It’s kind of hard for me to discuss anything other than the snow. We have ridiculous gobs of snow.
That’s our deck furniture.
This is part of my son’s school playground.
See that narrow path? These pretty much everywhere. People are scurrying around in these gullies like mice in a lab maze. VERY CLAUSTROPHOBIC.
It’s starting to feel like this:
At least the snow isn’t sticky…and green. Did I mention that it is around 0 degrees right now too? I think that it’s only fair that we either suffer with snow, or suffer with cold…not both. I shake my fist in irrational outrage!
(…from inside the house, of course…)I know. Those of you that live where the weather is reasonable are scratching your heads about why we put up with it. Why do we? 10 reasons why we persist in living in Massachusetts:
10. The funny accent
9. Fall leaves
8. The Patriots (this year, at least…)
7. The extreme sport of driving…anywhere…
6. We like to be surrounded by smaht MIT and Harvard people
5. Our wardrobes consist of chunky wool sweaters AND flip flops (not typically worn at the same time, mind you…)
4. The sarcasm
3. The Berkshires
2. The Cape
And lastly…
1. Bitching and moaning about the weather
Yes, we’re a surly lot here in New England. Don’t bother visiting until…July? October? Just don’t come now. Only insane people visit from January – March. The padded wagon should just pick them up directly at the airport.
Filed under: Drawing, Sewing | Tags: animation, anne toebbe, art, barbara moody, boston, joe fig, mcsteez, sewing
The school year is wrapping up, and I’m in panic mode thinking about what I’m going to do with my son before his camp begins. I know that letting him eat candy all day whilst watching cartoons is NOT an option. Hmm. I also know that joining him to play Godzilla with his toys is also NOT an option, unless I want to go completely koo koo and wind up institutionalized. I don’t do “imaginative play” with figurines well. I don’t know why. I can’t do it. Build with blocks…yep. Draw with markers…yep. Action figures…nope. Can’t do it. I always end up doing something silly/hilarious, which makes my son mad. Play is serious business! I can’t play with action figures in a serious manner. I just can’t.
In order to try to get some art exposure before the dreaded post-school/pre-camp weeks arrive, I went with a friend to First Friday in Boston. We always have a good time checking out what the galleries have up. We have an even better time getting the required “post-gallery-beer,” but I digress… Barbara Moody, our studio critic for the A.P.T. program, had an opening that night at Kingston Gallery. It was great to see her and her new work! This is an image from the Kingston Gallery website:
Barbara Moody at Kingston Gallery
She creates wild landscapes that overrun fragments of architecture. I love the color palette! I love the marks, the layering, and the overall energy and vitality! She also has a series of very small works that are bold collages of imagined landscapes. Those were also wonderful. Go see this show, as it will close on June 29.
We stopped by Steven Zevitas Gallery and saw the work of Ann Toebbe.
Anne Toebbe at Steven Zevitas Gallery
I loved her work! She creates these flattened out domestic interiors from collaged paper. Each one made you wonder who’s room it was, and whether they were all from the same house, or different houses…
Anne Toebbe at Steven Zevitas Gallery
Aren’t these great???? My photos are terrible, so you have to go and see it for yourself. Her work will be up until July 5. Go see. Now.
We also caught the work of Joe Fig at Carroll and Sons. Joe Fig wrote a great book, Inside the Painter’s Studio, where he interviewed famous artists and then recreated their studios in miniature. LOVE IT. Here is what Leonardo Drew‘s studio must look like:
It’s hard to appreciate the detail of Fig’s work. Here is a bit of a close up:
This is TINY. Can you believe it??? Look at the messy paint cans! Look at the extension cords! HOW DOES HE DO IT??? Anyway…I have his book, so I was thrilled to finally see on of his works in person. I also love Leonardo Drew, so it was cool to have a peek into his world, even though it’s mini. I really could have looked at this for hours, but then I didn’t want to get too many nose marks on the plexiglass case. I should show this to my husband just to prove to him that I’m not the only messy person on the planet. Joe Fig would rather eat one of his models than have to recreate my household chaos in miniature.
Besides making nose marks on plexiglass, I haven’t been up to much lately…except for THIS…CHECK IT OUT!!!
WOO HOOOOO! Yes, that’s a friggin’ SERGER! Mwahahahahh…I’m sooooo excited. Now, I plan to dash off shoddily made items with reckless and foolhardy speed. 1,500 stitches per minute! Imagine what kind of trouble I can get into!!! Here’s my first serger project:
I know…I know…I should have ironed it…but remember? I’m ironing-challenged! I love this day-glo tomato color. Side view:
I look like I’m falling over. Hmm…probably had the camera crooked. ANYWAY…notice the ruching at the side seam???? My first time trying that out…it turned out okay! Because this isn’t Vogue magazine, I didn’t Photoshop my backside to make it smaller. If so, I would have posted this:
Don’t I look more skinny? Ahh…the alchemy of Photoshop! I hope that they incorporate that feature into the new Google glasses. That way, everyone would look as they would like. Kind of like beer goggles…but different. I think that I’d make myself look like Zooey Deschanel, even though that change would be pretty traumatizing if someone took off their glasses. Oh well.
