Quartz Inversion

Hello Dolly!....

2012-01-01T00:25:00.002-05:00

My show was a great success and although I did not sell anything, I did get a commission from someone who wanted to immortalize their grandmother Dolly as a Christmas gift to her parents. Here's the finished piece. Apparently, it made everyone in the family cry....

Show is up...!

2011-12-13T17:55:00.000-05:00

The show at the Ceres Gallery is up and looks great! Thanks to Nile for helping (ie: DOING) the installation, and to Virginia for hooking me up with this opportunity! More photos to come after the reception......

Exposure....

2011-12-06T14:31:00.001-05:00

I'm just about done preparing for the upcoming group show, 'EXPOSURE' at the Ceres Gallery. Not sure exactly which pieces will go in, but these are a few contenders. Having had to pull a show together in such a short amount of time was a great way to get me jump-started into my next body of work. Although I'm not 100% thrilled with every one of these pieces they did steer towards a new theme. One which I am excited about pursuing after the show comes down....

Sneak Preview....

2011-11-14T13:49:00.003-05:00

I don't usually like to reveal pieces that I am about to exhibit, but I'm really happy with this new series so I'm breaking my own rule. These are a few small ones that are part of a larger series to be shown at the Ceres Gallery, December 12 to 16.

And then, out of nowhere.........

2011-11-01T09:38:00.002-04:00

Sometimes, good news is literally flung at you from out of the blue and you have no choice but to embrace it. This happened to me a few nights ago as I was laying in bed and the phone rang. It was my very good friend Virginia inviting me to participate in a group show this December at the Ceres Gallery in Chelsea. Of course I said yes, and I immediately started to conceptualize what I would show. Within the next several days I started work on a few test pieces, and these two little guys are a sample of the direction I'm headed in. These may or may not end up in the show, but I'm kind of leaning towards including them......

Hell's Kitchen.....

2011-10-23T12:39:00.007-04:00

"Corradina Ruggeri Tandurella"
My Saturday morning did not start out well yesterday. I woke up on the wrong side of my fabulous, plush, Queen-size bed as seems to be my pattern lately, and then as usual the weekend train schedule was a mess. I was already running later than I had planned and the walk through the Theater District to my studio felt more tortuous than usual. Why are there so many tourists in New York and why do they walk so damn slow? URRGGHH.

A very cranky me finally made to the studio around 2:00pm. I ran a quick drop off of some costumes for Elena and by the time I was heading back to the studio it was already close to 3:00 in the afternoon. I figured it was more than late enough in the day to start drinking so I picked up a bottle of Pino Grigio and some Potato Leek soup for lunch and started to work. The combination of the soup, wine, and having the studio all to myself was the perfect antidote to the grueling morning and I actually got in a good 5 hours of productive work.

"Freaky Doll"
I got an evening visit from my friend Bradley which topped off the day nicely and it was the first time in weeks that I felt satisfied with my day. Being in a funk is no fun and lately I've been stuck in a low-grade malaise which I am finding it hard to get out of. The best thing to do when I'm feeling like that is to get to the studio and immerse myself in something productive. Not only does it keep my mind from pulling my emotions into a black hole, it's always a wake-up call that reminds me how lucky I am to have the life, friends, and resources that I have.

Detail

(It) Works on Paper.......

2011-10-10T11:13:00.012-04:00

I still haven't figured out the whole inner dynamic that occurs when I work in a classroom setting that allows me to be less attached to the outcome and thereby results in a more open, free-flowing and daring work. There is a mental block of sorts, a certain trepidation that creeps into my studio work and causes me to work almost too carefully....too "neatly" shall we say. Being in class where there are no boundaries and no expectations, I just dive in a get dirty. It's been a long time since I worked that way. Probably not since my days in clay when I'd leave the studio covered head to toe in creative crud and feeling totally spent (yet elated) after an 8 hour studio shift.

Well, that is (almost) starting to happen again with these new collages on paper. Making a slight shift in materials always helps to boost my energy and sends a surge of new imagery through me and onto the paper/canvas/board. I find it's all about honoring your own individual process in the studio and not burdening oneself with expectations of what should or shouldn't happen. Expectation is the single worst enemy I can bring to the studio. It's just got to say goodbye at the door and let me play like a finger-painting 5 year old. And it's only then, when you lose track of time and space and you suddenly realize that hours have gone by without your even noticing it, that you have arrived back in kindergarten and you've created something so wonderful you just know that mom is going to hang it on the refrigerator door.......

A long enough hiatus......

2011-09-24T17:33:00.009-04:00

It's not uncommon for me to go several months between periods of creativity, so the fact that I haven't posted anything since April is no great surprise. I've come to accept the fact that I am an intermittently prolific person, someone who goes through alternating periods of creativity/productivity and rest/observation. It's during these periods that I spend more time engaged in other productive pass-times like sewing, rearranging my furniture, reading, and sometimes even cooking (although I admit that my version of cooking is heating up some already cooked thing from Trader Joe's).
Having said that, last weekend was my first real productive time spent in my new studio space (which by the way, I absolutely love). I can't say I'm thrilled with the outcome but I'm accustomed to the awkward "re-entry" period after being out of practice for some time.

I also dragged myself to my brothers drawing class on Tuesday night and I'm so glad I did. It's like going to the gym after being completely inactive ~ it's a great place to get back into the swing of "seeing" and flexing those drawing muscles. And of course, there is no better teacher on earth than my brother. Even after all these years I am still in awe of his talents as a teacher and the miracles he brings out in people. I tend to take more risks in the classroom setting and because my brother knows me so well, he can really push me to move away from my habit of 'staying safe'.

I did this drawing and then cropped it with my trusty iPhone camera. Because it's an exercise done in class, I'm not attached to the outcome, and because I'm not attached to the outcome, I usually walk away with a nice little surprise. I'm thinking this might end up in a new collage piece, which would be a new direction for me ~ less realistic imagery and more pure form. I think it will be a nice change.....

A Walk Through Gowanus....

2011-04-09T08:34:00.021-04:00

I took a walk through the Gowanus Canal yesterday, from Park Slope to Columbia Street. It was an overcast, dreary day, but I knew I'd find some interesting things to shoot regardless of the grey light. I donned myself with my Argus 75, Nikon Coolpix, and of course my iPhone ~ just to make sure I had all my bases covered and could easily shoot on the fly.

Alternating between shooting Through the Viewfinder (TtV) and Hipstamatic I wandered down Union towards Columbia Street. There are good things about each way of shooting. TtV allows you to get candid shots of people who don't realize you are taking their picture. Since you are looking down at some weird contraption that bares no resemblance to a modern day camera people just assume you are weird. On the other hand, the nice thing about the iPhone is you can shoot quickly and candidly without taking time to focus or compose your image and you get to see the results immediately, not to mention that the variety of effects are endless.

