We still can

We knew it wasn't going to be easy, but at least we have made a start.

Year in Review - 2009

I spent my New Year's Eve sitting in front of the fire drinking a little champagne and reading over my last year of blogging.  My memory is notoriously bad, so being able to review the year this way makes me glad to have posted over the last 12 months, even if no one was to read it. But I've also made some good connections along the way, which makes me happy that some people have read it, so if you're reading my blog now...thank you and Happy New Year!

I have to say, for all the dissing of 2009 I've heard, it was not a bad year for me, and for that I'm grateful. Even though I often fantasize about ditching the day job, I survived two rounds of layoffs and I know, intellectually, it's a good thing. Unemployment would not mean more time in the studio, it would mean more time on interviews. If I was lucky enough to find another job, would probably mean longer hours for less pay. So I guess I'm glad I kept my job.

More importantly though, those I care about are doing ok. Although I would wish better health for some, we are all still here, still supporting ourselves and still getting along.

The most disappointing thing this year has been in my work. After three or four years of intense work on my last series, I haven't produced much substantial since my show at the end of 2008. I have been thinking a lot, but haven't found the same kind of focus as I had with my Shoemaker Series yet. I do have some ideas floating around, and found a special dune-ish inspiration last summer, so paintings will follow...

So where did all the time go? Let's see...

In January I went to classes at the Museum of Natural History in Roger William's Park called "Drawing from the Collection" and learned to love taxidermy.  I focused on owls, and it gave me some ideas about incorporating these little spirits into my work.  It was also very cheering (if freezing) to hop on an overnight bus to attend the inauguration in Washington. It was a great experience to feel so hopeful about the shift in direction our country chose, and although everything is far from wonderful, I still feel hopeful to have someone leading this country who can think in more than one dimension. I had washed my hands of the judgment of the American Public, so had to promptly unwash them.


My friend Mary Grady was the one who got me out into January's cold on those adventures. Her's usually take place up in the sky, so check out her site if you like all things aviation.

In February I said goodbye to my 1989 Toyota pickup. You would think swapping it for a new 2009 version would be exciting but I still feel a pang when I think about it and wonder if I did the right thing. The new truck is much smoother, but bigger and not nearly as friendly. But I gave my old truck to my college-age niece, so I get to take it for a spin once in a while. I have to admit I'm amazed at how stiff, pokey and noisy it rides now that I'm used to the other. But it served me well for 20 years and delivered a lot of paintings. 

In March I found out that one of the national park artist residencies I had applied for had accepted me. In fact, I was to be the first AIR at Great Dunes National Park.  A few weeks later, I got a phone call which told me that my name was chosen in a lottery to stay in dune shack on Cape Cod.

Quite a coincidence, and it was nice to be able to anticipate hiking barefoot through the dunes to get me through the blustery chill of March.

As excited as I was about planning my next residency, I still owed Mesa Verde a painting from my 2008 residency there. I finished it in June,  just over the year deadline. Those at the park were very patient and resisted showing up at my studio door with their flat rimmed ranger hats and crisp khaki uniforms to seize what I owed them. I'm glad they like it when it finally arrived. 

In August, after a little angst about whether I could get the time off work, and keeping a nervous eye on Hurricane Bill which was charging up the coast, I was dropped off at the dune shack Thalassa and spent an idyllic week there, hiking over the dunes and along the shore, watching the huge waves kicked up by the hurricane, drawing, swimming and entertaining a few guests.

Thalassa

I hardly had time to shake the sand out of my shoes before heading out to Colorado and  Great Sand Dunes National Park in September.  The dunes were much higher there, but worth the climbing. I'm still working on posting my journal, but the first two installments can be found here.



The rest of the fall was spent in getting my application out for Denali National Park (rejected!) and happily sorting through some exhibition opportunities which have come my way. I drop off the paintings for the first one, at Bert Gallery in Providence, tomorrow and will have more details soon.

It will be nice to move some of my paintings out of the cold studio and into nice warm gallery space.  And it will be nice to move me into the cold studio to make more...

Here's to 2010, it's going to be a good year.

Portrait for the Artist post the Wrong Man

The post office I usually go to in downtown Providence also is used as an extension of the Federal Courthouse. "In light of the events of Sept. 11", all packages that enter this post office must be sent through airport-type scanners before mailing. Then they are given a stamp that lends them an edgy cache — "SCANNED - U.S. Federal Marshalls Department" hand signed and dated. If you want your package to excite anticipation, it's definitely the post office for you.

The downside is that for many years mounted on the wall above the scanning machines amd leering down from their official portraits were the beady eyes Bush and Cheney. Which wasn't the only reason that I looked forward to January 20, 2008, but I'd be lying if I said it wasn't right up there.

