48 PAINTINGS FOR MY 48TH BIRTHDAY

Moving on into the new year

2012-01-17T16:54:00.001-08:00

Thank you for following me on this journey- through this blog. A way to check my pulse in times of dire straits and compare vital signs with far flung friends, this blog has held the thoughts that would not fit any longer in my mind.
Right now I am going to continue blogging...but only through my main blog- Showing up for the Muse- and let this one go. I haven't the time to have two blogs!
My focus is on finding my way in the Miami art scene and sharing my thoughts on teaching kids art, while occasionally painting something worth a few words.
Please know that I am truly grateful for your input and insights over the last few years. Stop by my other blog and say hi- or, even better, click on the follow me button and stay in touch!

cross breeding art

2011-12-19T05:48:00.001-08:00

I think this has been the worst year for my art production, personally. BUT (always a "but") there have been some significant collaborations where my art has been involved in music CD design, theater props, animal shelters, and the farm to the kitchen.

I moved from the studio to the workshop and the classroom.
Now I am not sure if this should bother me or not.

Leonore Carrington is dead

2011-10-23T09:27:00.000-07:00

She was just 20 years old when she eloped to Paris with Max Ernst, who left a wife for her. The following year, 1937, the Nazi's arrested Max. Fearing for her life, Leonora escaped France to Spain, but then she suffered several mental breakdowns and medically administered experimental drug horrors. Max eventually escaped the Nazi's with the help of Peggy Guggenheim (whom he then married).
Leonora was an accomplished surrealist painter. This painting is a parody of a portrait by Leonora of her Max. I like it for many reasons. When I painted it, I had no idea Leonora was dead.

Hi

2011-09-11T06:51:00.000-07:00

Just writing to let you know that I am adjusting to my new surroundings, which include the dawn of new beginnings and the mourning of old endings. I have physically moved away from family, friends, support systems, and home, and found myself with out internet or phone for the last month. There has been plenty to do with a good job, wonderful students and stacks of syllabi. But above all I try to digest a new found and mostly awkward silence and, when I start to panic, I make room for stillness.
I bought canvases last week!

not ready to hand over the keys

2011-07-25T03:42:00.001-07:00

quite yet

collage on wood panel
roughly
7 x 9 inches.

Suitcase almost packed-

2011-07-11T15:14:00.001-07:00

Moving out of here...CAR FOR SALE

2011-06-20T05:32:00.001-07:00

1964 Karman Ghia, stored in barn for 19 years, sounds great when it runs ... not sure about the brakes- working on them this week.
painting 6 x 9...

Painting still available- the CAR has sold!

You can hide

2011-06-18T07:36:00.000-07:00

multiple sins with a paintbrush....

Trying to get the house in shape to rent out.

8 x 6 inches mixed media- acrylic with metallic leaf on wood

HOUSE STILL AVAILABLE FOR RENT

What would I do without a chainsaw

2011-06-13T10:52:00.000-07:00

to take out the dead wood and make room for the new life?

birthday burn up

2011-06-08T16:46:00.001-07:00

moving into menopause.

Fun, fun, fun

Hestia the virgin Goddess of the hearth is symbolic of how small repetitive tasks are all I can do to center myself! I'm burning the stuff I do not need any more...

SOLD

Slippery slope

2011-05-28T04:47:00.000-07:00

This chick is on the slippery slope to inspiration and fundraising for the local library.
Keep an eye out for the Amenia Library's upcoming auction!
Mixed media, wood, paint....

Living room shot

2011-05-24T06:18:00.001-07:00

acrylic on panel
9 x 17 inches

I am doing a visual inventory before undertaking to pack everything up, put the house up for rent, and move.

hall shot

2011-05-21T16:41:00.001-07:00

Studio Shot

2011-05-20T05:06:00.000-07:00

Past time

2011-05-04T09:29:00.001-07:00

Paintings about hands, bones, change, choice, birth and death, white and black

Painting up a storm

2011-04-13T14:15:00.001-07:00

the last class was a hoot and a howl and a dance... we made interpretations of horses, moving like them, and creating stencils of their shapes, finishing with charcoal sketches and some metal engraved details... wish I had more pictures but I had to keep moving to keep up!

bare bones again

2011-04-11T10:22:00.000-07:00

bare bones series

2011-04-09T16:41:00.000-07:00

Here are a two of my limited series of skeletal studies painted on wood panels, 4 x 6 inches
I am trying to get them out of my system, and paint them without focusing on personality or morbidity. It's not an easy assignment for myself.

VIDEO SLIDE SHOW

2011-04-01T08:30:00.000-07:00

www.dailypainters.com/youtube/dailypainters_video_63SiInxrgzAtg_.avi

Window on main

2011-03-31T15:10:00.000-07:00

If you are in Amenia... check out my paint and cardboard installation!

Putting works in local gallery

2011-03-31T15:04:00.000-07:00

as the blog theme is sort of my birthday--- what I would do for myself as well as gift ideas for others... that vein- I just put 7 pieces of art in the Bodhi Tree gallery in Sharon Ct. I am keeping the prices the same on the internet and in the store. That means I will take a cut if something sells in the store, but I am very interested in supporting Ellen and Lyn, the two women who own and run the gallery. They are creative women with a passion for collaborating and connecting. I hope their place, which has been open 3/4 of a year, survives. If you are in the area- SHOP THERE!!!!

bed paintings

2011-03-24T09:39:00.000-07:00

These are from last week, or so...
the snow does not seem to go away and, like the urge to stay wrapped in blankets, or at least perched on the mattress, and distanced from the chores, will not go away!

irish soda bread and potato soup

2011-03-21T07:23:00.001-07:00

Yesterday was a good day to gather and bake. I think, as a group of women, we raised each other's dopamine levels. Lots of laughter and dopey moments, for sure!!!!
Along with the Whole Wheat Soda bread I was able to wip up a great pot of potato sausage soup.
4 potatoes peeled and diced
1 onion chopped and sauteed in oil
3 minced cloves garlic (because I put garlic in everything)
Chicken broth (I had some in freezer from past)
1 Hickory Farms' beef summer sausage, chopped
Simmer for an hour, and then run one half through blender to create a nice thickness. add pepper. Perfect! Serves 4.

