WOMEN IN ART – MARINA ABRAMOVIC

Last week I begin blog series “Women in Art Wednesdays”.This isn’t Wednesday, but this is about the documentary Marina Abramovic: The Artist is Present which I viewed this past weekend.

Untitled

I am not particularly well versed in performance art. I was aware of Marina Abramovic and I read about the retrospective of her work at MOMA in 2010, By the time it was over, 750,000 people had come for the performance , sometimes even camping out on 53rd Street. Why? for the opportunity to see Ms Abramovic face to face. She sat in a plain wooden chair, gazed straight ahead into the eyes of the patron seated across from her. Click HERE for a video of an example of this.

The documentary was recorded by Matthew Akers, who was given access to her home, her studio, even her bathtub! Showing her preparing in advance for the show at MOMA, the film is interspersed with videos of previous performance pieces going back 30+ years. You learn a little historical information about Ms. Arbramovic and her performances. You witness her reunion with Ulay, her lover and collaborator for 12 years (in quite a touching and sweet scene).

I discovered this woman who is known for mutilating and whipping herself in performance art is also quite funny! She laments to an interviewer that no one asks her anymore “why is this art?” She even discusses a performance piece with the magician David Blaine. But, alas, her gallerist talks her out of it by pointing out what Blaine does is illusion and what she does is real.

However, the strength of the documentary begins with seeing the daily challenges of what might at first glance seem simple. Ms. Abramovic is in her chair when MOMA opens each day (6 days a week), and sits unmoving until the museum closes. One by one people come and sit opposite her – their faces full of emotion, often in tears. As I viewed the documentary, I started feeling an emotional pull, witnessing something wonderful, something strange, something exciting and something rare.

As someone said, you had to be there. This documentary is the next best thing to that!

Witness Ulay’s surprise appearance at opening night here (it is not included in the documentary, but very touching.)

And, how did she sit for so long without going to the bathroom? According to a piece in the NY Magazine – she held it!

Also – note there is nudity throughout this film.

For upcoming blogs on women artists:

B – think spiders

C – a working artist, she made me change the way I view the patterns on the street and sidewalks forever!

If you have an idea for a female artist, send me an email. I have a working list, but I’m willing to change it up! Feel free to post a link to a female artist you like and admire too!

DIANE ARBUS – WOMEN IN ART WEDNESDAYS

This is my inaugural blog of a new series. On the 4th of July, I posted images from American Women Artists (you can see it here). In researching this little blog, I found there just isn’t much information about women artists. So, I decided to go through the alphabet, letter at a time, posting something about the life and work of a different female artist on Wednesdays! I’m not going to critique them, just share their story!

I’m beginning with DIANE ARBUS!

Born Diane Nemerov in 1923 – her name is pronounced Dee-Ann.

Her family ran Russek’s Department Store on Fifth Avenue in New York.

the building today

When her father, David Nemerov, retired, he pursued a career in painting.

Her younger sister, Renee Sparkia Brown, was a sculptor and designer. (Her first husband, Roy Sparkia,created the Empire State Building illuminated panels depicting the 7 wonders of the world, with the 8th wonder – the Empire State Building. These 5’ x 7’ crystal resin and stained glass panels were installed in the lobby in 1963.)

Her brother, Howard Nemerov, was a Pulitzer Prize winning poet and the United State Poet Laureate in 1988.

Obviously, this was a creative family. Diane studied panting in high school. At age 14 she fell in love with Allan Arbus (19 at the time). She lost interest in painting and said her only ambition was to be David’s wife.

“I hated painting and I quit right after high school because I was continually told how terrific I was. I had the sense that if I was so terrific at it, it wasn’t worth doing.”

They married when she was 18 and together pursued a career in photography, turning their bathroom in Manhatten into a part-time darkroom. Her father gave them work shooting fashion for Russek’s.

Allan was a military photographer in WWII. After the war, their photography business took off, shooting for magazines like Vogue and Harper’s Bazaar. It is said Allan shot the photographs and Diane came up with clever ideas and props.

But Diane wanted to be an artist, not a stylist. Allan wanted to be an actor, not a photographer. During this time, Diane suffered from several depressive episodes. They had two daughters, Doon (who later published two books with Richard Avendon) and Amy, who became a photographer.

Diane’s turning point came by taking a class at the NewSchool in New York with Lisette Model.

