I 'heart' Attleboro!!

I have been heading down to Attleboro a lot lately, so much so that I have been considering renting an apartment there :).  

All the trips have been for exciting activities - jurying the High Art exhibit at the Attleboro Arts Museum and leading workshops for my Birds of Poetry installation for the Attleboro Public Library.  And recently I learned there are more wonderful reasons for me to visit Attleboro.  

 

First, this summer I will be installing my Birds of Poetry in the atrium of the Attleboro library.  With all my workshops we have over 100+ birds, all awaiting to take flight.

I recently lead a workshop with the VERY well behaved fifth graders from Robert J. Coelho Middle School.  We all had a lot of fun!! and made MANY birds, and these birds have some special gold accents!!! & there are still more workshops to come :)

Then this weekend I learned that "womb wrap" (Uterus) got into the Attleboro Arts Museum's National Juried Exhibition, On the Threshold!!! This show was juried by Michele L'Heureux, whose work I have always admired ~ check out her work on her website.

This exhibit runs from July 14th - August 10th, with the opening reception on July 18th.

Then following On the Threshold is the Attleboro Arts Museum's  8 Visions 2012, and I am very honored to say that I am one of the 8 visions!!! 

This is an extremely exciting opportunity!! It is a very competitive exhibit with three different jurying processes.  I am happy to announce that I will be exhibiting with these 7 other very talented artists : 

Patricia Berube – Cohasset, MA

Brenda Cirioni – Stow, MA

Susan Denniston – Scituate, MA

Sand T Kalloch – Malden, MA

Niva Shrestha – Franklin, MA

Mary L. Taylor – Marshfield Hills, MA

Felicia Touhey – Portsmouth, RI

(this is the first year that all women artist were chosen:)

We have already had our first meeting to meet each other and to learn about each other's work.  Also during this meeting the director of the museum, Mim Fawcett, encouraged us to look to this show as an opportunity to experiment and really stretch ourselves!! I can't wait!!! I am already thinking about how I can 'play' with my scale of the dress form?!?!? 

Just wish I didn't need to sleep :)

And on that note I must hit the sheets because tomorrow bring another day!

More to come about all these events, but for now good night 

& 

peace!!!

A few shout outs for artist friends in Beantown

This particular weekend there are many openings and arty events in the Boston Area and some of them are by friends and artists that I admire ~ so I thought I'd share!! 

The first is the opening reception for Judy Kramer in Cambridge!  I have always loved Judy's work. And she has even more a place in my art heart because I modeled for her a few years back!!! 

Her opening is Saturday night in Cambridge!!! info below.

Me!!

Judy Kramer @ Gallery 263

263 Pearl Street

Cambridge, MA 02139

Exhibition dates:                   Thursday, May 31^st through Sunday, June 17^th 2012

Opening reception:               Saturday June 2^nd  6 to 9 pm

Gallery hours:                        Thursday and Friday  1 to 6

                                                Saturday and Sunday 12 to 5

Questions:                              call Judy at 617 661 7175 or judykramer@judykramer.net

Then tonight ~ there is SOWA's First Friday celebration where the area galleries stay open late.  Always a good time!!! and it should be an awesome night, if the weather holds!!! :) Below are two receptions that are worth a stop!

Peter Lipsitt's, Natured and Nurtured,  

at Boston Sculptors Gallery. Reception 5-8pm.

Jodi Colella @ NK Gallery

PHYLA Solo Exhibition of Work by Jodi Colella June 1 - 22, 2012 Reception June 1, 5-8 pm Transformations of material and found objects into whimsical organic objects  NK Gallery 450 Harrison Ave #61 (located below Samson) Boston, MA Gallery Hours: W - Sa 11am - 4pm

And then Sunday ~ at Fountain Street Fine Art in Framingham is Poetry and Art!!! @ 4pm Joel Moskowitz an Helen Marie Casey will be reading poetry - not to be missed!!!

So that is a splattering of the art happenings here in Boston!!

