Saturday, January 31, 2015

Fuzzy






I don't know what's up with my camera, but fuzzy is how these images came out -my apologies. I am so low tech and don't know how to operate the camera when there is a hitch. Nevertheless I wanted to share with you the process of this painting, which went through a week of being pretty much grey  and I didn't like it. I leafed through my Gainsborough and found colors that I immediately responded to.
You can see how the painting transformed. I have been having a lot of fun and inner eagerness to explore these abstract backgrounds. In the past I merely wanted the nature background to work out and be done so I could start with the figures ,animals ,etc.  Now I am taking my time in the ocean of color until I feel I am at the right place to move on to the foreground of the image. More than ever I feel guided my intuition and devoid of a "plan". 
It's all a bit fuzzy.

Wednesday, January 28, 2015

DANCE !!






I LOVE to dance. I started dancing when I was 5 years old and living in a suburb of Buenos Aires. My mom had taken me to see Swan Lake and I danced to the music in outfits from the dress up box, in white of course, face in agony as the dying swan comes to her end. Later in Germany I took classes of and on and really got back into it in my teenage years. I would've loved to dance professionally but luckily I knew back then that my body was not made for it. I am not flexible. After years of teaching aerobics in my twenties to make money ( later I taught yoga) I found myself falling head over heals in love with partner dancing. I dabbled in swing , salsa, waltz and contra dancing, but my real passion was zydeco. I would go dancing 5 nights a week at times and joined an equally obsessed and lovely community. Now I love going to Tara Dyberg's improvisation class,   http://tdyberg.wix.com/lotus-body#!about2/cr81 . Can you see the pleasure in my face ? I love moving my body in many ways, but dancing is really one of my most treasured ways to celebrate living. Dance!

Monday, January 26, 2015

old work






Today I dug out some old work of mine. Executed between 1993 and 2002 ,all acrylic and bees wax on hand-stitched paper bags and rolled up in tubes, stuck in my basement. So I pulled everything out.There were about 25 works or so and set it up to capture them digitally. I still have heavy folders full of slides. It was fun to see these pieces again in daylight, see the transition of the work, smell the beeswax. It brought back memories of my old studio ( my living room), days with a  phone on a chord and labeling slides. I liked that 'by hand' pace.
All works are available for sale by the way.

Sunday, January 25, 2015

Horses









I love horses.I started riding in Berlin when I was about ten, usually in tiny, downtrodden pony ranches that were near us on the fringes of the suburbs. We had a lot of freedom there and could just rent the horses, take them out into the neighborhood and let them graze  on the lawn behind our apartment building. I stopped riding at about 14 and didn't pick it up again until visiting Iceland several years ago. Icelandics had been my favorite horses as a kid and I never lots my fascination wit these durable ,strong and fast little horses that have 4 to 5 gears. My favorite being the Toelt, which is supersmooth and goes from a slow trot pace to a gallop.There is just nothing like it.Some of my favorite riding in the US has been at EKONE,  www.ekone.org ,a lovely ,spirit horse camp for adults and children alike. My daughter is now in complete horse craziness and goes riding locally once a week. About once a month I take a lesson myself, so I can keep up my skills. This summer we will go riding again in Germany. I am excited that my sister and niece are also horse fans, it is something that unites us in a way only horses can.

Friday, January 23, 2015

pottery



As I am slowly making progress in the pottery studio ( with lots of mistakes and tired arms) I am not surprised that I felt a need to paint pots. This new painting titled 'Fire" is going to be in my show at SLETE /Obsolete in May in Santa Monica, CA. I've got more pottery in me, painted and three dimensional. Stay tuned.

Sunday, January 18, 2015

My show in NYC

 




My art work for my upcoming show at Littlejohn Contemporary has arrived in Chelsea.The show titled "Edges of Mist" will open on February 12th.  More at www.littlejohncontemporary.com 
Now I am already prepping panels for the next show in LA. It's a busy time.

Wednesday, January 14, 2015

The bigger picture

Watch this short clip -comedian Aamer Rahman:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dw_mRaIHb-M
The bigger picture needs to sink in.

Tuesday, January 13, 2015

Cover for Penguin Books


It's been hard to do a follow up blog after the "Je suis Charlie" entry. So just a quick note on a cover commission I am doing for Penguin Books for a series on Monarchs. This is depicting Charles II.


Tuesday, January 6, 2015

I am learning to make pots!






It all started with a beautiful plate that I bought from Faye Baker of Fayezart at her annual Holiday Sale two years ago. I fell in love with handmade pottery after that, had Faye make us a whole set of dinner ware and collected pieces mostly at Thrift stores  and flea markets. Now I have finally decided I need to make time to learn myself how to throw a pot! Got my first two bowls done today with Faye's help. Check out her website at Fayezart.com.
Above Faye showing me the technique and a few pieces from my collection

Thursday, January 1, 2015

A New Year!

Spent the last days of 2014 in nature, hiking, basking in the winter sun and poking through ferny forest with our dogs. I wish for more of that in 2015 -the ever -healing beauty of the land !
A happy New Year to you !