artista

2010-09-30T19:48:00.003-07:00

Night time is my time..as Laura Palmer said. Just got back from an art opening of my good friend, Kathy Schmidt. Great realist painter, deep, sweet and complicated....
I felt more aloive tonight than I have in ages...being around artists I respect, wise voices, inspiring and advising.
The night is layered. You know there is stuff there, but you can't see it. This is what is important, to me, anyway, for a good painting...some exposed, some hidden that you know is there but cannot always see. The mystery, the depth, the poetry if you will of the unexplained.....

NEW WEBSITE

2010-03-16T11:53:00.002-07:00

Hello Everyone,
Welcome to my Blog. It has been a while since I have posted here, but it is Spring and I am trying to revive my art profession. Teaching High School is fun but I have had a hard time getting any work done, art wise. That is about to change! Now that things are getting under control at school, I am painting again and about to start a commission. So..thanks for reading, and watch this space!

2009-05-21T00:20:00.002-07:00

OMG Adam Lambert should have won AI hands down, although I think he is probably much better without that commercial schlock anyway.....it sounds like sour grapes, but AI is quite mainstream and Adam is not. He is a multifaceted, unbelievably talented young man, who reminds me an awful lot of a young Tony Curtis and Elvis. I am sure he is destined to become part of popular culture!

2009-05-20T22:44:00.004-07:00

Tonight I had the absolute pleasure of watching a Lyle Lovett concert...the musicianship was incredible, the banter and dry humor beguiling!
It was a small venue and intimate, and I was int he front row!! I go my seats right away!
He played some of my favorites including, "You're not from Texas, Bears and others...
Anhoo, like a nerd I hung out in the back of our little theatre with 2 other fans and met the man himself. What a gentleman,and I got to ask him one question. "Do you remember a club called the Rubiyaat in Texas?" And he did not even hesitate, "Yes!" He went on to say that he hadn't played there but he was very familiar with it. I mentioned that the famous owner Bob Johnson was, in fact, my Dad! Anyway, we had a short conversation about it and he asked about Bob and all that. SO, it was awesome, it made my night. So, Daddy, if you are reading this, I hope it makes you happy!
I am here in my motorcycle jacket which is reflecting..sorry.

2009-05-19T07:26:00.002-07:00

Is anyone else having trouble commenting on posts? I just tried to comment on "art is a 3 letter word" blog and it keeps erasing my comments. I pick google profile and even try to preview but it just disappears...is anyone else having this issue?

The Bitter Foodie: Don't look at this post.

2009-05-18T18:35:00.000-07:00

The Bitter Foodie: Don't look at this post.]
this is insane

So much for employment security...

2009-05-18T18:24:00.002-07:00

Here is a recent work in progress, a gift for my good friend Dara. It's not finished yet, though. I am going to try to break into the exclusive , platinum only club of pet portraiture.

Bad news about my stupid job as a HS art teacher. They cut my position to .5 FTE from .6 which does not sound like like much but when you consider that is going from 2/3 of Full time to 1/2 pay wise, you see how that would be quite a salary cut, plus the same number of preps. Insane. The jury is out as to what I will do yet....but I am depressed.

Beading Continued

2009-04-28T19:33:00.005-07:00

Ok..Hi everyone. Here are some beads from Sunday. As you can see I am finally getting the "round" bead shape...it is hard to control the molten glass. We also learned cylinder beads, although now I look at them mine look like suppositories or larvae ...lovely. One onf the beads here is from the instructor Wesley Fleming, who was demonstrating the gravity swirl design. My turquoise and red bead was an attempt at that, but my torch got too low and it was taking forever!! I guess serious beadmakers/glass sculptors use a stronger torch with separate oxygen tank and propane which burns much hotter, so processes happen more quickly than with our little propane dinkies.
So around 3pm on Sunday I burnt the c**p out of my hand. I was concentrating so hard on getting this little dot in exactly the right place that I put my hand OVER the torch and burnt the tips of all four of my right hand fingers. THe middle one got it BAD. Luckily Wes was prepared and had my soak my hand in a bucket of water for 1/2 and hour or so..this helped, but on the way home I had my hand pressed up against the glass of my car (It was snowing out) to cool the agonizing burn that would not go away!! So, I have a great blister now, and some sensitivity still, but obviously I can type, so it isn't bad now.
Overall--awesome class and I intend to keep going with it as a hobby. I may invest later in a bigger torch set up, but for now, I will practice with dinkies and send the beads to my friends!
Don't ya want one??

2009-04-25T20:28:00.004-07:00

Here is a recent commissioned piece I finished...now I can pay studio rent! Yay!
This piece is a mere 8" x 10" !!

My first beads!

2009-04-25T20:04:00.005-07:00

Hello everyone! Well today was and exciting day, and tomorrow will be too. I am taking a flamework beadmaking class at the Livingston Center for Arts and Culture with Wesley Fleming who is an amazing glass sculptor in Bozeman, whose studio is opposite mine! You should check out his work at http://www.wesleyfleming.com.

Anyhow, I have always wanted to do this and boy it is tough..it like juggling, patting your head and rubbing your stomach all at the same time. It is also very tiring on the eyes and body. I have a lot mor respect for the simple round glass bead...that is a tough shape to make! Here are some images of my first beads ever, they are not annealed (so they can crack or break pretty easily) and are rife with sharp edges and irregularities, but nevertheless I am showing them to you all, flaws and all. TOmorrow I will make more beads, with more practice and post them.

I also discovered a charming shop in Livingston called The Drawing Room which is run by Patricia Buckley a loquacious and lovely tea and art connoisseur, as well as a fine artist. Here I bought some AMAZING tea (she has a tea master) and some cool metal earrings by local artist Sarah Lomans (sarahlomans.com). So, I had a fabulous day in the windy city Livingston, and will post more on it tomorrow.

