DROPPING ART FOR FRIENDS

Friends coming and going last week.  I dropped artmaking and enjoyed the gift of friendship.

Artist Jens (left) and photographer Florian (right), both from Berlin, came after doing performance art in NYC at the Met, Grand Central Station, Times Square and Rockerfeller Center.  I knew conversations would be centered around faith issues and full of intensity and humor so I invited Martha to come on over from Hartford. Martha would have a lot to contribute. Jens comes every couple of years.  I first got to know him through his amazing story of creating and sharing his art in the village in Niger.  Jonathan and Eileen, Sokol and Kari and family, all living nearby, rounded out the Sunday dinner table. Table set with the batik table cloth I bought in Cameroon last May.  

Photos: top 2: Martha, inspired by Jen's latest performance videos, has us posing in performance mode.  bottom: Sunday dinner with friends and family. Click photos to enlarge.

for Jens website      to see Jens performance art in NYC 2013 - Shifting Weight

AN AFTERNOON OF SHOW 'N TELL

My friend, Martha, came on Saturday with Heather and Angela, who are interested in working creatively with fabrics and sewing.

Last summer Martha, Heather and Angela went on an outreach to the Dominican Republic, where they taught girls how to make simple quilts.

In July Martha and Angela will return to the DR to teach the sewing girls, but this time - how to let go and be creative!

They came to my studio to be inspired. Our afternoon was one big 'show and tell' beginning with looking at all the framed art quilts on the 1st and lower floors. (top photo looking at the Creation quilt)

Then up to the studio to look at more art quilts and collages, as we talked about design, inspiration, materials and techniques. (Middle photo: They liked Postcards from Kunming click for quilt series & story. Bottom photo: showing Moroccan Dye Vats.)

I wonder what great work will perk out of their afternoon here, as they teach the sewing girls in the DR to let go and get creative!

SALON HAPPENS

The doors are revolving faster than I can keep up with! 


Marcia has come, created and left on 5/21. I've fallen way behind documenting her time here.  Stay tuned to see the beautiful collaged accordion books she started here and is completing back in Seattle. 


A professional I know calls what happens in my studio - Salon. Sounds exotic. But really it all boils down to nonstop conversation, creating, encouragement and hanging out. 

Yesterday my friend, Pat (recently returned from 3 months leading an art school in Italy) and her brother, Chef Pierre (actually Peter) entered the salon!  And took over the kitchen!


As Pat and I created, Peter read excerpts from the latest novel he's writing. Captivating! Now that really does have the ring of salon. 


top down:
Marcia; Pat/Peter: Peter/Marge: Peter/Pat  

Creating Together

It's been working out that once a year my friends join me for a week of art-making in studio.

Going through aperture, I'm remembering our creative week back in the spring.

Pat from Atlanta, Marcia from Seattle & Martha from Hartford, all working on different projects.

SIX PEARS

My friend, AJ Picard, exhibited 2 of his beautiful pear pastels in an open house art exhibit we had a few years ago.

I enjoyed his work so much that week, hanging in my kitchen.

During the week I noted that 3 'real' pears I had in a basket, had ripened to the same coloring as those in the painting. I could not resist setting up this shot.

This summer AJ had the honor of demonstrating portraiture at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, NY.

3 DREAMERS IN THE MORNING

Two great art people visited me yesterday morning. Amanda & a new art friend, Siovhan. We did a lot of looking at art work, dreaming of possibilities & yes, talking non-stop!

Siovhan is a mosaic artist. Beautiful work! Incorporating broken pieces of stained glass really makes her work stunning. We got along famously-on same page about a lot of stuff.

Amanda and I go back just a couple of weeks. We clicked from the get-go & started dreaming about using art experiences with Danbury's immigrant community. She has amazing connections & speaks a bunch of languages!

Of course it all came round to a conversation about the story ropes & the myriad of venues this could be used in.

Teaching blog on story telling coming.

ARTIST DOWNLOAD!

My art buddy, Pat Butler, came over today-fresh up from Hot-lanta which has cooled off like it has up here!

When we get together it is a non-stop download of: sketchbooks, tags, photos, cross collages, books, new postcards, hearing about latest travels & art team leading - this time into the world of graffiti in Hungary, updates on Om & GEM & how is so & so and on & on!!!

Good thing she is coming back in another week before she leaves to go back home. We didn't have time to cover it all!

• looking at collage materials & thinking about possibilities.

• tags !!! labels !!!

Some years back, I shared the idea of tags as a surface to create on. Pat has since taken the idea and run with it! Several years ago it was lino block printing on the tags. This year she created a creative slide of tags inspired by her world view! Many of the collage materials were found on her trip. Totally a WOW!

• Pat's awesome sketch book! She is a writer & she can draw!!! On many pages words are incorporated into the art work. On the left side is the graffiti design one of the ArtsLink participants came up with.

