Collaborative/34

"Collaborative/34" is made up of a group of artists that have been working/showing together for many years. They are a diverse group, which makes the imagery/materials used even more exciting. The works will include paintings, prints and collage.

The format of the show is arrays of 12"x12" elements, with the only similarity between the artists' works being their same size and identical white edges. "Quilts of Canvas" will hang on the walls in various large configurations, creating of Muse Gallery a splendid visual experience.

That's what it says officially on the MUSE Gallery website.  Translation:  the people who will be hanging this show in the next few days will be creating a complex collage of 136 12" x 12" canvases. No matter where my four are placed, they will be part of a whole, a unity.  It's a unique concept.  I'm enjoying the idea that my work will be embedded with others,  as if woven together.

At the bottom of the invitation, it says "Artists in sync with Francine Shore". http://francineshore.com. 

Considering that all of us are "in sync" with her,  it's amazing how different our work is from each other.  No cookie cutters here...  It's the similarity of size and style of the canvases that will create the "Quilts of Canvas".  This is going to be a lot of fun!

Girls and Drums

Girls definitely do play drums! It was astonishing to experience an eighty year old woman drummer, whose passion, energy, and humor was undiminished. We heard Elaine Hoffman Watts play tonight, along with her daughter on trumpet and vocals, and a third woman on accordion: the FabulousShpielkes.com klezmer band. Called "a musical national treasure" and awarded the Heritage Fellowship Award, all I know is that their playing channeled my father, brought me to tears, and renewed my soul!

Stillness is Still Possible

Heidi Zito documents stillness by observing movement, calmness, and slowed time. Together, her scenes paint a picture of heightened awareness through stillness.

Hers is one of several videos viewable at http://stillspotting.guggenheim.org/video-studies. The Guggenheim Museum collaborated with graduate students in the School of Visual Arts MFA program for Photography, Video and Related Media, who participated in a special seminar to create short video studies of the visual, aural, and sociological ecology of the urban landscape in New York. The works reflect and respond to everyday issues of visual noise, anxiety, and stillness. Heidi Zito's is one of my favorites!

It is a comfort to know that stillness can be found even in the most urban of environments!

Monopoly Revealed

"Toys: The Art of Play" is the title of the show my mixed media assemblage, Red, White, & Blue, will soon be part of at Main Line Art Center.  It was done on a Monopoly board over the summer, before the Occupy Movement began, but shares the zeitgeist that was in the air.  

 I'm curious to see the other juried work made from or inspired by toys.  I imagine a lot of it will be cute, funny, playful.  I can't say the same about my entry.  But I will say that it it was very satisfying for me to make it!  It felt good to include "Go To Jail" cards, bloodied hands, a headless falling child,  and of course the pig at the top. 

In Art and Fear, Observations on the Perils (and Rewards) of Artmaking, David Bayles and Ted Orland note "As a maker of art you are custodian of issues larger than self...In making art you declare what is important."  Sometimes we can't help ourselves.

OccupyPhiladelphia occupies my mind

This child's play tent, complete with toys, continues to occupy my thoughts.  What a vivid picture of why the Occupy movement is a force for social justice and social change.  What kind of world are children and grandchildren of the 99%  growing up in?  And what kind of world do we want them to grow up in! I was there for an event at the Interfaith Tent:  our Rabbi, Linda Holtzman, spoke about the scriptural basis for taking action to repair the brokenness of the world.  In a nutshell: 100% of us are created in God's image, not 1%.  A "renegade Baptist minister" also spoke, who had actually been occupying for 29 days.  He said, "If you really want to know what this is about, come down and participate in some conversations.  Listen to what people are saying."

The young people who were staffing the Interfaith Tent were an inspiration.  They had just had their tent stolen that day, along with sleeping bags and sentimental items.  Fortunately they had homes to sleep in that night, but were determined to keep on keeping on.  They were stressed but undaunted.  They couldn't imagine doing anything else, being anywhere else.  Our group was able to connect them with someone who wanted to donate a tent.  So it goes.  I feel hope for the future because of having met them.

Transcendence and Impermanence

This is the story of the dismantling of a site-specific art installation. The installation itself was a study in transcendence: 1000 hand-cut chimes activated by street traffic. Watching its end was a study in the beauty of impermanence...  It was a happy accident that I saw it across the street from the Museum of Modern Art in Manhattan, one of the many times I was grateful to have my camera with me.

How SoulCollage® Works!

For a taste of what making and sharing SoulCollage® cards is like, watch this video of our SoulCollage® Facilitator Training made by our Trainer Kat Kirby!  It captures the flavor.