2009-04-24T22:03:00.001-07:00

New Start

2009-04-11T09:35:00.004-07:00

I am going to use this blog to post new paintings and drawings. I am not thrilled with my website which I cannot change due to the ridiculous way the designer put it together, so until I have time to create a new one, I am going to use this bloggy thing.
Today I am supposed to be sketch crawling and should really get out of here to go do that. I will post images of my day. In the meantime here is an image of a new work..."Baby Donkey"

Galleria Doria Pamphilij

2008-07-21T14:21:00.000-07:00

me, of course, trying to look cool and collected after a day of walking around sweating...
St Cecelia, Doria Pamphilij rooms, St Cecelia church

Ciao all,

Today after a late start and aching feet I went into town, as in centro storico. You see the place we are staying is a lovely little apartment on the Gianicolo, which is above Tastevere, as explained in the name, is over the Tiber from the fancy Rome we all know and love (?). Trastevere is very popular now, it is also very old and has a lot of the old medieval look to it. St Cecelia is there, where she was martyred, and supposedly her house is. They tried to scald her to death for 3 days (?) and it didn't work so they beheaded her. A famous and moving sculpture was made of her by a famous Italian sculptor Maderno in the 1500s.
Anyhoo I took the bus to the Piazza Venezia which is where the Pamphilij gallery is. Today is Monday so most all of the museums in Rome are closed but not this. I just got a Roma pass (museums discounted or free) yesterday, which is good for three days only. Guess what. Galleria Pamphilij is private = not free. €9 to be exact. Jeemany. Well I did it anyway, and wow, what a pad.
First I had a lovely Cappucino (only 90 cents) right off the Via Gesu, near the Pantheon, and found an art supply shop with a shockingly rude staff. Screw em. I don't even try to the nice americana any more. I tell them to get on with it and quit wasting my time. Yeah, really.
Anyway, the Doria Pamphilij family is still around and the own the residence/palace. In fact our apartment is right next to the Villa Doria Pamphilij park. Their ancestor is Pope Innocent X who is the subject of the famous (infamous) portrait by Velazquez. Francis Bacon did a series of scary interpretations of this image. The painting is amazingly real in the sense that he looks like he is waiting for you to say something. Couldn't get a picture...vietato!
So that was cool. Some Caravaggio, Claude Lorraine, Fillipo Lippi, Caracci, and some splendiforous rooms! This is wealth.

Domenica

2008-07-20T10:37:00.000-07:00

1. Costanza Mausaleum
2. Ceiling mosaics in above (5th C)
3. Apse mosaic in Santa Agnese (7th C)

Hello all...
Today went to the Villa Borghese gallery. A small but discerning collection file:///Users/julia/Desktop/Untitled%2 0clipping%201.textClippingof Bernini sculpture and the pinocateca,
jupstairs which happened to be showing Corregio. I love this place, but not the 2 hour limit. As those of you who know me, know that 2 hours is enough to get through a couple of rooms. I seriously could eat and sleep in a museum for a long time. I have high stamina for that sort of thing, whereas other people I know (bc) get exhausted after 15 minutes. It was easy to get reservations which you need, for within 24 hours! All the guide books say reserve, like, a week in advance, ha! You can reserve over the phone.
As I have really sore legs now, we took the bus. #75 from Fratelli Bonnet (where we live) to Termini where we caught the 910 to the villa..lovely. Coud only buy a Piu pass (€25, which includes all these areas outside Rome..yeah right.) The normal Roma Pass is €20 . The first two museums are free, the rest discounted and you have free transport for 3 days. We are going to Florence on WEdnesday, so that is perfect.
After the Villa we went to the Chiesa de Sant' Agnese fuori Le Muri (?) and the Mausaluem of Costanza. This, I might add was a pain in the you know. It was way outside the fontinellas (these are the little water fountains that one can fill up one's water bottle from thus saving oneself €2 for a 12 oz bottle of water, that come from the aqueducts and springs around the city. For those of us trying to save money, these are crucial. But, we made it.
The church holds the remains of Saint Agnes, a 13 year old martyr, who the Romans tried to burn to death, but couldn't so they beheaded her. There is a 7th century mosaic in the apse dome..incredible. We snuck down to the crypt where the catacombs were..creepy.
St Costanza next door is a basilica from 4th century. Constantine built for his daughter. There are mosaics from the 4th and 5th century. These are what I wanted to see since we cannot afford to go to Ravenna this trip.

2008-07-18T13:17:00.000-07:00

a good a way as any to choose a career...shop window in Schilpol

Oh, the glory of travel. From the surly stewardess's on NW Bozeman to Minneapolis. The cramped 8 hour flight from St Paul to Amsterdam, no sleep there, and finally the spacious KLM flight from Amsterdam to Rome. I must say the stewardesses of other airlines are very fashionable.
Martinair, another Dutch Airline with their red straight shirt, bolero jacket and pillbox hat, to the Royal Thai (I think) ladies with their full length skirt and long fitted blouse of matching fabric, looking like they were going to break out into a dance at any moment. Better than our teetotaller, prude, surly NW ers...it's the little things that matter...like fashion.

I love flying into Europe. All of a sudden you do not know where anyone is from, countrywise, and everyone has a distinct look. Not as much gene pool mixing as our melting pot. I just love their faces, I want to paint all of them.

Any how, I do love Schilpol. There are so many shiny things..like this Swarovski Store

Bozeman to Roma

2008-07-18T13:00:00.000-07:00

Welcome to my new blog. I thought for the sake of my wonderful friends and family, I would keep track of some of my experiences here. I have just arrived in Rome, Italy from Montana, USA. This will detail my adventures....
love
Birdmad