But for an even larger list of Arty things to do there are two Facebook pages that are managed by artist  J Rebecca Trueblood where you can find tons of information about the Boston area art world, Boston Area Artists and Boston Area Artist - Events, News and Opportunities.

Boston Area Artists and Boston Area Artist - Events, News and Opportunities are two FaceBook pages  started/ managed by artist  J Rebecca Trueblood

Happy Friday & peace

"in memory of . . ."

For all the men, women and children who have served, sacrificed and died in the name of freedom ~ Thank you!!

peace

Taking Wings Westward . . .

"winged victory"

"insatiable"

 Happy to announce that 'insatiable' and 'winged victory' were accepted into "The Art of Fiber": 

Rediscover this ancient art form through the unique vision of more than 20 contemporary artists. From appliqué and cross stich to basketry and mixed media, the artists in this exhibit represent a wide range of techniques, materials, and subject matter. Expect the unexpected as traditional meets contemporary in this juried exhibit.

Davis Art Gallery

44 Portland Street, Worcester, MA  01609, 3rd Floor, 

Opening Reception:  May 24, 2012, 5-7 p.m.

Featuring:

Bayda Asbridge
Ani Baronian
Kerry Bart-Raber
Jennifer Baum
Frank Cole
Andrea Driscoll
Virginia Fitzgerald
Ann Hanscom
Tobi Hoffman
Celia Knight
Robyn Lane
Kimberly Marshall
Janet Miller
Corina Palmer
Judy Rolt
Janice Sisti
Carolann Tebbetts
Kay Thompson
Marion Vaitkus
Max Verga
Erika Davis Wade
Mihoko Wakabayashi

Thank you Julia Ward Howe; the real mother's day story

Today I got a wonderful Mother's day present ~ I learned about the true origin of Mother's Day and I have been blown away by the story. 

I thought that this holiday had been started, or at least fostered, by Hallmark and the world of commercialization.  But that is false. This holiday DID NOT begin to get people to buy stuff!!!! 

Mother's Day began when Julia Ward Howe (an amazing woman ~  a prominent American abolitionist, social activist, and poet)  wrote the Mother’s Day Proclamation, written in response to the American Civil War and the Franco-Prussian War.  She asked for women to stand up for ending war. 

 

"...In the name of womanhood and humanity, I earnestly ask

That a general congress of women without limit of nationality,

May be appointed and held at someplace deemed most convenient

And the earliest period consistent with its objects,

To promote the alliance of the different nationalities,

The amicable settlement of international questions,

The great and general interests of peace."

(The full text is at the bottom, thanks to Code Pink)

The fact that this proclamation rings achingly true 142 years later is not lost on me!! So much violence rages in this world ~ in the name of power, justice and even peace-keeping.

Later the holiday was used to help reunite families after the Civil War, lead by a West Virginia women’s group led by Anna Reeves Jarvis.  "After Jarvis’ death, her daughter began a campaign for the creation of an official Mother’s Day in honor of peace. Devoting much of her life to the cause, it wasn’t until 1914 when Woodrow Wilson signed it into national observance in 1914." (from the article on Nation of Change's site.) The article goes on to say that Jarvis actively worked against the commercialization of the day, but alas, here we are! 

But that does not mean we are need to keep 'buying' into this commercial version of Mother's day.  We can change the focus of Mother's Day.  Just as Julia Ward Howe called for women and mothers to 'arise' for peace in 1870, we can 'arise' today, this year and next year and demand PEACE.  

We can take this day back from the marketplace and make it a celebration of PEACE.  I believe Peace on Earth would be the best gift to any mom!!  

I have always loved the idea of celebrating Mothers, motherly love and the nurturing concept of TLC and the desire for PEACE only adds to that equation.

  So . .  PEACE! 

PEACE!!

PEACE PLEASE!!!