Register for March 20

2011-03-15T12:13:00.000-07:00

Persephone's epistle

2011-03-10T17:40:00.000-08:00

It's been a wild ride, this winter...
Will Persephone emerge? How much of the pomegranate did she eat after all?

SPREAD THE WORD

2011-03-03T13:00:00.000-08:00

Teenagers are living in the perfect moment for self-realization. I am offering a fun, insightful, thought provoking, and ultimately rewarding class in self portrait painting through the NorthLight Art Center in Sharon, CT. Classes will start April 7th and run for 6 Thursdays, 3:30-5:50. $20 each =$180 for all six. Materials list provided upon registration.
Contact me by email or the Center at 860-364-5675

STUDIO-TO STOVE WORKSHOP

2011-03-02T14:46:00.000-08:00

March is all about memories... they are what motivate us and fill our brains. Irish soda bread is a recipi that goes way, way, back and it comes from a time there was not a lot of abundance... no eggs hardly any food, jobs, hope. But we will make irish soda bread and knead it with intention. And while our loaves are in the oven we will create tromp loel momento boxes that are easy, with no-fail steps to follow, and sure to "wow" your friends. That's a memory you won't likely forget.
Please consider- if you are in the Lakeville area- joining us March 20th from 1-4pm. All materials included, but please, if you have one, bring an 8 inch cake pan! $50.

Uprooted from the garden of love

2011-03-01T14:50:00.000-08:00

Summer painting!
This is about challenges, change, choices, and travel...
acrylic on wood panel
15 x 22 inches
$500

Art at the Howland

2011-02-28T17:59:00.000-08:00

Opening next Saturday with a brief artist talk...

Persephone's bath and Proserpina's garden

2011-02-19T12:34:00.001-08:00

Enjoying the flowers of my lover.
Two paintings- one 16 x 6 inches and the other 12 x 10.25 inches

Join the fun!

2011-02-16T16:09:00.000-08:00

Another studio to stove seasonal workshop
March 20, 1-4pm

Explore the stirrings of memories while creating step-by-step trompe-l'oeil painted memory boxes and baking your own loaf of Irish Soda bread. You will be provided guidance in marbling and fool the eye painting techniques. Irish soda bread is about rising up with very little, which should generate some interesting discussions of what we have and hold dear.
50$ per person and please bring your own 8 inch round cake pan.
limited to 8 people. Lakeville CT location

save the date for April 17th's canvas and challah event.
email tillystudio@aol.com to reserve your spot.

mythologies are moving me

2011-02-15T14:53:00.000-08:00

I just love the stories.
here is Phoenix rising from my head. Might not be done...
KEEPS CHANGING

HAPPY valentines day

2011-02-14T09:58:00.000-08:00

It's one of my favorite holidays...
I created a book about it out of pink tissue and black lace with cut paper plates. What other holiday can you do that with? This is best enjoyed with fresh flowers and chocolates.

Some musings on my son's contribution to my art

2011-02-11T07:11:00.000-08:00

Not only are my sons inspiration, but they have given me the material, literally, to paint on.
Here- eaglet, Mother bear and son, bird rookery, and Bald eagle totem are all painted on paper made from my son's over worn kahki pants, bits of maps, and small inclusions.

Under a bush

2011-02-10T07:04:00.000-08:00

Is your heart hidden under a bush? Bring it out! There is a unique dance inside each one of us and we owe it to the universe to share it. I am going to be kind to my heart today. It's so easy to forget how fragile we are... how our hearts and bodies are just containers for star dust.

Mixed media on paper 8 x 10 inches

If you are in Florida... in St. Pete, come to Studio @620 central avenue for reception between 6-9pm tonight. See you there.

I have to, I have to, I have to...

2011-02-09T06:53:00.000-08:00

I have to go down to Florida and attend a trust meeting where we vote on suspending the gift giving for at least a year. So sad, but we are out of money. And where I will run into my ex-husband and that always seems to make me sick. In fact, I feel quiet nauseous today. And I will see my mother and that carries some baggage too. I feel like Persephone traveling between worlds. Which is hell and which is heaven? It's not so easily labeled. I will also get a chance to catch up with my 15 year old son, and meet his school advisor. It could be heavy. I also have to attend an art opening that my Bed Song painting is in! Isn't it crazy how the timing worked out? I am in a juried group show in my mom's hometown that opens while I am visiting! So... its all about riches. But even riches are part of our luggage.
This collage painting is called- like the text in it says- A Cry For Help. When I made it it really helped me get through what I was in the midst of... (which ironically, to put it simply, was too much family). It's just under 6 x 9 inches and I've priced it at $75.
Though instead of buying it, if you should find yourself of similar mind, you should make your own and see what happens.
I have to go paint now!

Isn't this the time of year we do impulsive things?

