class proposals

As a result of working with someone dealing with Alzheimer's I have decided to explore the possibility of designing an "Art Play" program for seniors  and people in the very early stages of Alzheimer's and various forms of dementia. My previous experience working in LVAA classes with seniors (as well as a large number of elementary and middle school faculty members in professional development workshops) taught me that there is some sort of emotional pleasure factor associated with the simple familiar childhood act of coloring with crayons. I assume the trigger for this is purely muscle memory. My observations regarding the time it takes to positively impact someone ranges from 3-8 minutes. Even the most reluctant participant begins to relax and then actually smile within a very few minutes. After that there is noticeably more chatter and animation in the room as people begin to recognize that what they are enjoying is actually play. The collective mood is elevated and remains so for as long as the exercise lasts.

This project is not to be considered as Art Therapy. I am not a certified Art therapist. I have no interest in striving for or achieving traditional therapeutic goals. My goal in designing creative art play is to reignite some aspect of the child who lives within each of us, no matter what our current chronological age. Participants must retain effective comprehension and verbal skills and must not present with behavior that is agitated or aggressive. Most elements of basic social cognition need to be in tact in order to participate in simple but necessary directions regarding the use of scissors and glue sticks for cut and paste projects, paint brushes for working with watercolor crayons, enough fine motor control to use a marker for outlining or pattern creation or writing simple words needed in the context of a project. The project is designed to reach minds that have begun to lose touch with select details and simple memory elements, not people whose former personalities have already evaporated into disease and regular confusion.

This should probably be run first as a pilot project consisting of 4-6 sessions, 75-90 minutes each either during mid-morning or after lunch. Class would be limited to 8 participants (with a minimum of 2 bringing an assistant or caregiver). Initially I would like participants to be recommended by gerontology specialists, residential caregiver staff who know proposed participants and family members whose loved ones are still able to function with some efficiency while living at home. However, I would be more than willing to run this identical program for seniors over age 60 and bypass the obvious medical aspects that will arise with the previously targeted group. program.

If the decision were made to continue (and possibly expand) the program funds would need to be raised for materials as well as administrative and teaching costs. Initially I am willing to donate materials I have available from prior teaching for use in this pilot program. My initial compensation would be figured at $120 per session, which would include setup and cleanup time with materials donated. I would want to collaborate with the hosting 501 C3 institution in having them initially determine reasonable costs, handle program promotion, registration and collect funds.

biographical information

Susan  Gorsen is an artist from Louisville, Kentucky who has been exhibiting vividly colored abstract drawings for nearly 3 decades. She has been described as “a person in love with color”. Her work is in numerous public, private and corporate collections throughout America, including Subaru Corp, Blue Cross of PA. Glaxo Smith Kline, Atlanta Kaiser Permanente, Louisville Presbyterian Seminary, Jewish Hospital Heart and Lung Center, National City Bank, Brown-Forman Corp, Louisville Gas & Electric Co., and U of Kentucky Medical Associates. Working mainly with oil pastel crayons, she has had 16 solo shows in the United States, as well as international group exhibitions in Germany, Ecuador, Ireland and Northern Ireland. The GreenGrass/Bluegrass/NewGrass exhibition with Maura O’Rourke at Ardgillan Castle in July-August 1999 introduced Ms. Gorsen’s work to an Irish audience. This exhibition developed as part of a cultural exchange Ms. Gorsen founded for mid-career visual artists from Ireland and Kentucky, the realization of a dream inspired by her first visit to Ireland in 1968.

Ms. Gorsen is a longtime arts activist, serving for more than a decade on the Louisville Mayor’s Committee for Public Art and Amenities, as well as the Executive Board of the Louisville Visual Art Association. Earlier in her career, while living in Philadelphia, she was a creative consultant for interiors and fine art in addition to being a columnist, arts writer and critic for the respected monthly publication ARTMATTERS.  She has also studied and lectured on the psychology of color and its impact on health, well being and mental productivity. Ms. Gorsen worked as an Artist in Residence with the Louisville public school system designing visual arts programs that address the special needs of children at risk, as well as programming specific lessons that use art projects to teach core academic subjects. Ms. Gorsen also gives creativity workshops for educational administrators, teachers and corporate executives. She runs special programs that aim to combat teen violence and poor self-esteem through collaborative art projects which often involve young people initiating or aiding in the creation of her own work.

After a successful 1999 summer workshop, she brought her youth arts program back to Belfast, Northern Ireland for 3 weeks in 2000 as an Artist in Residence for the Castlereagh Borough Council working in municipal community centers with children on both sides of the political conflict there. Ms. Gorsen returned to Belfast in July 2001 to collaborate with local artists Ian Fleming and Deirdre Robb on an environmental sculpture project funded by a United Kingdom/Northern Irish Arts Council Millennium Year of the Artist Grant. In April 2002, she coordinated Spring Grasses, a weeklong collaboration involving a dozen Irish and local artists working in Louisville with talented teens in an open studio format. This was followed in July of that year by a similar project, Links that Connect Us, created at Castlereagh College and exhibited at Belfast’s Waterfront Hall. Spring Grasses II in May 2005 brought together 15 artists for a 12 day retreat at Mount Saint Francis in Southern Indiana which produced DOUBLRSPEAK, the politically themed exhibition about English/American language and cultural differences.  

