Women, Art, Life: Weaving It All Together

ArtOMatic 2008: Erin Antognoli

Holographic photo:  "Butterflies" by Erin Antongnoli

In her artist's statement notes: "I use my Holga camera as a way of digging deeper beneath the surface of my environment.  By overlapping multiple images in a single frame of film, I am able to make connections that are not otherwise apparent, and am able to uncover a spirit in a city that I initially viewed as cold, corporate, and soulless."  (she's talking about Washington DC).

As a rule, photography has to be very different to catch my eye.  I think of good photography like I respond to good poetry:  when it presents itself, the acknowledgment is a bodily  sigh of recognition..  This is what Erin's photographs do for me. 

Erin was kind enough to take the time to do a direct interview with me:

I've never heard of Holga photography  is it something that is well  known or is it a niche?

It is fairly well known among photographers, but I'm not sure how much non-photographers know about it. [to the right, Holga photograph by Erin called:  "Cherry blossoms."]

How did you discover it?  Is it hard to learn?  How long have you been doing it?

I first heard about the camera in grad school, and picked one up then.  I used it a couple of times and shelved it because the results were kind of boring to me.  That was in 1999.  In 2005 I picked it back up after moving to DC, and found that the way I was making images really resonated with me here, so I ran with it.

The Holga is easy to learn in that there are no controls, no settings, and overall it's the most basic of cameras.  But it's very hard to master and get consistent results.  It takes a lot of practice to figure out how to get the results you want.  I rarely see Holga images that draw me in, but when I do, I'm very impressed.

Where does one find a holga camera?

I have several Holga cameras, and I have gotten them through a variety of places.  A couple were purchased through photo supply stores like Calumet or B&H, a couple through Holgamods, and one was a gift from a friend in Atlanta.  The gifted Holga is slightly modified, and the Holgamod cameras can be customized as well (though mine are more or less the standard that are offered through there). [above left Holga by Erin:  Skagway Car 1]

When you take photographs, what is your primary inspiration?

When I started out a few years ago on this project, I just wanted to make myself better acquainted with DC and the surrounding area since I was new here.  I was mainly looking for details, shapes, textures...the inspiration was anything I could find on the streets when I walked around.  I would combine these things I found into a city0-scape of sorts, taking and combining elements that might be near to each other but didn't necessarily "go" together.  I like the weathered areas, as opposed to the clean, pristine areas of town for this type of work.  lately, I've been incorporating people into my work and so the inspiration shifts somewhat.  I am still looking for the shapes and textures, but instead of making a city-scape I'm making a portrait. [to the right, Andrew-Door-1]

Do you have a favorite subject matter?

For my Holga artwork, I like the city.  I like man made texture.  I am not certain Id make this wort of work if I lived out in the country, because it's a different type of texture you find out there.  Less man made, and more natural.

If you could go anywhere and photograph anything, where/what would it be?

There are lots of great places to make art, but the art would be really different depending on where I was.  I went to India a few years back, and shot more color than I think I ever have in my life!  When I visit most places, I shoot black and white for the most part.  I'm always open to new experiences and like to go places I've never gone before.  I really think I can make great art anywhere, it's just a matter of figuring out the best way to go about it. [digital photo to left, Wedding Violin]

If there were no obstacles, what is your dream for your photography?

I like to keep the process organic, so I don't have any dreams set in stone.  I am always open to try new things, and always hope to grow as an artist.  I don't want to feel pressured into keeping to one sort of style due to financial/social/other reasons.  I want to always make what inspires me.

In addition to artOMatic, are there other places where people can see your work?

I try to show locally at least 4 or 5 times a year, and sometimes show in other cities around the country.  I have 3 solo exhibits coming up at the start of 2009.  One will be in Reston (Va), one in Frederick (MD) and one in Colorado.  I update my art web site with the latest information of where to find my work.

You do wedding photography; can you give us a portfolio url?

http://halophoto.blogspot.com - I try to update this at least once a week with whatever I'm up to in each of my 3 photo lives. [ed note - to the right is an engagement photo which I love.  Erin has a great eye and imagination which come together to make what could be very rote, very fresh instead]

[and to the left here is a wedding photo of bride's maids' feet - again:  fresh and fun - you know there's a story here and you find yourself happily trying to see/hear more]

Do you have favorite artists you'd like to share with us?