Not bad, right???? The pattern is one I drew up based upon I shirt that I already have. I suppose that’s cheating, right? The whole thing is so simple that it doesn’t seem like THAT original of a design…hmmm. I’m a long way from Project Runway…especially as they would spit upon my serger. BUT WHO CARES???? I love it. It’s “quick and dirty” sewing. Actually, based upon my housekeeping skills, mine is mostly “dirty”…
So, my husband recently discovered the work of Hombre_McSteez. He does AMAZING animations on acetate(?) held in front of some actual scene. Please watch THIS VIDEO on Youtube to see some of his stuff…
You also have to see his instagram feed…HERE.
You’ll never look at a green bean the same way again. At my house now, we all can’t stop saying, “I am a plant!” or “Me WOOT!”
My parting words for today are: Me WOOOT!!! Discuss amongst yourselves…
Filed under: Fleeting thoughts..., sculpture | Tags: art, boston, crocheting, GPS, ICA Boston, Nick Cave, sculpture, Soundsuit
Spring is here! Time to frolic through the dead garden! Mince through the muddy lawn! Leap amongst the leafless trees!
In celebration of the GLORIOUS change in weather (it’s above freezing now…), I went to the ICA in Boston.
Yes, I managed to stop scrubbing the kitchen floor long enough to make this visit. (Ha ha!…just kidding, I never scrub the kitchen floor!!!)
I did see some sunshine for a brief period. Luckily, I got a sunny-ish photo to prove that, yes, indeed…it isn’t snowing!
This sunshine didn’t last long, as you will see in subsequent photos.
ANYHOO…the reason I went was to see the AMAZING work by Nick Cave now on exhibit:
Nick Cave at the ICA Boston
He had three of these sculptures together. They are so comical, and yet somehow regal as well…
Nick Cave at the ICA Boston
THAT is a closeup of what is going on in that mass of beads/ornament/tchotchke-palooza. CRAZY!
Nick Cave at the ICA Boston
This piece is four ENORMOUS panels of chaotic, antiquated, thrift store finery.
Nick Cave at the ICA Boston
You’ll notice that there isn’t any plastic “junk.” It’s mostly beads, metal ornaments, ceramic figurines of birds/fruit, and brightly colored afghans. I think because of this palette, and because the items don’t appear broken or damaged, there is a certain refinement and respect for the materials. While it does look haphazard, the figurines do have an orientation and are placed upright…the beads are draped and not wadded up/thrown on, so there is some order to the chaos. HOW he managed to fix all of these things together with no apparent fasteners is VERY interesting. They aren’t bound together as much as suspended somehow…
Okay, so that is his new work. Mind-boggling, right? Here is is older work, which he is more known for:
Nick Cave at the ICA Boston
Nick Cave at the ICA Boston
Nick Cave at the ICA Boston
These “Soundsuits” are AMAZING. Apparently, Cave created the first one in response to the Rodney King beatings. “I built this sort of suit of armor, and by putting it on, I realized that I could make a sound from moving in it,” Cave told the Washington Post. “It made me think of ideas around protest, and how we should be a voice and speak louder,” Cave says.
These suits are beyond incredible. The materials and excess are astounding…the fantastic manipulation of the human form is phenomenal…and the fact that they could actually be worn and in motion is superb. See videos here and here for some of his other suits in action. Cave is an Alvin Ailey trained dancer. I LOVE the idea of these forms in motion. These photos are terrible in comparison to seeing them in person. Their enormous size/height makes them overwhelming and mesmerizing.
Here are some close ups of the INSANE textures/colors/materials he used to make these:
Nick Cave at the ICA Boston
Nick Cave at the ICA Boston
Nick Cave at the ICA Boston
I LOOOVE THIS! Pure genius. I would LOOOVE to see one of his soundsuit performances! I’m almost inspired to cover myself in handmade potholders and jump around the living room for an hour! (Just kidding, that sounds too much like exercise…) Someday, I fear that I may end up in a crocheted strait jacket made out of colorful granny squares…at least then I’ll have an excuse for not mopping…
ANYWAY, I had a super fun time at the ICA. After paying $15 for parking, I felt guilty about leaving. Wasn’t there anything else that I could do in the area? I decided no, and headed out. Now, I am missing the navigational genes that most normal people have. As a result, I rely heavily upon GPS to get me places. I know…did I really need GPS to get home when I had JUST driven to the ICA from home a few hours ago???? Well, yes…yes I did.
Unfortunately, my GPS had a momentary lapse in usefulness:
REALLY? In order to get to Arlington from Boston I need to take a FERRY???? Why don’t I remember the ferry ride coming over here??? Is traffic really THAT bad that it makes sense for me to take a BOAT home instead???
Sigh. I guess I’m not the only one that’s “navigationally” challenged around here. No wonder why I get lost so often…
Filed under: Drawing, Fleeting thoughts..., Sewing, textile forms | Tags: art, boston, Bromfield Gallery, Color, drawing, quilt, quilting
Where have I been??? What have I been doing??? Honestly…I have no idea. I was SUPPOSED to post last week, but my beloved child was home with a fever. We were all pretty much sick, and my husband is still on the mend. DRAMA.