Ms. Gorsen’s most recent solo exhibition Irish Postcards in January 2005 marked a significant stylistic and thematic departure for the artist. This  romantic body of work consists of hand colored digitally enlarged oil pastel drawings of her own photographs taken during numerous trips to Ireland. Color itself remains the common thread linking this precision realism with her more familiar abstract drawings.

By 2004 degenerative osteo-arthritis in both shoulders had made it impossible for Ms. Gorsen to continue her quarter century studio practice. After having bi-lateral shoulder replacement surgeries in 2007 she slowly returned to the studio determined to resume both her abstract colorfield work as well as continuing with the Irish Postcards series. As of April 2009 she was back working fulltime in her studio. Her next exhibition, opening late October 2010, will be at the Carnegie Center for Art and History in New Albany, IN.

The theme for this solo exhibition is a rising phoenix. The show will feature older work  from her long career as well as numerous new pieces.

Ultimately the painterly oil pastel drawings themselves provide the best insight for Susan Gorsen the person. They are large deceptively complex poetic compositions, dominated by deep jewel tones and a rainbow of colors fused together in a distinctive textured style, punctuated by broad sweeping calligraphic gestures and subtle wispy markings that form a visual language uniquely her own. The drawings resemble music portrayed with colors instead of sound, a series of endlessly varying improvisations which share a visual identity of color relationships, mysterious personal imagery and a kinship of spirit. The work adheres to the credo written on the wall in Ms. Gorsen’s studio - be a catalyst for optimism.

where are the buyers?

Pricing work for an exhibition is a tricky thing when one isn't currently respresented by multiple galleries around the country. Under those circumstnces, prices are already pretty much set in stone. In preparing for the Carnegie show I asked a number of artists, friends and family members what I should do about prices since my last exhibition of similar work was Nov-Dec 2001. That time period was a high water mark for art prices among journeymen artists. Times have changed, the art market has changed and discretionary money has all but evaporated. Everybody told me to price the work as giveaways. I listened and agreed. I made the decision to price my work, both new and old, as low as possible. I wish the buying public had a better understanding of what it costs an artist to produce a new piece of work. There are materials and actual studio time of course. But there is so much more...... the thinking and evalutaion time, the conceptual time, the creative day dreaming time, the editorial assessment, the search for an appropriate title, getting pieces photographed and framed, packing and shipping costs as well as making arrangements for delivery and installation. I am beyond being frustrated by having sold only 2 pieces from the show despite lots of excellent publicity during its long run and the fact that the most expensive new work is only $900. The same work in 2001 would have been at least twice that price. Despite this dire economy one would think that with such bargains to be had there would be more buyers. I don't see any jewelry stores closing so there is disposable income somewhere. But where are the art buyers?

"Science Fair" - another YouTube PODcast from the Carnegie

I realized that the "Science Fair" PODcast interview had never been posted by the Carnegie. I, of course, have neither direct access to these interviews nor the skills to post them myself so I do thank Karen for adding another bit to their publicity grist mill. Either do a Susan Gorsen search (isn't that amazing!!!!) or search Carnegie Center for Art and History and you'll find all the PODcasts. Yes, I know I sound like Brenda Vaccarro........

Yesterday I attended a monthly morning program at the Carnegie relating to and presented by artists with disabilities of one sort or another. This particular artist has had about as many challenges as one person can handle yet she manages with grace and a sense of humor to maintain her dignity, her creativity and her artistic output. Unfortunately the weather here yesterdy morning was a snowy, slushy, semi-frozen disaster and KY drivers were in a typical panic mode. The drive over was harrowing to say the least  -  and I'm not someone bothered by this stuff  but was way bothered by the complete incompetence of other drivers going way too fast for the road consitions..... Needless to say we made it safe and sound but I was definitely glad to be the driver and not the passengers!! It was all worth it because of this artist's very moving presentation, only attended by 7 brave souls but we 7 paid rapt attention.

Today I went to an art opening with my 8 year old granddaughter Sara, who is my art show buddy. The small exhibit was quite nice and I was thrilled to see my friend CJ's mother Naomi (age 87 or 88 I think) had 3 absolutely delightful small paintings in this very tightly juried show. When I congratulated her she asked me if there were any "professional" artists in the show. I only knew on 1, a young man just beginning his career, but the others were for the most part unknown to me. She said that being accepted into the show where "professionals" were hung with her was just the most wonderful thing ever. Now this woman has been painting off and on her entire life. It's not the first time her work has been exhibited. She has a lovely expressive sense of painterly realism and stong compositional skills. The fact that she's still making paintings and still enjoying her own creative adventures at her age is a fabulous thing. The fact that she was once a student of mine just touches my heart.... Way to go Naomi!!!!!

About the "Irish Postcards" series

I wanted to include something abut the "Irish Postcards" series because this project is incomplete. My goal is to return to Ireland to take more photographs, especially in urban areas and along the east and south coasts which are missing from the collection.

When I'm lucky enough to be in Ireland or in Northern Ireland I have a camera with me at all times. This is odd because at home I never think to pick up a camera. But over there I seem to want to record as much as possible, to store up memories of people and places I can later revisit from 3500 miles away. When I came back from an extended trip in 1998 my friend Suzanne Mitchell paid me the ultimate compliment after seeing some of my rural landscape photographs: "You're like Constable behind the lens." I know absolutely nothing about photography beyond point and shoot what I compose in the lens.