Some famous artists who I've drawn inspiration from are Duane Michals, Michael Kenna, Jean Michel Basquait, Anton Corbijn, Frida Kahlo, and Andres Kertesz.  But there are a lot that I like, and I'm probably leaving out someone who I really love - I just can't name that many here so best to keep the list small!

Why do you participate in ArtOMatic?  Have you had time to find "favorites" ?

This is my second AOM.  My first was last year in Crystal City.  I got to see a lot of work I loved, though some of it was from artists I already knew.  But AOM is nice because I get to see the newest work, and often more experimental work, from a lot of these artists.  Some of my favorite displays from last year were Sean Hennessey, Phil Nesmith, Susan Abraham, Marcie Wolf Hubbard, Shanthi Chandra-Sekar (image from Shanthi to the right, Unity in Diversity, from last year's ArtOMatic.  I covered her here).  I have not even gotten to see all of the floors this year, so I'll be trying to knock out a few with each visit and hopefully compile a favorites list for this year.

thought for the day: Gertrude Stein, America's most relentlessly experimental writer, was influenced by the cubist experiments of her painter friends - and wished to investigate the objects of her attention simultaneously from numerous angles.  through a series of continual permutations on a few ordinary phrases, wrenching the common syntax of English from its moorings, she shaped language into new configurations.  If there is often a sense that her poems represent language at pure play, at times there is also a sense that a complex meaning is being elucidated through an hermetic language that  has become hypnotic and seductive in its continual repetition and variation.  Steve Kowit, In the Palm of Your Hand:  The Poet's Portable Workshop

ArtOMatic 2008: Claudia Olivos

Claudia Olivos's Wall at Artomatic.

Claudia Olivos's work on 6 NE in Artomatic stopped me dead in my tracks.  As you can see from this picture she works large as well as small and her colors and subject matter appealed to me right away.  So I took lots of pictures and emailed Claudia hoping to hear back from her about her work.

Her words took my breath away because many of them could be my own (see my own Goddesses and gods and their stories here on my website)!  I guess when you pull from the same energy stream you recognize your traveling companions. 

I am pleased to present Claudia Olivos in her own words:

"My work at ArtOMatic is primarily based on the idea of the Divine Feminine.  The smaller pieces (many of which have moons in them) were prepared for a nude exhibit in Paris last Fall.  when I started them, I knew they had to include nudes, but did not know anything about the content.  However, I soon found it infused with allusions to the Goddess...indeed, I was doing a lot of reading about archetypes at the time.  The titles came afterwards, and so did the idea to do for each one a "noche/night" pairing (see right: Juniper and IO (top right and left) and Boa's Beso).

" Namaste (below here on the left) and the other more abstract pieces were done this winter, and they also speak to me about myth, spirituality and the universe/goddess.  I have found it interesting to learn about the ancient worship practices that we see all around within ancient cultures throughout the world where the Goddesses were worshiped and honored giving us a sense of commonality and shared belief and symbols.

"I think it is vitally important that we understand we are all of one origin, one family, sharing from the depths of one earth which can serve to provide us all with sustenance and beauty, as much as pain and suffering.  This is the content that underlies my current work in various ways (sometimes implied, sometimes more obvious).

"As a painter, it is wonderful to play for hours with colors and textures of oil paint, and to find that somewhere along the line, something tangible is created, and my 'inner' thoughts and feelings. surface.  Generally, I tend to work in a 'Surrealist' manner - that is, I don't work from sketches. (The Wise and the Foolish, here left) I work very intuitively...I often don't know what my pieces will be about or where they may be going...they take me 'there' - it is often an arduous process..with many twists and turns (what was once a male figure, may end up being a flower; a figurative piece can become abstract, and vice versa).  I often don't know the meaning, much less the titles until well after I am finished.

"ArtOMatic is a wonderful place to exhibit my work as I find that many people who otherwise do not attend gallery events attend this even, and have access to work of artists of all genres and talents."

You can see Claudia's website here and her Artomatic catalog page here.

Don't forget to check in at Body Politics regularly.  Heather is posting the notes people are leaving at our installation at ArtOMatic.  We are both pleased with the response - every time I go by there are people engaged with the work.  This is great to see!  Today I will be taking in my own pair of "skinny" jeans except they are really "tweens" since I long ago gave the skinnies to the thrift store.

thought for the day:  When a woman makes the choice to embody spiritual experience in her everyday life, idealizations go out the window.  She has to bring in everything - frailties and strengths, doubts and optimism, whatever she longs to conceal and whatever she'd be delighted to flaunt - and live it out.