You know that it has been cold when 14 degrees Fahrenheit feels not so bad. I’ve been wearing the same, over-sized wool sweater for what is likely a month. I didn’t wear it today, as I had to meet with a museum curator…and I didn’t want to potentially offend her high aesthetic standards with my Sasquatch-like appearance. How cold does it have to get for all standards of appearance to be eliminated in favor of comfort? Clearly, that bar is never very high in my world. I’m always wearing some kind of sad, D.I.Y. project. It’s funny that after YEARS of being an architect, where we are trained (brainwashed?) to avoid color in favor of black, gray and white…my D.I.Y. projects are always crazy colorful. I often think that my aesthetic sensibilities actually haven’t changed since I was seven years old, which is kind of sad…as I dressed kind of weird as a kid. Things haven’t changed, I guess…
I finished up a knitting project recently:
That’s the front…here is the back:
Kind of neat, right? I can’t take credit for the pattern…even though I changed the neckline…the cuffs…the length, etc. This is not the sweater that I’ve been wearing for the past month. The sweater that I’ve had on is more like a wool mu-mu. This week, I realized why I can’t move somewhere warm…I’d have no reason to knit.
I’m totally serious.
You’re likely wondering when I’ll stop yammering about my technicolor craft projects, and move onto something more interesting. Well, your wait is over!
My friend, Helen, has her work up at one of the well-known Boston galleries…
Helen Payne, detail of installation “Here I Sit, Brokenhearted” at Bromfield Gallery, Boston
Here is the description of the installation:
An installation on bathroom tiles where drawings make visceral vignettes, showing moments ranging from giving birth to getting booked. A shape-shifting protagonist emerges from the tiles. She morphs in time and race and limps along at odds with expectations but at one with viscera.
“Here I Sit, Brokenhearted” is about the ill fit of the body and how our most private moments can play out in the public sphere.
Helen beautifully elucidates aspects of humanity (primarily vices and viscera) that are typically hidden. Her work is both sensitive and bold. Helen’s drawing fluency is as compelling as her chosen subjects. Please check out her installation at Bromfield. It will be up for a few months…but don’t procrastinate! Go see it! If you see something that looks kind of like Sasquatch at the gallery, come over and say, “hi.” It’s probably me.
I’ve been sidetracked on a quilt project that I’ve been meaning to do for AGES. Yes, I said “a quilt.” Yes, I know that I’m supposed to be focusing on art, but as I just said…I’ve been getting a bit sidetracked as of late…
Sewing curves is challenging…so I decided to put myself in circle boot-camp by doing this koo koo quilt. So far, it has been super fun…albeit a royal pain in the tush. This is a mini-quilt…so the width is around 32″ or so. Each of those little scallop shapes is probably 4″ wide. In doing this quilt, I learned why people don’t normally use linen-type fabric for quilts (which I did.) The weave of linen is so wide that it’s like trying to sew a piece of friggin’ GAUZE.
Okay, well not quite THAT bad…but almost that bad. I fear that this quilt can never set foot in a washing machine, lest I want the thing to turn into a huge blob of colorful thread. Kind of like this, but made out of thread:
Do you know that’s actually a creature called a “blob fish?” I kid you not.
Sigh. I always have to learn things the hard way. At least I can sew a half-decent circle now, in spite of the fact that I look like Sasquatch.
Speaking of blobs, did you read about that recent study that says that sitting too much will pretty much kill you??? WHA? HOW? WHO? I have pretty much sat through my entire adult life. Besides pulling all nighters at school and at work, where I was SUPPOSED to be sleeping but was just deliriously SITTING instead…all of my favorite hobbies and activities involve SITTING. Can I possibly knit whilst hopping around? Can I somehow read AND do jumping jacks? How about sewing and yoga? Quilting and Tae Bo? No?
Upon hearing the bad news about sitting, I promptly slid down within my enormous wool sweater and pouted like that hideous blob fish.
Boo.
I’m waiting for the study to come out that says sedentary craft activities are actually good for everyone’s health because they keep mommy happy. And we know what a maelstrom of discontent mommy can be when she’s NOT HAPPY…
Be thankful that you don’t live with me.
Filed under: Drawing, Fleeting thoughts..., painting | Tags: Amy Sillman, art, boston, drawing, ICA Boston, Kindergarten, painting
I’ve managed to make it through this holiday season with most of my sanity intact. The snow day today and tomorrow, however, has REALLY made me borderline cray-cray. If it hadn’t been 15 degrees outside, I might have just bundled up my son and shoved him out to get him some FRESH AIR, and me some SANITY. Alas…I was fearful that his cherubic cheeks would ice over, so we’ve been inside all day. ALL DAAAAY.
I may have to go for a walk/trudge to Trader Joe’s tomorrow…just to get out. I’ll just hang out there all day, eating samples and commenting on what people are buying, until I am asked to leave. There’s a Starbucks next door, so I’ll just move my insanity show over there. I suppose I’ll return home when I’m no longer welcome there either.
This has been a particularly busy time. Not only was it Christmas…but my son’s birthday IS Christmas day, which adds complication and hysteria. Not only that…just a few days before, I drove out to Cohoes, NY for the opening of a two-person show that I am in at The Foundry. The show is titled, “The Human Condition + Communication Technologies,” and my series titled, “Are You Still There?” is on display.
Elizabeth Kostojohn at The Foundry
The work of the other artist, Nancy Daly, was SO interesting…
Nancy Daly, Status Update, at The Foundry
Nancy Daly, Looking for Love, at The Foundry
Her work comments on social media, its simultaneously transient yet permanent nature, and the vastness of it. It’s just a coincidence that her work is as monochromatic as mine. The pieces looked good together!