I took over 100 pics and couldn't wait to get home to compare the results. Is it even worth taking TtV pics when the iPhone has so many great applications that give you as good or better effects? Well, yes, and no. Although you get a variety of effects with the iPhone the pictures taken TtV are more subtle and have that "old film" look to them. You can't really get that with an iPhone. Also, there's something about shooting with an actual "camera" that makes you feel like you are really taking a picture. Those of you who are too young to remember what an actual camera is will have to take my word for this. There was something so magical about lugging around a clunky, large, heavy device, and then waiting to develop the shots, that we just don't experience anymore. Instant gratification is nice, but that element of surprise is totally gone. Although you don't have to wait very long to see your results with TtV photography, you do have to upload the shots to your computer, crop the images and sometimes do a bit of color editing to get the final image.

In either case, both ways of shooting are so damn easy it almost feels like cheating to take credit for a good shot. I don't think I'll ever graduate to using a DSLR with all it's complicated buttons and long user manuals. The only thing that matters to me is the final result and for now I'm totally happy with my uncomplicated cheater's photography.....

For those of you who are curious:
#1 - Hipstamatic
#2 - TtV
#3 - TtV
#4 - TtV
#5 - Hipstamatic
#6 - Hipstamatic

The Simplest Thing.....

2011-03-23T22:15:00.010-04:00

Sometimes, the simplest thing catches my eye and I become transfixed by it's mundane beauty. I want to look at it over and over and over again, as if I could burn it's image into my minds eye and have it there to look at any time I wanted. There is a strange sense of contentment that comes over me, and I feel completely satiated, satisfied, and oddly awe-struck, as though I came to know the reason for my existence in a single glance. I call these my "American Beauty, paper bag in the wind" moments. Those of you who have seen the film and have had this experience will know exactly what I mean.

This happened the other day on the Lower East Side of Manhattan when, assisting a friend with a costume fitting for a group of High School dance students, I looked up and saw the most amazing group of light fixtures hanging in the dark school auditorium around 60 feet above my head. I grabbed my camera and I took around 20 shots, just to make sure I captured the image at several subtly different angles.

Upon coming home, I quickly transferred the images to my computer and spent the next several hours playing with the exposures, rotating the images, and just basking in the pleasure of looking at them over and over and over.....but only until the next "paper bag in the wind" blows past me.....

Through the Viewfinder......

2011-03-20T19:25:00.014-04:00

I've been wanting to learn how to take pics "through the viewfinder" and today I figured it out. I knew it required an old box camera and this morning while looking on ebay for one I could afford, I suddenly remembered that I had my dad's old Argus 75 Twin Lens Reflex stored away somewhere. I dug it out and rigged up a very rudimentary contraption for keeping the light out of the viewfinder, grabbed my Nikon Coopix 'point & shoot', and headed for the park. It worked pretty well and these are some of the first successful shots. Next step is to build a better light blocker and rig up a way to keep the digital attached to the box camera in a secure position for more 'on the fly' shooting.

After taking some test shots indoors I ventured outside to give it a try. It was a bit challenging to figure out the correct distance from the bottom camera lens to hold my point and shoot Coolpix, but once I figured it out, I got some acceptable shots.

When I came home, I couldn't resist playing around with some of my iPhone apps and seeing how the effects would looked laid over the TTV pics. I think once I get the hang of working the two cameras together I won't need to rely on any apps to get some great effects.

.....Definitely taking the Argus 75 on the next road trip.

A day in the country......

2011-03-15T17:02:00.045-04:00

Yesterday, I spent a day wandering around Ulster County snapping away on my iPhone. The locations and weather gave the day a very "Twin Peaks" feeling to it and when we happened upon an abandoned string of train cars I thought I had died and went to David Lynch Heaven. Since I've been doing more photography than painting or collage-making lately, I seized the opportunity to shoot every square inch of the lonely cabooses. And I had two inspiring and very willing subjects with me, just itching to throw themselves in front of my lens and ham it up.

This abandoned train must have been a first class vehicle in it's day because it had a complete kitchen and was wider and longer than any modern day train I'd ever been on. With a little renovation, I could have easily lived on it a la Ruth Gordon in "Harold and Maude".

Baxter and James were only too willing to incorporate themselves into the surroundings at every turn. The fact that the floor had gaping holes in it and looked on the verge of collapsing, didn't stop James from dancing up and down the isles.
Earlier in the day an old stone house and a barn in a field caught my eye and the boys were more than happy to offer their likenesses to each shot. The only opportunity missed was getting a picture of the incredible wrinkley deaf proprietor of the antique shop that was housed in the stone building. Her face was a like a road map to every day she lived in her 80-something years....

The day started with a disappointing lunch in the town of New Paltz followed by a jaunt through the local antique markets where I picked up a few goodies to add to my burgeoning collection of trinkets from times gone by. My one regret was not buying the little tin type photo with the wonderful back side that was way more interesting than the image on the front.

Remain Alert....

2010-11-01T20:24:00.009-04:00

As artists it's important to remember that what the eye sees, the mind remembers and becomes grist for the mill in the studio. That's why it's so crucial to remain alert to one's surroundings even when one is not in the midst of a creative moment. This was never more apparent to me than during the one year I spent in graduate school at Bennington College in Vermont. Living in such a bucolic setting might seem like a dream come true to a visual artist. And if graduate school gives us anything it gives us abundant, uninterrupted time to create. For me, a die-hard city dweller, I found the "eye candy" of country living looked more like "eye broccoli" which made it virtually impossible to find any visual stimulus on which my senses could feed. Surrounded by nothing but trees and mountains and more trees and mountains, whether they were lush with green or covered with snow or on fire with the colors of fall, it all looked the same and my eyes (and soul) starved. For some, those trees were a dream come true, but they left me hungry and yearning for something more.

Today, while wandering around the west side of Manhattan, amidst industrial buildings, car lots, and sleeping homeless people, I happened upon a window lined with miniature vintage cars just waiting for me to feed upon them. If I had not been alert to my surroundings, I might have missed these gems. But since I am always "eating with my eyes" I stopped to feed on this beautiful urban image and capture it with my phone.

A crack in a wall, a brick wall stained with pigeon droppings, a discarded cup of coffee, the randomness of several strangers in a subway car all wearing the same color....All of these things are happening right before our eyes every day, but if we are not vigilant in our awareness we might miss them. Re-think your idea of beauty and you will see that it is all around you......

Something old / something blue....

2010-10-27T19:59:00.010-04:00

I came home feeling somewhat blue and alone tonight. That's kind of putting it in the simplest of terms because if I really examine how I feel, I'll get all existential and bleak. So let's just leave it at feeling "blue". Whenever I experience these moments of isolation, I either put on some Joy Division music and wallow (which is always a bad idea), or sit in my studio and look around (much better idea). Just being in the presence of all the stuff in there gives me back my sense of self and purpose. Tonight I focused on all the old books and thought about the people who wrote them so long ago. None of those people are alive today, but this object, this book, this....piece of pulp and cardboard they created still exists.