This takes the utmost humility, because the ego 'I' doesn't feel ready to able to live the deepest experience.

...'Spiritual life is like a moving sidewalk,' the Christian contemplative Bernadette Roberts told us one afternoon...'Whether you go with it or spend your whole life running against it, you're still going to be taken along.   Whether you commit yourself utterly or throw in the towel, eventually you'll be swept away...You know those Zen pictures where the man is searching for his ox, his true nature?  Well, in those pictures, I'm the ox and the divine's coming in search of me.  No way to get away.  You just cannot escape this."    Sherry Ruth Anderson and Patricia Hopkins, The Feminine Face of God:  The Unfolding of the Sacred in Women

Artomatic 2008: A Smorgasbord of Artists

But How Will It Look In My Living Room? by Tom Cardarella

This piece is almost the size of the full partition which is 12' wide by 8' tall.  It poses the question so many artists hear, another version of which is:  "Will It Match My Couch?"  Tom made this specifically for ArtOMatic, as many artists do create their displays site specifically.  I interviewed Tom here last year.  I met him on volunteer duty last year, and he is one of the greatest folks at ArtOMatic - always upbeat and ready to help.

This piece is by Bono Mitchell. It is titled Creek Bank and I like the play of light and colors and wanted to include it here (I apologize for the washing out of color in the left hand side).  There are more pictures in his catalog entry - and they are wildly eclectic, but there is no text to share.  You can view his website here.

These sculptures are by Ann Ruppert: Jube-Jube Wood: Forever Young  and Forever Alabaster from left to right.  On her catalog page she notes:  "I enjoy flowing forms in wood and stone.  Many of these shapes can be found in nature, animal and the human form.  My aim is to project warmth and caring in my works."  Even the alabaster cries out to be touched.  Her forms are sensuous and belie their solidity by appearing soft - something I've always loved in sculpture.

Michael Stebbins created They're Coming to Take Me Away from an old refrigerator door and a myriad of painted toys.  I love the tongue-in-cheek of this and the title is an old song from way back when (the next line is something like:  ha-ha,ho-ho, hee-hee, to the funny farm...and that's all I can remember - but the internet remembers everything).  His catalog page says:  "I'll post something really clever here soon."  How can you not love this?!

Interestingly enough, when you go to listed websites, you quickly discover that many of ArtOMatic's artists do something else full time.  That they enter ArtOMatic speaks to me of a fullness of life and possibilities and it's that energy that informs and creates what ArtOMatic is for me.

thought for the day:  Most of the people I know who have what I want - which is to say, purpose, heart, balance, gratitude, joy - are people with a deep sense of spirituality.  They are people in community, who pray, or practice ...They follow a brighter light than the glimmer of their own candle; they are part of something beautiful.  I saw something once..."A human life is like a single letter of the alphabet.  It can be meaningless.  Or it can be a part of a great meaning."  Anne Lamott, Traveling Mercies:  Some Thoughts on Faith

ArtOMatic 2008: Cynthia Rudzis of British Ink: tattoo artist

Erzulie Freda, a one-of-a-kind  collaboration between tattoo artist Cynthia Rudzis of British Ink and ceramic/clay artist, Tammy Vitale.  In the collection of Cynthia Rudzis.

Later today, Cynthia will post the following on all of her on-line spaces with a link to this blog:

"A collaboration piece of sculptor Tammy Vitale and myself. Tammy generously gave me one of her beautiful clay torsos to "tattoo", and that was when Erzulie took hold.

" Erzulie Freda is the love of beauty, love, creation, art and excess. She is perfumed and sumptuous, fine and sensuous, she called out to have this first work between women who love creation dedicated to her."

Cyn (I think most everyone else calls her Cindy, but first she was Cynthia and then Cyn for those of us in the Wylde Women - alas, after 5 years there is hardly a link left to that bunch!) and I met as a result of ArtOMatic in 2002.  At that ArtOMatic there was a sign up for a show with the Delray Artisans in Alexandria VA on mystical beast, beauties, etc.  That was the first show I was juried into, and it was there that I met Cynthia when I fell in love with the 4 2D pieces she had hanging.  Since then she has done a pet portrait of my beloved deceased pug, Emily, that was spot on right down to her one black toe nail, and this "angel" which is hanging in my dining room.