My best Christmas gift this year was not a nap or a box of chocolates, but an amazingly funny poster that my son’s teacher had him fill out. I guess this poster is supposed to be an “about me” type of thing. I love the fact that my son didn’t even ask for help in any way…he just grabbed a marker and set out working on it. Here are some of the things that I learned about him:
He is six years old and his favorite animal is a “pekok.” REALLY???? Since when does he like peacocks??? Look at his crazy self portrait….I love his arms. He’s kind of “groovin'” along like he’s on Soul Train, or something.
Yes, that’s our happy family. I’m just glad that we’re all smiling. Let’s hope that he remembers his childhood this way. Mommy looks so relaxed and happy! Look how wiggly I am! Please also notice that his favorite color is white (wht?), and that his favorite food is “hot dog.” So true.
Here is his favorite place…no surprise here. I notice that he omitted including the lyme disease infested deer ticks in the long grass, which he so lovingly drew. Good call. He also doesn’t show mommy yelling, “AAAAA!! GET OUT OF THE GRASS!!!!!” Nice.
Make the treehouse? WHAT??? I think that he and his dad must have come up with some idea about this. I’m staying out of it so that I can’t be blamed when he falls out of the tree and DSS arrives.
Oh, joy. He wants to be a demolisher when her grows up. Greaaaat. Well, judging by the looks of our living room, I’d say that he’s going to be a natural.
Okay, how friggin’ cute is that???? He’s wishing for Christmas. Notice that all that’s needed is himself, a present, and a tree. Notice also the enormous grin on his face. Mommy is probably still asleep upstairs in this image. I know…I know…he didn’t wish for “peace on earth” or anything thoughtful like that. We’re working on peaceful at home before we move onto the whole dang planet.
Besides this fantastically funny poster from my son, my other treat this holiday vacation was to get myself to the ICA to see Amy Sillman‘s show, “One Lump or Two,” JUST before the show closes on January 5. I LOVED IT. Sillman is a wry, master of color, and supremely talented. I bask in her artistic brilliance. Here are just a few of the highlights…
Any Sillman, Ocean 1, 1977, Oil on Canvas
So gorgeous. I love the use of primary colors…the contrast between the saturated background and the bold, graphic waves…the layering and transparency…ahhh.
Amy Sillman, The Umbrian Line, 1999-2000, Gouache on paper
This series of drawings is so beautiful. Sillman’s colors and her mix of almost collage-like flatness with delicate linework in these works is amazing. I felt like I could have stared at each one for an eternity.
This series of portraits was fantastic. I love the distortions in the figures…they seem more real, as a result.
Amy Sillman, Psychology Today, 2006, Oil on Canvas
She has many large, bold paintings with a combination of discernible figures and loose abstraction. I think that one of the things that I really love about what she does is that she is always mixing unexpected colors, images, shapes, and ideas. She can create both minimal drawings of great humor and enormous paintings with visceral intensity. This show feels as if it gives a very rich view into this artist and her world. Perhaps that is more a result of her willingness or desire to have herself revealed in these works? Not sure…
Amy Sillman, A Bird In the Hand, 2006, Oil on Canvas
Amy Sillman, Shade, 2010, Oil on Canvas
Amy Sillman, Drawer, 2010, Oil on Canvas
This is a MUST SEE show. I’m sorry that I’m writing about it so late! Sigh. Now, I’m getting panicky that it’s closing soon…it would take a small miracle for me to be able to see it again. Best not push my luck…but YOU should see it. I know that there is a blizzard outside, but if you head out now with your team of sled dogs…you’ll probably make it to the ICA in time to see this before it closes. Hey…while you’re at it, pick me up along the way! I’m lovely company, and I’ll bring you a bunch of extra samples from Trader Joe’s. I PROMISE.
Filed under: printmaking | Tags: art, boston, Carnivorous plant, drawing, parenting, printmaking, Venus flytrap
We would! No joke…I bought a VENUS FLYTRAP!!!
Eww…right????? You’ll notice that some of the little “mouths” are closed. Why, you may ask? Well, because we were told to feed it little balls of HAMBURGER. I’m not kidding. So, it’s digesting hamburger blobs. I love how my husband is vegan, yet we have a carnivorous plant. I’m not sure how happy it is with the burger bits. I mean, are they going to dissolve? Or, does it spit it out when it’s done with it, like “plant poop?” No idea. It was kind of disturbing to watch it clamp down on the hamburger bit. It looks so coy, with it’s sassy green “lashes.” But don’t be fooled…it’s looking for MEAT. If you’re a product of the 80s, this is likely the first thing that came to mind…
If this starts to happen, I’m stopping the hamburger balls (aka a mini-meatball) STAT.