“I always thought of photography as a naughty thing to do – that was one of my favorite tings about it, and when I first did it, I felt very perverse.”

She began taking photographs of the seamier side of New York.

1959, the Arbuses separated. Also that year, Diane had her first magazine assignment for Esquire – that included photographs of a sideshow performer Jungle Creep.

In 1962 she changed to a 2 1/4 format camera, and her pictures became sharper and more detailed. She said she wanted “to see the difference between flesh and material, the densities of different kinds of things: air and water and shiny.”

She was known for having intense relationships with her subjects. In fact, she spent 10 years with Eddie Carmel, whom she called the Jewish giant, before she captured the photograph she had been looking for! Some of the circus performers she photographed appeared in her images for 10 years!

The Jewish Giant at Home with His Parents, Bronx 1970 ©Diane Arbus estate

The art-world began to see Arbus’ pictures as more than journalism. In 1967, 32 of her photographs were chosen by MOMA for an exhibition.

A Young Man in Curlers at Home on West 20th St. NYC 1967

“I remember going to New Documents (the show at MOMA) when I was in college and seeing a man spit at her work. People hadn’t seen an unambiguous picture of a man in curlers with long fingernails smoking a cigarette, and at the time it seem confrontational. Now, at this distance in time, it seem elegiac and empathetic rather than threatening” Sandra Phillips, SFMOM’a Photographic historian

With her growing fame, people became a little wary of being photographed by someone that had been dubbed “the wizard of odds”. At this time, Allan, who she remained close to, moved to Los Angeles to pursue acting full time. Do you know his most famous role?

Allan and Diane

Allan as Dr. Sidney Freedman

Yes, he played the psychiatrist on MASH!

To make money, Diane had a plan to sell limited editions of 10 of her photographs in a clear box that doubled as a frame, for $1,000 per set. Very ahead of its time, only four sets were sold, but one set was sold to the artist Jasper Johns and two sets to photographer Richard Avendon! (one set recently sold for $553,000).

In 1971 she was chosen to represent the United States in the 1972 Venice Biennale – the FIRST American photorapher to be so honored.

Unfortunately, in 1971 she was ovewhelmed by what she called “the blues”. On July 26, she took barbituates and slit her writes and was found in her West Village apartment two days later.

Identical Twins Rosell NJ 1967

Circus Performer

Some of my favorite quotes:

“Love involves a peculiar unfathomable combination of understanding and misunderstanding.”

“A photograph is a secret about a secret. The more it tells you the less you know.”

“The world can only be grasped by action, not by contemplation. The hand is the cutting edge of the mind.”

What do you think of Diane Arbus and her photographs?

What female artists beginning with the letter “A” would you have included? I ask because I think I will continue this project for awhile!

July Reading

Lately – I’ve been downsizing and decluttering. July was a pivotal month for me – I gathered up 7 bags of clothes, packed up a set of dishes we don’t use (my husband didn’t even know they existed!) AND – I took in 5 boxes of hardback books to a thrift shop that uses the money for animal rescue. Why was I keeping all of these books? I don’t need a film encyclopedia that was published in 1996! I am not going to look at 100 years of National Geographic. Nor, I am not going to read Anna Karenina – and if I decide to read it – it is available at the library. Why did I keep paperbook editions of Huckleberry Finn and To Kill A Mockingbird? Yes, I’ll reread them, but again, they are available at the library too. Also – I made a goal to read NO MORE THAN ONE BOOK A WEEK for the remainder of the year!

So – I decided start cleaning out. I decided to seriously look at the books I kept to reread. I started by rereading The Prince of Tides by Pat Conroy. This book held up! I think I got more out of this reading than my initial reading. It is beautifully written, sometimes I just had to stop and reread a passage because it was so beautiful. Covering 40 years, it is the story of Tom Wingo who goes to New York to help a psychiatrist work with his suicidal twin sister Savannah. This is the story of a dysfunctional family (with a capital D) set primarily in the lowlands of South Carolina. I would deem this a modern classic – one of the great American novels of all time! You may know the outcome while reading it, but the circumstances are revealed slowly. The characters are alive, you can smell the salt water, you want to run out and eat shrimp and oysters! This is a FIVE STAR book!!!! I’m glad I decided to clean out and purge, and I’m glad I reread this book. Now, which Pat Conroy book will I read next that I’ve saved.