I think you can look at this picture and tell that a movement toward tattooing wasn't hard for Cyn, who is now affiliated with Paul Roe's British Ink Tattoo Parlor (508 H Street NE, Washington DC).  So why do I have her here in ArtOMatic land?  Because ArtOMatic is now British Ink East on the 12th floor. 

And oh do these guys know how to put a space together!  Once through the highly decorated door in this lovely corner spot, you will find yourself back in a Victorian tattoo parlor.  Paul (left here in the 12th floor parlor ) is an expert in and has a passion for all things tattoo, including instruments used to make the marks.  He has brought an extensive collection to display in the parlor and can expound on each at length.  Paul and Cyn are happy to discuss your own uniquely designed tattoo and there's even a Ouija board in-house to help you along with your decisions.

Cyn says:  "For me, tattooing is an ageless artform that identifies the wearer with their dreams, life passages and totemic images of themselves and the world around them.  By placing these images on the skin, in an almost ritualistic fashion, body and art become one.  A tattoo doesn't necessarily have to be infused with deep meaning, although many are, but at times it simply serves to feed the human desire to adorn one's self for the sake of enhancing the body's natural state.

"A tattoo is the one thing you acquire in this lifetime that will leave with you, these post-womb markings of your journey on this earth.

"A tattoo applied with careful consideration of its wearer and with craftsmanship is truly an artform, and we are grateful that the Artomatic community recognizes this."

So we were visiting there in the parlor the other day when the plan that eventually became Erzulie Freda was hatched.  And here, above, you see the result.  Yummy, yes?  Cyn also has a male torso.  I will get to keep that one and she will keep Erzulie Freda and we will thus be able to promote one another as we show.

Here is some more of her work.  You can more at her Flickr site and her Myspace site.

Tattoo Arts in America notes that "The cultural status of tattooing has steadily evolved from that of an anti-social activity in the 1960s [ed. note:  that would be me.  I got mine in 1967-69] to that of a trendy fashion statement in the 1990s [ed.note:  which is why Husband is the only one in the family that doesn't have one...Not a bit trendy, he.  Daughter got hers in the 90s while in college figuring I couldn't much complain....]

"During the last fifteen years, two distinct classes of tattoo business have emerged.  The first is the "tattoo parlor" that glories in a sense of urban outlaw culture; advertises itself with garish exterior signage; offers 'pictures-off-the-wall' assembly-line service; and often operates with less than optimum sanitary procedures.

"The second is the 'tattoo art studio' that most frequently features custom, fine art design; the ambiance of an upscale beauty salon; marketing campaigns aimed at middle-and upper-middle-class professionals; and 'by appointment' services only.  Today's fine art tattoo studio draws the same kind of clientele as a custom jewelry store, fashion boutique, or high-end antique shop."

Welcome to ArtoMatic's fine art tattoo studio on the 12th floor - be sure to at least stop in and say "hi."  And if you've a mind, go ahead and get that tattoo you've been thinking about all these years.

Thought for the day:  Anything capable of decay is also capable of regeneration.  Passion is a given when we are young.  As children we burn with it, unless it gets smothered or beaten out of us.  But as adults, it becomes so elusive, as if there were thin ribbony veils of music playing someplace just beyond our everyday hearing, pale and near-transparent.  How do we evoke the untamable in ourselves, the part that dreams and imagines beyond what is known?  How do we open fully to what life brings us, letting it lift us and carry us?...I come to four doors, closed at my heart:  rage, denial, inertia and loss.  I believe most of us were taught to slam these shut, turn our backs, and lean up against them in fear.  But I also believe that on the other side of these doors are passageways to our brightest fire, the choice to live fully awake and alive.  Dawn Markova,  I will not die an unlived life:  reclaiming purpose and passion

Artomatic 2008: Kim Reyes

ArtOMatic in the Capital Plaza Building from the metro station at night.  Yep, all those floors are filled with art!

I spent yesterday getting the pictures I have taken to date in order.  Ladies and Gents:  I have a ton of blogs just sitting ready to write with these pictures.

I've tried to be eclectic in the things I've taken but the underlying them is that each artist grabbed me somehow and made me want to share their work with you.  I am sure there is other art that would be of interest, and those of you close enough, please do take a day (yes a full day) to visit.  Those of you far away, just start googling "Artomatic 2008"  or "Artomatic 08" - different things come up for each.  Just like the show, there is no single tag that works for everything.