In this short life we've all been given, the only real meaningful gesture of permanence we can make is to leave something behind after we're gone. For some, that thing may be children, or a legacy of wealth, or an idea or invention. But for other's it's simply a piece of art. And for me, that as important as anything else....

So this night will end and tomorrow I'll feel better, because we all know feelings are fleeting and changeable. I'll wait anxiously for the weekend when I will make an effort at turning that "old stuff" into something lasting and more permanent than myself.....

"Threads of Memory"....

2010-10-21T22:13:00.014-04:00

Just finished working on my first costume project for a piece entitled Threads of Memory choreographed by my friend, Nile Baker. After four weeks of sewing, un-sewing, and re-sewing at Elena Comendador's Treehouse Productions Studio, seeing the final project danced by 5 incredible young talents made it all worth it. My encaustic collage of the Grand Canal was also projected on a rear screen behind the dancers, pulling the whole piece together and creating a cohesive visual environment for Nile's vibrant and singularly individual choreography.

I documented the process of the sewing and choreography from start to finish. Except for the moments my nerves were torn to shreds and my one tearful breakdown when I thought my friendship with Nile was coming to a screeching halt, working with friends was a wonderful, learning experience. Elena patiently re-threaded the machine every time I missed a loop, and Nile calmed my nerves even though he was under the incredible stress of finishing the piece with one of the dancers missing an entire week of rehearsals.

The night before the performance, Nile and I nearly asphyxiated ourselves spraying shoe polish and enamel paint on the tulle skirts, but the final effect was absolutely perfect. Now I'm looking forward to getting back into my studio and painting again......

Beginner's Mind.....

2010-10-04T18:52:00.004-04:00

I'm working with a beginner's mind these days. It seems I am also working with a beginner's hand. It always takes time for my hands and eyes to 're-learn' how to do what they do best between studio sessions, especially when they are a month apart from one another. As expected, frustration reigned supreme in the studio today. And now I am rewarding myself with a glass of wine, some Scott Walker on my iPod, low lights, and cozy PJ's while I gaze upon the fruits of today's labors.

I'm collaborating with friends on several dance projects, which I am thoroughly excited about. But, it has been both exhilarating and exasperating at the same time, as collaborating tends to be. Regardless, it has been an incredible learning experience, and I'm hoping it leads to further collaborations with dancers, writers, and musicians.
Ahhh, what a journey.......

Arithmos 6......and beyond........

2010-09-06T18:09:00.007-04:00

I have finally come back to the studio, after several MONTHS of inactivity. The summer had a feeling of being on vacation, with my dear friend Dee staying with me for 8 glorious, but infernally hot weeks. I enjoyed playing around the city with her, doing lots of ashtanga yoga, eating, drinking, and laughing. All of that left very little time for working in the studio. But love and friendship feed the soul, and the soul is the seat of creativity. So now the fall is upon us and having been fed to the gills all summer long with pleasure, joy and friendship, I'm looking forward to getting back to work with a new series of works.

Arithmos 6
Several weeks ago, to top of the end of summer, I had a successful showing of my family history pieces. Myself and 5 other artists shared a one night event called "Arithmos 6". The turnout was spectacular and the response to my work was better than I could have ever asked for. It was all very reaffirming and exhilarating. So now I'm trying to hold on to the feeling of inspiration that comes after a positive response to ones work from both friends and total strangers. To get the ball rolling again, I revisited an unfinished piece that has been sitting around for ages and brought it to a simple conclusion. Best not to try too hard when you are teetering on the brink of productivity and inactivity.

110 degrees in the shade.....

2010-07-05T18:17:00.007-04:00

work in progress
After many weeks of avoiding the studio because of the heat, I chose today, the hottest day of the year so far, to get back to work. It's been so hot in my apartment/studio that several of my pieces have started literally melting and peeling. But with the heat showing no signs of letting up I decided the time was either now or October to get some work done.

Strangely enough, I can tolerate the heat of the studio much better than I can the heat of the blazing New York streets, so once I got started I was on a roll with heat gun, hot plate, and sunshine baking my workspace. Unfortunately, I was stopped short by a self-inflicted gash on my left pointer finger. I narrowly avoided a trip to the emergency room with quick thinking and a brown paper bag to stop the gushing blood......I was able to at least get a start on a new piece, priming a hardboard and placing it in the freezer to avoid melting. Since this heat wave shows no signs of abating I guess I will working all summer long in the inferno that is my studio and home....

Au revoir, Louise....

2010-05-31T22:39:00.004-04:00

She inspired me to the very core....

Finalmente...!

2010-05-31T21:06:00.004-04:00

Traffic Light
After several weeks (!) of not working, I finally got some stuff done today in the blazing heat of my studio. Dealing with a broken heat gun and resorting to using my hair dryer (which works, by the way), I labored over three small panels. I tried scanning these with my new scanner, but not sure they look any better than when I shoot them with my Coolpix. Anyway, I'm glad I got some work done....

Carissimo Fratello

Tiny Treasures....

2010-05-13T21:02:00.007-04:00

I just love these tiny little canvases I found at Dick Blick Art Supplies. They allow me to plow through little thumbnail sketches in wax and work out ideas for color, composition, and content. These are 4 'studies' for my Family History series and are only 2.5" X 4" in size.

"3 Siciliani"

"Sylvia ~ Diddie ~ Sunny"

"Felice ~ Felix ~ Phil"

"Destination Pozzallo"

Mother's Day 2010...

2010-05-09T20:40:00.005-04:00

"Mother's Day"

Today is the second Mother's Day since my mom's passing in January 2009. There was a lot of activity on facebook with everyone wishing their moms, aunts, wives, friends, and sisters and Happy Mother's Day, and feeling a little envious of those who still have their mom, I decided to spend some time in the studio creating a tribute to my mother. Oddly enough, the piece did not just flow out of me ~ on the contrary, it was a day of struggle where nothing seemed to go right. I worked on this simple and very grey piece for around 3 hours until reaching point where I knew it was time to stop.

I never start out with the idea for a composition in my mind before starting a piece. I usually just place the objects on the page and juggle them around until the composition feels right. After contemplating this composition for some time, I noticed how I had placed the photo of my mother beside the empty frame, rather than inside it....
Happy Mother's Day mom. I miss you and I love you.

Pyromaniac at work....

2010-05-02T19:11:00.005-04:00

Provincia di Ragusa
Note to self~ Next time you choose a new medium to work in, make sure it has nothing to do with HEAT.