A Season in Purgatory by Dominick Dunne – I’ve always liked Dominick Dunne’s style of writing, so I was happy to find this little gem on my bookshelf. About the wealthy Bradley family, it begins with the lines “The jury was in it’s third day of deliberations”. I was hooked. The Bradley’s are a large Irish-Catholic family, the patriarch of the family wants his favorite son, Constant, to be president. Sound familiar? Yes, it is a thinly veiled account of the Kennedy family, however, the hook is it deals with a shocking crime committed by Constant and aided by the focus of the book, Harrison Burns. The crime brings up comparisons to Michael Skakel. A real page turner!

The Joy of Less: A Minimalist’s Living Guide: How to Declutter, Organize and Simplify your Life by Francine Joy – this was a fun and quick read – dealing with our relationship with “stuff” and getting rid of it. I have to say, the more I get rid of, the more I have a sense of freedom. “Things” just don’t hold that much power over me anymore. This is the journey I am on at the moment.

So – I only completed 3 books in July – this is groundbreaking for me. I did read more blogs, I did paint more, and I did exercise more!

I posted a picture of our wall of books. I will go through them again this month and get of more. I will reread a book that I have kept for that purpose too! I’m on a moratorium, I’m not buying ANYMORE books right now – I have quite the stack to read and reread!

What do you consider the “great American novel”?

Here is a sample of what I have stacked up!

A NEW DIRECTION – June Reading

Decagon 20×24
©Vickie Martin

Yes, I am addicted to reading. But this month I read less. I made myself a challenge to read 40 books this year, and at the end of June I have completed 34. My goal for the remainder of the year is to read no more than one book a week, which is no easy task for me. Here are the books I read:

EVERYTHING THAT REMAINS by Joshua Fields Milburn – Lately I have been thinking about moving into the next phase of my life – which is giving up the day job and do what I want to do. So this book was perfect for me. This is the story of two almost 30 year olds making a six figure income and realizing how empty their lives are. They start The Minimalist movement, which is getting traction in many different forms these days. Basically, it is pairing down your THINGS, basically asking the question “How might your life be better if you owned fewer material possessions?” After reading this, I cleaned out my closet and donated seven bags of clothes to charity. I have donated 4 boxes of books. And, I’m just beginning. I just don’t need all these THINGS anymore. I believe this book laid it out for me, something that has been brewing in my brain for a while. I didn’t want to just de-clutter, I wanted to go a step further and simplify! And appreciate what I purchase more. I have adopted the one in – one out philosophy too.

MR. PENUMBRA’S 24-HOUR BOOKSTORE by Robin Sloan – how would you not be drawn to a book about a 24-hour bookstore, especially one located in San Francisco. Trust me – it is a place you want to go, but you might not want to leave. It deals with breaking codes of more than 500 years, using computers, and even visits to the Google campus. It was actually named Best Book of the Year by NPR (I don’t know what year though). You have to like books, fantasy and have an imagination – but if you do – you won’t be disappointed.

LIFE AND DEATH ON THE TAMIAMI TRAIL by Sheila Marie Palmer – this was my one guilt pleasure, my only free download of the month. I was drawn to it because I have spent time on the Tamiami Trail. Solving a murder that is 20 years old involves gypsies and a little majic. It wasn’t great, but it was fun!

AN ARTIST OF THE FLOATING WORLD by Kazuo Ishiguro – a very lyrical and meditative book about an artist living in post war Japan. The “floating world” refers to shifts in patterns. The artist, Ono, is retired. The novel shifts around in time and gives you bits and pieces of what has happened. It explores the social attitudes of post war Japan, and Ono’s strident believe in an imperial Japan during the war. Delicate is a word I use to describe the writing. By the way, this author wrote Remains of the Day later.

SHOW YOUR WORK – by Austin Kleon – this is a little gem of a book, easily read in a couple of hours, but one to go back to. There wasn’t that much earth shattering in it to me, it was just refreshing to see someone writing about things I have believed for awhile. Yes, it is fun to show your work all over social media, but it is tedious if that is all you are doing. As I’ve said before, the word “reciprocity” is very important and he illustrates this time and time again.

