waltham open studios 2011: superlatives

Cara Bean:

coolest/most inspiring art educator

Cat Albro:

cutest/brightest/best use of toys

Elli Crocker:

most beautiful/mystical/best use of math & science

Handcranked Film:

creepiest/most awesome

(the film below is by one of their crew, Bryan Papciak. when i saw the excerpt from their new film american ruins i knew they must have been involved in the met state film that i remember seeing quite a few years ago. we used to go to this place at night when i was a rowdy teen. not advisable.)

MET STATE from Bryan Papciak on Vimeo.

online tarot reading

The Two Paths spread provides insight into an important decision ahead of you, the possible outcomes, and the forces that draw you towards each of these outcomes. The Benedetti Tarot is a highly stylized deck painted on gold leaf. 7 years in the making, the images were inspired by the Visconti Tarot, the earliest Tarot deck still in existence. The Benedetti Tarot is the favorite deck of those who seek simplicity and elegance in their lives.
	The top left card represents the first possible outcome. Four of Swords (Truce): A time of tranquility and intellectual repose in the midst of a great struggle. A temporary retreat from stress to regather inner strength, reaffirm convictions, reorganize thoughts, and formulate a new plan. The need for vigilance in a moment of calm. May suggest a withdrawal from the material world to find spiritual guidance.
	The top right card represents the second possible outcome. Two of Swords (Peace), when reversed: Indecision due to contradictory characteristics brought together. Tension in the aftermath of a quarrel that has been resolved. Scheming, abuse of trust, and agreements made in bad faith. Allowing the mind to block off the emotions. Self deception as a means of justifying cruel acts.
	The middle left card represents the force drawing you towards the first possible outcome. The Moon, when reversed: Clarity, control and peace in troublesome times. Increased psychic abilities. Temptations, small problems and minor setbacks overcome. The dawning of a new day.
	The middle right card represents the force drawing you towards the second possible outcome. Three of Cups (Abundance), when reversed: A time of shallow overindulgence, followed depletion. The successful but utterly unfulfilling conclusion of a matter. Satisfaction from sensual pleasures divorced from any sense of love. May indicate problems prematurely dismissed or a victory claimed before it is certain.
	The bottom card represents the critical factor that decides what will come to pass. Knight of Pentacles: The essence of earth behaving as fire, such as molten magma: One slow to action, but decisive and unrelenting once set in motion. A force of nature whose methods are as predictable and dependable as they are unstoppable. The voice of duty, honor, and responsibility. The will to the change the world, not through bold action, but through the thorough and unwavering application of proven means.

messing around: elmer's, acrylic, oil pastels, modge podge. on wood.

things i've been noticing a lot lately

people who are definitely talking to themselves
bunny rabbits
amputees

redon at the mfa: "lumiere"

lo and behold, the mfa is featuring redon in their 'works on paper' room. 'lumiere' (french for 'light') is one of my favorites in the exhibition but there are a number of other beautiful works in the room (by both redon and his teacher rodolphe bresdin). well worth the time spent dripping sweat down my back in the stifling park street station waiting for that E line.

boston globe blogger mark feeney points out how the figures resemble moviegoers looking up at a glowing screen, which he found particularly interesting because motion pictures weren't rolling as of yet when the lithograph was created in the late 1800's.  

(link to post here)

redon: the question continues. findings so far.

supposedly didn't start using color until he was in his 50's. mmmmm, that sounds like a nasty rumor.
direct line to surrealists, and also perhaps to abstract expressionism. no surprise there.
oh, and apparently redon only tickles the eyes of early adolescents, so anyone over 20 who is enjoying him has undeveloped taste and should be ashamed (i think this is malarky. his oil paintings look like pastels, that shit is cool).

odilon redon

researching him now.

and my painting hiatus is coming to an end.

i think that silent inexplicable conversations are sometimes the most clarifying.

whenever i catch the bus at the common, the herd of people who get on in harvard station look at me curiously as though they are wondering if i am a crazy person who just rides the bus all the livelong day. well maybe someday, folks, but not yet.

cathy mcmurray

guess i'm a sucker for that moon-mountain-lake combo. (especially into the one on the left.)

her blog is here.

still in my head. it's been more than two full days now, which is excessive and alarming.

sort of like kc's cocaine stare.

parting gift for dos :(

sean alexander

wow. this guy is great. the middle one is called "chorus of boos".

picking battles

LS: "no."

