Elizabeth Kramer's review and video of the artist breakfast group and it's current exhibit. Nice coverage    that presents artists are serious people  -  how refreshing!

http://www.courier-journal.com/article/20130317/SCENE05/303170024/Artists-new-show-reflects-a-community-who-have-been-meeting-weekly-for-breakfast-for-years-18-years?nclick_check=1

I take a certain amount of pride in being the den mother of this group as it has touched so may lives in such a positive fashion. Besides, it's been great fun meeting on Thursday mornings. As jacque Parsley pointed out on FB, this is actually the 4th time the group has had an exhibition since our initial show at the Louisville Visual Art Association in 2004, "Breakfastworks". It's interesting to me how a simple idea has self-institutionalized after so many years. After all, we're not getting older......  we're getting better!

After a ridiculous silence I think it's time to resume this. Since my last posting I have acquired 2 bionic knees, shredded both quadriceps, endured 4 major surgeries in 5 weeks, spent 3 months and 11 days in 2 hospitalizations and 2 rehab facilities. As I write this most of the pain and necessary rehab evils are far behind me. Two days ago I went downstairs in my home for the first time since late March. I've been driving for about 7 weeks and still do physical therapy 3 times a week to strengthen my thighs. My studio and art library are packed, boxed and sealed for a future move. I have sold, consigned and given away plenty and still have too much "stuff" as the great and wise George Carlin said. I approach 2013 knowing 2012 was my own personal "annus horribilis" and whatever comes next will be a cast improvement  -  new home, new artwork, and finally after more than 5 years, a new canine friend. Life is most definitely improving!! Happy Healthy New Year to ALL!!!!

Nothing much to say after the disastrous early February 2 point landing that kept me out of commission for the rest of that month. On April 7, the other shoe dropped. Standing at the stove in front of a newly prepared pan of succotash I reached for a serving spoon and felt/heard something snap in that right knee. Definitely NOT good. After 30 minutes of ice limited the swelling to something the size of a lemon I determined the reinjury could wait until the morning. ER revealed no bone breaks but said torn meniscus and stated that "some sort of intervention would undoubtedly be necessary". I casually remarked that he must have noticed the arthritis in my knee and he muttered "Yep, that's there too." Ya gotta just love understatement. Upshot after 5 weeks of ice, narcotics and rest is a scheduled double knee replacement June 8. Well color me bionic once again!  Are we having fun yet?

Spring has sprung

The birds have been serenading me each morning for the past 3 weeks. They obviously know something old Puxatawney Phil doesn't. I've had a miniature daffodil blooming in my wildflower garden for the past week and this morning I saw the earliest blooming cherry trees decked out in Spring pink 3 weeks earlier than usual.  I just wish Daylight Savings Time began this Saturday rather than at the end of the month.

Having recovered fairly well from my big fall I'm ready to resume work in the studio. My arm was still too sore when I tried drawing 10 days ago but since then I have mastered grocery shopping, driving and lots of slice and dice work in the kitchen. Time to celebrate the changing light by another studio attempt. Ain't life grand!!

oops.....

Nobody would ever make the mistake of labeling me a "domestic diva". I always have more interesting things to do than make certain the house is primped and ready for an Architectural Digest photo shoot. However, operating on the theory that no good deed ever goes unrewarded I decided last Friday afternoon that it was way past time to mop my kitchen floor. Way past time. The mop, the Lysol cleaner and I sloshed through this mundane chore in 15 minutes. Nearly 2 hours later I went back into the kitchen to get some things from the fridge since someone was coming to have dinner with me that night. I carefully placed the items on the counter, turned around and promptly fell onto the floor, not having seen there was still a wet area right in front of the stove. Down I went into a perfect 2 point landing on my right knee and right elbow before hitting my head on the stove and twisting my left ankle. This was not fun. Nothing broken, nothing cut, no concussion but I had one hell of a time getting up from the slippery floor since falling had merely spread with wetness around a larger area. Leverage, the center of gravity, pain and generalized awkwardness all conspired for a less than graceful effort to stand up again. Once back on my feet I immediately grabbed an ice pack and headed for my bed to elevate and ice the knee which was already swelling like a slowly inflating balloon. So here I sit nearly 4 days later sore as can be, badly bruised and contused bur slowly feeling less discomfort. Did I say no good deed goes unrewarded? Wrong!! Make that no good deed goes unpunished!!