So, as you can see, it was less books than usual! But, I did paint more, and I did spend time cleaning out some of the excesses of my physical world. In that spirt, I have decided over the next month to read the books I have on hand. I have plenty of them. Some of them are classics, some are art-related – but these are a few stacks of them I’m going to start cleaning out.

Last point – video to recommend – Tim’s Vermeer directed by Teller – a documentary eight years in the making directed by Teller (of Penn and Teller) about an inventory that tries to discover how Vermeer managed to paint so photo-realistically in the 17th century. David Hockney and Martin Mull make appearances. He travels to Delft, Yorkshire, and even Buckingham Palace to see a Vermeer.

Have you seen any documentaries lately?

MAY READING

This was NOT a stellar month for reading. I bought some books at the Dollar Store – and didn’t stop there – I downloaded free books too. So, I feel as if I got sucked into some kind of a void and was reading just to do something. So, I vow in June, I am going to read things that will make me think, teach me, and inspire me. Here are the books I read in May (and if I wasn’t keeping track of them on Book Reads, I might not have remembered them!

SLEEP TIGHT by Rachel Abbott: This is a page turner, about a woman that is missing along with her children. However, the investigator recognizes the name of the missing women from prior investigations. This is written by an English author and contained a fair amount of British slang that took some getting used to. There are a few twists and turns that I didn’t anticipate, but it was just okay. It was worth the price, a free download, complete with a few typos!

ONE LAST GREAT WICKEDNESS by David Stansfield: I read this while on an art retreat, no internet and no television. So – I stayed up reading this until 2A! At times I found the book very good, at times I felt it was contrived. The main character’s father committed suicide when he was thirteen. Now finding family letters, he begins investigating his family’s past, and learns things he never suspected. In fact, he discovers an almost parallel universe. The ending was surprising, but somewhat oontrived.

LONG GONE by Alafair Burke It started out promising with Alice Humphrey landing a dream job in a gallery in New York. She is the daughter of a privileged family, she has a chance encounter with Drew Campbell. Campbell claims to represent a wealthy anonymous patron of the arts who wants to open a gallery, and Campbell believes that Alice, given her background, would be the perfect person to manage it. Sounding a little too good to be true, she finds Drew murdered in the gallery – and Alice is the primary suspect. She begins to believe she has been set up. I read this in one sitting – it is a little improbable, with characters making somewhat silly choices. In fact, I knew she was being set up long before it dawned on her!

THE WIDOW’S DAUGHTER by Nicholas Edlin: Peter Sokol is an artist in San Diego, but he was a doctor in World War II stationed in New Zealand. The book shifts in time from WWII to California during Viet Nam. What happened in New Zealand is revealed bit by bit. This was a piece of history I was unaware of. I found it interesting!

THE FAMILY FANG by Kevin Wilson: The first two sentences hooked me – “The parents called it art. Their children called is mischief”. This is the story performance artists Caleb and Camille Fang – who are totally dedicated to their art. Their two children – known as cihild A and B (Annie and Buster) unwillingly become part of their art. To get away Annie becomes an actress, Buster an author. But, they are forced to return home. his book isn’t for everybody, but I liked it and enjoyed my time reading it. I felt like I was reading a Wes Anderson movie. In fact, the reviews on Good Reads are somewhat entertaining, they go from hating and not understanding it – to sublime! There are several good points made about that age old question “What is Art?”

Any surprising finds for you lately?

BOOKS FOR ARTISTS

I am given a prompt every week as part of the group – The Daily Creative Practice. This weeks prompt basically is “how has reading informed your art form(s)? (see the end of the blog for the entire prompt).

Now, I admittedly am a book junkie. The only time I do not have a book to read is when I finish a book and have yet to start another. Reading is such an integral part of my life, I know the books I read influence all parts of my life, including my art. So – I thought I’d put together a list of books about art. I divided them into three categories, Reference, History, Fun reading. (note – these are not book reviews)

REFERENCE:

The Collins BIg Book of Art – this is a quick reference of art from cave art to pop art with over 1000 works of art represented.

Color, A Natural History of the Palette by Victoria Finley – Eleven chapters, each devoted to a color. The book is packed with information!

Daily Rituals: How Artists Work: by Mason Curry – 161 artists rituals are profiled, from novelists, to musicians, painters, comedians, sculptors, and scientists. From Benjamin Franklin to Toni Morrison.