Kim Reyes is my first presentation for many reasons, not the least of which she is an amazing sculptor and also makes beautiful jewelry.  We have much in common!  I first say her work in 2001 at my first ArtOMatic - handmade jewelry in a shadow box - and fell in love.  Our paths crossed but we did not meet until 2006 when we shared a space in a now-closed shop in Silver Spring, MD.

As it turns out, Cynthia from British Ink was browsing the web this week and came across a YouTube with my and Kim's work in it...neither of us know the photographer, so apparently someone besides me sees our work in common.

Here is some of Kim's work, in order:  Body Image, Identity, Untitled (my favorite), and Who Am I.

Kim's artist page in the Artomatic catalog says: "In many ways I feel my ourney as an artist has just begun even though as a child I was always creating.  I learned the basics of ceramics in my late twentis from my mother and father, both accomplished potters.  Later I enhanced my techniques by studying at Penland School of Crafts and Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts.  After giving up my plans of becoming a famous fashion designer, world class mogul skier and veterinarian, I've resigned myself to being a quirky artist who resides in Silver Spring with my 2 dogs and always amusing husband.

"My lates work 'Personal Secrets,' will address the dark and twisty side of my life..."

Kim pit fires most of her work which is where the lovely smokey finish comes from.  You can also see her inclination toward masks, another of my favorite areas.  While Untitled is my favorite, Who Am I is a smaller version of the work she   did last year (Self Discovery, here right) that inspired my works Hope is a Feathered Thing and Empty Nest (see below - I've never quite got a handle on how to make photos go exactly where I want them).  Kim's new work this year is smaller but just as intense as her previous work.

Just recently I found some of my photos from that first ArtoMatic (01 or 02 - now I'm not sure which year it was).  While the framed pieces that I fell in love with were not in the pile (I know I have taken them somewhere for inspiration), I did find this photo to share (below left), which harks speaks to another from last year's show,  Envy (below right).

thought for the day: isn't a thought, it's a video that longest friend, Linda, sent via email.  It takes about 15 minutes to watch this presentation by Jill Bolte Taylor, a neuroanatomist (don't let that scare you:  she does brain work) on observing her own stroke and the meaning she took from it for the larger good of humanity.

[and then after that the two pieces of mine inspired by Kim's work]

ArtoMatic 08 - Opening Day

Tammy Vitale, Artomatic 9th floor SW quad 5A (and A5 for Body Politics)

Off to DC to wander and take pictures and do my 5 - 10 pm volunteer schedule then I guess hop the train to the 9:30 club (or maybe hitch a ride with some kind person) to meet husband and ride home with him.  Back down tomorrow - same shift, early enough to do some more browsing, accompanied by Dhyana Mackenzie who notes she may sit in for me a bit on my shift so that I can wander some more (great friend!  great artist!  and singly responsible for getting Gracie pugdog to the vets fast enough to save her eye).

Heather Bartlett, collaborator on Body Politics, is a great PR person.  Here's her article for today on Body Politics, and two  more articles attributed to her expertise:

Southern Maryland On-line

Maryland Independent (Charles County local paper as reported on the Charles County Cafe on-line, monitored by Heather).

Happy Mother's Day to all!  Read the real reason Mother's Day was created here.

thought for the day:  But if the fortune of the girl is in the newness, in being the bud, and the fortune of the crone is in the freedom, the lack of attachment or clinging, where does that leave a youngish middle-aged American woman like me?  Maybe it leaves me needing to consider how wealthy I am in the knowledge that the girl of my past is still in t me while a marvelous deadlocked crone is in the future - and that I hold both of these females inside...that night, I realized that I want what the crones have:  time for all those long deep breaths, time to watch more closely, time to learn to enjoy what I've always been afraid of - the sag and the invisibility, the ease of understanding that life is not about doing.  The crones understand this, and it gives them all kinds of time - time to get much less done, time for all these holy moments.  Anne Lamott, Traveling Mercies

3 deer ticks and a black-widow spider

Jewelry:  Ruby Zoisite beads and SS focal with garnet (N-153), round ruby zoisite earrings (E-211) , by Tammy Vitale $125 and $24 respectively

Today's title incorporates the always suggested "interest factor" of numbers and curiosity.  Just so you know, these critturs were my "playmates" as I planted tomato and basil seeds in containers day before yesterday.  We have black widows and I usually am wary around overturned buckets but didn't think anything of the containers that were upright and had soil in them....guess I better rethink that because there she was crawling across my (thank goodness!) gloved hand.  Totally freaked me out!  The deer ticks are really bad this year as are the dog ticks...the dogs get their once a month dose of protection but that doesn't stop the ticks from traveling in on their fur and snuggling up to the unprotected humans.  So summer has started along with paying attention to anything that tickles anywhere on your body - it could be a moving tick...better a moving one than one that has settled in (they itch then and that's how I find them).