Does anyone else out there completely ignore their landline when it rings? I do. 99.9% of the time, it isn’t someone that I want to speak to. Considering that I rarely check our voicemail, it’s a bit of a black hole, really. Why do we have it? Well, it’s kind of like a technological pacifier…it makes me feel “safe” that we can always make a phone call, even if our cellphones are lost/not charged/left in the car. Does that make sense? No? Well keep reading, if you find making sense boring…
So, I’ve managed to tear myself away from staring suspiciously at the Venus flytrap in order to go out and see some art! (Or, “aht,” as this is a Boston ‘burb.) My advisor, Adria Arch, recently had a show at Bromfield Gallery:
The show was fabulous and ran from October 27 – November 30. I was hoping to post about it earlier, but something awful happened recently (see my last post), so I got a bit sidetracked. Arch’s work explores the innocent, yet sometimes revealing, doodles or marks that people make. She magnifies these marks so that they command attention in a way that is unusual for something typically done without conscious thought. She captures every nuance of the mark, both in paintings…and now in plexiglass sculptural works. Arch has a great deal of experience in installations, so these newer plexiglass elements allow her pieces to be unfettered from their typical painted fields. Beautiful!
Nancy Diessner was also showing at the Bromfield. She is a printmaker who’s subject is often animals, both domestic and wild.
Nancy Diessner, Bromfield Gallery
Nancy Diessner, Bromfield Gallery
Nancy Diessner, Bromfield Gallery
I love this new series with pairings of delicate images. I think that’s a nose on the right…amazing!
While I was wandering around the other galleries, look what I found at Carroll & Sons:
Boston Drawing Project, Carroll & Sons
WOO HOO!!! You’ll notice my drawing folder featured on the middle shelf, second one from the right. I was SUPER EXCITED to see it on display like that. Having anything up at Carroll & Sons would pretty much be the apex of my career, so I think that this is as close as I’m going to get, realistically. Anyway, I’m happy.
I also went to the Boston Printmaker’s Biennial at 808 Gallery at B.U. I LOVE THIS SHOW. So much variety and so much talent. I love that gallery space, but it is kind of a pain if you are looking at works behind glass. The glare is pretty distracting:
Cate Francis, Around The Tree
Now, that’s an amazing print. Unfortunately, it’s hard to see. I love the graphic quality of this paired with the warm, Japanese paper. So cool.
Because the glare was so difficult, I’ve selected images to show you of prints that didn’t have much of a glare problem. There were lots of beautiful prints, but I won’t bother with the ones that have too much of my silhouette ruining the image.
Raluca Iancu, Corroded Mammoth
This is an enormous, and simply gorgeous print. It’s beautiful. I love the limited palette. She’s a virtuoso.
Naya Bricher, Mini Fridge
This is so amazing. I think it’s an aquatint. Doesn’t she capture the light and feel of the ubiquitous mini fridge? Look at the Pur water pitcher! Look at the Glad storage containers! Brilliant.
Julia Talcott, Portable Color Trap
I am especially fond of this print, as we have one as well! I’m not sure how many she printed, but isn’t it amazing? The image looks tipped because it was above me when I took the photo. I love the bold, mechanized quality of it. It simultaneously has both flatness and depth. Fascinating.
Louise Kohrman, …Forever on the Mind
Louise Kohrman, …Forever on the Mind (detail)
Isn’t that so delicate and amazing? Kohrman’s work always seems to have a kind of etherial quality to it…lovely.
Catherine Kernan, The Heart of the Matter
This is an incredible and enormous print. I’ve actually taken classes with Kernan. She is very skilled and knowledgeable. Her prints are obviously gorgeous.
David Mazure, Defeated/Amputees (WAR)
What you can’t see is that there is actually recycled rubber tire flocking on the black areas. Amazing! It looks like ornate wallpaper, yet there is something very dark about it.
Christiane Corcelle, Boundless
I’m sorry that this photo isn’t great. Both the glare and the height which it was hung make it a challenge to see this well. This is the work of a printmaking teacher that I had for several months. She’s super talented, and works a lot with carborundum collagraphs. I believe that there are actually strips of paper collaged on, which you can sort of see here. I like the contrast between the delicate paper strips and the heavy inked area near the top. Lovely!
Dan Welden, Fairly Squarely
Dan Welden actually invented solarplate printing (I believe.) This looks is a solarplate intaglio. I love the heavy black area with the gray, scribbly zones…it’s kind of crackling with energy…
Ibrahim Maranda, Mapas
Oh. My. GOD. His works were GORGEOUS. I wanted to own all of them. ALL.
Ibrahim Maranda, Mapas (detail)
His works are crazy, multicolored, multilayered smashups of marks and images with a “graffiti” sensibility. STUNNING. I could have put a chair down in front of these works and looked at them all day. I didn’t do that, as I had to get back to the Venus flytrap to be sure that it wasn’t eating the house. You know how it goes…
This is kind of a long post, so I’m feeling a bit worn out. I’ll finish with a hilarious drawing/installation by my son:
He stuck this on the front panel of a wood bookcase. LOOK AT SPIDERMAN! DON’T YOU LOVE IT??? WordPress actually provides a way to set up a “poll.” Part of me is tempted to set up a poll with the question, “Isn’t this AWESOME????” Of course, the only right answer would be “yes.” Those who answer “no” will get the stinkeye from me, his adoring yet slightly unstable mother.
I hear scratching sounds in the living room. Gotta go…it might be the Venus flytrap (soon to be…the Venus mommytrap.) At least I have a landline so that I can call for help from the depths of its jaws, right? The cord will come in handy as something for me to anchor myself to when the plant decides that I’m next on the menu. See? Landlines DO serve a purpose! Told ya so.