It was almost 90 degrees today outside and around 190 degrees in my top floor, sun-drenched, low-ceilings, skylit, heat trap of a studio. On top of that, add the heat from my two hotplates and heat gun and you have one heck of a hot situation. Determined to make the best of it and get some work done I drew all the curtains, covered the skylights with paper, put the exhaust fan in the window, and propped the Vornado on the floor blowing in my direction. With a liter of ice cold seltzer within reach, finally, I am ready to begin.....

So without planning anything too ambitious, I finished a small "quartet" of 2" X 2" panels and started a new horizontal piece. Ironically, although I have little tolerance for the heat, I seem to always work in a medium that has to do with 'heating things up'. After spending years in boiling hot kiln rooms making ceramics, I am now hunched over a 250 degree hot plate with a heat gun in my hand. Now that summer is upon us, I'd better put my thinking cap on and come up with a good plan to keep my work space cool and well ventilated....or I might just be working on mono-prints all summer.....
Family Four

Swimming to Sicily....

2010-04-26T20:38:00.010-04:00

I was recently invited to take part in 'art challenge' from the Appel Farm Arts and Music Center. I have no idea how they found me, but I received an e-mail from them inviting me to participate. The 'challenge' was to make a piece of art out of re-claimed and re-used materials, which included a map of New Jersey, fabric scraps, some beer bottle caps, a magazine, part of a Danielle Steele book, puzzle pieces, a Christmas card, a toy car, a wine glass, and some bubble wrap. Not exactly materials I use every day, but I gave it a shot and was miraculously able to transform all that junk into a somewhat auto-biographical piece called "Swimming to Sicily".

Sunday in Park Slope...

2010-04-18T17:49:00.008-04:00

Anyone who lives anywhere near the Brooklyn Museum would be well advised to see the Kiki Smith installation, "Sojourn". As with everything Kiki does, this show does not disappoint. I just love this woman! I spent a few hours at the show with a friend after spending a productive day in the studio yesterday. Great way to round out a sunny, brisk Park Slope weekend.
The show gave me just the boost of energy I needed to get back into the studio and finish up some pieces I started yesterday. I've started incorporating some of my own photography with vintage family photos and my grandfathers writings. I'm quite happy with the results so far. I'm simplifying the compositions and using fewer elements. These are a few pieces that are still in progress.....

Branching out for spring......

2010-04-05T01:45:00.013-04:00

Well the sun is finally shining, the cold weather seems to have left for good, so I thought I'd try some new things on for size in the studio in recognition of the new season. Although I don't think I've quite exhausted the subject of my family history just yet, I decided to experiment with some of my own photography for new subject matter and see where that leads. These pieces utilize some great shots I took of reflections on the Venice Grand Canal at night, and then altered using the iPhone app "CameraBag" (which I am totally addicted too). I'm calling these the "Venice at Night" series. Finally making use of the thousands of pics I took in October while I was in Italy. These are tiny pieces, almost vignettes or sketches for an idea still to be fleshed out. The small pieces are a joy to make because I can really just 'play' without fear and without thinking too much about the outcome.

"Venice @ Night"(2" X 2" each panel)
I've also veered off and used a few images of a good friend who makes a great subject. I've been shooting him a lot lately... again, on my iPhone and making use of CameraBag with every shot I take. (It's almost too easy to make great photos with this app! It can make even the most mediocre photo look great.) He appears in these new pieces even though he was no where near the Grand Canal when I shot these pics of him. I love the yummy raspberry color of the bottom piece....

"Perfect School Companion"
"Venice: Nile at Night"

Saturday morning.....show and tell

2010-03-27T11:23:00.009-04:00

"1922"
My time in the studio has been limited over the last couple of weeks, hence my absence from this blog. However, I did manage to produce two small pieces that I am pleased with. Still working on the concept of "less is more" and learning something new with every piece. I'm finding that I am most comfortable with a smaller tableau, which keep me from going all over the place with unnecessary nonsense.

"8 Visits to the Blessed Sacrament"

Staying out of the middle of the road...

2010-03-14T21:19:00.008-04:00

I'm working on staying "simply complicated". My brother came and gave me a studio critique and nearly had a cow when I said I wanted to find the middle ground between total simplicity and total complication. "Why would anyone want to be in the middle?!" he cried, "what a horrible place to be!" He's totally right. Being middle of the road is NOT where I want to be. He suggested working from either a completely minimalist perspective by keeping the compositions very simple and quiet, or to move even further into collage by adding more and more and more elements. The way to avoid overdoing it is by using a minimalists approach when creating a complicated composition and by employing the theory of "less is more" ~ even when there is more than less. It's not as easy to explain as it is to just 'feel', but I think these few pieces come close to what I am talking about."Jan 1960"
"Joe, Santa, Corradina"

Hot Plate.....in the sun.....

2010-03-12T23:40:00.010-05:00

There is no particular reason for posting these two great photos of my hot plate in the afternoon sun....I just felt compelled to share them because they look so darn cool. They were taken with two new iPhone applications which create all kinds of fun photo effects, such as heavy color saturation, vintage photo effects,

infrared, silver tone, and a whole bunch of other neat stuff. I recommend them to anyone who likes the instant satisfaction of snapping artful photos on their iPhone. They're called "CameraBag" and "Hipstamatic" and they're well worth the couple of bucks they cost to download. Enjoy!

Gray day at the office.....VS....Gratitude

2010-03-11T12:03:00.016-05:00

Another gray day at work....(at the office, that is). I haven't been in the studio since last weekend and this weekend is starting to look like a bust as well. BUT, I'm grateful to have a full-time gig that pays the rent, (even though some days I can't help but resent being here). I've sworn off complaining since January 1, 2010 because it's a waste of time and serves no purpose at all. Gotta keep reminding myself how lucky I am to~ A) have a studio at all; B) have the resources to support my (art-making) habit; and C) the earth I stand upon is stable and not shaking underneath me....

My quote for today is:
"Small minds are much distressed by little things. Great minds see them all but are not upset by them."
~ Francois de La Rochefoucauld

Repetition, Redundancy, Repertoire.....

2010-02-28T18:45:00.009-05:00

66 Buick / Sunny Day
What's the difference between developing ones own artistic language and repeating oneself? Damned if I know. I've been working on this in the studio and some days, I just think I am singing one note over and over again. Other days I feel like I am creating a cohesive series of related melodies. It's absolutely imperative to repeat oneself in order to develop ones imagery and to move it to the next level, wherever or whatever that is. The trick is to take some detours every now and then. Risk taking, experimentation, and letting go are all so essential. Today was productive as far as quantity goes, but I'm still not sure if I sang that same old tune, or if I composed a new related melody. It will take me a couple of days to decide whether today was productive in terms of quality.
320 Court Street / Provincia di Ragusa

Keep walking....

