New Ro Rocks! closing

Tonight was the closing reception for New Ro Rocks!  It was a nice night and a nice turnout.  More importantly to celebrate, a few of us from the New Rochelle Art Association gathered at the Black Whale for a 'kitchen sink'.  The kitchen sink consists of 12 25? scoops of ice cream, various toppings and whipped cream.  It is served up in one huge bowl.  Spoons in hand, it was attacked with mucho gusto and enjoyed by all!  What a fun way to spend a cold fall evening...

After Sandy...New Ro Rocks!

Lisa Post is curating a show titled, New Ro Rocks!  An exhibit of New Rochelle artists being presented at the Focal Point Gallery in City Island. The intent is to bridge the gap between the two neighboring communities by bringing the artwork of New Rochelle to the Bronx, and expose the New Rochelleans to the wonderful rich, maritime community.

After Superstorm Sandy hit, we emerged from a powerless house on Wednesday to deliver my piece for the show.  Yes, the Focal Point Gallery had power!  It was very surprising to me.  So my husband decided to drive me to this little island.  Turns out that was not as easy as it seemed.  Normally we just go down Shore Road.  Shore Road was closed due to fallen wires and downed trees.  As well as many other routes.  I was so glad my husband was navigating.  Born and bred here sure helped!  My painting was delivered and the reception was being held as planned.

On Friday evening even though artists and attendees were facing powerless houses, roadblocks and gas shortages, there was a surprising turnout.  My friend and number one fan Penny came with me to the reception.  We had a lovely dinner at one of the sponsors' restaurants, The Snug.  Go there for a delicious burger and beer on tap at a VERY reasonable price.  It is an Irish pub serving full meals as well. We attended the opening and had a wonderful time.  One of the pieces sold at the gallery and everyone cheered. It was a much needed night out. 

Lisa did a fantastic job organizing and curating this show.  It runs until Friday November 30.  There will be a closing reception to "Meet the Artists" from 7-8pm.  I plan on attending. 

The piece I entered is called Sea Kaleidoscope.  It was a purely intuitive painting and a perfect fit for this maritime community.  It is 24"x24"acrylic.

   

Faces of America

As part of the ongoing celebration of New Rochelle Art Association's 100th anniversary, current members created portraits of present day servicemen.  The portraits were inspired from photographs taken on Memorial Day 2011.  After the show, the art will be sent to family members as directed by the military personnel. Also at the show are copies of portraits made in 1945 by past members and they are very moving. The show is at the Br. Kenneth Chapman Gallery at Iona College.  The reception is Sunday November 11, 2012 1-3pm.  The address is 715 North Avenue, New Rochelle, NY.  It runs November 1-December 6, 2012.

Here is my contribution:

Please come by.

artists living in generosity

Art is You Art Retreats have summoned their art family and created a donation page.  Please help in the relief effort.  Donate what you can and you'll be entered in a raffle to win fabulous artwork.  All is explained here - Art is You Hurricane Relief

 and for giveaways after you donate, be sure to visit:

http://flatwoodsfolkart.typepad.com/lesley_venable/2012/11/hurricane-sandy-relief-giveaway.html

another option - Seth Apter of the Altered Page is running an auction...lots of great artwork and a copy of his book signed by the contributing artists is the prize to the highest bidder!

ART IS...You days 2,3,4,and 5

where to begin?  Friday night I had class with one of my very favorite artists/friends.  Miss Linda Willis of Rhode Island inspired us to make zombies

and monsters and witches!  i just love the randomness of these!!!

this one was my favorite and Linda abandoned her art into the arms of this lovely lady.

I am making my own version.  it is a work in progress

some of my friends

betti, marlene and loretta

Day 3 - Saturday brought a morning session with mrs. pom aka loretta marvel 

she spoke of the connectiveness between women and friends that dates back years and reminds us of  Victorian days when women bonded over embroidery hoops.  mrs. pom had us wrap embroidery hoops with fibers and make tags for each other to attach.

anne and loey busy making tags

elizabeth and her lovely hoop

after our creative jumpstart i was off to my class of the day, titled my soldered muse with kecia deveney

 kecia's work is lovely and eclectic

we learned how to solder (my favorite part was learning how to make those little soldered dots) and add embellishments to make a dimensional doll of our muse.  the student work turned out unique and fun!

and look who was in the same classroom creating a doll of a different sort 

my friend Linda Willis!

Saturday Night was ART TRUNK AND TUTU night

there were so many vendors with so many beautiful things...if only i didn't have two kids in college *sigh*

Sunday was bittersweet.  It was PJ day

Ellen, Sal, Loretta, Me
Patricia, Elizabeth, Betti, Kecia

 and started off with Breakfast of the Brave.  Artists Melissa Bolton, Jodi Ohl, Tracy Verdugo, Kecia Devaney and Seth Apter shared experiences outside their comfort zones that made them who they are today.  Patty Dineen also presented Ellen Legare with a quilt of squares made by many of the ART IS family.  The picture here doesn't do it justice.