But with the "Postcards" I was creating a visual a love affair with the island. CJ Pressma scanned my 5x7" snapshots and printed them all as 18x26" images with no color adjustment or correction. I had him keep the original photographs so I could add color for emotional commentary as I remembered being in each separate place. Yes I took a certain degree of poetic license with color but that was part of my response. I colored the images as I wanted them to be. I need to continue that documentation in other areas beyond those selected for the first exhibition. In order to be a true series about a real place I need to go back and shoot at sites I haven't yet documented, especially in urban areas. It can't happen soon enough for me.

ABOUT "IRISH POSTCARDS"

Susan Gorsen's "Irish Postcards" series marks a dramatic turning point in Ms. Gorsen's career. Instead of the expected color rich abstract figure ground essays, this new work is entirely rooted in photographic realism. These are oil pastel drawings covering digitally enlarged photographs taken by the artist over the past 6 years while on extended trips to Ireland. The images show  Ireland through the eyes of someone long captivated by the country's unique charm. As before, Ms. Gorsen uses an overlay of color as the key ingredient to heighten the emotional components of memory in her work. For the most part these are romantic pictures where time seems suspended as a nonessential factor and the specifics of place are supplemented by the mystical quality of mists and myths.

Ms. Gorsen has stated "As an artist I do two things when I am fortunate enough to actually spend time in Ireland  -  I take photographs and I write. One accurately records the reality of present tense time and place. The other captures my intuitive emotional responses which transcend mere experience. This new body of work is no less personal than the previous abstractions. The images in this exhibition are memory scraps from several Irish summers. If art is born of the spirit rather than the mind then I can only say that, for me, the source of both remains rooted in Ireland."

There is no adequate explanation for why a person is mesmerized by a particular place. There is no genealogical connection tugging at Ms. Gorsen's heartstrings. But since first spending a month walking through Ireland in 1968, she has recognized this small island as the home of her spirit just as Kentucky is the home where she actually lives. "Irish Postcards" might not be the best name for this series; a more appropriate title might well be "Irish Love Letters".

The poem "The Prodigal" was written in 2000, a day after returning to Kentucky after spending 6 weeks in Ireland. Probably more than anything else it expresses her deeply felt connection with  Ireland.

busy busy busy

So much has happened during the past 2 weeks I hardly know where to begin. For starters, my friend Monica visited from Philadelphia and that was a great treat since it had been more than 2 years since we were last together. While she was here I gave my talk at the Carnegie on "Understanding Abstract Art for Art Phobics", subtitled " Why Jackson Pollack is a REAL artist". That Tuesday lunchtime talk brought out about 20 people, at least half of them people I'd not previously met. They were an amazingly attentive and enthusiastic audience.

The same could be said for the audience the day before of about 80 at Indiana University SE for a lecture by Kristen Grey aka Justin Credible, an MFA student and performance artist from Ohio U whose talk was sponsored by the IUS Ceramics Department. The lecture was promoted as relating to art themed gender issues and transsexuality, neither my usual area of interest but something both Monica and I thought would be worth considering. We were wrong. This very attractive and articulate young person was totally obsessed with genitals and with other people who make "art" by photographing and/or using their genitalia as the subject for visual documentation. Some of the slide images were truly offensive. They might have possibly have been less offensive if there had been more historical images (readily available) shown beforehand as reference material to prepare the audience for all the up close and personal photographic crotch shots. Meanwhile the talk centered around this person's personal decision to hormonally manipulate her birth gender by beginning a course of testosterone treatments to become more overtly masculine while electing not to identify as either gender. He/she/it does a performance art piece entitled "Ask a Tranny" which places him/her/it into a public setting such as London's Hyde Park Speakers' Corner for direct interaction with people passing by. The stated goal was to demystify transsexulaity to the point of having him/her/it simply become "the tranny next door who you'd ask to bottow a cup of sugar". All in all Monica and I felt it was adisappointing presentation but the students were enrapt. I had sat next to an artist friend on the faculty who is a lesbian and her negative response to some of the images was more dramatic than mine. We both questioned the legitimate use of such images in what was billed as an art presentation when it was, instead, a personal journey about sexual choice.

Somehow in the scheme of things that poor but effective promotional "come on" resonated in my mind the next day when I was giving my talk about how to understand art that doesn't tell an obvious story. The nice part for me was the fact that after speaking for an hour and 20 minutes about half of the people wanted to go up to the gallery and ask direct questions about my exhibit. This question and answer period lasted for nearly another hour. It was an amazingly gratifying experience. I now find myself wondering what might have happened if I had slipped a crotch shot or 2 into my slide presentation just for the sake of  "keeping it real"!!!!! Naaahhhh!!

My gallery talk last Saturday was fun because there was a Cub Scout troop at the exhibition and I love speaking with kids. These young boys were especially well behaved and attentive and both asked and answered questions about the artwork. My adult audience told me later that they thoroughly enjoyed my encounter with the kids. That was great because they could easily have resented my decision to direct the initial half hour of the gallery talk to the boys instead of the adults. But I felt my mission in giving gallery talks was to service those who patronize those who attended the program regardless of age or level of art sophistication. It was fun for me to see the lightbulbs turn on one by one in the boys' heads. They were working for their "art badge" and I seemed to have helped fulfill that requirement. I told the troop leader to send my art badge in the mail!

blessing counting

Earlier this week I spent nearly 2 hours with a lovely woman who was essentially a stranger to me. I regret not having known her earlier but, even if we had known eachother previously, I suspect she would have still regarded me as a stranger. Yet she knows and loves my artwork. This woman, once a gifted artist herself, has early onset Alzheimer's disease and her gentle essence and personality seem to be literally disappearing moment by moment. Her adoring husband asked me to consider working with her on a one to one basis in the hope that my own affinity for color as an independent language might strike a positive and pleasurable chord in his wife. It was an offer I felt morally obligated to accept and fully commit to. Good decision on my part in so many unexpected ways.