2011-02-07T12:47:00.000-08:00

I remember seeing the back of Malcom McMullen scooting off on his bicycle after I heard the door bell ring when I was in about 6th grade. At the door my nanny found a giant heart-shaped box of chocolates with a little silver bracelet taped on top. I still have the bracelet with Malcom's name etched onto it. How brave he was!
And dozens (30?) years later I drove my 11 year old son on an icy February morning to deliver roses to an unsuspecting girl. Just outside the door he had cold feet and we both realized the flowers were in danger of freezing before their prime effect was to be had. He flung them at the door- rang the bell- ran to the car- and as his chauffeur, I dutifully sped us away...
Ah! What speeds us on at these moments? Is it love?
Small collage with paint on wood. 3.25 x 6 inches, I call it "...loosing my mind".

Penny dreadfuls

2011-02-05T07:30:00.000-08:00

Esther Howland of Worcester Mass is often credited with starting the commercial business of "penny dreadfuls" in 1847. By organizing workshops of women friends to each add their touch, to hand assemble, and mass produce a Victorian card, Howland created a cruel craze of sarcastic and insulting cards. These were seen as a response to the stuffy morality of the Victorian era. In spite of selling her valentines for one penny each, Ester Howland became a very rich woman!
Way to go Esther! She is one of my heroes.

Sometimes it's not politically correct to say it

2011-02-03T14:51:00.001-08:00

But it leaks out!

Catharsis, 13 days to V-day

2011-02-02T09:21:00.000-08:00

This wooden heart has collage with found text and is painted magenta and blue-green. The heart was a cold bronze model. Some of the words can still be deciphered through the paint, and they read like some contemporary poetry:

imagination
Punishment for the...
injured

we're probably guilty
play date
Howls of protest against the trapper

cheap dates:
economic turmoil, the hard work of finding a new job
Improves...but only bitter...

Passage... to be far worse
is a bad idea

>I won't tell you what I was up to when I made this...but I assure you it was cathartic. Using collage and random poetry as part of searching into your soul can tap into dreams, answers, possibilities yet unseen. Think about doing it! Better yet- don't think, just do it.

If you want, join us in Lakeville February 13th, 1-4 for a group creative studio-to-stove workshop.

14 days to Valentines

2011-02-01T09:52:00.000-08:00

Sometimes I can say it with a rooster and a hen.
They (usually) fall out of my paint brush easy and with personality.
This Valentine has been in the works for years. See the postcards I made of it in 2005, the year of the Rooster. The original is made sewn layers of paper... a collage... of two hearts. Of course, there are issues here, and I recently shifted the value range with paint to lend it some extreme passages of light and shade. Still not sure. The chickens don't look committed as of yet... they appear to be waiting for me, or you, or someone to tell them where to go next. Do you see what I mean?

15 days until Valentines day

2011-01-31T11:14:00.000-08:00

and there's a range of emotions to it!

Over the years I have seen girlfriends suffer under the weight of their expectations and I have watched my sons freeze up under pressure.
It's my hope that the holiday can be a fun backtrack down the alley of
cheap art supplies and tacky sensibilities. I have learned to avoid focusing on my intimate relationship and instead create gift cards for girlfriends and non expectant/ non-exploitative male friends.

Into the Heart Workshop offered

2011-01-29T09:24:00.000-08:00

February 13th 1-4 pm...
We will build min-shrines to our hearts and bake aphrodisiac cookies.
Look deep inside your heart, explore your passionate roots and emotional baggage. We will embrace the spicy the sweet, and the possibly sinister aspects of the season.
Red is a vivid reminder that love is from the heart, even though the heart is easily broken.

Join us for another seasonal studio to stove workshop.
hosted by me and Rosemary Barrett
for more info or to reserve a spot email me at Tillystudio@aol.com

Hibernation Workshop

2011-01-26T14:51:00.000-08:00

Exploring challenges, change, choice, roots and wishes last Sunday.

In the first of our Studio-to-stove experiences, we had a gathering of 7 to delve into bread making and play in new collage media techniques.

Our next workshop is February 13th, Sunday from 1-4 (must arrive ahead of that) where we will create heart shrines and bake aphrodisiac sweets and spells. Let me know if you are interested soon because space has to be limited.

Hibernating journal

2011-01-25T12:07:00.001-08:00

The bed as an alter

What happens when you close your eyes?

Planting and burying in the same strata where we have roots and dreams.

Listing things that drain me and things that restore my soul.

There is a time for every season...

As a Hen stands balanced

2011-01-15T10:20:00.000-08:00

...On the edge of her milk crate-turned-nest, I contemplate my own off-kilter existence. I am not at all balanced... in any realm!
I can't get all my picky lists done. There doesn't seem to be enough of me to please everybody. Could it be, in fact there doesn't seem to be enough of me for me? The inner judgement is an exhausting voice that tells me I am fat and lazy and should be calling so-and-so and getting those letters written and looking for that job and... I feel so empty yet my body seems a fragile thing with murmurs, eruptions, aches and so aside from balancing the outer world with all it's fast paced to-do-lists, there is an inner world that seems out of balance as well.
I am hoping this daily practice of painting again will help center me and gain me some... down home balance!
Sewn painted paper, 4.5 x 3 inches $35 plus shipping

Ever since my marriage started failing and good friends started dying

2011-01-13T15:38:00.000-08:00

I have made a commitment to do things differently. I paint every single day. I love my chickens. Through these two realms I have found a voice for my sadness, my courage, and my faith. Within my daily practice I recall memories and visualize evocative tones that distill symbols into paintable vignettes. My work blends text and image in humorous, dissonant, and melding ways to explore security, panic, and the mortal experience. Because I feel transient as a species, the perpetual conflict between leaving and being is evident everywhere in my work. This duplicity is also captured in the whimsical palette, the playful brushwork and lightness of imagery that lay bare the anxieties of our time. Brushstrokes, text, and nature are strategies I explore in transforming the material to be spiritual and harvesting the spiritual to material.