thank goodness for collectors

I am fortunate enough to have several people who have actively collected my work for a number of years. As an artist it's amazingly gratifying to learn the art I create repeatedly connects with certain viewers. Obviously it's even better when these people care enough about the work to want to live with it on a daily basis. Thus I was delighted to hear from an old dear friend yesterday who owns 7-8 of my drawings and probably 3-4 pieces of clay. This man is a fairly high level executive with a major corporation. He was telling me that despite amassing an enormous corporate collection over the last 40 years the company eliminated their curator position 3 years ago and downsized the collection by about 20%. As an employee her was able to buy several pieces he'd admired for years for very little money. I told him how pleased I was that he managed to get such bargains. But I also told him I thought those artists would cringe upon learning their meagre sales prices on the secondary market. Fortunately for me he also let me know he wanted to purchase a print of something he had seen here during a studio visit 8 months ago. Happy news indeed. Now I need to rethink the whole idea of limited edition digital prints of my drawings.....

progress comes inch by inch

My dad used to say that the hardest force to overcome in nature was inertia. After far too many years out of the classroom I finally have the opportunity to teach 2 series of workshops at the Speed Art Museum. Aside from being an Artist in Residence these sorts of classes are my favorites. They are informal, fairly brief and completely recreational for the participants. The most important thing however is finally connecting with the museum's Education Department. I hope to sell them on my Art Play for Seniors idea. It would work much better with them serving as host for a series of 4-6 once a month sessions than for me to travel from one senior center to another dragging materials with me everywhere, do all the set up and clean up, manage the promotion and money plus pay for all supplies out of my fees. Baby steps. I think this is a concept whose time has finally arrived. Working at the Speed and hopefully impressing them by my versatility as an artist/teacher seems like the perfect nudge to overcome this particular inertia.

snow in the air at last

I hope tomorrow is a sunny day. I absolutely love working in the studio when the sun is shining on snow in the back yard. I bought this house 24 years ago because the back yard could be made totally private like a park. I've lost more than a few big trees through the years but the planting I have done gives me complete privacy in a natural setting. The studio windows face due north and the land slopes slightly upward toward the back of the lot where enormous white pine trees mark the property line separating me from my neighbor. When there is snow on the ground the reflected light is so clean and so pure that colors in the studio literally sing in front of me. There is something magical about winter light. I have studio lights of course. They are supposed to replicate daylight at noon in December. All I know is that when I work at night there are no color shifts to deal with the following morning. But since it was gray and icy and snowy most of today I hope the sun shines tomorrow. The studio is calling me.......

not such a Happy New Year

Late yesterday afternoon my son-in-law's stepfather was killed in a motorcycle accident. Tragedies like this are always a shock. This was a nice men, only 56 years old, safety conscious, always wore a helmet. He was a dedicated family man who adored his sons, and his grandchildren, his parents and siblings. I am especially sad for my grandchildren, his step-grandchildren, who he loved as his own. They have lost their only grandfather. The sole consolation in this is that they all spent a very happy day together on Christmas and have lovely memories to focus on. Not exactly a happy way to begin a new year for any of us. May he have a gentle rest and may those who loved him find some peace in their grief. He really was a very nice man.....

amazing grace

Something amazing happened last week. A man compared my work to Mark Rothko's. Considering the fact that I think of that artist as "Saint Rothko" this was truly amazing praise. Obviously as an abstract colorist I worship at the feet of several artist gods: Whistler, Redon, Monet, Turner, Gauguin and Degas. I owe homage to Klee and Gorky and Chagall as well as Milton Avery. Each artist has other artists whose work transcends earthly bounds. We may not take direct inspiration from them but their uniqueness haunts the recesses of our minds. So to have someone say that anything I created reminded him of Rothko's profound work was not only an astonishing compliment but a reason for me to remind myself that simplicity and reduction are often the path to successful pieces. Less is more for sure and nobody practiced that better than St. Rothko when exploring the vibrant subtleties of pure color. Amazing grace indeed.

dilemma

I find myself at a crossroad. This is normally the time of year when I feel most creative and am in fact most productive. Real life is pulling me in assorted directions. This is fact not a real complaint. What is perplexing is my desire to work in the studio and concentrate on larger pieces rather than the small water color things I have been doing. My work needs to be framed and frames cost money. I currently have a backlog of maybe 2 dozen unframed larger pieces. What justifies the expense of creating more work in a climate of such poor sales? Smaller work is easier to keep track of in a portfolio but it certainly sells no faster than larger pieces. Might as well make what I want to satisfy myself until I either run out of materials or make some sales to replenish supplies.

teaching

At breakfast Thursday morning I got into a conversation with 2 previously unknown women artists. They mentioned taking classes and just hearing that I realized how much I miss teaching, especially with adults. In addition to sharing my own knowledge and expertise I recognize the fact that I miss the exchange of information that arises form teaching. I miss learning the unexpected from students.

