Settling in and Good Purpose

I'm happy to report that my new live/work space in Albany (otherwise known as my home) is working out perfectly. Now that we're basically settled in, I'm preparing for a show at the Good Purpose Gallery in Lee, Massachusetts. I'm excited about this opportunity and love the mission of the Good Purpose Gallery, which works very closely with the College Internship Program (CIP). The motto of the CIP is:

 

 “You were made for good purpose and are inherently valuable”.

  and the mission of the Gallery is:
 

"The Gallery mission is to help integrate young individuals on Autism Spectrum and with other Learning Differences into community, enrich their lives through arts and creativity, and provide the opportunity for professional artists to share their skills and passion with exhibits, workshops and lectures."  ~ from the Good Purpose Gallery website. 

So as someone who loves art and how it impacts our communities for the better, I'm really thrilled to be involved in this exhibit. I'm readying somewhere between 20-30 works. A portion of the proceeds will directly benefit CIP Performing and Visual Arts development efforts.

 

I may be adding these two new river rock paintings I've just finished. I have a couple of mixed media pieces in the works, as well.

It's nice to be back in the saddle again....and for such a good purpose. 

 

Catching Up

Yes, it's been a while dear Readers. 2015 has been a year of great changes already with more to follow. In April we listed our house in Pittsfield thinking we might get an offer by autumn but weren't in a particular hurry to move really.

However, thanks to our amazing realtor, we had multiple offers immediately and sold the house in four days. Oh.....but that meant we needed to find another home pronto. We had been looking for a while so had a pretty good idea of the housing market here in Albany, NY but finding a house quickly isn't easy or recommended. Two weeks later we put an offer on a house after looking at a bunch of them. We moved to a Marriott Residence Inn for a month in between houses which was interesting but I'd not want to do it much longer than that.

Now we are settling into our new home, a mid-century house in our ideal location with a large bright room that will make a wonderful art studio once the boxes are removed. Our house is a fixer-upper needing system upgrading, the things you'd expect in a house built in 1953 so I'm acting as general contractor and over-seeing all that kind of thing.


In the meantime at my current studio at NUarts, 311 North Street, Pittsfield - I am participating in open studios this Friday, August 7th during the First Fridays Artswalk from 5:00-8:00PM. First Fridays Artswalk is always a fun event and the weather is supposed to be perfect for a night out on the town.

I will be going back and forth between my studio and a group show of women artists in Gallery W at The Whitney Center for the Arts. I'm so happy to have been included in this group of talented local artists. There's an after party starting at 8:00PM at The Whitney, so do stop by for art, food, drink and great conversation.


Photo courtesy of the Whitney Center for the Arts

Winter's Gift

It has been a long winter in New England and beyond. The snow outside my door is still waist deep and the temperature far below freezing. I didn't succeed in embracing the great outdoors this winter even though my snow shoes were daring me to hit the trails. I have to say I much prefer temperatures above zero! The month of February is now coming to an end and I find myself thinking about the warmer days ahead, longer hours of sunlight and taking long walks on beautiful mountain paths.

What I did instead this winter, was spend time reading about art and planning my next series of paintings. There's a wonderful book I've just finished reading, The Mission of Art by Alex Grey. If you haven't read it, I hope you'll consider doing so. It has reaffirmed art-making as part of my spiritual practice. Sometimes I need the quiet space between projects which allows me to go a little deeper and listen more carefully to the messages within, knowing that when I emerge it will be with a stronger vision and voice. That was the gift of this winter.

 And really, spring can't be all that far off; can it?

Autumn Alchemy at NUarts

Autumn Alchemy closed at the end of September at the Whitney Center for the Arts after a wonderful month's visit. I have just hung the show at NUarts Gallery + Studios for the month of October for tonight's First Fridays Artswalk from 5-8 PM.

Below is a page from this month's Berkshire Magazine, with my painting Sky Through Birches accompanied by Jerry Tuckman's haiku. It has been a really wonderful experience working with Jerry on this exhibit. It was so serendipitous and evolved quite magically. I am forever grateful that Jerry and his wife, Jan, walked into my studio during a First Fridays Artswalk in June.

NUarts Gallery + Studios is where my studio space is housed. We currently hold open studios during the Artswalks each month. And I am always happy to welcome folks to my studio by appointment.

Opening Reception Musings

I am excited about tonight's art opening, am happy with all the new work I've created and for my collaboration with poet, Jerry Tuckman. It's been quite a journey and I've learned so much along the way. If I was to pick a favorite piece (considering that changes on a daily basis), I would pick At the Core.