Here is an installation of work at the MountainCow Cafe in pine Plains, NY, up until March.

I graduated Phi Beta Kappa from college with a BFA and a BA in painting, printmaking and art history from Colorado University in 1984. Born into a family of artists, curators, and spiritualists, I spent the first 20 years as a world traveler. I am the mother of two sons. The last two decades of my life I have lived in rural Dutchess county and been blessed with a network of artists that inspire my great love for roots with wings.

Hibernate with friends!

2011-01-06T11:31:00.000-08:00

One day only! Rosemary and I are hosting a ONE day course from 10am-5pm, January 23rd, 2011, exploring winter's opportunity for healing and creativity, settling into and exploring our dreams from the oven to the studio.

Bake your own braided loaf of 100% whole wheat bread: big, beautiful and delicious. Share stories including the contributions of Tasahara monks while combining ingredients such as deliberate intention, faith, and fresh air(after punching the bread).

At the same time you will be guided to craft your personal book using collage,text,and imagery that explores the idea of hibernation and the effects of this on our families, friends and self. Discussion will touch on the cover and inner "page" contents we create for ourselves in terms of obligations, avoidance, time and permission to rest.

At the midday break, We will have a large pot of homemade root soup to share with each other. You are welcome to bring along your own lunch.

It is Rosemary and Tilly's hope that through expressions of bookmaking, food, and story, each participant will share unique viewpoints with inspired tips for gracefully living through this season. We promise that you will enjoy lots of laughs, and take home your own bread, a book, and memories of a good time.

This is for men and women. Space is limited to 8, so confirm quickly. $50.

Resolution in the works

2010-12-23T14:34:00.000-08:00

Along with things like exercise and consuming less salt, there is the practice of keeping a daily journal. My history in all three has been a complete failure. I used to have to hide my words. No convincing, through arguments or begging, kept them private. So I snuck pages in the backs of books, in random hidden notebooks, in letters written and never sent. It's pretty insane. Recently, as I start to organize my life, I come across excerpts of pain and risk scattered in the oddest places. Safely hid under barely worn gym gear, or even in the basement freezer. I have started to gather these loose missives and sew them all together so that I can dispose them in one final shape. Everything is out of cyclical order, but there is a spiral repetition to the theme of time and question. So
Now... should I start a real journal? I could do it with a new freedom to be authentic and open.

the elf thing

2010-12-20T15:56:00.000-08:00

I always get inspired to make something for the holidays- and I work like mad on prototypes, mix media, and then, as I hand out the gifts just days before the holidays, I am struck by how meager the offering actually is. Is it cheap of the soul to make chachkis for your friends?
I don't know, but, as always there is a pattern here, and I'm heading to the mall!

(making missile toe for gifts)

Area shows....

2010-12-20T09:57:00.000-08:00

In the flurry of holiday preparations you may, like I did, need to make the time to attend two art shows in the area. A theme of both exhibitions focuses on conceptualizing nature. The Millbrook School galleries have opened with work by Scot Wittman. This solo show explores cloning technology. Based in the New York / Philadelphia metro area, Wittman chairs a department at Rutgers Prep school in New Jersey and is president of ISAIA, (Independent School Art Instructors Association). Wittman’s map silhouette series blends the humorous, the charming, and the grotesque in aesthetically pleasing combinations of crisp glossy surface isolated on buff pristine sheets of paper. A small sampling of isolated images of state birds cut from city maps provides commentary on the nation’s varying cloning laws, with audio elements included. Viewers are invited to hear the birdcalls and fruitless phone calls from each location. The exhibition included varied installations such as a hanging sculpture, chocolate covered skeleton, large-scale photography, live video-feed, and Houdini memorabilia. According to the statement, Wittman visited stem cell institutes in the United States and Europe to collect stories and rare documentation. Available were business type cards with his Twitter name, where you can search or follow his tweets of breaking stem cell news… like the oldest living tree, and the immortality of Henrietta Lack. Really, a glut of information fuels the imagery and promises the viewer interest in trivial, significant and, because it is art: aesthetic merit. Whether Wittman is an advocate or a critic of cloning remains unclear. The presentation straddles art and science and is held in both the Warner Gallery and the MASC (Math and Science Center) Gallery. The galleries are open: 8AM - 4PM, Monday through Friday and 8AM - 1PM on Saturdays.

Another art show of interest is at the Eckert Gallery, across the border in Kent, CT. When I arrived the gallery was crowded with smiling viewers, and the streets seemed full of people on their way there. In the center of the space Gabrielle Vallarino of Millbrook displayed her assembled natural stone jewelry. Vallarino, creator of Circa Designs, goes south to collect her semi-precious stones and exotic pearls. She finds the unusual, such as white egg-shaped Turquoise and Picture Jasper with miniature landscape-like inclusions. She embraces the overlooked by collecting sticks and then casting them in bronze. These casts as well as cast stones are combined in unique and fairly musical strands, adding another meaning to her name for the jeweled series- Brass Fusion.

On the back wall hang exquisite botanical watercolors by Jessica Tcherpine, also of Millbrook. Her wreaths of flowers and delicate nest are beautifully rendered and composed. She is well published and has served as founding member of the American Society of Botanical artists and is a director of the Horticultural Society of New York. Her work is renowned on both sides of the Atlantic. She is a master. Tcherpine does not have a website and to see her work you have this great opportunity to go to the gallery.