Speaking of dogs, some of you regulars may be wondering about Gracie the pug whose eye popped out while we were away in February.  Thanks to the quick work of Dhyana she appears   to be as well as can be expected, which means she actually has some sight in that eye, which the vet has pronounced healthy (if a bit cocked outwards, but pugs have odd eyes anyways).  Here is Gracie (on the left) with Sueno in their chair, and Gracie relaxed on the back of our settee.  As you can see as far as she's concerned all is right with the world!

I have started on the mortoring on my pond wall and was hoping to finish it up today, measure and start making tiles, but it looks like rain (soft and nice) may settle in for the day so I'm not sure that's happening.  If not, it will have to wait til Monday at the earlies because ArtOMatic opens tomorrow and I work 5 - 10 volunteer shifts Fri and Sat evenings, going in early to browse and take pictures to come back here and share with you.  We have had 3 weeks or so to get  in - can you believe some people were just loading end at 9:58 (according to some posters on the AOM board) last night when the building was supposed to be closed down at 10?  And then yelling at other volunteers who were telling them they had to go?  What is it about some people that makes them do things like that?!  Here are some pictures taken by an AOMer earlier on some of this year's artists.

Attended a business women's round table last night sponsored by the Small Business Development folks.  I had no idea what it would be about but turned out to be just everyone going around the table and sharing where they were with their business venture and vision for the future...so it was about sharing.  And yesterday that worked well for me.  It made me remember that we need to living in the moment and use that moment to move one step closer to our dream (requiring that we have a defined dream).  Then I came home and read some Christine Kane's blog on "Creating vs Getting" and an offshoot,  "Bake Sales or Blogging" which is always good for the soul.  I haven't mentioned her in a while here (I went to her Asheville retreat early last year and brought home good stuff that I've carried around inside me ever since).  Go read, and do get lost clicking out to her referenced posts.  She's good to spend an hour or two with to come away feeling pretty darn good about the world!

thought for the day:  Are you waiting for something wonderful to happen?  Forget waiting.  commitment to the life you desire changes absolutely everything.  Lack of commitment changes absolutely everything, too....I have always struggled with commitment.  It seems like a guillotine to me, a bit final.  Now me, I like choice.  I like walking in the meadows and gazing at all the wildflowers and options.  I hate decision.  Oh, and sweet mother of prairie dogs, I hate being wrong...  When I was deciding what career directio to move in, I was terrified of making a mistake.  I didn't want to waste my time, so of course I wated my time by obstinately not doing anything.  I didn't want to go forward in the wrong direction.  But the problem was - I wasn't going forward in any direction.  After a while, options turn into dead fish.  They start smelling up the room... finally a friend of mine said to me "Why not commit fully for now?  You don't have to commit to forever. Just commit fully for now." ...Commitment is a living thing.  I believe we can only commit fully to the moment in front of us.  But I had stopped doing that, believing that if I couldn't stay with something forever, then I shouldn't even go into it.  I had no way of getting vital information and experience.  Nowadays, when I'm coaching someone who is afraid to trust their instincts, I'll ask them to practice trusting for a day, a wekk, or 3 months, and then to evaluate their experience.   Most often, someone wants to evaluate their experience before or while they're engaged in the activity.  But it doesn't work like that.  first you experiment.  Then you look over your data.  Tama Kieves Trusting the Journey Times (e-newsletter) April 2008

Calvert Artists' Guild May 08 Awards Show

Tammy Vitale with torso, Cybele, first place winner at Calvert Artists' Guild's May 08 Awards Show at AnnMarie Garden

Very nice show for the Artists' Guild this weekend, with many new folks entering alongside the ones who've been around a while.  That's the thing I like best about the Guild:  a chance to meet other folks who share my own passion about making art, no matter what kind.  The Guild is really diverse these days:  glass artists, jewelry, ceramics, wood carving, water color, oil, acrylic, mixed media...probably more than I can't think of right off the top of my head.  So I thought I'd share some of the art and winners with you.