I told these women that if they had any interest in a composition/design course that I'd be happy to work with them. I mentioned my preference for colored pencils and watercolor crayons so as not to get bogged down with painting techniques. This seemed to interest them. But mainly they were interested in learning composition, something I feel equally comfortable explaining as when I speak about color. I have no idea why something I view as an essential skill is so often left out of classes. I look at paintings by people who have learned a specific method of replicating a photograph and have managed to conquer a painting technique or 2 and all I can focus on is their weak design and composition, their poor use of negative space in support of the picture's theme elements. Decent technique, lots of hours and they want to know why their picture just isn't quite "right".

So I hope to hear back from these 2 women that they have found a 3rd person interested in studying composition and basic design. If this develops I doubt anything will happen until after the holidays but I certainly hope something will happen.

family times

I am having a bit of trouble reconciling the fact that I am the mother of a 36 year old woman who has 3 children of her own. How has time managed to evaporate so completely? A 10pm on November 20, 1975 I got a phone call from my brother-in-law. The call itself was somewhat odd since he seldom called. More unusual and entirely unexpected was his conversation after I said "hello".......... "Susan, this is Mel. Do you and Frank still want a baby?" You have to admit that in all sorts of imagined conversational openers, that has to take top honors for uniqueness. But after years of dehumanizing toxic unsuccessful infertility treatments, such a question seemed no more bizarre than the treatments themselves (which I had discontinued 6 weeks earlier). Each year on November 19 we celebrate Starr Catherine Gorsen Crafton's birthday because that is the date she was born. I tend to hold November 23 as sacred since that is when we first met her. Regardless of the date I still find it amazing that so much time has passed since then. The blessing of having Starr in my life only increases with the years.....

November sunsets

For decades I have looked forward to November afternoons for the spectacular sunsets. I don't know why they seem so much more vivid at this time of the year but my heart just leaps watching the color shifts. It's amazing how much pleasure nature brings into our lives. It's always there, a perpetual source of delight. Far too many people living in constant states of stress never notice what is all around them and never realize what they are missing. Must be one pure benefit of being a true Type B personality. I may move slowly but I seldom miss the magic.

new computer, big learning curve.....

Four weeks, count 'em, 4 weeks after the triple lightening strike in my yard that fried my elderly computer I finally have a new computer and am ready to resume some sort of regular living. For more than 6 years I have been using a borrowed PC of one sort or another. Decided when the last machine bit the dust in the big storm that the Universe was essentially telling me that my grace period avoiding buying a computer had finally expired. Buying a new computer that would serve any and all of my needs for at least 5 years wasn't exactly a walk in the park once I learned just how expensive refurbished Mac laptops were. heaven bless my brother Tom for his patience helping me search through the astonishing number of used Macbooks online. Friends CJ and Geoff told me what sort of specs to look for and that was amazingly helpful. As always the devil is in the details and there are lots and lots of details. But after investing hours and hours of reading the fine print and checking the reliability of various vendor sources I finally narrowed the list to about half a dozen and once again asked advice regarding which of those was going to work best for me. Et voila..... here we are with an elegant 15" MacBook pro that looks brand new and ought to be in the MOMA design collection Now I know why people are so in love with the late Steve Jobs. Sheer genius for easy function. now if I can just learn not to be afraid of the thing and figure out how to really take advantage of all this new technology at my fingertips. think I'll take a Mac class!!

Typical art world craziness

Several weeks ago I got a call from my local art dealer telling me that a corporation was interested in buying my "Science Fair III" series, 7 framed monochromatic 36"x28" oil pastel drawings based on the 7 main colors of the light spectrum. He told me the piece had been installed for over a week and the corporation was ready to sign a contract EXCEPT for the small fact that their budget was less than the already reduced price of the piece. It seems there's a "gotcha!" in every scenario.

Since this work was essentially 15 years old I was willing to reduce the price by 1/3 its original cost. I also, for the first time, agreed to sell the pieces individually, effectively breaking up the set, provided at least 3 pieces were purchased. I completed 6 versions of this particular theme and 4 have sold through the years, 2 privately and 2 in institutions. Interestingly enough the original "Science Fair" (which requires a wall at least 30" wide to install) was shown as part of my "Phoenix Rising" exhibition last fall and was an enormous crowd pleaser. I understand the fact that pricing 7 framed images as 1 unified piece makes the cost sound very high so it doesn't surprise me that, despite having been exhibited 5 times through the years, the largest version has not yet found a home for itself. It will when the time comes but having 2 left to sell motivated me to seriously consider a counteroffer for "SF3".