Inside the Painters Studio by Joe Figg – I love to take a peek at artist’s lives – but you might get some serious studio envy!

The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron – the grand-daddy of all books about creativity.

The Quotable Artist by Peggy Hadden – I keep this book close by!

The Creative Process, Use It Or Lose It by Twyla Tharpe – a book I’ve returned to over and over.

HISTORY

The Greater Journey, Americans in Paris by David McCullough – if you are familiar with David McCullough, you know his attention to detail. Covering 1930 – 1900, it deals with artists, writers, scientists and more that fell in love with Paris.

Secret Lives of Great Artists, What Your Teachers Never Told You About Master Painters and Sculptors by Elizabeth Lunday – this is just a fun look at the art world.

Originals: American Women Artists by Eleanor Munro – the book goes from Cassatt to Kiki Smith – a great reference book as women have been so often overlooked in the history of art!

The Man With the Blue Scarf, On Sitting for a Portrait by Lucien Freud by Martin Gayford – great book about the creative process.

Bad Boy, My Life On and Off The Canvas by Eric Fischl – more than just an autobiography, you get a glimpse into his view of the art world.

FUN

The Forgery of Venus by Michael Gruber – a wild ride of a book, it includes time travel, forgery, drugs and more. This was the book that got me reading book after book after book about both art forgery and art theft.

The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt – winner of the Pulitzer Prize – it is a work of fiction that revolved around an actual painting (that I actually saw the year prior to reading this).

The Art Forger by B.A. Shapiro – okay – I admit, I have a fascination with art forgery!

Books to Read

The Family Fang by Kevin Wilson -described as Wes Anderson meets Who’s Afraid of Virginia Wolfe – it got my attention!

An Artist of the Floating World by Kazuo Ishiguro – A floating world refers to changing cultures in post war Japan. This is the first book by the author of The Remains of The Day

This is a fluid list, it changes as I read more and more books. In fact, 75% of these books were read this year! Yes, I left many books out. If you have some to recommend – share it with me!

Here is the entire prompt:

“How has reading informed your art form(s)?

Looking at reading as visualization, perhaps a source for learning visualization. Have particular writers inspired you to visual expression? Ever had inspiration from reading to do something visual, in writing, or other art expression, music, movement? Self-help books, facebook, online, biographies, poetry, spiritual, fiction, children’s books, magazines? How does one transfer an idea or insight gathered from one art form into another art form? I don’t mean these particular questions to be answered, but an attempt to point to examples. Or does reading have no part at all in your art expression? Or sometimes it does and sometimes it doesn’t.”

April Reading

I’m a few days late in posting this – but here are the books I read in April – some better than others. Some were almost forgettable – now I know not to buy books at the Dollar Store – simply because they are there. Here goes:

BODY SURFING by Anita Shreve: I usually like Anita Shreve, but I found this book predictable, somewhat tedious and just okay. The most interesting thing about the book is she is revisiting a house that has been in a couple of her previous novels, most notably The Pilot’s Wife.

SAVAGE HARVEST: A Tale of Cannibalism, Colonialism, and Michael Rockefeller’s Quest for Primitive Art by Carl Hoffman: With a title like that, it was hard not to be drawn in. As I was reading it, the story kept popping up on the news (from NPR to CBS Sunday Morning)! Michael Rockefeller disappeared off the coast of New Guinea in 1961. It was long thought and accepted he had drowned. Now after 50+ years and alot of research, this is possibly a true account of what happened. This is a story of a different culture, a detective story with cannibalism and headhunting, and a little art thrown in on the side. Michael’s collection of primitive art was donated to the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

A STRANGER LIKE YOU by Elizabeth Brundage: I usually love books about Hollywood, but this was at the Dollar Store – and frankly – I’d forgotten I read it one rainy afternoon!

THE WRITING CIRCLE by Corinne Demas: Another book from the Dollar Store – but this one was somewhat better. The writers in the circle are professional published writers, which made it a bit more interesting. It was “okay”.

THE GREEN LINE by E.C. Diskin: I read this in one afternoon – as I do most legal thrillers. The Green Line refers to a a train line in Chicago. While I was aware of civil forfeiture, this spells it out and shows how innocent people can be stripped of their personal property without due process. While it is somewhat predictable with a very crooked police force, it was still fun to read and learn about this unbelievable law!