I'm going to start with Jennifer Smetana who won the Guild's H.S. senior scholarship.  Her work is wonderful!  This is a picture of her and her family and a close up of a wonderful wheel-thrown and altered raku piece )my favorite of the pieces shown).

The next picture of the crow is by Megan Richard who is a new member.  I fell in love with this crow.  I love that it is collaged, and did I mention I love the crow?  I seem to be into all things birds these days, with birds even showing up in my own work all of a sudden.  I lay all of that at the feet of Leah of Creative Every Day whose work continues to inspire and impress me.

Next we have the carved wood heron by Mary Ida Rolape.  I am very lucky she was not in my category.  Were she in my category I would never ever win anything.  Mary Ida is also one of the two principles of Heron's Way Gallery in Leonardtown, MD, which also represents my work.

Right behind Mary Ida's piece, are the wood inlay boxes done by Amy Beaven.  Amy picked up several ribbons for these woods boxes, for a wall hanging of an inlaid wood gecko and for her charcoal seagulls.  I liked the butterfly better but the seagulls took the ribbon.  That's Amy with our President, Mary Blumberg.

  And a few pictures of more of the winners whose winning works I didn't photograph:

Mary Blumberg presenting to all:

former president and Guild co-founder Gerry Wood (who does watercolors), glass artist Cindy Pond (who is my glass mentor - together we are going to create something great!), and Joan Humphreys who is a watercolorist and sometimes pastel, oil and mixed media.  The tiger picture behind the awardees is by Candy Cummings who does just about everything and does it very very well....alas, I have no picture of Candy.

All in all it was a most excellent show!

Finally, here is an "art" photo of our centerpiece.  Mary B's careful coordination of colors and set up for the buffet was gorgeous and I just had to take a picture of the centerpiece!

thought for the day:  We think we know what's going on, that we have control of our lives; we make plans, have date books and schedules, and then we turn around to see ourselves and realize our lives have their own composition, their own movement.  Just recently I had this experience:  I had planned for six months to go this December to India and as my brain made a budget and travel plans I noticed my body was moving toward being at Taos Pueblo for Christmas Eve.  I even hard myself say to a friend in California, "Yes, I'll be here over the New Year," as though a part of my life moved in its own dream.  I did consciously, finally, drop the idea of going to India in an instant one afternoon as I put a bag of groceries in the back seat of my car.  Suddenly, it seemed obvious.  I wasn't going.  Nothing in me wanted to go this December except my head. Natalie Goldberg, Long Quiet Highway:  Waking Up in America

Weekend

3 new pieces and 1 from earlier this year at the Calvert Artists' Guild's annual May awards show.  From left top, clockwise:  Woman with Red Bird, Cybele (see here for more info on torsos and masks) Before the Storm, Yardbird.  All one of a kind, hand made by Tammy Vitale.

Loaded into the Calvert Artists' Guild show at AnnMarie Garden yesterday morning, ran home and finished packaging torsos and mask for Sarah Jessica Fine Arts in Provincetown, MA and sent them out UPS.  They are wrapped and packaged with double outside boxing (one box over the other) and the piece in a separate inside box.  That makes 3 boxes.  Let's see if UPS can manage to get these there with no problems.  It galls me that UPS measures the outside of the box, requiring 2 boxes in order to reimburse for damage...so they get you in weight and size because they are incompetant!  And yet I use them again because I have a UPS close to me that I can go mail from.  $136.00 for 2 torsos and a mask.  Oof.  Which reminds me - has anyone read that the Post Office is now adjusting its rates yearly in May?  I just read that.  I guess with fuel rising every 10 seconds that necessary. 

The I went and did 6 miles on the elipsis machine to my newly ordered songs on my IPOD.  And I'm only minimally sore this morning!  I'm getting better at it and while I'm doing it I don't feel a thing - just me grooving to the music!

Then shower and off to First Friday in Leonardtown where the traffic is definitely picking up!  Many of the surrounding stores have joined the art galleries and restaurants so there was a wine tasting (and I bought a bottle under $10 at P.S. It's All Good (what a name for a shop!)! along with a container of 4 sections with herbs to add to olive oil for dipping bread - yum.  I was told they could be mixed with cream cheese for dip, but the dipping oil is all I want).