While he suggested I use oil pastels because she had used them in the past, I opted for watercolor crayons instead. I brought my big 84 color set only to find they already had the exact same set along with a collection of brushes any artist would envy. Having done so much work with young people who need highly structured lessons based as much on following directions as anything else I decided try and assess her skill level by giving her a series of directives beginning with " draw a circle". In retrospect I think she might have been able to copy a circle or even trace over a circle if I had shown her a circle. But I watched her thinking about what a circle is and then she tentatively drew the beginnings of a spiral and looked at me questioningly for approval. It's a very humbling awareness to watch someone's true confusion over what we consider such an elementary concept. My own dawning recognition of what she has already lost just tore into my heart. I ached for this woman I was already too late to know.

Everything we did from that point forward was geared toward what she could do, some things easier than others but none producing frustration. But my reason for selecting watercolor crayons was twofold: #1  I learned from working with seniors that the act of coloring itself triggers very old muscle memories from childhood and is itself a pleasurable physical activity with virtually no learning curve; #2  the dramatic change when a paintbrush with water touches an area she has already colored is worth its weight in gold on the surprise and pleasure scale. That delightful drama happens in an instant as
the colors literally jump off the page when liquefied.

I always tell my students that art is a verb, it's the process NOT the product that matters. In the final analysis I make colored marks on paper. Sometimes they are pleasing to look at; sometimes they are a source of frustration. But at no time are the marks themselves more important than the act of making them. So for someone who seems to have no capacity to anticipate, this surprise element was a source of genuine delight for her. We tried various brushes and got various affects. At one point she dipped the crayons into the water and drew some lines but was dissatisfied with their lesser degree of drama. Our entire time working together was spent helping her decide where to put a mark or where to spread color with me trying to explain that when you don't have a specific picture in mind there are no such things as "mistakes", only surprises on the paper that simply require some looking into.

But each time she did something that pleased her she smiled and her lovely face was animated with enthusiasm. She of course had no idea what a gift those smiles were for me. So that is my goal for our next session...... simply to devise art experiences that will make her smile. Next time I think we will share a picture and alternate adding marks or shapes and see whether the collaborative process can reach deeper into her own creativity. The completed picture, by the way, was elegant and purposeful and very lovely  -  as they say, definitely suitable for framing  OR working on again next time.

Driving home I had the top open and the radio off. I needed silence and the crisp autumn afternoon sunlight. It felt like I had come from some sort of spiritual event that lingered past its natural time. I used to say that having degenerative osteo arthritis was a life altering challenge not a life threatening one. I was absolutely convinced I would find a way to navigate through that particular challenge. And I was quick to count my blessings when thinking of those whose medical challenges were greater and more profound than my own. I'm one of the very lucky ones to have overcome my shoulder problems and have the chance to rebuild my life. This woman will not have my good fortune. She is fading away. I consider meeting her and working with her as one of my new blessings and view each of her smiles as trophies. I only hope what I have to give brings her enough momentary pleasure for her to want to continue our art play together for quite a while.

sharing my secrets

Last Thursday evening I taught an adult oil pastel class. This was a first for me  -  not a first for teaching but a first time demonstrating and directly sharing any information about my personal techniques using oil pastel crayons. There were 10 "students" as well as an artist friend visiting from Ireland.  I began with a brief talk upstairs in the gallery and then we moved to the lower level for the messy stuff. I was quite surprised when more than half of these people opted to use surgical gloves. I hate having something get between me and a direct art experience but evidently most people prefer clean hands at the end of a 2 hour work session.

Anybody who has used or attempted to use oil pastels has quickly learned they are tricky and can be very frustrating to control. As mentioned in an earlier posting, I never knew that when I first used them in 1968 or when I reintroduced myself to their brilliant colors in January 1980. Ignorance really was bliss in my case. I had these very nice adults trying to figure out how to control the material and purposely kept getting them more and more confused. Better to have no illusions that I was going to be able to wipe away all their prior apprehensions about this medium!! It IS tricky and very idiosyncratic in comparison to other drawing materials. But in my mind the rewards are far greater for anyone willing to invest the necessary time to understand what can and can't be done and in what order or on what surface.

I always judge the success of my teaching ability by how often people laugh. A crowd of frowns is not a happy sight and fortunately the frowns only lasted about 10 minutes. But after that everybody realized I had been outlining worst case scenarios for them to experience before attempting something more positive. In the end everybody figured a way to manage the materials in a way they could complete a "picture"  -  which was evidently more than any had previously done. No crayons were thrown across the room or dumped into the trash. But the most interesting thing for me was simply watching each individual push through confusion to a point where a lightbulb lit over their heads and they settled into enjoyment of their own experiementation. Several people asked if I would teach another class and, if so, where so the end must indeed have justified the means!

GO TO http://www.youtube.com/user/TheCarnegieCenter !!!!!