I made 2 videos of Pat talking about her sketchbooks last spring in my studio. One of these days I'll get the video clips into IMovie to share with you.

MY FRIEND JO

That's my new friend, Jo Reimer, in her studio out in Portland, OR. We spent a day together last week. Actually it was like we knew each other for a long time, having been introduced by a friend of a friend and been on each other's blogs & emailing for a couple months now!

I have to admit I have been hedging on doing this blog post because where do I begin!!!??? I was so overwhelmed with the caliber of her artwork & her WOW studio filled with art books, collages, paintings, quilts, encaustics, materials, supplies, equipment, great work surfaces & how about that NEON !

Creativity and art collection flowed throughout her northwest style contemporary home. I was so engrossed in the total experience that I neglected to take all but a couple photos!

We had lunch at the Hands on Cafe at the Oregon College of Art & Craft. Click here to take a look at this fabulous school. What a great website!!! On Home page don't miss clicking on Craft is...and then make art.

Click here to see Jo's wonderful blog. Jo also participated in the Sketchbook Project 2011 and you can see her sketchbook on her blog. Look for it in the right side column - a trip across Oregon east to west-in photo & collage. Just super creative! Click here to see her Sketchbook Project profile page about her + her portfolio.

To complete the perfect day Nelson and I returned in the evening for a wonderful dinner & conversation with Jo & Gerald Reimer, Bob & Anne West & perhaps you know this person, Luis & Pat Palau. Did I get a photo. No! Once again overwhelmed !

COLOR BY JOAN CODERRE

Con't from previous post.

Later Friday afternoon Marth & I drove up to Canton, CT & met up w/ Kathy, Marth's sister, who is a wonderful artist & art teacher extraordinaire!

Destination - Pia Sjolin Design to see the opening of Paintings by Joan Coderre. Joan is well known for her exuberant views of city life. Her bright gouache and watercolor paintings are inspired by her childhood in Hartford.

The 3 of us are friends with Joan on Facebook though none of us have a clue how that came about, which was kind of funny. No matter! We enjoyed meeting Joan & loved her colorful street scenes.

Photos-from top down:

• Marth & Kathy @ Pia's.

• Marth and Joan looking at "El Capitan II Restaurant" the painting Joan used to publicize the exhibit.

• I love her colorful detailed traffic scenes. What a great bus and cars in the bottom piece.

Great up-liftng work, Joan! You are a colorist!

Less Is More

Shelves, cabinets, drawers & closet. Minimizing stuff in the studio. Sharing a table full of books with Marth & Pat.

spring '10

What Happens When We Meet

Pat Butler describes what happens when we three art friends* meet:

Eruptions, explosions, synergism, complicity, like-minded souls, laughter, brainstorms, inspiration, creativity, white space of unbounded time, zero judgment, mutual encouragement to press into the growing edges of our ideas, our creativity, our faith, meals together on the warm reds of Marge’s handmade tablecloths or on the deck, meals as eclectic as corn on the cob, taco soup or paella, freedom to create together, uncaged, unleashed…investigating blogspots, books, websites…taking notes, taking notes, taking notes…photographing EVERYTHING…a three-fold cord is not quickly broken…the whole greater than the sum of its parts…the birthing of ideas, new mediums…

Currently the 3 of us are exhibiting our artwork in PORTS OF COLOR, at the Shalom Cafe, Bloomfield, CT.

PHOTO *Martha Campbell, Pat Butler in center, & Marge hanging out in the studio.

Hanging Out In The Studio

Been off the blog for a bit. After the two art exhibits, STATIONS* & PORTS OF COLOR**, I've been in regrouping mode - today cleaning out & reorganizing my studio.

Following opening night of our art exhibit, PORTS OF COLOR*, Martha Campbell and Pat Butler came over for the weekend. We spent time hanging out in the studio, basking in the memories of the previous evening, evaluating PORTS, & dreaming about our next show.

Here's Martha and I sharing a hilarious moment about who knows what !

*STATIONS, Genesis, Paris, France exhibited Easter weekend, April 2-3, 2010.

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

Amazing Gallery Space

Installation of Stations* of the Cross began midweek at Genesis Gallery, Paris. Anh w/daughter, Lena, who just flew in from Italy!

Our friends and Stations organizers, Anh & Philip Sawyer, in Paris. They recently relocated to Providence, RI. How great it will be to have them living just 3-4 hrs away from us in CT!

Setting looks like catacombs of the early church. What an amazing space for this exhibit.

Unpacked artwork on tables & along wall. Anh on left.

Thanks to Stations artist, Darin M. White for taking us there w/these great pics.

Photos of Stations, at Genesis in Paris coming-working on it.

*STATIONS, Genesis, Paris, France exhibited Easter weekend, April 2-3, 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.

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.