Julia Ward Howe's Mother's Day Proclamation - 1870

Arise then...women of this day! Arise, all women who have hearts! Whether your baptism be of water or of tears! Say firmly: "We will not have questions answered by irrelevant agencies, Our husbands will not come to us, reeking with carnage, For caresses and applause. Our sons shall not be taken from us to unlearn All that we have been able to teach them of charity, mercy and patience. We, the women of one country, Will be too tender of those of another country To allow our sons to be trained to injure theirs." From the bosom of a devastated Earth a voice goes up withOur own. It says: "Disarm! Disarm! The sword of murder is not the balance of justice." Blood does not wipe out dishonor, Nor violence indicate possession. As men have often forsaken the plough and the anvil At the summons of war, Let women now leave all that may be left of home For a great and earnest day of counsel. Let them meet first, as women, to bewail and commemorate the dead. Let them solemnly take counsel with each other as to the means Whereby the great human family can live in peace... Each bearing after his own time the sacred impress, not of Caesar, But of God - In the name of womanhood and humanity, I earnestly ask That a general congress of women without limit of nationality, May be appointed and held at someplace deemed most convenient And the earliest period consistent with its objects, To promote the alliance of the different nationalities, The amicable settlement of international questions, The great and general interests of peace.

Happy Mother's Day!!!

I think of this as a day to celebrate LOVE ~ for as Robert Browning puts it - 

"motherhood ~ all love begins and ends there.

So Happy Mother's Day to all!!! 

& especially to my mom, 

who kindly passed on to me her creativity, her imagination, her wacky sensibility & 

her LOVE of ART!!!! 

Also I want to thank my sweet angels who make me a mom!!!!

peace!!

Illustration Friday: Kernel

When I saw the prompt for this week's Illustration Friday I thought of this surface design I made in another life!!

Each week the topic is suggested by a fellow illustrator, and included in the topic email there is frequently  a quote.  The illustration doesn't need to relate to the quote & mine obviously doesn't, however I wanted to share this lovely quote. 

 “Nature has neither kernel nor shell; she is everything at once” ~ Goethe

This week's topic is "kernel", suggested by Sylvia Liu (http://www.sylvialiuland.com/). Thank you Sylvia and let's go out and enjoy Nature this lovely Spring weekend!!

Peace

May today there be peace within . . .

May today, there be peace within.

May you trust that you are exactly where you are meant to be.

May you not forget the infinite possibilities that are born of faith in yourself and others.

May you use the gifts that you have received, and pass on the love that has been given to you.

May you be content with yourself just the way you are.

Let this knowledge settle into your bones, and allow your soul the freedom to sing, dance, praise and love.

It is there for each and every one of us.

~ peace ~

A Blessing . . .

my contribution to Illustration Friday, prompt: Jump

As we jump into a new week i felt that this was worth sharing . . .

Lord, bless our week. Help us to take all the necessary risks to become the person we always wanted to be.

Paulo Coelho

peace

More birds, this time @ Fountain Street Fine Arts

Well, the Attleboro Bird workshop was a great success!! Many people participated even with the beautiful weather!  I will post pictures in another post, and keep an eye open for more workshops.  

Amy the librarian and I are hoping to fill the library's atrium with Birds of Poetry!! We are hoping that other libraries may pick up the idea and add to our flock or start their own.  Also I took my wings to a local poetry reading where the idea to put poetry on wings was enthusiastically received and I returned home with numerous wings for my birds!! 

I will post a template for the wings so you can print it up at home and add your own magic to the project. But again, that will be a future post.

Today I want to feature another one of my bird endeavors, my painting 'bird by bird I'.  

This is my contribution to the Fountain Street Fine Art's 12 x 12 show which runs from April 19th - May 6th.  The opening reception is THIS Friday, April 27th, from 5 - 7 pm.  

Friday evening is also the first evening of the Fountain Street's Open Studios - so you get quite an art bang for your buck!!! The Fountain Street building is filled with wonderful artist's studios and the  Fountain Street Fine Art gallery is located on the ground floor .  

This weekend the gallery will be open as well as many of the art studios and visiting artists will be 'perched' in the hallways.  It is will be well worth a visit. 

The Fountain Street Fine Art 12 x 12 show is a repeat of their very successful 10 x 10 show last year at this time, only a little bigger panels.  This year they have made a lovely site where you can view many of the panels and below is a description of the show.