I was hoarse the day this interview was recorded and think my voice sounds like Brenda Vaccaro's old Tampax commercial. Nevertheless I am thrilled that Karen Gillenwater from the Carnegie Center thought to post these pieces on "youtube" for all the world to find and hopefully enjoy. This specific technology connection is very exciting for someone like me who is still working to establish a permanent state of detente with my hand me down laptop computer (named, not surprisingly, Grammie's Challenge). I suspect such publicity is exciting for most people since the vast majority of us live lives far far outside any hope for 15 seconds in the spotlight let along 15 minutes of actual fame.

After Karen and I talked about my work in the "Phoenix Rising" show I asked how she planned to use what we had recorded. Et voila...... there are 2 iPODs, 1 in each gallery. The complete question and answer series is on each iPOD along with about 60 images of my work in chronological order beginning with 1980 through some 2010 pieces that we couldn't include in an already very tight exhibition. Now do I actually expect people to sit and listen to our running commentary while looking at the work? I feel that's too much to hope for. But I have been assured that many visitors to the Carnegie have been known to input this sort of information the way I would be glued to the curator's audio talk for a Mark Rothko or Arshille Gorky exhibit. But the one request I had for Karen was to find a way to be able to post this on their Facebook page or website so I could link it to this site. Once again, job well done Karen.  And thank you.

speaking with art students

Yesterday afternoon I had the opportunity to speak about my exhibition with a group of art students from Indiana University. First of all, I like talking with students. The hard part is quickly capturing their attention in such a way that I become "real" enough to them for genuine communication to take place. I have no idea whether or not these students enjoyed what I had to say but I certainly had fun speaking to them. In a formal setting it's a bit of a challenge to be chatty and conversational but that's how I approached the task. At one point I asked how many had tried to work with oil pastels in the past and maybe a dozen hands went up. Then I asked how many found the medium nearly impossible to manage and every hand stayed in the air!

The thing about this material I use is that it's really easy to make a mess and really difficult to control. Only I never knew that because I was never introduced to the frustration of using cray-pas crayons as a student. This seems to have been my great good fortune. I bought my first set of oil pastels in May 1968 shortly after arriving in London to work for TWA. I lived at Lancaster Gate directly opposite the Round Pond in Kensington Garden and thought it might be nice to have some sort of art materials to play around with nafter work and on weekends. Shortly after arriving I stopped into an art supply shop in Bayswater and the man suggested oil pastels because they were not messy and needed no fixative. I'd never heard of oil pastels but I bought a set of 36 Caran D'Ache neocolors and a sketch pad. I enjoyed being able to sketch while I was in London but when I returned to the US that September I promptly forgot about the crayons and went right back to painting with oils.

In January 1980 I was looking for a way to paint without any of the fumes or dust or fixatives that could trigger an asthma attack in my then 4 year old daughter. I had also figured out that with my limited time for painting I couldn't afford the 15 minutes of set up time and the 10 minutes of clean up time when I could only steal an hour here and there to work. Remembering the old set of oil pastels from England I thought I'd try to work with them in layers and see if there was some way to build up deep rich colors. I initially did "under painting" with colored pencils and applied oil pastels over the prismacolor pencils. The Caran D'Ache neocolors worked exactly the same 11 years later as when they were new. Eventually I bought oil pastels from other manufacturers and learned each had very different pigment densities and very different base compositions and had very diferent proerties when I wanted to combine them.

Through trial and error I learned how to layer these different brands of oil pastels and in the process developed the unique build up of surface textures that characterize my work. It wasn't at all unusual for my larger pieces to have more than 60 layers of color applied dry one color over another over another. For 25 years I resisted adding paint thinner to explore a more painterly experience. I really liked the unusual effects I was developing by working dry and loved the intimacy of my hands working directly on the paper. There were always small accidents when a finger nail got too close to the surface and scraped away several layers of color. I could never repair these scratches so decided to consider then "gifts" and figure out how to incorporate these unexpecgted gestural markings into the composition as positive elements.

At some point during the late autumn of 2008 my friend Billy Hertz convinced me to try using Turpenoid to liquify the oil pastels for underpainting and save myself the wear and tear of so much repetitive motion that wouldn't ever be visible in the finished pieces. Not only has this new aproach given me a very wonderful tool, it has really saved my shoulders hours and hours of repetitive motions. Now I wonder why I was so resistant for all those years when people used to ask if I ever used paint thinner with the oil pastels. I hadn't handled a paint brush since 1979 and with new bionic sholders I had to relearn how to manipulate a brush which was an interesting task all by itself. Now it seems perfectly natural for me to draw and then apply the turpenoid to make washes that create grounds and then either repeat that process or simply draw over the grounds..

Before they left yesterday I invited the students to attend the adult oil pastel class I'm teaching tomorow night. I hope some of them will attend. It's the first time I have given a specific demonstration of my working methods and techniques. After 30 years I figure it's OK to share some of my secrets.

after the party's over....

Friday was a glorious Indian Summer day here, a real gift of sorts. It always helps when the weather cooperates for the opening of an exhibition. That evening was picture perfect and at least 200 people made the choice to attend the show. Since I think I only knew about half of them it wasn't just a friends' and family love fest... something else very nice about meeting new people simply because they came to see my work.