A PLACE AT THE TABLE by Susan Rebecca White: This book started out in familiar territory, my home of Decatur, Ga. The original inspiration is the friendship of Atlanta Chef Scott Peacock and his friendship with renowned Southern chef and author Edna Lewis. The two main characters, Bobby Banks – a gay man from Decatur and Alice Stone – an African American that grew up in Emancipation, NC. come together in a New York restaurant, where their love of home cooking draws them together and secrets are revealed. I enjoyed this book!

A MAN WITH A BLUE SCARF, On Sitting for a Portrait by Lucien Freud by Martin Gayford: Martin Gayford is a well respected art critic, and this is his telling of sitting for seven months for a portrait by Lucien Freud, widely regarded as one of the best figurative artists in the 20th Century. This is a great book about the creative process, as Gayford took notes throughout the process. Interestingly, when the painting was completed, he sat again for an etching which took another nine months. I plan on reading this again, as this is a great look into a great creative mind.

EMPTY MANSIONS: The Mysterious Life of Huguette Clark and the Spending of a Great American Fortune by Bill Dedman and Paul Clark Newell, Jr.; What a story! Her father made millions in copper mining – he is the “clark” from Clark County (Las Vegas). They had a 121 room mansion on Park Avenue. Huguette and her mother were big music lovers and art collectors. Huguette played the violin, painted, but was extremely shy. One of my favorite stories is about a musician playing in their house and her mother suggested he start a quarter, but he told her the problem was they didn’t have enough instruments. So – she took a Cezanne off the wall, went to a gallery and sold it, came back and took the musician with her and bought FOUR STRADS! 2 violins, 1 viola and 1 cello. Huegette also collected dolls and doll houses, loved the Smurfs, the Jetsons. She became a recluse, spending the last 20 years of her life in a hospital (she wasn’t sick!). Amazing story!

PLAY. CREATE. SUCCEED by Jean Hamilton-Fford: This was sent to me by the author as we are in a blogging group together. The subtitle of this is “Radical Thinking for a New Age”. There are so many golden nuggets in this!!! I read it quickly to get an overview – I wll definitely go back and re-read it slower and work through it. In reading through this, I realized I haven’t been playing much lately. I’ll write more on this later when I delve deeper into the book!

Another book I have picked up is COLOR: A NATURAL HISTORY OF THE PALETTE by Victoria Finlay . This is a fascinating book, but extremely dense. I have read the first chapter on the color Ochre. Each chapter could be it’s own blog post! (Maybe that will happen!)

One thing I realized in writing this list this month – I spent too much time readng things I didn’t fall in love with – I was just using up time. So – no more buying dollar books unless I have some background on the book. I’m going to take more recommendations – starting with a book left in a comment last month – THE OLD WAYS – A JOURNEY ON FOOT by Robert McFarlane, thank you Helen DeRamus!

I’ll take recommendations!

SPRING CLEANING = CLARITY

I am in day six of a 10-day Detox. That’s 10 days without caffeine, sugar, alcohol, meat, dairy, soy and processed foods. But – it is 10 days with FRESH WHOLE FOODS!!!! This is my 2nd one this year, and I can say it really makes a difference. So – since my word of the year is SIMPLIFY, I took a day this week and cleaned out my pantry and refrigerator. Along the way I decided to stop using plastic containers all the time. This is my before picture!

Pantry Before

Pretty much a mess – kind of embarassing it got this bad! So – I proceeded to take EVERYTHING out. I checked the dates on all my spices, threw away the beef broth (I haven’t eaten red meat in months!) threw out all opened food and got rid of everything I no longer eat. Well, I am not the only person living here, so a few things stayed. After filling SIX bags of trash (this included what was in the refrigerator too), and beginning the conversion to using glass containers, this is the result.

What crazy things did I find? I found three containers of tumeric, two containers of cinnamon, expired red pepper, two bags of flour (and I rarely bake), Morton’s Salt. I also had multiple produce bags in a drawer below filled with nuts. So I remembered I had a labeler I’d never used, so I went to town making labels and putting everything into clearly marked glass jars. This felt SO GOOD.