2010-02-23T10:37:00.005-05:00

Each day I try to find a quote or saying that seems fitting to my current state of mind. Lately, I've been focusing on "perseverance" and that the most important thing is to keep working, without regard for the outcome and with no expectations. Approaching the studio from that place I am never (well...,almost never) dissatisfied with what comes out of a day's work because I know the most important thing is that I get to the studio as often as possible ~ every day would be ideal. So here is my quote for today:

"If we are facing in the right direction, all we have to do is keep walking." ~ Buddhist proverb

Sometimes a little means a lot....

2010-02-21T20:41:00.009-05:00

Work in progress: "We Are Leaving Rome"

I haven't had much time in the studio this week so I'm really happy to have done a bit of work today. And I'm really loving these little 4X4 panels. They are very unintimidating even when I'm experiencing the dreaded "blank canvas" syndrome. I always seem to be able to pop something out and at least feel like I made some progress. I hate feeling unproductive, but with these small pieces I can keep myself working regularly and consistently because they don't take as much time as the bigger projects do. Making art is just like working out ~ if you stop exercising for a while, you lose your strength and muscle tone and can sometimes even experience a physical setback. Well, you can lose your "muscle tone" in the studio as well. The longer you stay away from work, the harder it is to build up those muscles again. Just like with exercise, even a little bit each day is better than nothing.

The good, the bad, the snow, and everything in between....

2010-02-13T19:35:00.013-05:00

I had a great day in the studio on Wednesday during that blizzard we got hit with. I'm getting to really love these "sick" days I am taking off from work and spending in the studio instead! It was a perfect day. The snow was falling steadily and I got to work some time in the late afternoon after spending most of the morning looking out the window watching the snow accumulate on the branches of the trees outside. Armed with a hefty supply of Oreos and white wine, I had no reason to leave the apartment. The conditions were just right for a productive day of work. And so I began a new series using color photos from the 1960's instead of my usual black and white ones which date from the first half of the 20th century. After three or four hours I stopped working, just about the time the snow started to abate. Although I wasn't quite sure if the panels were "done" at that point, I let them sit on the dining table for the next several days where I could consider and decide whether I needed to work on them any more. After rotating them in every direction and juggling them around in every combination, I decided they worked quite well together and came to that moment when you tell yourself to leave well enough alone. Every new piece teaches me something and shows me what I need to work harder on the next time around. With this triptych, the lesson learned was that I needed to stop playing it so safe with color. Maybe it was the reflected white light of the snow casting its muted glow on to my work table that caused me inadvertently to make these pieces so mid-range in their tone. Or perhaps, and more likely, it was my usual reluctance to take risks.

Minimum / Maximus......

2010-02-07T20:30:00.010-05:00

The day was pretty productive, as far as quantity goes. Worked on 6 small panels and tried playing around with my brand new Silver iridescent oil stick. It's yummy, but as I have said before, it's a bitch to get a good photo because of the reflection it creates. I think I these pics are a fairly good representation of the surface, even with the glare. They're quite small and simple, and I'm using fewer elements in these small panels. The bottom line is, even though so much of my work has always been highly decorated, I still feel that under all this collage-ing lives an artist who is inherently minimalist.
I love work that creates the biggest bang with the simplest compositions and fewest colors. I've recently been looking at an artist named Lawrence Carroll who's book I discovered, in all places, in the bookstore at the Morandi show in Bologna last fall. His compositions employ only the most essential elements and his palate is very limited. His work really drives home the concept of 'Less is More".

So with these collages I'm teetering precariously on that thin line of 'what to keep and what to throw out'. Perhaps the answer to that question lies in knowing what not add in the first place......

And now for something completely different....

2010-02-05T21:31:00.015-05:00

I always try to make the most out of sick days by getting some work done in my studio. Today was the third day of this horrible head cold, which I think is feeling worse than it actually is due to the approaching snowy weather. The barometric pressure always plays with my head and makes me feel like there is a giant balloon being blown up inside my skull.So I took the day off from work and got an early start in the studio. The first couple of hours were a complete disaster and were an indication that, when you really are sick it's best just to rest and not try to get anything done. I started on two small panels which turned out to be total messes.

Tossing them aside, I got dressed, went outside for some provisions, including some Mucinex (for $27!!!!), put my laundry in, and then climbed back up the four flights of stairs to wait for the mucus to start pouring out of me. When that didn't happen, I got tired of waiting and started on a couple of new panels. They actually turned out OK, although somewhat different from what I've been doing. I've always been awed by artists that can create masterpieces from one single color or tone, so I tried my hand at some (mostly) monotone pieces. I'm not completely disappointed with the results. Actually, quite the opposite. Although I'm not sure these two are total successes, it was good to take a slight detour and risk doing something a little different. What tends to happen with me is, once I get on a roll with a series that is going well, I end up hitting a wall and lose my spontaneity. I always gotta keep things fresh by throwing a curve ball to myself every now and then...

Etsy!!!!!

2010-02-03T15:26:00.008-05:00

Well the Etsy page is finally up and I've posted five listings! It takes forever to set up the page to list items, but once you get all the basic info in the rest is a breeze. The photography is a big pain in the ass and doesn't look all that great, but at least I've made some inroads. Now all I have to do is keep working, and posting items. I am finally getting past the block of not wanting to let go of my work. It's ironic that it has taken my most personal and intimate work to teach me a lesson in 'giving it up'.
Check out the page! QUARTZ INVERSION ON ETSY

All Grown Up......

2010-02-02T09:46:00.006-05:00

I found two inspiring and very à propos quotes this morning:

"My breakthrough came very late in life, really only starting when I was fifty years old. But at that time I felt as though I had the strength for new deeds and ideas."
::: Edvard Munch :::

"Everyone has talent at 25. The difficulty is to have it at 50."
::: Edgar Degas :::

What a great way to start my day........

Gold Rush ~ or ~ Technical Difficulties

2010-02-01T17:20:00.008-05:00

I found a really fun color oil stick by R&F ~~ Iridescent Gold. It looks great on my work, but it is a bitch to photograph. The gold seems to reflect any light that hits it making all photos look either over-exposed, off color, or it just creates too much glare.
Now this pair doesn't have any gold in it and, although the color is a bit wishy washy, it photographed truer to color. The surface texture of encaustic makes photography tricky to begin with, and adding metallic to the surface just creates another challenge. However the gold adds so much depth, warmth, and atmosphere to the work I don't want to give it up just because of a few bad photos. More colors to try ~ Iridescent Pearl, Iridescent Bronze, and Iridescent Silver. The last time I loved something "iridescent' thus much, was in High School when It was the color of my lipstick......

Scrittore....