I have to say straight away that the show was beautifully installed. This is so crucial to how the pieces are "read" and it takes an experienced eye to plan the order of installation in such a way that each piece flows seamlessly into the next and so on around the entire space. Karen Gillenwater, curator at the Carnegie Center for Art and History, is very well trained and an absolute dream to work with. She did a fabulous job of cohesively integrating my old and new pieces across 2 rooms in a very large exhibit space. The only real debate was whether to eliminate several pieces in favor of giving more breathing room to each drawing OR hanging the show tightly so it could be viewed much like a film strip rather than a collection of uniquely individual images. We opted to include as much as the space could handle since this is essentially a story about knitting together the before and after within the scope of my 30 year career.

Of course a professional installation in a beautiful facility does not mean people will (a ) come see the show or (b) actually like the work, especially the 16 new pieces. This is a large show. I think there are about 3 dozen frames, the smallest being about 30x24". I'll post some installation shots when  I have them. Nothing like 100+ year old neo-classical architecture in pale gray and white with gray marble columns to set off my jewel toned colors. The lighting is excellent and the visible daylight is 12' high facing south  -  lovely in mid autumn light. I really look forward to seeing how this changes into December....

But the fact of it all is that I seem to have scored a hit acros the board. People were earnestly enthusiastic abut the work. Even had 2 sales  -  a new piece (Blue Moon) and Couple 8 which is 15 years old. The oddity is that both are mainly yellow. I must say that through the years I have challenged myself to work with yellow as a main element. It isn't a color for which I seem to have any natural affinity. Yellow can either bea bit of a bully or be easily manipulated into absorbing aspects of other hues with the resultant loss of that lovely lemon color I prefer. There is absolutely no explanation for why, with so many pieces in a show, 2 of the 3 dominated by yellows are those who found buyers on opening night. If the show had opened in March, as was originally planned, would some other color have held more appeal? No way to answer that any more than I can answer why certain pieces always seem to draw a larger audience than others. Once again I could have sold "Fish Gotta Swim" several times.

Having had 48 hours to bathe in the glow of my own success I am feeling confident that I am back on the proverbial career track. Yes I worked hard for this plateau. No I'm not planning on gloating or resting on my small laurels. It's a new beginning. But then that's exactly what I hoped would happen with an exhibition titled "Phoenix Rising". So I owe a huge thank you to the Carnegie's fabulous Executive Director Sally Newkirk. She was the generous visionary who offered me a retrospective exhibit early in 2006 when I had no idea I'd ever be able to make art again. Wonders never cease.

countdown to the big event

Whenever I have a major exhibition, either a solo or a 2 person show, the most nerve wracking aspect is delivery day. So many things can go wrong between loading the work and getting it safely into the gallery. In the old days (before my bionic shoulders) I wrapped, packed, lifted, shifted, loaded, unloaded and carried all the work myself. Doubt that had anything to do with developing arthritis in both shoulders; it was just what I did. For me it has always been a control issue. My daughter used to accuse me of being a control freak about making rules for her to follow but I was just trying to be a good mother. I readily admit to being a control freak where my work is concerned. I want to be in total control in the studio, in total control of the framing process, in total control of packing and shipping, in total control of loading the car, in total control of getting the work where it's supposed to be ON TIME and in perfect condition. And why not? Of course it's a matter of professionalism but it's also about bringing order into what is inherently a rather chaotic situation. So few artists ever get to have solo exhibitions in legitimate venues, women still fewer than men, that I have always felt I had to do 200% on my part perhaps in simple gratitude for the opportunity. I can't control who comes to see the work any more than I control who eventually buys it. Sure I can press things and tweak  a bit in that direction but ultimately those things are out of my hands. So delivery day has always been a huge deal for me.

Yesterday both brothers, my nephew and a very close friend were enlisted as my delivery crew. My brother Tom lives around the corner and has helped me load and deliver work many times in the past. It was a first for my nephew and I feel certain he had no idea what the big deal was. For starters I didn't want his father or uncle to strain their backs carrying work up a flight of steps and through a veritable obstacle course into the garage. A boy of 20 can do just about any sort of slave labor! On the othr hand, since I haven't exactly been active in the art business since 2004, he really has no concept of what it entails. Besides, I may need him to be a long haul driver at some point in the future if this second career takes off! All in all some 31 frames were safely delivered to the Carnegie Center for Art and History across the river in New albany, IN.

Today my task was to figure out pricing for the new work and insurance vallues for the older borrowed work. The money part is always tricky. It has become trickier in the current economy. Why should the value of art be exempt from today's financial pitfalls. Art has traditionally been the first thing eliminated from a budget even in good times so trying to price new work to avoid sticker shock always seems like a crap shoot to me. To further complicate things I am literally coming back into the marketplace from the near dead. the bottom dropped out of the contemporary art market starting 4-5 years ago but I wasn't a participant then to notice much. My first solo exbhibition at Langman Gallery in suburban Philadelphia in May 1983 consisted of about 18 drawings. The majority of pieces were priced right around $600. Through the years as work sold and more dealers represented me the prices went up accordingly. I had to laugh today when I realized all my new pieces would be under $1000, most about $700. I have to wonder if this is progreee or regress?

