First day back to school and back to studio!!!!!

Hurray!!!  My sons first day back to school means my first day back to the studio!!!!!!!  I am so ready and excited to begin working a regular studio schedule.  My studio practice is starting where I most love to begin-outdoors.  I have been inspired to build an outdoor loom of sorts and weave everything together (neither of which I have ever done-another favorite thing of mine, try something I have no idea how to do!)....when my son came home from school he asked me "What are you making?"  I said "A sculpture." S: "But of what?  What is it supposed to be?" M: "I don't know yet." S: "Your supposed to know, artists need to think too and know what they are doing." M:"I am thinking, I just don't know yet what it will become......

I love interweaving my ideas with reality, mixing baby lamb fur, wood, grandma's yarn, lace shirt, pink shirt, shadows, sunlight, grass, birdsong, rope, rythm.....present moment, past moment, becoming.

 All in a days work below.

Sunny off to school!  He caught a bullfrog-that's a good omen

Built it!

The best part of working with nature is having the chance to feel these little fibers between your fingers while examining the incredible designs from bug eaten wood, you just feel jealous about how good these bug drawings are!

Working my handmade bark waft wrapped in Grandma's yarn that comes from her loom days.

How fun it was to notice the design of the yellow mirroring the grass shadows while I went back and forth.

A little bit of everything

In Process....Light as Breeze

It has been a month since my last post-wowzers!  It has been a month full of art making, art teaching and art events.  I think that is another way of saying its been a wonderful month.

 

 

One of my Creativity classes in process

I enjoyed an amazing couple of days printing at the Womens Workshop Studio in Rosendale NY.  Me and my friend and fellow artist Lindsey Brown rented the space for 2 days and printed our hearts out.  I literally was printing my heart out...and now I am in the studio working with those heart prints.  I also stumbled in to a delightful gallery in Rosendale, Roos gallery,  a contemporary art treasure box!  I will be participating in their super fun holiday show of small works.  Can't wait!

Prints in process

Corrado in Process

Mid month we had artist friends visiting from Sicily.  Corrado Iozzia came especially to work in the studio here for a self created intensive residency.  After two weeks of solid work we held a beautiful artist reception in my new studio.  Corrado and his work where wonderfully received in NY and we are looking forward to the next visit.

Last week my painting 'Unearthing to be Enough' was hung at the Woodstock Art Museum as part of the Under 40 show curated by Greg Slick.  I was so pleased to be accepted in to this juried show as I had seen a show curated by Greg Slick at the Dorsky Museum that I just loved.  It feels great to be working with other artists and curators whom you admire.

A highlight among many was discovering the unexpected article 'Light as Breeze' written by Paul Smart for the Woodstock Times last week!  Oh my gosh, I am so flattered!  I love how he wrote so candidly of me and my practice.  There is a long quote from this blog, jeez keeping me on my toes now that I see how "public" my blog is!  I actually don't have many words to describe my joy?  I think the best word is GRATITUDE.

Alas, the coming months seem to be plumping up with activity.  I have quite a few studio visits scheduled, I'm working on curating a show, more Creativity & Courage Workshops.....we shall see....

Possibility this Summer: A Creative Adventure

I have been daydreaming about offering a creativity, relaxation and discovery retreat in Sicily this Summer...this looks like a nice work table.

Beauty Everywhere

I am in my dream, I am participating this weekend in the O+Festival in Kingston, NY, which is an amazing arts festival that barters art for medicine.  It is one of the best arts events I have ever had the honor to be included in.  The mission, the art, the music, the healers, the energy is 100% generosity, beauty and new.  I LOVE being included.  I began teaching my course in creativity this week at High Watch Recovery Center.  This was a heartfelt idea two years ago which this Monday became reality.  My class is being held in the founding building, which is the chapel and at one point was also the 'Joy Farm Art Center'.  Next week I will be moving in to my new studio and classroom in Hudson NY, which I mentioned before is an old schoolhouse that sits nestled in the cemetery.   This is where I will be holding my Creativity & Courage Workshops as well as making new artwork.   I feel supported by these new ventures and locations deep within the recess's of my heart, the same place that inspires my dreams in to being.  I am reminded of the many inspired spirits before mine that sat in these places to create and to give.

Above are just some pictures from the last couple weeks, work in progress, walks, classroom, reflections, findings....

