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| "Dance Suite Monoprint, Oil Stick, Absorbent Ground, Graphite, 30"x110", 2004 |
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| The tired artist RISD undergraduate at off campus studio in Providence, RI |
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| Me (in the middle), first oil painting of a map of US from imagination |
Contact: Email me! Art Web Site: TEXT
Before I begin my post this week, I wish to acknowledge how my mothers death, on May1st, has given me an awareness of how the the life and loss of someone dear and close reorients one's thinking and motivations. Reading through my mother's writings after her death, I discovered how her struggles and joys helped direct her navigation through her life. As I move towards regaining my own emotional equilibrium, I feel a solid kinship with my mothers efforts to balance her goals, family, and the world around her. The experience of losing my mother has made me feel more fierce and empowered about living a full and honest life that fully encompasses; kindness, spirit, curiosity, artmaking, the wonder of nature, family and friends.
Sifting through old photo albums looking for the photo of my first oil painting (a map of the US painted at age 8), taken at an old firehouse where classes were held for kids, began a journey backward that moved forward as I thought about the decisions I have made that have led me to this point in my life. Art and animals were part of my environment growing up in and around New York City. My aunt took me to Miss Effie's Riding Academy on Long Island when I was 3 or 4 years old for lessons, giving me a life long love of horses. At home we had 13 turtles, iguanas, chameleons, frogs, seahorses, fish, and birds. Early memories of my grandmother and I at the Metropolitan Museum are very vivid: I remember looking up into a very large Jackson Pollack seeing immense worlds of swirling movement; feeling amazed viewing the intense colors of Van Gogh's Sunflowers; charmed by the Degas dancer cast in bronze with her lovely tutu; and in awe of Soleri's gold-threaded sun.
Sifting through old photo albums looking for the photo of my first oil painting (a map of the US painted at age 8), taken at an old firehouse where classes were held for kids, began a journey backward that moved forward as I thought about the decisions I have made that have led me to this point in my life. Art and animals were part of my environment growing up in and around New York City. My aunt took me to Miss Effie's Riding Academy on Long Island when I was 3 or 4 years old for lessons, giving me a life long love of horses. At home we had 13 turtles, iguanas, chameleons, frogs, seahorses, fish, and birds. Early memories of my grandmother and I at the Metropolitan Museum are very vivid: I remember looking up into a very large Jackson Pollack seeing immense worlds of swirling movement; feeling amazed viewing the intense colors of Van Gogh's Sunflowers; charmed by the Degas dancer cast in bronze with her lovely tutu; and in awe of Soleri's gold-threaded sun.
My mother was a horticulturist, flower arranger, and judge for flower shows. Our basement was full of fantastic objects and mediums such as driftwood, shells, odd shaped forms of wood, clay, paint, and various colored materials, to name a few. I was always drawing, painting, taking photos or making some small sculptural object. Later my parents built me a darkroom when I became interested in printing my own photographs. An early drawing that I repeatedly recreated was a horse in a large corral backed by mountains or mesa land. I made many versions of this vision. When I moved to Hernandez, New Mexico years later, I realized that my drawing was a "blueprint" of my life there. My corral faced west and was just below the mesa and my horse was a reddish brown color with a light mane and tail that emulated the drawing. I had "drawn" myself into my life.
My life from ages 8-16 also included intensive ballet training. My teachers were the stars of The New York City Ballet and mainly Russian. I was a member of The Andre Eglevsky Ballet Company by age 13. At the time I thought that dance would be my career, but my body could not handle the physical stress. I turned my focus back to fine art and never looked back.
After receiving my BFA in painting from Rhode Island School of Design in Italy, where I spent my senior year as a European Honors Student, I stayed another year, living and painting in Northern Italy. I worked for an American family as an au pair in the tiny hamlet of Ortonovo, just above the port of Carrara. Returning to the States, I moved to Philadelphia and then Boston. Waitressing became my main occupation as I struggled with my art work making paintings, drawings, and mixed-media works.
After briefly returning to RISD to earn my Masters in Art Teaching, I moved to Hoboken, NJ, across the river from Manhattan. It was in Hoboken that my "art muscles" really kicked in after years of personal study, effort, time in the studio, and, perseverance.
For about 10 years I worked with abstraction on canvas and paper using oil paint and mixed media. My interests began to move towards figurative structure and I became very involved in the story of a 6 year old girl who was beaten to death by her illegally adopted father. The girl's name was Lisa and her father was the lawyer, Joel Steinberg. Lisa's face peering out at the viewer on the front page of "The New York Post" touched my heart with sadness. I found the photographer who had taken Lisa's pictures and traded some art works for a number of photographs. During the next 9 years I developed 3 series of work under the title "Children in Peril": The Lisa Series, The Nightmare Series, and The Throw-A-Ways. As I worked I began to incorporate stuffed animals, dolls, and various media that created what I call "fat paintings", that moved out into space towards the viewer. At this time I do not have this work on my web site. If anyone is interested in viewing the work, I can send images through E-Mail or set it up on my website for limited viewing.
Just about the time I concluded my "Children in Peril" body of work, I moved to New Mexico. I was tired of the cut-throat New York life as an artist and wanted to live in a place of beauty, space, and quiet. Moving to New Mexico has been wonderful for my soul and heart. I did have to re-start my art career, but it was worth the price of living a life surrounded by my animals, land, and light.
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| At Miss Effie's Riding Academy, at age 4 |
My life from ages 8-16 also included intensive ballet training. My teachers were the stars of The New York City Ballet and mainly Russian. I was a member of The Andre Eglevsky Ballet Company by age 13. At the time I thought that dance would be my career, but my body could not handle the physical stress. I turned my focus back to fine art and never looked back.
After receiving my BFA in painting from Rhode Island School of Design in Italy, where I spent my senior year as a European Honors Student, I stayed another year, living and painting in Northern Italy. I worked for an American family as an au pair in the tiny hamlet of Ortonovo, just above the port of Carrara. Returning to the States, I moved to Philadelphia and then Boston. Waitressing became my main occupation as I struggled with my art work making paintings, drawings, and mixed-media works.
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My child drawing of my imagined home |
Just about the time I concluded my "Children in Peril" body of work, I moved to New Mexico. I was tired of the cut-throat New York life as an artist and wanted to live in a place of beauty, space, and quiet. Moving to New Mexico has been wonderful for my soul and heart. I did have to re-start my art career, but it was worth the price of living a life surrounded by my animals, land, and light.
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