Each original work of art shown here is 12”x12” on birch panel, in a variety of media. Each piece is for sale at $200. This show will run from April 19-May 6, 2012. A great way to discover a new favorite artist! Galley hours Thu-Sun 11-5 and by appt 508.879.4200.

 Fountain Street Fine Art is also sponsoring other note-worth arty events during this time ~ 

McAuliffe Student Show April 20-May 6

A concurrent show of 6”x6” works on paper by students from McAuliffe Regional Charter Public School will also be on display in the gallery. Located in downtown Framingham, the exploratory middle school serves eight Metrowest communities: Framingham, Natick, Ashland, Holliston, Sudbury, Southborough, Hopkinton, and Marlborough

make ART public event April 27 - 29, 2012 during Fountain Street Open Studios

Create your own artwork to hang in the gallery while you visit Open Studios, and to take home with you at the end of the day.

FSFA is DEFINITELY a place check out, there is a lot of exciting things happening there!!!  

They are introducing an CSArt in which yours truly is participating, but yet again, 

that is for a later post!! 

For this post:  

'bird by bird I'

This weekend!! 

Fountain Street, Framingham!! 

Lots of  great art and good deals to be had!! 

Lots of fun and easy parking :)

Hope to see you Friday evening!! 

Peace

Happy Earth Day!

Yesterday was Earth Day! a day to reconsider how we use our natural resources and to celebrate Mother Earth.

In honor of this day I took my girls out into the wildness, to commune with nature! and by their initial reactions you would have thought I had told them we were going to the dentist - they were not happy. But I grab my camera and drove to the pond by Wellesley College and soon everyone was enjoying themselves.

I also made a dress ~ drawn on a concrete/slate structure we found in the woods.  It appeared as people have used this place for bonfires ~ so it was flush with drawing material: charcoal.  Harriet and I went to town and Maya documented the event.


With charcoal in hand and a clean 'slate' in front of me - I was moved to draw a dress with  an anatomical heart with veins or roots reaching out?!?! The anatomy of the heart is an image that I am very attached to lately and felt appropriate for the day ~ our earth is the beating heart of our existence, something that we must care for and tender to.

Hope you were able to get out to enjoy Mother Nature yesterday and/or maybe decided to compose or bought organic or local produce for dinner.   Here is a small sampling of our Earth Day Celebration.

Photographer: Maya

Photographer: Maya

Photographer: Maya

Photographer: Virginia

Photographer: Maya

Photographer: Harriet

Photographer: Virginia

Photographer: Harriet

Photographer: Harriet (and she photoshopped it)

Peace

Getting into a Poetic State of Mind

Packing up my Poetry Dress to take to Attleboro for my Interactive Poetry Sculpture workshop, TODAY!!! If you are in the Attleboro area, stop by!!  It is a drop-in workshop, at the Attleboro Public Library,  74 North Main Street, Attleboro, MA 02703.  We will be making Birds of Poetry from 1-3pm.

And to help get into a poetic state of mind. . . 

First, here is an illustration of Wendell Berry's poem, The Peace of Wild Things from one of my sketchbooks from 1996.  I have always loved this poem and find it particularly poignant as our lives seem to run at this frantic pace and fears can infest our souls.

Also check out a this wonderful post about friend and poet, Martha Calderaro on the blog, Jama's Alphabet Soup. This blog is written by Children's author Jama Rattigan and Martha was a guest for Jama's Poetry Potluck Series 2012, celebrating National Poetry Month!! It is definitely worth a visit!!! And besides reading a wonderfully playful poem that celebrates National Poetry Month, you will also see pictures of Martha's new adorable Newfoundland puppy, Daisy.  

SPECIAL DELIVERY
by Martha Calderaro 

Maybe I shouldn’t have borrowed it without asking,
painted it magenta with golden daffodils,
folded origami swans from bulk-rate inserts,
penciled nursery rhymes on envelopes that looked like bills.

In my defense, I’m not a reckless driver,
have to say, I love the steering on the right –
makes it easier to offer treats along the sidewalk,

like a limerick or a sonnet to recite. (click here to see full poem)

peace