The show will run through December 31, 2010. Eckert Fine Art–Connecticut is located in the Kent Town Center at 27 North Main Street in Kent, CT. The gallery is open Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Monday from 10:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. and Sunday from Noon – 5:00 p.m.

Gift ideas for the teenager and even your ex

2010-12-12T15:34:00.000-08:00

Mill Street Loft's Junior art institute has fun classes after school February through March for the 11-14 year old on your list. I'm hoping to teach a mixed media class where we will play in assorted new experimental art media, such as Golden gel skin transfers and Derwent inktents.

Also, as Nora Ephron says, "Marriage comes and goes, but divorce is forever"- how about my 20 page art book with 40 paintings saying goodbye? It's $30 plus shipping. As a bonus I will throw in one of my "You've ruined my life" postcards with the purchase.

And if you are in the region please check out my small paintings at the Mill Street Loft (45 Pershing Ave) and at the Twisted Soul (47 Raymond Ave) in Poughkeepsie through January 19.
And several interesting (if I may say so) new works at the Hanbeck Gallery (South Center Street) in Millerton on weekends.

Thank you.

Cookies

2010-12-10T10:30:00.001-08:00

for Santa. I am inspired to bake today!

Money Obsession and current woes

2010-12-07T14:07:00.001-08:00

The peasant woman in Breugal's harvest painting

Oh a tree? Or not?

2010-12-04T19:24:00.001-08:00

Should I put one up this year?

Another Reason to go to Poughkeepsie

2010-12-03T19:31:00.001-08:00

The Mill Street Loft @ 45Pershing Avenue is holding reception for a Small Works Holiday Show this Sunday December 5th from 4-6pm. I will have several paintings there... among pieces by Carol Pepper-Cooper, Claudia Gorman, "the" Todd Poteet and others!
Keep in mind- It's right (sort of) around the corner from the Twisted Soul where my other works are hanging through January 19th. I have replaced the sold paintings with others so you may need to get back there and check it out!

Cutting paintings in half

2010-12-02T11:59:00.001-08:00

It's easier than you think. This evening the county legislators will hold a public hearing on their budget cuts. As of this moment there is no money allocated to the arts. No money for artists to work with school children, no money for 40% of the local theaters' operating budgets, no money for the hospital's healing arts programs, no money for the stadiums music concerts... As a board member of the county arts council and a working artist and teacher I have a passionate interest in things being resolved differently. It would cost each taxpayer 67 cents a year to keep the arts funding level to what it was this year (which was hugely cut from previous years). Imagine if people spoke up and said they thought they could afford to spend that 67 cents!
Lack of imagination may be a poverty of society, but soon we may have a whole generation lacking exposure to anything other than their TV and their cell phone.
Imagine what we would be missing. Is anyone interested in a show of paintings only half there, a concert of music only 1/3 played, a film without editing or ending...?

Three french hens

2010-12-01T08:31:00.000-08:00

and the countdown to Xmas begins!

Thanksgiving

2010-11-25T14:07:00.001-08:00

Divorce Series Book for sale

2010-11-23T10:59:00.000-08:00

It started at the lawyers office...

Faced with the 40-page document that defines the end of my 24-year marriage I was both skeptical and shocked that it took so many and so little words to cover it. For me there was only one way to process it.

In the days that followed I created 40 small paintings, one each day, to mirror the pages of the document in poetic narratives. Using found headlines (text) and an encyclopedia of personal images, I painted and blogged about the process of loss, grief, anger, denial, and acceptance. The commentary I received, both privately and publicly, took me by surprise. I can't thank my viewers enough. The insights shared sustained me through out the process of acceptance.

I am now offering my 8 x 8 inch hardcover book with 40 paintings in it for an art lover's collection. I have a very limited quantity right now. I plan to ship the books the first week of December.

Cost is $30 dollars plus shipping. Shipping is $7.99 US and Canada, and $13.99 international.

2011 calendars

2010-11-21T07:23:00.001-08:00

The dailypainters.com national group have created several beautiful themed calendars for next year. A painting of mine is featured in three of them! I have my Nest Hair lady in the Figurative calendar, a chicken crossing the road in the Bird paintings calendar, and Shaker bed painting in the Still Life Painting calendar. Some of the money goes to charity. Most goes to spreading the word about daily painters. So your purchase helps a lot of people. Please consider it. Thanks.

Divorce series in a book

2010-11-09T16:49:00.000-08:00

It looks so good! 20 pages- 40 paintings!
On the path to accepting change, this nice little package arrived today...

ARTEAST OPEN STUDIOS THIS WEEKEND

2010-10-14T04:13:00.000-07:00

The 4^th annual ArtEast open studio tour starts this WEEKEND. Artists from Dover Plains, Amenia, Pine Plains and Millerton will open their creative spaces and the following weekend, the 23 and 24^th, studios to the south, from Wingdale to Holmes, will follow suit.

