Taking a look back
In the midst of changing seasons, holiday bustle, and as a new year beckons, I take stock of what I accomplished the last two years and what remains unfinished.
Read MoreA Finger in Too Many Pies
Welding It All Together
After watching a colleague piece together a steel structure for my glass and wood sculptures, I wanted to learn to weld. I wanted to create structures for my bird nest and paper sculptures, ones intrinsic to the work itself. I saw Judy Pfaff was teaching a week-long class at Truro Center for the Arts. Having taken an installation class with her previously, I knew it was the class for me.
Read MoreEscape into Art - part 2
A deep sigh
It is hard to describe the deep peace and inner quiet upon arriving at the Rural Residency for Contemporary Art (RUC) in Cividate Comuno, Italy. After the never ending art to see at the Venice Biennale along with all the other things to see in Venice, it was a gift to step into the fresh country air and just be. No schedule. No list of things to see or do.
Read MoreEscape into Art - part 1
Escape
I gaze longingly at the images. I imagine a whirlwind of art in Venice followed by a week at a rural residency… sitting outside, summer sun shining on me, facing the Alps, drawing, stitching my teabag pieces, and wandering the hills and medieval towns nearby.
Read MoreEvolution of a Studio - part 2
Studio envy
In 2019, moving from our house of thirty years, I decided to move my studio home. Perusing fellow artists’ studios, I experienced some serious studio envy. I made a list of musts and wants. I had visions of a property with a separate two car garage or perhaps building a separate studio structure in the backyard.
Read MoreEvolution of a Studio - part 1
Small beginnings
When I first dipped my toe into the art world, it was through classes taken at a community art center. My studio was the dining room table…
Read MoreStudio Visit
A visitor
A sudden bout of anxiety hits me five minutes before the studio visit. My palms are sweaty, mouth dry. I take a quick look around the studio and take a deep breath as I see her car pull up in the falling snow.
Read MoreLetting the Work Lead
Studio interuptous
After a holiday season overflowing with family, joy and chaos, I was anticipating a long quiet stretch of winter in which to slowly clean up the studio, re-organize, and get back to work. Instead, in early January my daughter moved in with her five-month-old baby and her dog, to stay with us while her husband is deployed on a nuclear sub.
Read MoreRisky Business
I spoke last month about slowing down and taking a pause. I was beginning to dig out of my studio and fully intended this month to write about that process. However, as with all things in life, life happens, plans shift and one must pivot. I decided that rather than skip a blogpost this month, I would invite another artist to talk about her own studio practice.
Avery Syrig is an artist, friend, art installer, artist advisor and fellow conceptual and material-based artist…
Read MoreA Return to the Studio
Out of the holidays
My children and grandchildren have returned to their lives, the holiday decorations are tucked away, laundry done, the house cleaned. I sit here with a mug of tea, savoring the quiet, outside sounds muffled by the first snowfall, the antique clock ticking behind me. Though I am grateful for the busting-out-at-the-seams couple of weeks in our tiny house, the shared laughter and meals and happy chaos that is always part of a family gathering, in the midst of it there is little room for contemplation or deep work in the studio.
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