It seems like the nation and my post office couldn't wait to take those portraits down, but the new ones took awhile to fill the blank spaces. Today I went to mail a package containing my painting exhibit catalog (the art connection, to distinguish this from a political blog) and looked up to see this. It was worth the wait. No pic of the vice president yet, but I'm Biden my time.

Perhaps someday we'll see the portraits of the former administration on another wall of the post office, next to the bulletin board.

Following leaders - Don Primiano and Barack Obama

The opening at Imago for Don Primiano was packed, and to talk to the master himself one had to get in line. There is still plenty of time to see the show, its up until Jan. 31, details can be found HERE.

"Don Primiano, now 84 years old, started Don's Art Shop in 1955. Despite opinions that his business would never get off the ground, his business had an incredible flow of local artists and those who wished to become artists. He taught numerous classes, offered a wonderful array of art supplies, and offered a comfortable setting for people to come, even if it was just to visit. Don Primiano is an icon in Warren. His outgoing personality and friendly approach has won him hundreds of friends. " READ MORE...

And don't forget to check out an audio slideshow of Don's war paintings, narrated by Don, HERE

• • •

I meant to post a detailed report on the inauguration, but after reading my fellow traveler Mary Grady's impressions I realized I couldn't say it any better, so will LINK to her's. I watched the acceptance speech last night again, and it gets even better the second time around. If only the country can live up to it. I wish I could be sure.
Above is my quickly edited video of the long cold journey from the Greenbelt metro stop, where the bus dropped us off, to the Mall. The exercise kept us warm though, and the high feelings kept us cheery. A good time was had by all...

The best day in DC in a long time....

CLICK TO ENLARGE

I returned from the Inauguration at 6:30 this morning when our shabby tour bus pulled into Providence. Lying in wait were camera crews from 2 local TV stations following up on their "Rhode Islanders travel to DC" theme. One had cornered me on the departure, but there was no way I was now going to be photographed or quoted after almost 35 hours of walking in the cold and sleeping in the bus, without a decent bathroom even to wash my face in the whole time. So I slipped around the front of the bus, drove home to shower and change, then back to the city to be at my desk at 8:30.

So I'm not going to post a very coherent impression of the inauguration today, but will soon, along with a video of the movement of masses towards the Mall. (See the aerial view above.) All those people! All happy! What a world!

Sleep tight, America.

Screeching towards DC

The more I draw owls, the cooler they seem. All fluff and fierce little faces. Today I drew screech owls. The 2 hour class isn't nearly enough time, I could draw these little guys for a month. Next week though, it's on to barred owls.

After class, Mary and I went to the Liberty Elm Diner to plot our journey to Washington DC for the inauguration. We decided to bag trying to go to the parade since it would mean traveling light enough to pass through the security checkpoints. There's no guarantee that we would even see much if we did make it through the long lines, and since the bus is probably dropping us off far from the Mall we decided to enjoy the luxury of carrying provisions in backpacks while staying outside the security zone. Plus I'm hoping to pick up some cool inauguration swag and I'll need somewhere to stash it!

Other than that our planning consisted of how to stay warm and get enough sleep. Layers, handwarmers, and free museums on the mall will help keep us warm, earplugs and pillows will help on the bus. We are leaving Monday night, riding all night and waking up in Washington at 5am. I expect it will be an exciting day, and then back on the bus by 10pm and in Prov. again at 5am on Wednesday, which will give me just time for a shower and breakfast before I head to work...some of my friends say I'm crazy, all I can say is .... Yes, I am!

Preparing for a new year

Posts have been scarce, I admit, over this holiday season. After multiple openings for my exhibit Christmas was another flurry of of arranging rooms and setting out party food. Thank goodness nothing ever happens in January (except the inauguration—I'll be sleeping on a bus to wake up in DC on the 20th!).

With 8 inches of snow we seemed all set for a white Christmas but rain and wind caused the snow to retreat to patches. A record-tying day (62 degrees!) the following Sunday melted the rest and allowed me to open my studio garage door and begin to tackle the chaos left after my show. You can't tell by the photo but I managed to clear out half of it, and started putting up some insulating plastic sheeting over my screens. My machine seems right at home in the mess though!

I'm also starting to apply what I learned in my CSS web design class to a long overdue overhaul of my website. I've redone the homepage and hope to work my way through the site making it bigger, cleaner and more up to date. Check it out.

Barack the Art and the Ninth Plan

I went to Peter Goldberg's opening last night to see his photos of the huge sewer tunnel which was drilled under Providence, and to get a peak at my paintings. Everything looked really good, Peter's photos were very elegant and have a timeless quality to them.