What’s especially thrilling for me about this year’s tour is the new studios included. And I mean NEW studios, like, “delivered this Monday” new. Dianne Englekee, photographer and cartoonist in Millerton, expects her studio, which was built at Bayhorse in Milan, to be arriving this week! Her husband, the sculptor and painter Mark Liebergall, had his studio arrive in two parts a few weeks ago. It took several Amish men to put it together. Both studios will sit apart and reflect the individual character of the artists. As Liebergall says, “ her studio is like a French atelier, and mine is more like a Manhatten loft”. Camillo Rojas and Virginia Lavado, also from Millerton, have designed and been building their combined studio for years. This open studio tour will essentially be a studio warming for them as well. Another new studio on the tour is Peter Cascone’s place in Amenia, which is full of decades of work in a plethora of vintage styles. He is known for his stories and I am sure a visit there will be fascinating. In addition, My Dog Miles Art Projects and Installations and the 14^th Colony show in Millerton will bring me a quick group snapshot of what is happening in the current local scene. The one artist from previous years on the tour is Sue Hennelly in Dover Plains. She is well known for her warm hospitality and the quality of her watercolors. Maps for the tour are available at www.arteastdutchess.org

I am not opening my studio this year... it's too much a part of my kitchen! But i will be out and about checking on what these artists are up to. Hope to see you there!

Tilly

Stepping forward, maybe back

2010-10-10T18:29:00.000-07:00

How to continue

2010-10-02T07:51:00.000-07:00

This painting has been sitting in the studio for at least a month. I can't decide if I should touch it, cover it up and start over, or burn it. The 14th colony art group is discussing the therapeutic benefits of burning art... and so the idea of a mass burning- everyone bringing one work of art to burn- and then taking the ashes home to make another work of art... Does that stimulate my brain? Is that something I should do? I've a few works in the burn pile in my own yard... The purpose isn't to manefest another work, just clear the debris.

I think I have been spending too much time sleeping. I go to work and come home and sleep. Unless there are people here. The last few days are the only days the last month or so that there hasn't been anyone here! So I guess I haven't been sleeping too much. I think I have been spending too much time thinking about sleeping!

weekend flurries

2010-09-20T17:28:00.000-07:00

My niece from Wellesley College was staying with me and celebrating her 21st birthday. this photo is of us at the Boathouse restaurant in Lakeville.
Still feeling hi from the weekend of culture (and food)- the NOW concert presented by 3Corners Contemporary Music Project with Sophie Shao and also the Kalmia String Quartet. It's rare you get to listen to contemporary compositions on classical instruments... fabulous! Also we went to the Millbrook Winery to see the works of three friends- Victoria Hayes, one of the artists is also in my monthly women artists@work group. And then Henry Klimowicz hosted the last show of the season at the Re-Institute. I wrote the following for the Millbrook Independent:

There are many hidden lofty places in our midst.

One is right in Millerton. The Re--Institute, a brainchild of artist Henry Klimowicz, is a, in his words, “response to the nearby Wassaic Project’s energy and exuberance”. Klimowicz has transformed the second floor of one of his barns on his 40-acre farm into reverent space for exhibiting art.

Klimowicz works in recycled materials and so the re-use of the barn, as well as his mode of working, inspired the name of Re- Institute. The first show, which opened last April, featured 66 artists, 100 works and had an attendance of 240 people. If you don’t show up for the opening event you will have to call Klimowicz for an appointment. Between events the location of his loft gallery is hard to detect. He puts a small sign by the road for the openings. Every five weeks through September he plans for the shows to change.

September 19^th opens the last show of the initial season. It promises to be an event not to be missed. The Fourth Estate Print collaborative is from Brooklyn and it is a place where master printers work with artists collaboratively. They use innovative materials such as plastic paper and metallic inks. The one week long show will feature a cross section of their output.

Klimowicz’ concept for the Re-Institute is to promote collaboration between people both in-sync and in opposition. The hope is to provide a place for dialogue between artists of all media. Though geographically limited to a short season in a rural location, the website has proved to have an international following. Mid-career artists are offered validity and an extensive global viewership. The Re-Institute provides Klimowicz, the exhibiting artists, and the viewers a connection to a larger world. The re-Institute is located at 1395 Boston Corner's Road. If you miss the opening and want to see the show, just call Klimowicz for an appointment at 518-567-5359. For more information visit www.TheReInstitute.com

I didn't want to get out of bed

2010-09-11T11:48:00.001-07:00

In the fiction of my painted stories, I create lurid and exploitative tales featuring myself as heroic character.

In that vein, the bed is a place to safely destroy the past, mourn it with the salt of tears, nest until blue and broody, and then create new relationships...
How fantastic is that?

I think she is finished...

2010-08-30T09:51:00.001-07:00

having conquered the stag. No idea what to call this painting. Taking suggestions.

wallowing brings forth bodies of work

2010-08-23T13:14:00.001-07:00

40 paintings to mimic the 40 pages of the divorce document and a bed book containing 24 pages from my 24 hours of wallowing over the demise of my 24 years of marriage.

Hah! Now that my real work is done... can I go hold down a regular job?
Yes!

Henry Klimowicz review

2010-08-21T05:03:00.000-07:00

Amid the half dozen local artists included in this years Wassaic project roster, artist Henry Klimowicz of Millerton NY with his installation at the peak of the seven story Maxon Mill created an inspiring experience for viewers out of the simplest material. Klimowicz uses torn, cut, and reassembled cardboard fragments to create floating walls, textured surfaces and ornate screens. One material, articulate, site specific and temporary echoed the Mill as a tactile experience.

Visitors, young and old, who climbed the stairs, entered with jaws falling open, into an interior unfamiliar environment. The all-encompassing use of cardboard allowed for a humorous and fanciful experience. Many preferred to linger on the cardboard bench and enjoy the diffused light.

A giant hanging circular screen in the middle of the room moved the viewers as an architectural, rather than ornamental element. Suspended like the spirit of the viewers, the sculpture worked as a painterly piece with rhythmic and morphing details such as spirals and orb like constructions.