2010-01-30T21:48:00.007-05:00

So it seems that my grandfather's journals will be harder to translate than I had hoped. My Italian teacher took a look at some pages and although he was able to make out quite a bit of the handwriting, he said it would be difficult to do a clean translation because the writing is such a "stream of consciousness". He said that although the writer was highly intelligent and seemingly well-read, he wrote without concern for consistency of proper tenses, subjects, or sentence structure. The writing was a mix of melancholy thoughts, quotes and citations, and drafts of letters that were never sent. He also said something quite interesting ~ he said that he felt the journal was written by someone who longed to be a writer, but for some reason was never able to. I realized they must be filled with quite a depth of content for a total stranger to get such an acute sense of who this person writing was. I walked away feeling deep regret that I never really knew my grandfather, and that I might never truly know who this enigma of a man was.

For now I must be content and grateful that I have his journals as a source of inspiration and the backdrop for my work, but I will continue to chip away at words and phrases in the hope of gaining a deeper understanding of my grandfather.

"Quote" "Unquote"...

2010-01-26T23:01:00.008-05:00

I've been reading a lot of artist's quotes lately, trying to keep the creative process going during the times I am not in the studio. My favorites are usually the most simple, straightforward ones. I tend to shy away from quotes describing lofty ideals and romantic notions of what art is, or those that profess that creativity is the 'holy spirit' speaking through us. I'm not really interested in that. Do I feel connected to a power or energy larger than myself when I am working - YES, but I try not to think of myself (or my fellow artists) as a holy vessel, per se. I'm only interested in the way the creative process makes me feel while I am 'in the moment' and in that lovely, exhausted, body-weary feeling I get after a day of hard work in the studio. Here is the best quote I found today:
Painting is just another way of keeping a diary.~Pablo Picasso

Setting up shop....

2010-01-10T19:59:00.005-05:00

I've finally opened a new Etsy account entitled, appropriately, Quartz Inversion. This will hopefully give me the venue I have long needed to promote and sell my work. Unfortunately, I have run into some technical difficulties in setting up the shop and can't seem to get the graphic for my page logo to upload. My friend Dee designed three possibilities for me, which I can rotate, once I figure out how to get the darn thing up.....

Time to step back....

2010-01-01T21:55:00.004-05:00

I've been on a roll working in the studio day after day, but I think it is time for me to take a break and step back. The last several pieces have felt a bit forced, like I am trying too hard. Sometimes it's a good idea to just sit back for a while, take a look at what you have done and let it sink in and become part of you. This last piece was worked and re-worked to the point of near destruction. After several hours the result is merely 'acceptable'.

WELCOME 2010 ~ First post of the new year

2010-01-01T02:22:00.001-05:00

LOOKING FORWARD TO A NEW DECADE FILLED WITH LOVE, LAUGHTER, CREATIVITY, PEACE AND PROSPERITY FOR ONE AND ALL.......

The things that can work for or against me......

2009-12-31T13:02:00.007-05:00

These are the things I struggle to keep at bay when I am working:
1. Becoming derivative of rather than inspired by
2. Being influenced by other peoples praise or criticism
3. Rushing too quickly to judge a new piece
4. Frustration, discouragement, lethargy

I have to remember it is best to live with a new piece for a while before deciding whether it is worthy of keeping, re-working, or discarding. I have decided to let this piece live.....

Work keeps coming.....

2009-12-31T12:53:00.008-05:00

I'm not sure how I feel about this new triptych. I'm still experimenting with the material and with the different ways it can be used, but I feel like these three small panels are a bit too "designed" and thought out. They came more from my head than my gut, which is where I always try to work from. The head is the worst place to start. Once you start thinking, the intuition is smothered, and for me, the creative process is more about letting the intuition speak and keeping the brain quiet.

More Christmas Creativity...

2009-12-27T11:49:00.006-05:00

Christmas weekend was very productive. I'm experimenting a lot with different encaustic techniques and trying to find my voice with this medium. The possibilities are endless, but so is the risk of being derivative of all the other encaustic art that is out there. Although it's a very versatile medium, it's difficult to find originality and make your work look different from everything that has been done with it before. There's a lot of juggling the challenges of the medium itself with the challenge of developing one's own voice. I think I am getting there, slowly but surely......One must repeat, repeat, repeat until the breakthrough comes.

Christmas Time is Here!

2009-12-25T20:33:00.009-05:00

In keeping with my annual tradition of spending Christmas Day in my studio, I had a very productive day. I really can't think of anywhere else I would have preferred to be....

Giovanni's Notebooks......

2009-12-15T10:47:00.026-05:00

My new muse is my grandfathers notebooks.~~ beautiful yellowing sheets covered in fancy, floral, old-world script that looks like a cross between ancient palimpsests and Cy Twombly drawings.

Every Sunday after lunch my grandfather would retreat to his club chair, pencil in hand, and write for hours on end. No one ever bothered to ask what he was writing, and when he died the notebooks remained in a pile on the TV stand along with his dictionaries, newspaper clippings, and crossword puzzles. I have recently begun to translate the notebooks with the help of various Italian-speaking friends and to my utter surprise they are filled with the most amazing musings on politics, religion, and philosophy. Some pages contain quotes by Dostoyevsky, Thoreau, and Churchill. Others are drafts of letters to his beloved sister Corradina in Pozzallo, Sicily.

My grandfather was a simple, quiet man, a blue collar laborer, an immigrant who became a patriotic American, yet remained steadfastly loyal and devoted to his homeland and it's traditions. I am now discovering that there was another, more complicated side to him. The notebooks are a window into the person who was my grandfather, a man who I adored, a man I am still getting to know.......

To Make...or Bake....

2009-12-05T16:06:00.005-05:00

I spent the day simultaneously BAKING cookies, and MAKING art. FYI, it's more fun to make art. The 'baking' part, which was supposed cookies made from scratch, is for a party in which 6 or 7 women bake cookies and exchange recipes. My recipe is pretty basic: Betty Crocker chocolate chip cookies mix, one egg, water, and vegetable oil. OK, I did embellish with some frosting and sprinkles, but that was just about as complicated as I was willing to get.

The 'making' part was going on while I was checking the cookies in the oven. Somehow, the art-making was much more of a cooking experience than the baking was. Working in encaustic or clay (my two favorite mediums) is a wonderful combination of mixing, stirring, forming, combining, and heating. You finish with something that looks good enough to eat. If that's not cooking, I don't know what is.

Mario Giacomelli....my new Italian boyfriend

2009-12-01T22:15:00.017-05:00

I've been meaning to post info about this amazing Italian artist I discovered while I was in Italy: Mario Giacomelli. I had never heard of him before, and Wikipedia has only a few words to say about him:
'Giacomelli was a self-taught photographer. At 13, he left high school, began working as a typesetter and spent his weekends painting. After the horrors of World War II, he turned to the more immediate medium of photography. He wandered the streets and fields of post-war Italy, inspired by the gritty Neo-Realist films of Vittorio De Sica and Roberto Rossellini.'
This is a photographer worth checking out. His aerial landscapes in particular, blew me away. If I could make ONE piece of work in my life that inspires in someone what his photos inspire in me, I would die a happy and fulfilled woman.