Filed under: Drawing, Fleeting thoughts..., Sewing | Tags: art, arts, boston, colored pencil, crafts, Donald Trump, drawing, Machine quilting, quilt
My current excuse for not having seen any new art is that it’s sweltering hot here. I guess it’s going to be 97 deg F tomorrow with tons of humidity.
I know…
It gets hotter in Texas…the Sahara Desert…the surface of the sun, etc. But does it get hotter than the dark interior of my dark blue car???? Nooooo…I think not. I’ve been feeling too lethargic to cook lately, and I’m wondering if there is some way that I can prepare dinner by cooking it IN MY CAR??? Fried eggs on the dashboard? No, those aren’t vegan…damn! Tofu pups instead? What IS seitan anyway? It looks like a wet, sweatsock turned inside out. No? Well, I hope that it doesn’t TASTE like that. Anyhoo…as I can’t afford a real convection oven, or at least one that doesn’t have four wheels and an engine, I was thinking of possibly doing a lasagna. Do you think that it would cook faster in the glove compartment, or on the dash? Tough call.
So, I recently finished a drawing. FINALLY. I’ll show it to you in a minute, but before I do, I had to celebrate it’s completion by making a baby quilt. My FIRST quilt…mind you. Needless to say, the quilt is done, but the sewing machine is in the shop. I think that I scared it half to death with my shoddy sewing skills. The feed dogs won’t go up anymore. I think that they’re either hiding, or on strike.
So, here’s the quilt!
I know. It’s sooooo basic. Hey, at least it’s a friggin’ rectangle. This is machine quilted entirely. I’m much too impatient to even remotely consider hand sewing. Besides…the binding was hand sewn, and I nearly made a pincushion out of my left thumb with my incompetent needle handling (yes, I’ve heard of a thimble). I can’t imagine doing a whole quilt. (Patty, I bask in your quilting glory.) I feel itchy to do another quilt! Is that normal? (Don’t answer that.) Actually, as I am a mosquito and poison ivy magnet, I tend to be itchy in general.
The back:
Super simple!
While I was working away on this thing, my son brought home one of HIS creations from camp. Here it is:
Do you know what that is? No, it’s not vermin. It’s a PET ROCK!!! He proudly told me that it will require no feeding and care. He also explained that after adding the first piece of brown fur, he felt that his rock was cold and needed the black fur as well. It’s like a bad toupee…or if Donald Trump somehow found himself in the story of Sylvester and the Magic Pebble. Anyway, I love it and think that it’s hilarious. I’m also a sucker for anything with googly eyes.
Speaking of googly eyes, after months of slaving over the minutiae of my drawing, it’s finished.
Nameless Problem #2, Elizabeth Kostojohn, 2013, colored pencil on mylar
Sorry for the glare…photography is not one of my strong suits…
No, I have not gone off the deep end. I’m just expressing my domestic angst. I’ve already started another one in this series, and I am seriously hoping that it does NOT take me months to complete. I’m also hoping that I don’t decide to ever draw Doritos again. Don’t get me wrong…they’re delicious and I love orange, but really…
Okay, I will make a SERIOUS effort to see some art next week. Until then, I’ll just have to wander around the yard in a heat induced stupor. The hydrangeas are about the only things that haven’t completely shriveled up and died in this heat.
Speaking of withering neglect, my son correctly used the word “languish” in a sentence this week. He’s five! Well, he only get’s half credit…as after he commented on how our unused British pound coin will “languish”, he said, “What does ‘languish’ even mean?” What does “languish” mean??? Just look at mommy trying to bake lasagna in the Toyota!!! I’m glad that my culinary failings can prove useful by enriching my son’s developing vocabulary. Next, I’m going to teach him, “exasperate”, “lethargy”, and “ennui…”
Filed under: Drawing, Fleeting thoughts..., painting, Sewing | Tags: 13 Forest, arlington, art, artist, boston, graduation, Massachusetts, preschool, visual art
So, I recently started exercising. I know. Don’t laugh. I truly forgot what sore muscles feel like. Actually, I forgot what muscles feel like altogether, so the whole thing is pretty shocking, to say the least. I haven’t succumbed to the lure of Ben Gay, though. When I was in high school, the heady aroma of Ben Gay would waft throughout the school in the week of “sports camp” leading up to the start of the Fall season. I’d rather hobble than smell that stuff again. (God forbid you rub your eye with some of that on your hand….YEEOUCH.) In order to nurse myself back to health, I’ve decided to just lie on the couch whilst eating an ice cream sandwich. You know…just like the pros do.
Besides moaning about my aching, yet seemingly nonexistent muscles, I did get out to see some art. This is lucky, as my own artwork continues to plod along at a glacial pace. I didn’t venture far, mind you. My hobbling limited the scope of my search. I decided that I would FINALLY go to 13 Forest Gallery here in Arlington, MA. (It’s kind of ridiculous/embarrassing that I had not been in before.) I met Marc Gurton, the owner, who was super friendly and has selected some really amazing artists to represent. Right now, they have a show titled, “Tangent,” which features the work of Mary O’Malley and Rebecca Roberts. Here are some views of the show:
13 Forest Gallery featuring Mary O’Malley and Rebecca Roberts
And another view:
13 Forest Gallery featuring Mary O’Malley and Rebecca Roberts
O’Malley creates intricate drawings with metallic ink and gouache typically on black paper. They are beautiful. The repetitive and abstract qualities makes me think of Islamic art, while the gilded palette makes me think of an illuminated manuscript. They have an opulent, yet understated quality about them. Very impressive.