This was not a sensation of being in a cardboard box… more like being in a beehive. Klimowicz has used cardboard as his primary medium since 1986. Klimowicz on his website, http://henryklimowicz.com, says, “The structures remind me of the insides of bee hives. The process of building my work is reminiscent of the work of insects, bees, ants, and termites.” The Wassaic installation took him six weeks and sixteen hours a day to create and after the weekend it will be dismantled.

some words...

2010-07-31T10:16:00.001-07:00

There is this wonderful Los Angeles times newspaper headline: "And who is she this time?"

Happy for the rain

2010-07-17T08:20:00.000-07:00

We have been in a drought.
Seems there may be some relief now.
I am giving this piece to the rainman.

Writing for the Millbrook Independent newspaper

2010-07-14T16:19:00.001-07:00

Josh Atlas will make you smile at the Wassaic Project just down route 22 from Amenia.

Wandering through the old Luther’s Livestock barn in Wassaic this weekend I ran into a 27-year old artist from Teaneck New Jersey who now lives in Los Angeles and works with donuts as both his medium and his message. Sitting among pallets of acetate dipped stacks of donuts, Josh Atlas smiles a winning smile and notes that his 4 month residency with the Wassaic Project is an opportunity to experiment and study the techniques available behind preserving donuts and realizing his illustrated fantasies. In “Donut Day-Spa”, a figure “soaks” in a bathtub full of donuts replete with facemask of pink icing. Josh is interested in the donuts for the way they affect our eyes and our bodies, as symbol of desire and also for their formal element, their stackable shapes and high key colors.

The art is about appetite. Josh admits to an enormous sweet tooth and at least one chipmunk groupie in the studio. He says that, “comedy is the impulse behind my practice”. He cites the influence of comic books and cartoons behind his inclination to stretch the absurd. So came the impetus for Josh to create disco balls of donuts.

Josh attended Carnegie Mellon originally intending to study computer animation. The BFA program required interdisciplinary study and, as a result, his love of drawing and sculpture grew. His last major project was a long illustration turned graphic novel.

For the August Wassaic Project Summer Festival in the Maxon Mill, August 13-15, Josh plans a real icing splash on the wall. Visit www.joshatlas.com or the www.wassaicproject.org for more info.

Before words...

2010-07-07T18:30:00.001-07:00

Because the internet was down I didn't get sucked into my emails and I was able to paint first thing in the morning... painted from 7 a.m. to 1:30 pm!

14th Colony show in Millerton

2010-07-05T07:14:00.000-07:00

The dialogue continues with a third group showing of “14^th Colony Artists” in Millerton, NY this month. I hung two paintings from my empty nest series over last weekend with about 43 other artists in the building that used to be a hair salon on Railroad Avenue. Next to me on the wall is an abstract work by Karin Wexler painted with a searching pallet knife called “Marshland”. It echoes and intensifies the warm oranges and cool blues of my own work. Below my painting, sits an abstract wood sculpture by Peter Cascone. The playful relationship between Cascone’s sculpture, “Macdonaldwood and Preserved Dutch Elm”, was created after a gift exchange with artist Kevin Macdonald. Nearby in the same room, Macdonald’s, “Two Paint Cans” are positioned near Cascone’s “Taxi Ride” and they echo the shapes and colors of the blue, yellow, red, and white abstraction. Not sure they were supposed to do that, but together they make me laugh. Between them Dorothy Fox’s “Red Hot Jazz”, large acrylic on canvas singer at microphone, sets up a lively atmosphere.

What’s interesting about the show and the 14^th Colony is what I see when the works hang close to each other, and what I hear when the artists talk about how they work. There are paintings and photographs and sculptures. There is a dialogue with personal histories, a past heritage, and common culture.

Diane Shapira’s “Morandi Project #3”, an installation of ceramics, investigates the oeuvre of George Morandi by re creating vessels with variable silhouettes in muted hues and arranging them in elegant clusters. It is made by and for the contemplative spirit. Many of the artists cite past masters as inspiration. Rosemary Barrett responds to a George Ohr vase with a romantic oil painting. Virginia Lavado makes large ink drawings of the darker side of nursery rhymes. Michael Gallatly’s abstract renderings on paper and Pietter lefferts’ April Moon oil are samples of artists challenging themselves and pushing their handling of media into a new contest. .Lefferts paints at night, outside, in the dark, on location, hence the immediacy and abstract quality. Gellatly’s CRDRWG #4 and #5 marry a delicately odd surreal rendered form with random sharpie ink lines drawn while driving his car. Not everything should be tried at home! It’s open weekends though out the month of July.

Deer Diary

2010-07-04T07:47:00.000-07:00

Still confused... the idea for this painting is so illusive now... when I try to pin it down it moves away from me. Constantly I have to ask myself , "what am I trying to share?" It's intensely personal...A recurrent yet fleeting dream. Mostly when I see the stag he is behind me, in the corner of my eye. So to look at him head on is a bit strange. Not sure I want it so visible... is that better? Turning the stag into a couch?

a new painting

2010-06-29T05:35:00.000-07:00

is in the works. You can see the stumbling and the inspiration. Still have layers of maps to add. After all she looks a little lost.

Marching Through

2010-06-28T05:29:00.001-07:00

New Blog for painters of NY

2010-06-27T19:06:00.000-07:00

http://dailypaintersofnewyork.blogspot.com/

pain

2010-06-26T06:06:00.000-07:00

12 months ago I thought it was a competition!

