Hodge Podge and Thank You

Donna Watson, Acrylic and collage

I am leaving for NYC very soon... my son is graduating from Columbia University with his Masters of Fine Art degree.   He has been living in NYC for several years and is in the Davidson Contemporary Gallery in Manhattan.  You can go to the gallery link here to see more of his work.

Matthew Watson, oil on copper, 6"x6"

I have been very fortunate lately to receive a number of wonderful gifts in the mail... and in person... from artists I have met in person or through my blog.  I want to share some of the creative artistic gifts here.  I have met some very generous friends and I want to thank them for their support and generosity.

  First up is Elizabeth Bunsen.  She is into circles and dots like I am and she sent me the most fabulous packet in the mail.. filled with all sorts of fabric and papers stamped with circles and dots.

Elizabeth also included some of her wonderful rocks... she knows I love rocks and collect them.

Her warm colorful dot and circle filled blog can be found here. 

Lynne Perrella sent me the most creative envelope above...  a large envelope inside a plastic sleeve with the stamps placed outside in the most amazing way.   I had a lot of fun opening up such a wonderful envelope.  Her website can be found here. 

Leslie Avon Miller is a good friend of mine.  She recently gifted me with one of her beautiful hand made tags...  and a clay Asian coin made by a friend of hers ... which she knew I coveted.   You can find more of Leslie's tags and collages and art work at her blog here. 

Cathy Hegman sent me a bird's nest some time ago.  Thank you Cathy for such a wonderful gift.

Her blog can be found here.    Mary Ann Burke lives on the east coast.  We met online through my blog and when she came to Seattle for a ceramic/clay event she came to visit me.  She gifted me with these large clay 'eggs' because she knew how much I admired them.  

Seth Apter came to the Seattle area (Bellevue WA) for one of his wonderful book signings for his book THE PULSE OF MIXED MEDIA.  He gave me one of his wonderful art works above.  

  

Seth also gave a short demo of one of his collage works.  You can find out more about his book, his book tour and travels and his art at his blog here.  

What we make, why it is made, how we draw a dog, who it is we are drawn to, why we cannot forget.

Everything is collage, even genetics.

There is hidden pleasure of others in us, even those we have known briefly.

We contain them for the rest of our lives, at every border we cross.

--- Michael Ondaatje

Surviving on Hope

Title: Edge of Light, older painting chosen here for its title.

For several days now, the news and images coming out of Japan have been devastating and heartbreaking. I would like to dedicate my blog post to the people of Japan, and to all peoples all over the world, as they struggle to recover their home, family and community. I recently read a review of a book written by David Brooks titled THE SOCIAL ANIMAL: The Hidden Sources of Love, Character and Achievement. In essence, it is a book about the human need for connection, friendship, and love. We yearn for "community"; we have the urge too "merge". What drives us, ultimately, is the need to be understood by others. I think this is especially true for artists. Though we work by ourselves in our studios, we still need 'community' and for others to understand what we are trying to communicate with our art works.

Novie Trump, ceramic artist, is participating in THE NEST PROJECT: WHAT DOES HOME MEAN TO YOU? at the Torpedo Factory in Virginia. NEST is a juried exhibition which examines the nest as a symbol for home and refuge, both literally and conceptually. Besides the juried exhibition there are installations, and a community built nest. You can find out much more information about The Nest Project and the Torpedo Factory here. Novie's website is found here.

Sharon Beals is a photographer who has a new book (above) coming out soon titled NESTS: Fifty Nests and the Birds that built them. The book is available for pre-order at Amazon.com and here is her wonderful website with more images and more information. The next two images are from her book.

Entering it
you enter yourself,
the world connects
and closes like a ring.
-- Octavio Paz, poet

Sharing the signs
of early spring,
singing the songs
of the artists' works
and poets' words here.
Soar with inner wings.
-- Neva Gagliano, artist and poet, blog here.

Bird eggs are a beautiful metaphor for the cycle of life, renewal and hope. Mary Ann Burk, a ceramic artist and potter, makes eggs that look like they came out of the earth. She places her eggs on driftwood and branches or ceramic pedestals. Her work is at the Barnswallow gallery and you can find her wonderful blog here. Her art pieces are above and the 2 images below.

I said to my soul, be still, and wait.. the faith and the hope and the love and all the waiting... the darkness shall be the light and the stillness the dancing.
--- t.s. eliot

Lesley Bricknell is a fine arts textile artist and photographer. Lesley is attracted to fragile and transient surfaces that she intentionally ages, stains, and spoils. She loves worn or discarded garments, with histories which she "reclaims". She looks for the purity in the impermanence and fragility of objects and life. She has her beautiful images at her website here and at her blog here. The next 3 images belong to Lesley.

"...When they ask to see your gods
your book of prayers
show them lines
drawn delicately with veins
on the underside of a bird's wing..."
-- J. L. Stanley

Outside the sun shines
birds sing
and I am not having to make
snap decisions about what
to stuff into a suitcase
or how I might get
6 cats (and the rest) to safety.
-- India Flint, textile artist, blog here.

Those of us who are safe and warm, we are the fortunate ones.