My paintings were hung and lit very nicely, and I only had to switch two labels. Considering how odd some of my title are, that's pretty good. It was mostly a photo crowd, of course, so the crowd was decidedly on that side of the gallery, but it's great to get "exposure" to that group as well. My opening is Saturday, it'll be a fun party...

Tonight I'm off to the Blackstone to see my husband's band Plan 9 . If you like great guitar work in a wall of pyschedelic sound, head on over to Pawtucket. They go on about 10.

I'm still feeling real good about election night, every once in awhile I stop and realize...hey, Obama won! and it cheers me up. And to add to his talents, I find he is a pretty decent cartoonist as well! Who knew? This is from the Pioneer Local in Chicago.

Election elation

Whew! What a great day for our country. I knew I'd be happy, but I didn't know how happy till I was in the Liberty Elm Diner with a great group waiting for the election results. We stayed to see Obama get a healthy lead and then headed over to the official RI Democratic Party party in the ballroom on the 17th floor of the Biltmore Hotel where I took great pleasure in seeing McCain's concession speech. I have to admit it was a very good speech, he showed more class in that one speech than I had seen in the last months of campaigning. Had Palin been allowed to speak, I suspect her tone would have been quite different.


After that it just a matter of trying to crowd into the tiny elevators to get back to the car and drive to my sister's house in time to watch Obama's speech and pop open that long awaited bottle of champagne. A great night. A great speech.

And what made it even better the next day was to see the reaction from around the world. The sight of other countries waving the American flag and cheering made me feel very proud. It was a sight I didn't think I'd see again.

I know that this doesn't mean the world really loves us and all our problems are over, but at least now I feel there is some HOPE!

It's in the mail

The invites to my show are labeled and ready to be sent out, after I buy a bunch of stamps and sit in the RISD library to sort and stamp. I'm also sending out my press releases, awfully late, but better late than never. If you're not on my list, send me your address at EMAIL and I'll send you an invite.

When those are in the mail I'll have a few less things to think of... just finishing my frames, getting my email invite ready, finishing my big painting, finishing my catalog, all in about a week. But that won't prevent me from going downtown Tuesday night for the election result festivities. The show will get done somehow, lets just HOPE the right thing is done for this country.

Election/Exhibit Day approaches

It seems like forever that I've been juggling with the dual obsessions of this show and the elections. After the show is on the walls and Obama is elected (Hope!) I don't know what I'm going to do. Maybe sleep, exercise, walk, socialize, attend art events, shop, clean, read, see a movie...all the things I've put aside for months.

But my frames are mostly assembled, and I'm starting to attach the paintings. I'm amazed at all the hardware I have to buy to accomplish this task. But I guess it's not that surprising considering I have 20 paintings to frame. They have to be delivered in less than two weeks, so I think I'm on track, but without a moment to spare.

Now if I can just get some press releases in the mail...

Looking good while lying

Okay. I wouldn't care how much Sarah Palin spends for clothes. I wouldn't even care if the Republican National Committee paid for her whole family's makeover (although their donors might). What I can't stand is their damned hypocrisy. Their "just like you" "small town values" b.s.

You know who's more like me?



Notice who gets the credit card bills for this family. And you can't script these little kids. This video was recorded in July, when celebrity Palin was just a twinkle in John McCain's eye.

chaos

No, I'm not talking about Wall St., I'm talking about my studio. I like to think I keep it pretty organized, but it always gets like this in the weeks before a show.


In fact, here it is right before my Russia show, the last time that I went all out making frames.


I'll be glad to deliver the paintings to the gallery in about 4 weeks (gulp) and sweep it out.

But once the show is up and the cold weather settles in I'm not sure how often I'll be able to work in this studio. I managed to hang on to my day job, which these days is a good thing, but the bummer part is that they are probably going to change my schedule so I might not get back home to my studio till 6 or 7. Since it takes about 2 hours to warm up the space in the dead of winter, it will mean starting at 8 or 9 at night. I'll do it somehow though...I'm not going to stop doing my work just cause I have to make a little money.

Like a lot of people, I've been obsessed with politics lately. I must check the polls a dozen times a day. I'm liking what I see though, I hope we can keep it going. I'm also glad to see so many art blogs I visit have gotten political and show their support for Obama, so I know I'm not the only artist being distracted by this critical election. The more we are subjected to the dirty campaigning of McCain and Palin, the more I'm convinced that they deserve to lose even more than Obama deserves to win. If like me, you've been appalled by the anger filled McCain/Palin rallies, Edward Winkleman turns the anger back where it belongs.

Just couldn't resist

Ok, it's not art, or nature, but after last night I needed it to uncringe myself...

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