Autumn Alchemy is about change, the cycle of life represented in spirals, the wonders of nature, and abstract expressions honoring all the season brings. 

That's a line from my press release that meant one thing when I wrote it and something deeper now - an alchemy of its own.

This has been a challenging week as my friend, Yvonne, died on Sunday. I am feeling sad for everyone's loss because Yvonne was bigger than life, with a quick smile and sharp wit. I will miss her a lot. What came on the heals of that though, is really heart warming. Yesterday four good friends shared lunch, stories and emotions about the fifth person, now missing. The love for each other and our missing friend was palpable. I feel so blessed to have these ladies in my life.

Life changes in an instant. The cycles continue with or without us present to witness them. There is something that I can't fully articulate in all this, but I can paint what it means to me.

Autumn Alchemy - a pairing of fine art with art inspired poems

This weekend my new exhibit will be hung at the Whitney Center for the Arts in the Colt Gallery.

                                               

Autumn Alchemy is about change, the cycle of life represented in spirals, the wonders of nature, and abstract expressions honoring all the season brings. This exhibit evolved into a pairing of fine art and poetry from a chance meeting when Jan and Jerry Tuckman  walked into my studio during a First Fridays Artswalk in June. I had tacked up some works in progress to see how the new work might be received. I learned Jerry is quite the wordsmith and poet. We exchanged email over the next several weeks and Jerry named many of my other paintings and sent poems inspired by the works. I was thrilled and asked Jerry to join my exhibit. Since that day we have been collaborating on Autumn Alchemy. 

Sacred Spiral

Sacred Spiral - acrylic on canvas board 24" x 20"

Sacred spiral,

stained glass

horn,

trumpeting

(in the richness

of its seashell colors)

all who have been

born . . .

and all

they will

become.

Stare,

be drawn within,

ride each curve,

round each bend.

As life unfolds.

there is a clear

beginning . . .

but no clear

end . . .

Gerald M. Tuckman 7/28/14 


SHOW DATES:  SEPTEMBER 5-27 2014        
OPENING RECEPTION:  SEPTEMBER 5, 20145-8 PM

Grandbaby Love

Sneaking in a photo of my sweet grandbaby, Samantha, among the art photos because frankly, she has stolen my heart. Sometimes when I'm sitting in my studio working out a sketch, waiting for paint to dry or just sipping on a cup of tea, I need a quick look at this sweet baby. She fills my heart with joy. Kate and Joe had some professional photos taken recently by TC Photography and they are all gorgeous, but this one I keep coming back to. It's sooooo Samantha!

Still Here

I visited my Mom in the nursing home and felt we connected for a moment. Maybe that's not a big deal for most of us, but in this case it's significant. My Mom has been living in a nursing home for the past five years needing around the clock supervision and increasing amounts of care. We're told she hasn't much time left. It's been a rocky road for my Mom and me, but God knows I love her. My Mom is on my mind daily. I let my paint brush convey what words alone can not.

Title - Still Here (as in I'm Still Here) - for my mother.

Mom, I know you are still in there. I can't imagine the frustration of not being able to communicate that at all. But the look in your eyes, even for a moment, let me know you are still here. I love you, Mom.

Fresh Paint

I have a "thing" for spirals in general and this one has been calling to me daily saying - finish me. Currently there are four works in progress and this has been by far the most demanding. But I'm calling it finished now; the paint is still drying. Next!

Hello Summer

And what a gorgeous summer it is in New England this year! Yesterday after work George and I took a long country drive, stopped at our favorite outdoor barbeque for dinner and just soaked in the summer sun. It was magical and revitalizing. It reminded me how much I enjoy summer and the longer days.

As many of you know, I've been working a lot of hours around my day job to create new paintings for my solo show in September. The painting is going well and my body of work is growing. I have six more weeks to finish my artwork...and I'm happy to say I'm on track. This is kind of a big deal for me, as I'm a slow painter and this it is a big challenge to put together so much work in this time period.

These paintings and a number of other works were added to my website yesterday. They are untitled and the dimensions are not yet listed, but I wanted to put some new work "out there" to give you an idea of what I will be including in this exhibition. 



Below is a painting I created a while ago, but have not yet exhibited. I added more lines with warmer colors to strengthen the impression of a tree trunk more strongly as shown on the right. Think it works?

While I will be back in the studio this weekend, I'm going to make some time to go to my favorite swimming hole and soak up some more of summer's goodness.

Happy Friday - wishing you a great weekend!