The show opens on Friday night. For 2+ hours I will speak with old friends, meet new people, answer many of the same questions over and over and hope somebody likes the work enough to buy something. A friend driving down from Indianapolis who has never been to an art opening was surprised to learn that I wouldn't have lots of time to chat with him during the event. I had to explain that openings, despite what will hopefully be a party atmosphere, are really rather exhausting working nights for artists, the one opportunity we meet and greet the public and cement a face and personaity in their minds with the pieces of art. I can only be my own advocate a few times during the show such as opening night and when I give gallery talks or teach classes. Otherwise it's up to the art itself to communicate with visitors  -  and for the gallery staff, not me, to answer their questions.

Am I ready for this career renaissance? Probably. Am I getting excited at last over all I have managed to achieve with this new body of work? I think that's starting to sink in. The work is satisfactory  -  and that's saying a whole lot for me! I'll permit myself to get excited when I see some red dots. I'd love to see lots of red dots!!

let there be artwork.... I congratulate myself

My friend Tim Maloney said it was definitely possible for me to figure out how to upload photos of my artwork onto this site. He's a certified genius in my book and someone who has been designing graphics for his own businesses for years and years. I, on the other hand, am still intimidated by computers (this laptop is named "Grammie's Challenge"  -  got the picture?) and I regard those who are fluent in their language as members of some secret society. But Tim assured me that the clever people at Google were ready to deal with ignorant users like moi and had made the photo upload process all but idiot proof. He was right; nothing much new on that front. But the point is that my blog now includes images of some 2010 work for all the world to see. Now the challenge is getting the world to know I exist!! This may well be a "Field of Dreams" scenario.... if I build it "they" will come. One thing is certain; if I don't build it they are far less likely to find me or my work.

There's something very different about learning a new skill at age 63 from learning 40 years earlier. I think it has to do with bravery of the spirit becoming a less elastic entity with age. I have no doubt that with age comes wisdom. There's nothing like life experiences to temper our impulsivity and make for more juducious thoughts before actions. But it feels like there might be a flip side to some of that.... call it the emerging wimp factor. I'm just not as fearless as I think I used to be about trying new things of any kind  -  except food. all I know is that my pulse was literally racing while I was first taking baby steps to navigate how to add a picture here. But with each small success I found my anxiety level easing more and more. Now does this mean I'm brave enough today to figure out how to add images from another source/ No. But I am brave enough to believe I'll even be able to figure out that task as well.

So I congratulate myself on what feels like a major acccomplishment. It's like a subatomic particle for people like Tim and my Belfast friend Ian Fleming. But I feel like a Nobel laureate in technology right about now!!

art career renaissance ain't for sissies

My left shoulder had its 3rd birthday this week. Nobody noticed but me. going bionic is a very personal thing, something truly miraculous but fairly private after all the fuss and bother is past. But having had this 2nd shoulder replacement surgery within 4 months of the first enabled me to set out on a determined part to recapture my skills in the studio and hopefully lead to a career renaissance. Mission accomplished on the first and the jury is still out on the latter.

The odd thing about all this is that I have a 25+ year history with a CV to match. Only now that holds about as much water as the strainer for my pasta. This is a weak economy, weaker still for visual artists in part because art is the very first line item cut from any construction or remodeling budget. It's expendable. Posters are cheap and look good in frames. "Real"artwork unfortunately gets swiftly booted to the back of the bus.

So how lucky am I to be having this big exhibition that opens at the end of the month? Damn lucky. It will be a good show  -  and a long show since it will be up throught Decemebr 30. But my challenge starts before that. what am I going to do about finding new gallery representation for my newly resurrected former career? I'm not even certain my previous galleries will be interested. Just keeping their doors open is a challenge and they may have decided to focus on what sells in this weak market rather than exhibiting work by artists they used to know love and actually sell in the "old days". I may have said this before, but I feel like a virgin with a long resume.

I've ben away from commecrcial art sales for so long I dn;t even know which galleries to approach. I'm starting from scratch looking for galleries that handle works on paper, oil pastel pieces, colorfield pieces, abstractions, work by artists I admire, etc. Once upon a time in the old days this cojuld be accomplished by looking through a year's worth of Art in Americas, noting artists and/or galleries I felt were hopeful prospects and doing a bit more research. Today with the web, the whole world is in digital format and finding a prospective gallery is harder than ever.Getting someone to look at unsolicited work is probably as difficult as it ever was if not harder) but unless an artist knows a represented artist willing to make  the introductions, it's all one enormous crap shoot. I hate gambling.

So my career renaissance has a strong start, especially if there is some sort of decent press coverage I can use as a teaser for galleries. But most likely I'll need to pound the cyber pavements and say lots of prayers. It's a steep climb but I didn't come this far to be  a wimp about it. People have always has positive responses to my work because it is colorful and seems upbeat. I'm counting on that being even more important in a weak economy.

10/10/10 hype

My friend Ian Fleming (the artist not the dead writer) had this entire 10/10/10 event planned in Belfast today. I hope it went swimmingly (one of the activities was a swim in the Lagan River with a group of regular Irish Sea swimmers [?!!!] called the Frosties) and was enjoyed/appreciated by many people of all ages. Having been alerted to the significance of this date by Ian I was ready for something auspicious to happen to me at 10:10 this morning. Charles Osgood read a not so clever poem about 10/10/10 on CBS Sunday Morning but that was it. What an anticlimax. Hope things were more exciting in Belfast.

I need a wife or a secretary or an assistant or a keeper!