Rather than trying to get more money from this potential customer I decided to ask for more than the usual 50% artist's split since I had already offered a large reduction. Some dealers are so pro-artist that they will cut their commission if it is the only way to save the sale. I was willing to cut my own commission an additional 10% provided the 2 dealers involved would each cut theirs by 25% in order to remain within the client's stated budget. As it turned out, this proposal was acceptable to all parties. As my wise brother Tom once said, sold work beats unsold inventory by a mile.......

So what's the problem? When I was notified the sale would go through I was also notified it would probably be  about 18 months before I'd get paid!!!!!!!! Having been a part of this corporate program in the past I was well aware that in most cases they tie up work for a year before the client decided which pieces they will actually purchase. The available money is usually some percentage of the total value of the works installed. It's why most artists give older pieces to the program  -  better to see them on a wall in some bank or commercial institution than have them in a closet. But in this particular instance, work had already been contracted for installation earlier in 2011. This same client expanded their space and needed additional work in August which is where "SF3" came into play. At the time I knew nothing about any of this since I had originally been told the work was going to be installed in the lobby of our local cable TV company. Change of plans as to location. But when I was called initially I (wrongly) assumed this was one of the cases where the corporate art marketer had an immediate purchase request and "SF3" fit the bill. What I didn't know was that rather than piggybacking the additional inventory on 2011"s conract they wrote an entierly new contract for 2012 ( despite the fact this was only August 2011). In this scenario I would have to wait until the end of 2012 (August 2012 at the earliest) for payment. It's how the contract was written and as an artist I am essentially powerless to affect any changes.

The "gotcha!" is that somebody loves my work and is willing to pay their entire budget to have it BUT they won't be asked to pay until that contract expires late in 2012. They have signed the purchase agreement and will enjoy the artwork free of charge until then. Will I need the money at that point? Certainly. Do I really need that money right now? You BET!!! And the sad part is that these sorts of deals are typical of the flaming hoops artists are asked to jump through all the time. Burn baby burn.

15 years and counting

Yesterday I went to the regular Thursday morning artist breakfast only to find that there was just one other artist in attendance. This is a rarity. for 15 years, give or take a few months, a group of mid-career Louisville artists have been meeting for breakfast every Thursday morning. What began as a group of 8 has included more than 50 artists through the years. Most weeks there are about 10 artists who show up between 8:45and 9:20am. while this has always been an open meeting the group has embraced the arrival of some artists and seemingly ignored others who dropped out after 2 or 3 visits.

All of this began when a fellow Louisville Visual Art Association Board member asked me to introduce her to some local artists. She was a senior level banker getting ready to retire and so she could concentrate on painting. She asked me to set up a lunch meting but I told her that, unlike 9-5 workers, no artist I knew would be willing to interrupt a studio day just to have lunch and just chat. I also told her that I often met artist friends for breakfast and thought that might work better. We each decided to invite an artist friend for breakfast the following week. That next week the 4 of us decided this might be a great way to keep in touch with artists since the only time we ever seemed to get together was during openings when there was no way to have any sort of serious discussion or exchange of information while standing around in  a crowd. We decided to each ask another artist to meet the following week at which time we collectively decided this was a very good idea indeed.

From this simple idea an institution was born. We began at one restaurant until their prices got so high that some people stopped coming for economic reasons. We then moved to a very small downtown diner where we took over their back room and terrorized their quirky 1950's style waitress for a couple of years. Their crowded condition and smoking policy drove us into suburbia for about 5 years until that restaurant/deli lost it's lease. We now meet at the edge of downtown in a lovely restaurant where we simply push another table together as the group enlarges from week to week. Once again we are on a first name basis with the waitress and have the gratitude of the owner for increasing his Thursday morning business.

The most interesting thing is how many of the artists from that first year still come several times each month. As some people have moved out of town others have moved in to fill their places yet there is still a core group of 8-10 who have continued from those beginning months. Most of us are in our late 50's to mid 60's now but several are over 75 and a few are in their 30's. Lots of experience to share . Lots of talent around 1 table. All in all, it's probably the best idea I ever had!! So being there with only 1 other person yesterday was a fluke that happens several times a year.Iit gave me a chance to really have a serious conversation with someone I knew only slightly and that was an amazingly enjoyable hour.

on exhibit

"Broken Link" will be included in an exhibit at Louisville's Firehouse Gallery on Hancock Street. 
The show features 2 dozen regional artists. There is an opening reception Thursday September 1
from 6-8pm as well as the First Friday Trollley Hop the following evening. I suggest trying to attend
Thursday since the forecast for Friday is 95F!

time marches on....

