new to you this might serve as a wake up call but if you are like me this will be old news that will make your stomach turn...

snow=happiness

Happiness comes in many forms. For me a fail proof source of happiness has always been snow. It is gloriously beautiful and I adore how it visually transforms EVERYTHING. I also happen to love how it slows the pace of life down and gently softens things. Sounds are muffled & smiles magically appear on faces everywhere. Snowmen epitomize the magic of snow for me and they would be a part of my definition for happiness. If you have never done so or have not done so in a very long time, I encourage you to go out and make yourself a snowman. I am willing to wager it will bring you a type of instant happiness and joy that you might not have felt in a very long time!

Why we love...

I recently stumbled upon a New York Times piece called "Life Lessons From the Family Dog" written by Dana Jennings.

The article deals with the simple yet profound lessons Dana has learned from his 12 year old dog Bijou & is written in the context of Dana's life with prostate cancer and Bijou advancing age and failing health.

The story itself is touching but it was the 28 pages of reader comments that have fascinated me. I have read a few pages most nights before going to bed and the end result is usually tears followed by a hug and kiss to each cat as I hope it is a very long time before I have to travel that road with them.

Much of what is written deals with illness and end of life and it takes any pet owner back in time:the search for hope, the identification of the sign that it is finally time to put one's pet to sleep. The strange phenomenon of the last "rally" : that hard moment after you have made your decision and called the vet and suddenly your pet springs to life and acts as if nothing is wrong-causing all kinds of doubt. The sometimes vivid impressions of those last moments-the heartbreak of it all-the smell of the vet's office -a compassionate vet-a peaceful end.

Most of all , reading the diverse comments felt like an exploration into the soul of man's relationship with the domestic animal kingdom. An examination of the unique love we feel , the bond we share and the void that is so wonderfully filled by any furry friend.

I recommend this for reading :

If you love animals it will be familiar territory.

If you have been hurt , reading this might heal the wound enough to make you rethink your decision to go without a pet.

And if you have never shared your home & life with a pet this might just make the interestingly strong case for the incalculable value of pet ownership.

As we enter February and move towards Valentines Day - this article sets the stage with it's expression of Love, Love, Love.

Curious? Go here.

A lost cat & 2 dogs in need of assistance...

Today I spotted this:

Lets get this cat home where it belongs!

& on the blog "One Bark At A Time" I read about 2 dogs in Toronto that have been taken from their owners and are scheduled for euthanasia on Feb. 5th. If you would like to help get these dogs back to their homes join their facebook page here to find out more on their story & go to the petition site here to sign up in support and make your voice heard.

I'll have a more uplifting post on Tuesday. Promise!

Helping Haiti

This weekend on the 4th floor:

Saturday we spent about 6 hours packing boxes full of clothes, soap, tooth brushes and tooth paste for children in Haiti who have lost their parents and family. We worked with 2 groups of very dedicated people: the fine folks of UPS & UNICEF in the UPS facility in Carteret New Jersey. (UNICEF staff wore UNICEF blue t-shirts, UPS wore UPS brown t-shirts=I gave mine to a UPS staff member at the end of the day-seemed the right thing to do.)UNICEF stickers were placed onto the boxes but secretly I wanted /wished I could have brought along a big red magic marker to sign each box with a heart. The reality is the boxes were built by UPS , handed to the assembly line of folks working in teams , filled and taped shut so fast that nothing personal could be done at any point in the process.

We came home slightly sore and feel like a truck has hit us today but we totally hope to repeat the process in the coming weeks if UPS/UNICEF calls for volunteers .

Sunday I have been digging through my tall kitchen cabinet , pulling out baking supplies and my tin of inherited cookie cutters (from my great Aunt Helen & Grandma Claire) and am just wrapping up research on what to bake. UNICEF is holding a bake sale Monday to raise funds for their programs in Haiti and it feels perfect to devote this weekend to helping Haiti, however we can. Wish me luck, I am not a baker by nature (one of the secrets to staying healthy:never become a master baker!) and do not have the usual stuff on hand nor does my oven (tiny apartment small and old and ailing)behave. It is one temp. in the back and another zone in the front so baking and cooking of any kind is always tricky. (Photo above depicts the collection of ingredients complied to make cookies. )