Bad TV

2010-06-24T05:49:00.000-07:00

Been married now 24 years! My husband moved out 11 months ago but is not agreeing to the separation. It's what my friend calls, "bad tv". Script goes something like this:
A:How much will you pay me to never see me again?
B:(Sigh)How much do you need?
A:What?
B:What is it you truly want?
A:How about everything you've got?

Flowers in memory

2010-05-22T19:28:00.000-07:00

After making it through the winter I was surprised by the sadness that spring brought when I smelled the flowers I had planted for my husband. This is a large painting with maps and layers... acrylic on wood, 24 x 32 inches

a series of images

2010-05-20T19:25:00.000-07:00

overwhelmed by the 40 pages of separation agreement necessary for a divorce- all I can do is paint it out... one a day for 12 days.

Overwhelmed

2010-05-11T09:50:00.001-07:00

by the divorce documents... painting is how I work through them. I guess you can say at 25 I got married, at 30 I started wearing make up, at 35 I had my last child, at 48 I started feeling my knees. At 49 I was divorced.

Frontier in the bedroom

2010-04-15T08:13:00.000-07:00

HOW does this sit... ? There is so much weight to the bedroom. I am never alone with all the memories and voices in my head. Being newly single is not easy. I feel freakish.

I think she is done

2010-04-10T12:14:00.001-07:00

It was so easy. I do not have a title for her...
any ideas?

ONLY TWO DAYS and $15 LEFT

2010-04-05T10:34:00.000-07:00

to bid on these great sewn paper paintings on ebay.
Starting bid is $15 plus shipping ($5).

The chicken hen is sold- thank you Bob Brown!

these holidays bring out the crafty-ness inside me

2010-04-04T08:48:00.000-07:00

a tangle of lines to leap off of

2010-04-01T06:39:00.000-07:00

Paint is such a magnificent tool for discovering messages inside and outside ourselves...
Here is a series of paintings... really just ONE painting that kept changing and transforming, a record of a journey this time last spring... I feel like the signs my marriage was ending were all there... and as I hung it out to dry, so to speak. It became so complicated, and then the two birds appeared- they were made from maps. I tried to let a dialogue happen and be positive and willing... suddenly a sharp division and wild place became evident. I actually became so frightened of this work that I cut it into tiny tiny pieces...

Filling in the landscape

2010-03-23T10:53:00.000-07:00

Home... grows on you

2010-03-20T13:02:00.001-07:00

work in process...
Here are three things not even close to being done. I love the studio when the paint is wet and projects line up.

What is she looking at?

2010-03-16T18:53:00.001-07:00

Pencil and charcoal on newsprint paper.

Steps to forgive

2010-03-15T18:30:00.000-07:00

I think I've stopped dissolving. My painting has gone through as many transformations as my flighty horoscope-gemini-mood-moon-calendar! First I was too illustrative, then unbearably dark and shadowy. A frustrated brainless attack left the paintings a surface victim. Now, after today, I find the line and color are resolving themselves. In my own life I am starting to feel less the protagonist in a dramatic short story, not as much in the guilt ridden shadows, and actually, eventually, more substantial and brilliant. It took measures such as confessional tea dates with very patient girlfriends, driving across states to help a bigger cause, spending time rooted with siblings, working the gratitude list, crying salty oceans, and telling myself over and over that I forgive me. I forgive me. I didn't do it perfectly, but I can believe in more joy.

She's starting to get her form back!

2010-03-15T18:28:00.000-07:00

For a while she was dissolving... I am so relieved to see her quietly emerge. I think this painting has a brighter future.

Building an ark in one day

2010-03-14T13:08:00.000-07:00

Boarding on a plane last week a passenger startled me when he asked me what I knew about Noah's Ark. I answered, a little more rudely than normal, "Why do you want to know?!"

The reality was that that very subject was hanging over my head.

I was faced with a slew of scheduling challenges that left me one sunny cloudless day with the huge task of building an ark for a production of Noah's Ark and the local theater. Here is the work in process... See what you can do with 4 hours, some cardboard, a glue gun, wire, and black paint? I will post finished version when I reshoot at a rehearsal next week...

Back to the passenger. The next question was if I knew what kind of light Noah had on the ark.

A flood light.

scattered

2010-03-11T13:10:00.000-08:00

I am surprised I have a shadow for to do so, I must have substance. I feel vaporous.
So depressed about my children and their choices. I am powerless.
Who am I if I am not their mother anymore?
I threw down maps....
I am nothing but tracks between places I have been...

bleeding heart and shadow

2010-03-11T13:09:00.000-08:00

Tried to take her down into the shadows....

bleeding heart

2010-03-11T13:07:00.000-08:00

Is this becoming too illustrative?
It's hard to look at!

Marathon paint art-a-thon for Haiti

2010-02-19T10:22:00.000-08:00

I am going to be in Providence RI the 12th of March, painting for 8 hours straight. Prolific and inspired, I'm sure there will be color and canvasses flying off the easel. It's a personal thing for me to be able to do what I do best and have that help out the country I called home for most of my childhood. What a fantastic blessing!
Check out the blog at Jerry's Art-arama. They are sponsoring several art-a-thon events and providing free canvasses! All types of Artists are encouraged to be a part of this. If you are a buyer, or at all interested, you can buy a $5 lottery-like ticket to pick a work of art and support Haiti 's rebuilding efforts! If you can't go to the Home show in Providence, where I will be painting- you can contact me as to how you can be a part of this exciting event! Perhaps I can be your purchasing agent?

the beginings of a bleeding heart

2010-02-04T09:59:00.001-08:00