So – on to the refrigerator. After shopping for the detox – I just crammed everything in the refrigerator.

refrigerator before

At this point, I did a little research and found How-To Store Fruits and Vegetables from the Berkeley Farmer’s Market. It was subtitled TIPS AND TRICKS TO EXTEND THE LIFE OF YOUR PRODUCE WITHOUT PLASTIC. I looked at all the expiration dates and tossed out some mustard and other things like bar-b-que sauce. Now – my refrigerator looks like this:

refrigerator after

Gone are all the plastic produce bags. Gone are all the rubber bands. Yes, there is still a plastic container in there, but that has individually portioned vegetables that we add into the dogs food daily.

All of this makes it all seem more appetizing. In doing this – I repurposed a few things that are now in my art studio.

new purpose

Here you see plastic containers that I can use to store things in my studio, Morton’s salt that I use for texture and also as an abrasive, and the plastic containers food comes in that i have long used instead of a palette. I was so proud of myself, I went and bought myself a present!

NEW JUICER!

What should I clean out next? It is amazing when you purge like this – how light and invigorated you feel. – it brings a kind of clarity.

I’m ready to clean out the bathroom, my closets (which I did recently) and then my studio! But – instead, today I am enjoying some fresh juice, a salad and a book on the deck and listening to the trains in the distance.

THE LIFE!

What have you done to purge and how did you feel?

COLLAGE PARTY

My local library recently began a new program called SKILL SHARE, which is, in their words” brings together people willing to share their special knowledge and skills related to their hobbies and crafts through library-hosted workshops.” About six months ago I put in an application and was accepted to host a COLLAGE PARTY at a local library. I led six wonderful adults through the art of collage and here are some of the results!

Getting ready to start!

Anita’s collage

Christine finishes up!

“M”‘s lovely collage

Ruth finishes up a collage

I supplied all the materials and gave each participant a pre-cut mat so they were able to go home and put their finished artwork into a standard sized frame to hang and enjoy!

This was a fun evening and all six of the participants enjoyed it! They probably would have stayed longer if the library wasn’t closing! I hope to do something like this again. If you want to have a COLLAGE PARTY, contact me for specifics. vickiemartinarts@comcast.net

FINDING INSPIRATION AND LIVING A DREAM

Based on a prompt received every day, I am taking part of a 15 day Blogathon sponsored by C4 in Atlanta. Today – I’m actually going to answer some of the questions!

Where are you geographically? First of all, let me say, thank you for asking. It is so much fun to read blogs and know where the writer is located. I am in Decatur, Ga. – which is a few miles east of Atlanta.

What does your dream work environment look and feel like? I’m pretty lucky as I have a pretty nice studio in my house. Of course, doesn’t everybody want it to be bigger? I’d like to eventually reconfigure it and have enough room to put a comfy armchair in it so I could read. Here is a previous post with pictures of my studio.

Who supports your daily life as you make your creative work? Again, I am lucky. I am married to an artist, who is very supportive of me and my artwork. While I still work a day job – he is great at helping me take care of the house, cooking, the yard, and the dogs! Check out the website of Joel Conison – shameless plug for his Birds in Portraiture series.

How many hours to you spend creating? I feel as I create most of the time. I may not actually be “doing” art, but I’m thinking and observing most of the time.

How many hours to you spend selling your work or managing the business end? I work in the field of advertising, so marketing was second nature to me. It has taken a backseat for awhile, but I’m getting ready to gear up again, get back out in the artworld, meet new artists and see new art!

What do you do for recreation? I read. I had a goal of reading 40 books this year, 40 books that I didn’t download for free that I read in a couple of hours. Today, on March 6, I have read 13 books, mostly biographies of artists right now. In fact, the one I just finished – Breakfast with Lucien made my jaw drop open. I kept reading passages about Lucien Freud’s outrageous life outloud to my husband Joel.

What do you do for inspiration? Again I read. I look at art. I take walks. I talk to other artists.

Do you have any specific goals for this year? Because the first quarter of each year is such a crazy time with my day-job, my goal is to make art more of a priority for the remainder of the year. I plan on getting my images organized. I plan on reconnecting with the art community here in Atlanta and also internationally online. I would love to colloborate – possibly across disciplines. Belog is an image from a collaborative project that came to be known at The High Project that I did a few years back. This culminated in a performance at The High Museum of Art where we painted live while a dancer danced into our canvas. Click here for a slide show.

Most of all – I want to have fun with art. I want to continue learning, listening and looking.

Vickie Martin

Mixed Media Art