NM: "yes."

LS: "fine."

~the end~

writing a frottage lesson (the art kind, not the sexy kind)

image by surrealist max ernst

~maybe overposting her lately but whatever. nina does a mean 'suzanne' cover (bit cheerier than mr. cohen, in all of his creepy loveliness). somehow matches the grey&green of this spring rain~

something from nothing.

 mountainous, not monotonous.

gown.

cheer up, sad gal.

rosie got a haircut. then i made her look like a turtle.

rivkah lapidus

i'm not much of a writer, so i honestly don't think that i could aptly describe what i saw in rivkah lapidus' studio (during somerville open studios this weekend) and how it made me feel, but i will try. i was stuck between wanting to take everything home with me and wanting to insist that it was preserved immediately in a museum. her materials are simple - and often recycled - and her techniques do not make for the most pristine of products, but everything is so precious.

rivkah has many different series in a variety of mediums. she's made a great number of assemblages which incorporate her family photographs (or photocopies of them). she displays the photos in many ways: sometimes they are in jars; sometimes they are in display cases or shadow boxes; she often uses miniature chairs and couches. i opened the door of an icebox which resembles a two-floor structure where photos of her family meet and mingle amongst the miniature chairs, under the glow of a simple string of christmas lights. they look out at you with familiar faces seeming as though they are greeting you upon your arrival. i would not have dreamed of asking her to purchase any of the family assemblages, but i really loved each one of them (especially that icebox).

the paintings that i purchased (two of the four can be seen above) are from a series of miniatures, most of which are painted on the back of playing cards. they seem to call upon mythologies, the kama sutra, and klimt, among other things. she had an enormous number of variations in this series, i searched through several pages for quite a while before making my final choices. rivka told me that she had painted them one particularly hot summer while sitting in her air-conditioned car. this makes sense.

the chihuly exhibit at the mfa boston is awesome, especially this ceiling installation. people basically just sit in this room staring at the ceiling, smiling. there is so much to see and it is different from each position you take. i wished it were more acceptable/sanitary to lie down on the museum floor; may go back during a slower time to do so...

it is extremely difficult not to touch anything (so smooth, so shiny).

one room has a boat overflowing with creature-y/plantlike passengers. it floats on a shiny shiny black reflective surface, and makes me think of willy wonka's candyland room with the chocolate river, which makes me think of oompa loompas, which kind of bugs me out, but it's wonderful anyhow.

one room is full of beautiful bong-like sculptures.

another has vessels within vessels within vessels juxtaposed with a wall of woven blankets and another of woven baskets.

the next is like a long patch in a strange glass garden that made me wish i were a soft little bunny so that i could bound through it without destroying things.

in the next room "chandeliers" (though reminiscent of chyrsalises or alien pods) hang from the ceilings cascading with swirls and loops of color.

it didn't feel too short nor too long. and the wall text (i didn't read it all) included very matter-of-fact statements from the artist that didn't try to make more out of the art than it is-- just pretty fucking cool to look at.  

Drunk History Vol. 5 w/ Will Ferrell, Don Cheadle & Zooey Deschanel from Will Ferrell

(r.i.p. abe)

(suck it, michael bolton.)

And I do not want to be a rose.
I do not wish to be pale pink,
but flower scarlet, flower gold.
And have no thorns to distance me

innocence mission "bright as yellow"

  up next. aly getting ready.

 

tonight "the prison lady" urged us to work with what is already there.

(pastels on xeroxed image)

hard to finish

sometimes i just have to stop before i really fuck it up. good enough, for now.

re: portraiture

my favorite facial feature to render is the philtrum (the divot between the nose and the upper lip)

berkshires retreat: some favorites

 

 

(images from mass moca, the clark institute, and my bathroom at the porches inn)