Then it was off to class with Tracy Verdugo. This class was called Sacred Marks and was based on the Aboriginal word, Dadirri which is a special quality and unique gift of the Aboriginal people. It is an inner deep listening and quiet still awarness.  The class was a two day class.

we started with personal symbols and their meanings.

At this point during class, Loretta got word that her mother had passed away.  It was terribly upsetting and I just couldn't continue until I took care of my friend.  After bringing her home and regrouping, I went back to class, but missed a few steps.  It didn't really matter though as this is a process of layering.

After wrapping up day one of sacred marks the PJ party continued into the night and we had a chocolate fountain and made the bracelets mrs. pom had planned on having us create.  

day two of sacred marks was more layering and learning to let go...

tracy's finished piece.

one of tracy's pieces still in progress

My piece is still a work in progress...more on that later.

ART IS...You is always my favorite time of year.  I get to see my old 'art friends' and make new.  Like minds gathering together, sharing ideas, connecting and getting inspired carries me through another year.  I can't wait for ART IS...2013!

ART IS YOU....day 1

The largest East Coast ART retreat has begun!  ART IS...YOU!  This is my annual retreat and I look forward to it every year!  It is like a family reunion of sorts.  Everyone reconnecting with old friends and making new.  

My first class was with an encaustic painter named Serena Barton.  She is from Portland Oregon and her knowledge of encaustic is amazing!  Her work is pretty amazing also.

Encaustic is basically painting in wax.  The word encaustic comes from the Greek word 'encaustikos' meaning to burn in, and that is exactly what we did.

First you need a palette of colors

and some beeswax mixed with resin.

(that is one of Serena's portraits)

After coating your substrate with beeswax you 'fuse' it with a torch.  yep, we are using tools here!

then you paint with the wax

and fuse and paint and fuse until you get a finished product.

My piece

What I learned about encaustic -

It isn't a medium you can control.

Surprises happen at every turn.

Fusing is tricky.

In a way it is very meditative.

You need a lot of wax for one portrait.

It is pricy.

It is for texture lovers!

I would love to explore this medium more, but want to take a couple more classes.  The layers achieved with encaustic are amazing.  I have some ideas about mixing this with some of my woodburning techniques.  I'm not finished with this medium yet!

30 days of get your ART on!

Beginning October 1st, I'm joining traci bunkers in 30 days of get your ART on!!!  I need to jumpstart my creativity and the timing is right.  I'll be at ART IS for the first few days of October so i'll have some momentum going in.  wish me luck and if you can, join me!  

cherish mother earth

my latest painting, cherish mother earth, started with a sketch in my art journal.  i sat down and just started drawing. i was thinking about global warming and all the harsh weather systems that have passed through lately. I thought about all the tornadoes, heavy rain, hurricanes, heat, and the snow we had last october (which caused power outages for days, very unusual for metro NY).  i couldn't help but wonder, "Is there something to all this global warming?"  

original sketch in my art journal

I liked how this sketch made me feel, so i decided to paint it for the upcoming LIVING LARGE show.  I started painting and thinking about the natural elements of air, fire, water and earth.  I thought about global warming, I thought about mother nature.  The finished product is this.  When you look closely you can see drips here and there, that represents the melting, or global warming that is occurring on our planet.  

cherish mother earth
acrylic, 30"x40

me with my painting at the NRAA's LIVING LARGE exhibit
 part of the New Rochelle's ArtsFest 2012

Paper Source opens!!!

There's a NEW playspace in town!

Yesterday was my annual eye exam.  After it, i decided to take a walk and do a little window shopping.  well, my window shopping turned into real shopping when i discovered what opened! As an artist, imagine my excitement when i saw this:

Paper Source!  YaY!  I am so excited!  It's like a playspace for me.  When I need inspiration, I often will go to a bookstore and scour the books in the art section or I'll go to an art supply store and shop (A new pen or paint will work wonders for artist block).  That is exactly what I did at Paper Source.  They carry such beauty as this...

I just love handmade papers, japanese papers especially!  the colors, textures, feel..yum!

They also have a wonderful space to have classes, birthday parties and get togethers...

Who wants to come here with me and have a Friday night art journaling party complete with wine and cheese?

Something I liked was the look of these stamps together.  I've always had a fondness for typography and this just appealed to me.

I really don't use stamps in my art, but how cool is this?

Paper Source also carries stencils, gel pens, micron pens, bind it all machines, beautiful art calendars, fun little books and all kinds of little gifts.  They also have cardstock in a variety of colors with matching letter weight, and envelopes of various sizes.  good to know when you are planning a party.

But my latest guilty pleasure is washi tape and tissue tape.  Paper Source has it!

(some of this is fabric tape :) oooohhhh)

Another thing I found hiding on a table was this wonderful game:

I didn't buy it, but i think I'll be going back for it.  I'm thinking it will be a fun start off point for a crazy art journaling page.

And when I return, these guys are waiting for me...

 I think I'm going to need to get them too!!!