Giving thanks to Number 5....

2009-11-30T21:40:00.026-05:00

Just before Thanksgiving I made a list of 5 things I was grateful for ~ they were, in no particular order, as follows:
1. good health
2. family and friends
3. my home and work space
4. laughter
5. my ability to create something beautiful out of nothing

It would be hard for me to put these in order of importance, and of course good health usually trumps most of life's other blessings, but lately it is number 5 that I feel most grateful for. It is number 5 that gives my life a sense of purpose. It is number 5 that gives me deep satisfaction and satiating pleasure when I feast my eyes upon something that "tastes" delicious to them. And it is number 5 that is the ONLY thing in my life that cannot be taken away from me. Everything in life is temporary, transient, and ethereal. But creativity - wax and wane as it may - is permanent, innate, and immortal.

Work in Progress....

2009-11-21T21:09:00.015-05:00

All life is a work in progress, a constant re-working of every situation, every challenge, every task. The trick is to know when to stop. Everyone knows this simple rule - don't over do it, don't overwork it, don't try too hard.
The same is true, (IN SPADES!) with art. Knowing when to stop is the moment we must be most aware of. It's that moment where a successful piece of works starts, and a hot mess begins -- and vice versa. I've always credited myself with being a good editor and having good selectivity. To me that is more important than being the most adept at technique, or being the most talented colorist, etc. What to keep in, what to throw out, where to place objects within the frame...or as they say in filmmaking the 'mise en scene'.

Calling in sick......

2009-11-17T19:49:00.007-05:00

I just love calling in sick to work and then spending the whole day in the studio. For some reason, weekdays are always more productive than weekends. There is something about knowing that everyone else is hard at work in their offices, and you have all those free hours to do what you will, that gets my juices flowing. Saturdays and Sundays are not the same. There are so many other chores and things to do on the weekend, that even when I have an entire Saturday or Sunday, I still feel like there is never enough time to get down and dirty in the studio.

Today was one of those wonderful "call in sick" days where the sun was shining outside, a cool breeze was blowing in my apartment, and I was on a creative roll by 1:00 in the afternoon. Got multiple mono-prints done, and two new encaustic collages to add to the "family history" series.

Dreary Friday 13th....

2009-11-13T09:40:00.013-05:00

Well, season 3 of Mad Men has come to an end, my trip to Italy is becoming but a mere memory, swine flu season is here, the weather is getting colder, holiday season is approaching, and the one year anniversary of my mom's passing is right around the corner. Things are starting to feel a bit dreary. Even my plants are barely hanging on to life....

I'm certainly not giving equal weight to all the things I just mentioned - I mean Mad Men is a great show but the end of season 3 was certainly not as big a blow as my mothers passing last January. Having said that, my life always flows more smoothly and productively when I have a goal, project, or some little thing (like a brilliant TV show) to look forward to and not having one at the start of winter is not a good thing. I have started taking Italian classes, this time with a group rather than privately, so that might give me a small jump start. But it's gonna take more than learning the 'congiuntivo presente' to get me through the next five months.

I've always loved getting cozy and reclusive during the dark winter months in my rustic, sun-drenched, book-filled, top floor apartment in Park Slope, but that can backfire if I don't have some big creative mess going on in the studio. Gotta keep myself accountable to myself and get things rolling in there. Time to get my ass to Pearl Paint and get me some early Christmas presents......

Italian hours.......

2009-11-12T13:55:00.027-05:00

So what was the most amazing thing about spending three weeks in Italy?....The fact that I came home more inspired creatively than I have been in a very long time. First let me qualify that by saying it was not the ONLY amazing thing. Seeing new places, like the incredibly fantastically wonderful Bologna, was also great. But even the most wonderful thing about Bologna was the way it inspired me creatively and how much I couldn't wait to come home and start incorporating those warm colors, the shapes of the arched porticos, and images of graffiti into my artwork. The whole city is like a living collage; layers and shapes seem to overlap one another in the most natural way--like the city was always meant to be seen that way. The barrage of graffiti-covered walls and scraps of peeling advertisements and posters do not take away from the burst of deliciousness that assaults the eyes on every street. It actually enhances everything about the city.

I was only there one day and two half days, but I made the most of every minute. I visited the Morandi Museum, the Casa Morandi (Morandi's former home and studio), MAMBO (Bologna's modern art museum which houses one of the most wonderful Sean Scully's I've ever seen in person), and the mind-blowing Santo Stefano church (known as Sette Chiese because it is a series of chapels, courtyards, naves, and rooms all inter-joining one another in a heavenly maze of connected-ness). But I digress......sort of.

Let me step back to my first two weeks in Tuscany. The first couple of days were almost, dare I say, a disappointment. The teacher, Julian, a wonderful English art teacher with an undying penchant for all things Renaissance, was a virtual Bernini's Fountain of Knowledge! Unfortunately, it was a subject that could not be less interesting to me. But I stuck it out through the first few days of basic water-color lessons, visits to churches filled with Fresco's, and mini lectures on god-knows-which-Renaissance painter, and waited for an opening to start my own work in the studio independently of the other dilettante participants. Then one day, Julian showed me a new technique which he called 'monoprinting' and the flood gates opened. I spent the rest of the week cranking these things out on cheap newsprint paper, one after another. By the end of the week I was so wound up I decided to extend my stay for another 4 days. It was heaven on earth! Waking up every day with nothing else to do but work in the studio, eat the three delicious meals prepared by Julian's lovely wife Amanda, and at night drink all the yummy wine my liver could handle. E' stato stupendo!

I'd like to recommend this place to anyone who wants to take some time away and spend some unstructured time working in a light-filled studio one hour away from Florence, Arezzo and Rome, perched on a sun-drenched Tuscan hill on the border of Umbria. The website is www.artistinitaly.com. Tell Julian and Amanda that Jo the New Yorker sent you....Buon divertimento!

More work...

2009-07-06T19:27:00.004-04:00

Back to life....

2009-07-06T18:58:00.006-04:00

Well, I am FINALLY back in the studio. After a very long and hard two years, I am back to my life and in the studio again. It feels GREAT to be focusing on myself and on art again.....

Miles to go....