In preparing for my upcoming art exhibition I have spent the past 4 weeks doing absolutely necessary clerical and secretarial work. The tedium of it all has certainly been dreadful but something surprising happened along the way.... I fell into a rhythm on occasion that was somehow oddly satisfying. No intellect required, just repetition after repetition after repetition. Today I went though every digital image converted from a slide and selceted 60 works for inclusion on the museum's iPODs. I'm sure the curator wll say that is too many but how am I suposed to include representative samples of my work in chronological progression.... If they will burn these selections on a CD I'll be able to use them when I give talks in the future, including while the show is up. The problem is that this meticulous work which requires almost no brainpower is absolutely exhausting. My house is a mess; my kitchen is a disaster waiting to happen; the bedroom needs a makeover; the whole place needs some serious vaccuuming.and I haven't the energy for any of it!!! I'm waiting for sheets to dry so I can change the bed and that will likely be a 3 stage event!! The show opens 10/29 and a good friend arrives from Dublin that night for a 10 day stay. As excited as I am about this visit I am hoping I can get this place into decent shape over the next 2 weeks!!! I need an extra body!!!

breakfast together for 14 or is it 15 years.....

Today is Thursday so I went to meet artist friends for breakfast as I have been doing most Thursday mornings since 1995 or 1996. Amazing the thing has lasted so long.....

Babrara Pence was a banker who also served with me on the Board of the Louisvile Visual Art Association. One day years ago she announced she was leaving banking to pursue her art in a more serious manner. she asked me to set up some lunches so she could meet with other local artists. I told her that no working artist I knew would break up a studio day to met with another artist -  a potential client , a gallery director most definitely. I explained that I often met artist friends for breakfast and she thought that sounded like  a fine idea. We agreed to each invite another artitst and meet at 8:45 the following Thursday at Lynn's Paradise Cafe. When that was successful the 4 artists agreed to each invite another artist and meet again the following Thursday. The gathering of 8 all felt this was a very valuable and interesting concept to continue. We let it be known throughout the arts community that we were meeting and essentially put out the welcome mat for one and all.

All these years later some of the original 8 still meet along with others who joined the group in dribs and drabs (and some who made the attempt but failed to fit in). It has been a fascinating social experiement to observe simply because there are no rules but the public perception is that one still needs an invitation to have breakfast with us. Some "regulars" have left town leaving room for artists new to Louisvillle to join  and become permanent fixtures. Our ages range from late 40s to 75 with most being 58-63.

Some are painters, some sculptors, some photographers, some work with mixed media (both 2D and 3D), some work with textiles in one form or another. All are successful studio artists who have had many solo exhibitions through the years and whose work is widely collected. We do not compete with eachother. We sometimes collaborate. But always, we encourage and share contact information for some exhibit or grant opportunity that might be of interest to one or to the group.

When I moved back here after nearly 20 years in suburban Philadelphia I never dreamed I would find such a suportive community of very talented artists in my sleepy ol' hometown. But sometime during that 20 year period and the following 2 decades sleepy ol' Louisville became a regonal magnet for creative people of all types, especially visual artists. This odd turn of events has certainly been my good fortune.

in the beginning et al....

For years I have been curious about the chutzpuh needed to publish a collection of thoughts for anyone in the world to read. It recently occured to me that as an artist I have been doing exactly that with my artwork for over 40 years. I just employ colors as my language instead of words. But oh how I love words as well -  for their deliberate intent, their lyricism, their rhythms, their individuality. So I made the decision to simply begin this word adventure and see where it leads. Or if it ends up simply being a self-indulgent circular monologue. Once I figure out how to post images I will share artwork and discuss that on this site as well. However that currently seems overly ambitious for a technophobe like myself.

I know that one day I will have to adjust to a new "phone" that can do everything but bake a cake or do a root canal but for now I steadfastly resist text messaging, mobile TV, game playing and web access in the palm of my hand. My cell phone plan has the minimum number of minutes and I essentially carry the thing in my purse for making appointment changes or possible car emergencies. Never did have much interest in gadgets. I used to think that was a gender issue but have come to understand that seldom applies to anyone under age 50. The so called IT age seems to be entirely egalitarian. And that is a good thing but it doesn't make me want to run right out and buy all sorts of "new" gadgets.

I have this theory that there is a rampant conspiracy among inanimate objects. They are impatiently waiting to control the world as we have known it and their favored form of guerrilla warfare is attacking technology as a way of driving humans totally bonkers. Last night I was watching a perfectly charming made forTV movie. It was a piece of fluff but enjoyable fluffy entertainment when I wasn't in the mood to read Mave Binchy. First the picture began breaking up here and thee. Fifteen minutes later the sound had also broken up and the picture was looking more and more like a jigsaw puzzle. Having determined that this problem solely existed on the one station I was watching (of course) I called to cable company and reported my frustration. Fine. They needed to schedule a technician to come check out the situation tomorrow. Argh.... Then this morning I woke up and wanted to see what fascinating tidbits of news I might learn at 7am when to my horror neither CNN nor MSNBC were working. You got it... pictillations called "tiling" in cable repair language and audio completely messed up to the point where NPR was my only option. I picked up the phone to once again call my cable monopoly and complain for the 2nd time in 8 hours only to find my land line phone wasn't working either. Oh joy. As if having been drawn mysteriously downstairs I went to the computer only to find it wasn't working either. And, oh by the way, my cell phone was dead!!! As I previously mentioned, absolutely HAD to blame the world conspiracy of inanimate objects. And people wonder why my mother's generation has no use for technology!! It ain't for sissies!!!