Receive-her-ship; a new creative space

My new creative work space (the beautiful paintings are by a talented friend Mona Mark)

Gliding on my 'Reciever Ship'. 

The other night I met with my regular 'girls'.  I have a creative support group that meets every Monday night.  This week one of my friends was discussing how she is in 'receivership' mode and how this feels and how she is aware of the opportunities being offered and how actually it is a difficult and new place to be.  While she was discussing this-I saw her get on board her 'Receiver Ship' and then I thought "ah...she is receiving-her-ship, she is accepting opening herself to the current direction of her heart and purpose.  She is still captain, but she is not willing herself everywhere, she is trusting nature and her skills and as a result she is gliding right now.  The difficulty is just the fear and the doubt, but her heart is open and trusting now.  I loved this visual of a 'Receiver Ship' that we can choose to board.  I've decided I too am stepping on board my 'Receiver Ship'.

Quite colorful neighbors, the building is in the center of a cemetery

On board this week I have received many gifts.  Most notably and coincidental,  I have been awarded a work space from a private arts endowment.  A beautiful large room full of light.  The room is an old classroom in a building now being used for working artists, formerly a children's school.  This gift was offered to me out of the blue this week.  No application.  The timing couldn't be more perfect!  I begin my autumn workshop series this week (which I am so happy to say it is at full capacity!!!).  I knew I would need to find a space for teaching in the near future, but also knew that my first two workshops would be outdoors and that would give me some time to find a place for the others.  What has been given to me is beyond my imagining of perfect!  I am overwhelmed with gratitude, excitement and inspiration.  One of the most beautiful things about this gift is that it is without restriction.  Yes, the form itself (a rectangular cube, windows on one side, etc)  is a restriction but otherwise it is open for my creative imaginings.  The person who gave this to me said; 'let the space speak to you, let it help inform its purpose' the space is a living canvas, limitless with possibility.  I feel so honored to be trusted in this way.  When I expressed my gratitude for this gift they told me 'You deserve this'.  That alone is a huge gift.  To be told I deserve to be supported as I am, doing what I dream to do is HUGE.  So often in life you are taught you deserve something when; you win it (competition), when you've sacrificed something you've loved....when you've painfully worked yourself to the bone...etc.  What if we all allowed ourselves to be who we really are and pursue what we really want to be doing and felt we deserved that?  How different would the world be?  Perhaps that is what getting on the 'Receiver ship is'.  Boarding your sailboat, with your name on it,  trusting you are deserving of this life's ride. 

The rest of the 30 collages

I thought to share the remainder of last months collages.  I am thinking to continue on with the direction I fell most in love with.  I fell for the quite groups...I am really into exploring what shakes me up the most which is: "Enough"  where that point is in my work.  I am interested in stripping down to the "simple breath, the origin, the infinite space in openness"  all of this requires a lot of constraint and trust on my part-constraint of habit, habits that want to fill in all the space to be "enough", habits that want to work fast and furious. Trust; to trust my own affection towards the work is "enough".  Today I was lucky enough to be visiting with my neighbor who is also a painter.  We we're talking about her work in the morning at her studio and later in the day about mine at my studio.  I think as an artist that no matter what your subject or artistic investigation may look like, it always comes back to being the artist themselves. 

 

  

More Abstract Collages

Collage 13

Collage 14

Collage 15

Collage 16

Collage 17

Collaging Away!!!

Collage 1

I started a collage challenge-I joined my friends Facebook group 31 collages in 31 days.  I decided to join so I would practice a small daily creative something.  Admitedly at first it felt stiff and silly.  I felt as though I was just regurgitating material, uninspired and meaningless.  I was almost thrown off the horse.  But...but...but then all of a sudden (as does happen!) something tiny and exciting started happening out of the seemingly banal.  In fact the one collage that was doomed to destruction was the miracle worker...and I'm off and running with bells on my toes! 

I also saw that it is part of the process to start where I am familiar ("the banal, the old, flat..") and just to keep going through until the process leads to "what if.."

I am thrilled to be playing, I am thrilled to be fully immersed in an exploration that I don't know the meaning of yet?  I am fully in for the collage ride! 

You can go backwards below with the collages and see the progression.

collage 2

collage 3

collage 4

collage 5

collage 6

collage 7

collage 8

collage 9

collage 10

collage 11

collage 12