So many things have happened during the past 7 weeks that I hardly know where to begin. Of course the most important is the birth of my 3rd grandchild, Nathaniel, on July 26. A blessing for one and all.

But life manages to continue in all the small regular ways despite such big events. My problem is that the heat this summer has been so fierce that I have turned into a human slug. I'm more than ready for the end of air conditioning season and the return of 55F nights!!

My position as Artist Facilitator for ArtsWORK New Albany has been a real source of frustration. It's such a misfit for this little suburban community across the river from Louisville. all of the artists I have asked to participate in giving Saturday morning talks have been gracious in accepting my invitation but the audiences continue to shrink to the point where I am embarrassed by the turnout, moreso by the fact that there is no money available to even pay them the smallest honorarium for their eforts. September is the last month of the program and I will try every trick I can to get a bigger turnout for one of the region's most respected and admired senior artists. Unfortunately there is a program at the same site that evening with NPR's Bob Edwards, a beloved Louisville native, which may very well trump the morning talk in the crossing the river department for people interested in both..... We shall see.

Meanwhile my garden has once more gone to pot. This was most definitely NOT the year to resume any attempt at growing tomatoes or anything else in large pots. Planning on buying field chrysanthemums and chucking all the herbs and veggies for a bit of color!! And so it goes.

The bright spot is that friends of my brother's were here for supper Friday night and insisted on exploring the studio with amazingly enthusiastic responses. It's always lovely when near strangers encounter my work and immediately feel such a strong connection. My fingers are crossed for the possibility of sales in the future.....

hard to be creative with melting crayons

Anyone who read my last post here knows full well how I detest hot humid summer weather. What I didn't add to my earlier rant is the sad fact that oil pastels, my medium of choice since 1980, actually begin to melt in the heat. Even when air conditioning  keeps the studio around 75-78F it's still hot and humid enough for the things to melt as soon as I have them in my hands for more than about 90 seconds. I guess this would be fine if I actually used oil pastels another way but since I like layering them dry surface on to dry surface it gets a wee bit problematic to work when  the result is more like making mudpies than making art. All I can say is that I am thankful last June wasn't like this June or I'd never have been able to complete so many pieces for my "Phoenix Rising" exhibit!

This year's major task is to sift through 23 years of accumulated materials in this house so I can make the challenging decisions regarding what to save, what to throw away, what to give away and what to try to sell (heh, heh, heh and good luck with THAT!). IN addition I am spending way too much time outseid with a wonderful yard helper trying to put this poo  neglected piece of property back into some semblence of order. I came across photos of my gardens in June 1995. Glorious. Absolutely glorious in every direction. Hard to believe I actually did every bit of that work myself. I wanted to live in a park surrounded by English floral border plantings and that's what I had and enjoyed for years.

The sad thing about arthritis like I had is the complete inability to get ticked off about things I couldn't do any longer. Ok I stopped all garden work in the Spring of 2004. Nobody could expect anything besides survival of the fittest after 7 years of complete neglect. On Wednesday my son-in-law and grand daughter came over late in the morning. It was shady on the far side of the house so he agreed to tear out vines that had completely engulfed several holly trees as well as way too many volunteer shrub honeysuckles. One vine was about 1" in diameter at its base. As he was strugling to pull in out from the hollies I told Sara I wouold make her a wreath from that kind of vine. She, of course, thought Grammie was completely nuts with this sort of project. Grammie had never made a wreath in her life so Sara wsn't too far of the mark thre after all. But I just sat in a white plastic chair winding this vine around itself until I had actually created a wreath about 16" wide. It's up to Sara and Jake to decorate it for Halloween and then convince their mother to let them hang the thing!!

It's hot. That was about the limit of my creativity for the week. Now back to sorting through clothing and digging through drawers and closets for yet more surprises to drag to the lovely folks at Goodwill to rehabilitate. Last trek included a dozen stufed animals, including some rare light beige monkeys left over from one year when Starr's team mascot at camp was a beige monkey. I'm actually enjoying this process as well as the garden/yard reclamation work. Just wish it were November and 55-60F outside. And of course wish my house were sold and I was getting ready to relocate to somewhere small with large rooms!