We planted these two rhododenruns as babies 15 years ago when we moved in our house.  Last year they had 1 bloom between them for the first time ever.  This year - well, just lookie!  That helps make up for none of my azaleas blooming.  But it has been a good year for daffodils, tulips and the now-waning lilies of the valley that surround the pond, which are finally naturalizing (here when we moved in).  I love lilies of the valley - the smell always takes me back to my childhood because we had a corner of them in our yard.   Better than honeysuckle for sweet fragrance!

Today is gallery sitting...I owe two hours but will probably wander up early and hang out.  Some of my favorite folks are there.  Tomorrow I've worked it out so that I can take a class in fusing silver wire into necklaces with Tricia of the Bead Boutique and still make it down to the show in time for load out.  Looking forward to a fun weekend!

thought for the day:   It doesn't take any longer to build a business that fits just-right than to cobble together one that pinches and pulls at you.  both take a tremendous amount of time and energy.  That's the way it is.  The only question is whether you'll spend that energy trying to turn yourself into something you aren't or figuring out how to use your strengths to do what needs to be done.  Molly Gordon, The Way of the Accidental Entrepreneur:  The practical path to building a business that fits "just right"

Artomatic 08: preview

Jewelry:  geode focal with jasper beads.  N-161.  $57 by Tammy Vitale

Am gearing up for ArtOMatic and have been browsing the catalog starting with "Z" and working backwards (because most don't, and because I'm a "V" - just because we're at the end doesn't mean people should get tired and stop looking!).  I made it through "R" and picked the following for you to go see a sampling of what's coming:

Gwen Zaberer

Chengxi Ye

Brenda Sylvia (whose landscapes I love and I'm so not a landscape person - but everything has its exception and her work is exceptional) and

Kim Reyes (who also does clay and jewelry and who once wound up looking at a house waaaaay up in Pennsylvania that Husband and I went to look at - not known to either of us...how's that for paths crossing in the night?  That was before we'd actually met.  I've been drooling over her jewelry every since I first saw it at my very first ArtOMatic way back in '04).

There are, of course, way more than this, but I'm being picky.  And lots don't have their own website or pictures up on their catalog page (which is too bad...hopefully I'll see them at the show and bring pictures - but it sure points up the importance of having all your information readily available in case anyone wants to blog about you.)

Found this in the latest (May) issue of Art in America (you know, the magazine I love to hate and no I won't renew because what passes for art and art criticism is thinly veiled snobbery and I'm not interested, but they redeemed themselves somewhat by actually writing an accessible article on DC art and this small blurb on AutOMatic, which, as these things go with the professional critics, is generous and kind):

...Artomatic, established in 1999, is fluid in every respect.  It is an annual - sometimes semiannual - resolutely non-curated exhibition of Washington-area artists, a pay-for-space proposition open to anyone at all who wants to show something they have made.  It takes place anywhere large enough to accommodate the deluge of art that comes in, making exhibition spaces out of anything from a former children's museum to two floors of an office building to an enormous empty laundry complex.  The presence of so much amateur work is overwhelming, prompting the Washington Post's chief art critic, Blake Gopnik [ed note:  we all love to hate him, but you have to feel sorry for him - with a name like that what else could he do but make fun of other folk's life work?] to compare visiting Artomatic to an extended dental appointment.  But the beauty of Artomatic's esthetic [sic] anarchy is in its abundant innocence, not in any obviously savvy consideration of contemporary art issues.  And, critically viewed, some surprisingly serious, innovative work crops up in unusual places, just around some unlikely corner of the show. (J. W. Mahoney, "To A Different Drum" pg 96).

We're on a count down.  Opening is Friday a week!

thought for the day:   To make art is to sing with the human voice.  To do this you must first learn that the only voice you need is the voice you already have.  Art work is ordinary work, but it takes courage to embrace that work, and wisdom to mediate the interplay of art & fear.  sometimes to see your work's rightful place you have to walk to the edge of the precipice and search the deep chasms.  You have to see that the universe is not formless and dark throughout, but awaits simply the revealing light of your own mind.  Your art does not arrive miraculously from the darkness, but is made uneventfully in the light....What veteran artists share in common is that they have learned how to get on with their work. David Bayles and Ted Orland, Art & fear:  Observations on the Perils (and Rewards) of Artmaking