2007-12-28T22:27:00.000-05:00

Well, my last painting ended up in the crapper--literally. (It's that small thing over the toilet bowl...and I purposely made the photo tiny). Funny how "out of shape" you become after not working for a long while. One really needs to keep those artistic muscles exercised or it all just goes to pot. I expected it, though. My work has been so sporadic over the past year and it's gonna take some hard work to get my game back. Lately I've been spending more time pretending to be Martha Stewart (re-upholstering my kitchen chairs, painting furniture, sewing pillow cases) than I have in my studio making art. And when I'm not being Martha I'm pathologically watching MSNBC, CNN, C-span, and every other news channel on earth, frantically watching the presidential primary polls and obsessing over what a close race Iowa is. It's all just part of my mad procrastination plan to stay as far away from my studio as possible.
In my own defense, I did make some progress tonight and started work on some collages and shadow boxes. I spread out my collection of objects and scribblings and did some prep work. I've collected quite a selection of junk over the years and I think I get more pleasure just looking at it than I do in turning it into art. Each and every object has a story or memory and it's always hard to commit one of my obscure treasures to a piece of artwork, knowing that it will live there permanently. I sometimes prefer keeping things in boxes so I can take them out every now and again and just "look" at them.....

New Etsy page!...

2007-10-19T16:42:00.000-04:00

I've set up an Etsy.com page so now people can purchase ALieN faRm t-shirts on line (since my web site is not yet functional for on line sales). The address is, what else,...alienfarm.etsy.com. Only a couple of items are posted to sell so far, but there are more to come. Please take a look and pass it on to all your friends, relatives, neighbors, acquaintances, co-workers, and total strangers with babies or kids!

For what it's worth......

2007-10-13T23:38:00.001-04:00

HERE IT IS...the first piece of finished artwork in months......!

Available at........

2007-10-13T19:23:00.000-04:00

My Alien Farm t-shirts have been selling well at Honey Bee and Me in Park Slope. The owner has been very enthusiastic and supportive of my work and wants me to bring her some paintings to sell at the store, as well as design a line of t-shirts for adults. With the Christmas holidays right around the corner, I will be selling at various holiday sales so keep checking in to find out where. The shirts are currently available on my web site at www.felixandfinster.com and will soon be available on Etsy.com.

DUMBO Arts Festival--this weekend!

2007-09-28T04:24:00.000-04:00

The DUMBO Arts Festival is this weekend and I have one painting hanging at Realty Collective, 25 Washington Street, suite 501. The festival is a lot of fun and DUMBO is such a great part of Brooklyn. Even though it's being completely bombarded with high end coop apartments and cutsey shops on Washington street it still has a great aura to it, with that wonderful bridge always looming over you. There's usually lots of food, live music and events, as well as ton's of great art.
For information on the weekend's schedule of events, go to http://dumboartscenter.org/festival.html.

Late night, Dreary day......

2007-09-27T11:27:00.001-04:00

Kind of a gray day today. I was up super late again last night, watching the re-broadcast of the Democratic Debate. Late nights are usually when I work but having a roommate sleeping in the next room has completely cramped my creative flow. It's been over a year that I haven't had my space to myself and it's really starting to get to me. I have begun a new project though--collage shadow boxes--which I hope to sell around the holidays. Hoping to incorporate some of my unused ceramic "doo-dads" with encaustic, photos, clippings and whatever else I can find. I saw the Joseph Cornell retrospective in Salem, Mass this summer and was completely inspired by it. I've been thinking about working with collage and shadow boxes for a while and am now finally getting to it. Funny thing, Joseph Cornell was a complete recluse and although I am not quite as isolated as he was, I do feel I am a loner and I relate very much to his somewhat "offbeat" personality. I think shadow boxes often provide a "safe" representation of the little bits and pieces of one's inner life without really exposing too much of the real thing......

Work comes hard and infrequently these days.

2007-09-26T10:18:00.000-04:00

I haven't been working much at all these days, and this is the last painting I did several months ago. It's hard to get much work done in my studio, which is just a room in my apartment. There are too many distractions and I rarely feel free enough to dive in and create havoc. The day job saps my energy and the evening hours drift by quickly leaving me little time to get anything done. Winter is approaching, so I'll be spending more time at home--which is good for my art, I guess. But the early onset of darkness does little for my frame of mind and just makes me want to crawl in bed with a movie at 9:00pm. Unfortunately, the summer was not very productive even though the long days invigorate me and I am usually up and feeling energetic until 2:00am. I may just have to start waking with the early morning light and jump right into the studio before I leave for work. It may be the only time my mind and body are in harmony and when I can get my creative juices flowing.....we shall see.

President Street, early evening in August

2007-09-26T10:07:00.000-04:00

This is the view from the tiny windows in my bedroom, taken one August evening when the beautiful Park Slope sun is still high in the sky.

A happy moment in Montreal this summer.....

2007-09-01T21:53:00.000-04:00

This August, I had a wonderful reprieve from an otherwise brutal summer in New York --- six fun-filled days in Montreal Canada. I spent the first four days alone trying to quiet down the constant dialogue in my head, and then my friend Dee joined me and kept me in stitches laughing pretty much every moment we were together. This photo was taken during one of the utterly European meals we prepared for ourselves on the little terrace outside my adorable room...fresh tomatoes, spinach dip, yummy fruit, and French bread. And of course no meal involving a Scotish chick and a Sicilian chick in French-speaking Montreal would be complete without wine. We had two bottles -- a red for Dee and a white for me.

Start talking....

2007-04-06T09:55:00.000-04:00

The inanity and insanity of blogging…
“Blogs”--a public forum through which one can proclaim ones personal opinions, likes and dislikes. An opportunity to declare ones points of view. A venue where one can shamelessly promote ones personal, business, or artistic endeavors, or someone else’s personal, business, or artistic endeavors. Blogs may be utilized in conjunction with a web site and a myspace account -- the ‘trifecta’ of virtual narcissism. To me, having a web site, blog and myspace is akin to having an engagement party, a bachelorette party and a wedding party. (I mean, how much Waterford crystal does a girl need anyway?)

Blogs are personal diaries made public. If you wish to expose your most private and innermost thoughts to total strangers, to friends who thought they knew you and, quite possibly to employers and business associates, blogs are the place to do so. They are a place for mental vomiting, if you will. A ‘virtual’ vomitorium where personal boundaries do not exist. Convenient for those of us who get tired of the sound of our own voices, but still feel we have so much more to say.

I’ve always felt that blogs are narcissistic and self-indulgent. I’ve read blogs that are so inane no one in their right mind would listen to what's being said in them for more than 5 minutes had they been expressed during “normal” verbal discourse with other humans. But, if it’s in a blog for some reason, people read it, listen to it, believe it, and yearn for more.

The techno-society we live in tells us that this narcissistic activity is completely within the realm of appropriate adult behavior. Although I am still not 100% sold on the idea, I have finally relinquished all sense of personal boundaries, privacy and pride and joined the ranks of the thought regurgitators. Up until now I have not had the fondest opinion of blogs, but now I have one of my own and can say whatever the hell I want to. I guess it's another place for me to talk my fool head of every chance it get……