Roberts creates gorgeous abstract fabric paintings in a mix of both bold and subtle hues. She not only plays with beautiful color palettes, but the texture of the fabric also varies. My favorite pieces were those with a color field surrounded by an unsymmetrical white background. Two of those pieces are in the photo above on the right side.
Here are some better shots of their work:
Mary O’Malley, Relic #10, Ink and Gouache on Paper, 16″ x 13″
The reflection is obviously not doing the work justice. But you can see the gorgeous palette and beautiful detail.
Rebecca Roberts, Pfeiffer Falls, Sewn Cotton Fabric, 18″ x 20″
This is one where an irregularly shaped field of color sits within a minimal, white background. I love it!
Anyone local to Arlington, MA should stop by to see the show. IN FACT, TONIGHT (June 21) BOTH ARTISTS ARE GOING TO BE SPEAKING AT THE GALLERY. There is a reception from 7-9pm. Go see what they have to say! (And please tell me what they say, as I don’t think that I can make it.)
Today is my son’s LAST DAY at preschool. He has gone to that school since he was four months old. (No joke.) So, we’re taking him out for a “graduation dinner.” to celebrate. This is also to ease the fact that he is NOT happy about leaving. Actually, he’s not happy about change of any sort, unless you mean adding a new toy to his collection. THEN, he embraces change completely and with zeal. Also, he’ll “embrace” the change in my purse, and add it to his ever expanding piggybank if I’m not paying attention. Naturally, if I ask him where the money is from…he’ll tell me that he “found it.” I guess that’s sort of true…
Actually, the whole concept of “truth” still does not register with him. He’s only 5, so I hope that there’s time to learn. Sometimes, he’ll blatantly lie about something. I’ll ask him, “Did you and Grandma get some ice cream today?” His response is an emphatic, “NO!” However, when I say that I’m going to call Grandma just to check, he changes his response to, “Wellllll, at least I don’t THINK that I had any ice cream…I don’t reaaaally remember.” He even scratches his chin quizzically for effect.
Hmmm.
I’m hoping that this does not indicate some future life of crime for him, but just a phase of development that he hasn’t quite reached yet…kind of like facial hair. Now, if the facial hair comes in BEFORE his understanding of “the truth”, THEN I will be concerned. Actually, there’s probably some correlation between the onset of facial hair and a regressive trend to actually forget what it means to tell the truth. Like, “No Mom, I didn’t take your ironing board and use it as a skateboard ramp. I don’t know where those wheel marks came from.”
HMMMMM.
I’ve decided to stop worrying about all of that now and just go ice my sore muscles with another ice cream sandwich…
Filed under: Fleeting thoughts... | Tags: arts, Barry McGee, boston, Boston Institute of Contemporary Art, Os Gêmeos
I went downtown this week.
Lots of people were milling around the site of the bombing on Boylston Street. There was actually a small crowd of cops and individuals with prosthetic legs, possibly veterans?, chatting and talking to people who stopped by to visit the site. I know that it would be bad for business…but I almost wish that this spot could stay boarded up like this. It won’t, though, and I know that it shouldn’t. But a statue or a plaque in this location to mark the significance is so much less powerful than seeing the boarded up storefronts. The grim blankness of the closed windows is mirrored in the faces of those who stop and stare. There was also something poignant about people both walking past, a sign of the return to normalcy, and people standing in reverential silence. Everyone here is still obsessed with the event and the victims.
Eventually, I headed down to South Boston to check out what’s up at the ICA. I used to work in South Boston, so it was nice to be back there.
I used to work on that street! Looks the same as I remember. Other parts in the area look MUCH different:
Mural by Os Gemeos
LOVE IT! This work has been somewhat controversial. Some people found it to be disturbing, but I think it’s a fascinating mural on an irregularly shaped building facade. This used to be a plain, flat, gray metal facade. But, now LOOK! He’s just hanging out like everyone else on the lawn! I like the ambiguity of his expression and partially hidden face. He’s SO big and obtrusive, and yet he appears to be trying to almost hide and make himself small and unnoticed. FASCINATING. I’m glad that I finally got to see this in person. Here’s what else I saw right near him:
Brilliant! There is a little grouping of food trucks right across from him…and I loved the local “flavah” of this one. As much as I love the Boston accent, I get worried when I hear my son say words in a slightly Boston way. I’ve had to explain to him that “hair” is a single syllable word. It’s “hair”, not “HAY-ER.” I wasn’t born in Massachusetts, so I’d feel like a fraud if my son sounded like a local. I should have bought one of the cookies to really get a sense of the flavor, right??? I wonder if they sell the raw dough? I would happily have gnawed on a blob of dough whilst sunning myself on the lawn in front of the enormous, reclining “dude”.
Edouard Manet, Le Dejeuner sur l’herbe
Not to be confused with this reclining nude. See how far we’ve come in art? Now, instead of a nude female having lunch with a couple of clothed men on a lawn, we have a larger than life oddball peering at us from beneath the sweatshirt he’s wrapped around his head!
