The Opening - All About People

"It began to dawn on me that we artists tend to put too much value on the power of art to affect people and too little value on how our own lives affect those with whom our art puts us in contact." artist Wm. Swetcharnik '99.

YES! Thursday night's opening of PORTS OF COLOR was all about the wonderful mix of people & building relationships.

PORTS OF COLOR, Shalom Cafe, Bloomfield, CT on thru mid-June 2010.

Dye Vats, Color & Graphic Design

Pieces will be exhibited: PORTS OF COLOR, Shalom Cafe, Bloomfield, CT on thru mid-June 2010.

Meet My Artist Friends

Exhibiting with me in PORTS OF COLOR:

Pat Butler works in the visual arts ministry of OMArtsLink, intergrating art and faith in cross-cultural contexts. Her extensive travel overseas for the past 12 years, in the company of artist teams, inspire a steady flow of artwork, photography and poetry.

Martha Campbell has delved into her artistic passion to produce collages, photography and graphic design, while maintaining full time employment. Most recently she began taking a photo a day for an entire year as part of a 356 Blog project.

Pat's photography of the iron grill-worked windows of North Africa inspired much of Pat and Martha's creativity last summer...as they sat in their studio spaces and created. (photos taken last summer '09)

And what inspired me? Check back tomorrow.

PORTS OF COLOR: 3 Artists in the Studio

Last summer I welcomed friends, Pat Butler & Martha Campbell, into my home and studio and a week of art making began.

Inspired by Pat's photographs, taken in North Africa, we 3 artists collaged, printed, ate, quilted, swam, walked, wrote, carved lino blocks & talked non-stop!

Our exhibit, PORTS OF COLOR*, is the outcome of a very creative & fun week. More tomorrow.

(photo) The three of us working in the studio.

**PORTS OF COLOR, Shalom Cafe, Bloomfield, CT on March 25 - mid-June 2010.

Ports of Color Just Ahead

Graphics, labels, pick up framed art. Lots to do. Install the next show this Tuesday. Fun ahead with Pat and Martha at The Shalom Cafe.

Stations #11 - Pages

'TOUT' 'ALL'

Completed Station #11.

Mailed to RI friends, Philip & Anh.

Title in French, honoring the Paris opening.

Cover pictured.

More pics & art statement tomorrow.

Sewing on Buttons

Spread out on the dining room table today, working on Station #11 Jesus Nailed to the Cross. Sewing dark buttons on the crosses, symbolizing our griefs, our sorrows & our sins.

Not easy getting a needle through the heavily collaged and painted pages, so I used a hammer and pin to tap holes in the pages before sewing the buttons on with embroidery thread.

Story Ropes in Rwanda

For those who asked for more details about the Rwanda experience, here are 2 workshop pics. (top) Beginning to demo how to create the story rope at a class in western Rwanda. In the back are my original quilts also used to help them process their stories. (bottom) I'm surrounded by the World Relief staff with their newly created story ropes.

For more about this experience, link to my website at the bottom of ABOUT ME. Go to >The Journey >Rwanda.

Stations #11 update: more cutting and pasting; pushing around buttons; waiting on Pat for French translation.

Accordion fold book in progress

Continued to work on cross collages today. Here's the accordion fold book in progress. Moving it further along tomorrow. Planning book title in English & French and using buttons & rubber stamps in the book design. Sound interesting? Check back.

Collaging Crosses

Collaging crosses on 7 page accordion fold book for Stations. One cross per page. Lots of right design-ways. Fun playing. Embellishments? Title still perking. Thinking about next page. More fun tomorrow.

Story ropes-Kosovo & Painting-STATIONS

Melinda Elliott came over this afternoon to learn more about the story ropes we made with the genocide survivors in Rwanda. She'll be using the idea in Kosovo with women who lived through the horrors of ethnic cleansing.

The story rope is a simple project done with fabrics, buttons and ribbons purchased in local markets. Creating a rope has helped many survivors begin to process the damaging emotions holding them hostage. On the table I'm showing the Rwandan materials and a story rope made by one of the women in our class.

Earlier in the day I painted more watercolor paper scraps with acrylics. Expect to begin the Stations #11 collages tomorrow. The painted papers are drying on the tables behind us.

Teaching blog & painting paper.

Our friends, Ruth & Bob Chuvala, were over today to work on the Jericho Partnership Samaritan Center website with Nelson.

Bob wants to create a blog for sharing "people" stories at Jericho, so I shared how easy it was to create this blog.

Later in the day I painted the second side of the Stations #11 accordion fold book. Ready for collage now.

To the framer.

This is Chris Durante, my framer. He's also a great artist with a studio that is cavernous! This afternoon I brought him some work to frame for the Ports of Color show.

Earlier I spent some time sorting through painted papers and glossy pictures - seeing what might work for the Stations of the Cross piece. Tomorrow I'll get out the acrylics & paint more paper. Station #11 needs a title. It's coming but I need to begin the piece and let it perk a little more.

Gesso

Here I am in my studio painting gesso on the front and back of the book, preparing the surface for acrylics and collage.

You might be wondering about the art work behind me. To the left is a table runner I'm working on using Marimekko fabrics. On the ledge to the right are pieces for the Ports of Color show. I'll share more about these projects in upcoming posts.

Back to the Station #11 project. Once the surface is dry, I refolded the accordion book and pressed it under some heavy art books.

An invitation to exhibit in Paris.

My friends, Philip and Anh Sawyer, invited me to exhibit in a show they are curating with a friend titled, Stations.

Stations is the 15 Stations of the Cross, as seen through the eyes of 17 contemporary American artists and expressed through their various disciplines and media.

The show will be Holy Week @ Trinity Int'l Church in Paris, with an opening on Sunday, April 4, 2010 at 3:30 p.m.

I've done a lot of work on the theme of the cross, so I chose Station #11 Jesus nailed to the Cross. I'll be designing a handmade book filled with collages inspired by the account found in the Gospel of John chapter 19.

Here I am beginning the project by creating a seven page accordion fold book.

Come along on the journey.

Here it is, a blog documenting my life as an artist, being inspired, creating in the studio & completing the creative process through sharing, teaching, selling & exhibiting.

I've found that more important than my artwork are the people I've met and built relationships with through the creative process.

Art friends, Martha Campbell, Pat Butler, & myself talking over our upcoming exhibit, Ports of Color, at the Shalom Company Cafe, Bloomfield, CT. Artist reception, Thursday, March 25.