I love the ICA. I don’t always remotely grasp the content of the work, but I still love going. Right now, they have the work of Barry McGee up. He’s a painter / graffiti artist from San Francisco. His work is amazing and I bask in his artistic brilliance. The show is incredible, with works of a stunning variety of scale, color, and medium. I love the dark humor throughout his work. He had written his name, “McGee” on a wall with what looked like wishbones from chickens. I wish that I’d taken a picture of it. Brilliant.
Barry McGee at the ICA, Boston
That is so amazing. EACH DRAWING that makes up this piece is amazing. This faux living room wall with an amorphous “growth” of these drawings was phenomenal. I don’t want to gush, but I will. GO SEE THIS NOW. I LOVE how this is so compelling from far away AND up close. Look:
Barry McGee at the ICA, Boston
Look at all of these amazing sketches, collages, drawings, photos, etc.!!! Each one is a fantastic and bizarre little world to get lost in. Stunning.
Barry McGee at the ICA, Boston
Again, SO amazing. A wall of whiskey (??) bottles hung by wire in a giant cluster. Who is this population of disturbing men??? On the surface, each face is different…but they all share a common core and they are all empty and “hanging by a thread.” Again, it’s compelling from a distance AND from up close:
Barry McGee at the ICA, Boston
Don’t you love the limited color palette and vintage look to the style of illustration? I love their neat, shiny hair and unnerving expressions.
Barry McGee at the ICA, Boston
Okay. THESE drawings were INCREDIBLE. They are ballpoint pen on paper. Each “face” appears almost as a mask made from shiny human hair and like a collection of strange tribal fetishes. These may have been the most mind-blowing drawings for me. They are disturbing…beautiful…strange…and done with a BALLPOINT PEN. I could have spent the day pouring over each one. Together, especially in that mass, they are imposing. While they are mask-like, the eyes are not vacant but staring back at you…tiny deities from a mysterious religion.
Please go see this show. Call me, and we’ll go together so that I GUSH over everything with you as my unwilling audience. Sound good? Okay, it’s open at 10 tomorrow…see you then.
Barry McGee at the ICA, Boston
LOOK. AT. THIS. These are little patterned color swatches that FILL THE WALL and are configured in a unique way each time they are installed. I desperately wanted to touch them, but I didn’t. I would never do something like that, but I can admit that I WANTED to. Again, I could have pulled up a chair and basically sat all day staring at this. Is the breadth of his talent not mind-blowing????? I have to end this commentary soon, as I’m running out of superlatives.
Barry McGee at the ICA, Boston
The bulging wall behind was incredible. This tower of TVs fit so perfectly with the context of the show. I am so glad that this show has an extensive range of his work. I would love each piece individually…but the entire show makes you dizzy and awestruck. Next time I’ll get myself a blob of that cookie dough, bring a lawnchair, and sit myself down in front of this totem of TVs for the afternoon. The staff will love me. (Maybe if I share my cookie dough they actually will love me? Maybe not? What would Barry do???)
Strangely enough, I came home to find my son creating something that felt similar:
Okay. Not quite. I know that some kids build with Lego, but this is what my son was up to. Somehow though…this multicolored blob of Lego on the rug struck me as fitting in with my Barry McGee afternoon. (I hope that he wouldn’t be offended for me to say that.) Actually, the fact that he’s being written about in this blog is probably offensive enough to him. Hmm. If he writes me to complain, I’ll be sympathetic. I might even put down my blob of cookie dough to give him my full attention as I read his enraged comments about my misguided analysis of his work. I flatter myself to think that he would contact me. If he does contact me, I’ll remind him that I LOVE his work and that I did NOT touch any of it, never mind get cookie dough on it…
Maybe I’ll hold off on telling him, “I’m your number one fan…”
Okay, I’m going to stop wearing my hair like that…IMMEDIATELY. I’m also going to end the post here because I’m starting to freak myself out…
Oh. My. God.
What a week this has been. It began on Monday with the explosion of two, homemade bombs at the finish line of the Boston Marathon…three people killed and many others horribly maimed…a young police officer shot on Thursday…and it ended last evening with the capture of the second suspect who had been hiding in someone’s backyard in Watertown.
In spite of the fact that the second terrorist is still alive, nothing he can say will somehow “clear things up” about why all of this happened. It was senseless, calculated, and evil. Those dead are gone forever, and those who lost limbs will never recover them.
I can’t believe how recently the nation was sickened by the shootings at Newtown. And yet…here we are again, with more senseless killing of innocent people. I know that this happens all over the world. I don’t mean to imply that these events are somehow more horrific than events that have occurred anywhere else. Personally, however, these last two tragedies were very close to home…both to my childhood home in the case of Newtown, and my to current one in the case of this Boston/Cambridge/Watertown nightmare. I know that it shouldn’t make a difference to the horror of it all, but it does…only in that I’m filled with more disbelief.
.
No man is an island,
Entire of itself.
Each is a piece of the continent,
A part of the main.
If a clod be washed away by the sea,
Europe is the less.
As well as if a promontory were.
As well as if a manor of thine own
Or of thine friend’s were.
Each man’s death diminishes me,
For I am involved in mankind.
Therefore, send not to know
For whom the bell tolls,
It tolls for thee.
– John Donne
I’ll post about art next week.
slightly wonky 