TEXTURES AND A FOGGY MORNING BEACH WALK

"I must go down to the seas again
for the call of the running tide is a wild call
and a call that may not be denied;
And all I ask is a windy day with the white clouds flying,
And the flying spray and the blown splume,
and the seagulls crying."

-John Edward Masefield

I am at the beach this week. I started freaking a bit because I didn't have the time to get a "see ya later" blog entry together. However, my daughter brought her computer and I somehow have figured out how to post here as well. It's kind of like driving another car for awhile.....it takes a few moments to figure out the different configuration of everything but, you do it AND OFF YOU GO!!

I'm in Ocean City, New Jersey. It's about an hour and forty minutes from home. Atlantic Ocean, for the geographically challenged. Someone has offered their home and we grabbed it. We usually go to other beach towns...Long Beach Island, or Longport/Margate. Being so close to so many metropolitan areas ( Philadelphia ,New York and Washington) it becomes quite crowded in the summer at the New Jersey "shore". I do love the ocean, though.

One of the best things that blogging has taught me, is to find beauty everywhere. I love seeing everyones photographs of just about ANYTHING and go "WOW". It "BLOGGLES" the mind. So here goes....with my crappy little camera. Not sure if this will be a mind "bloggling" experience for you but I had fun.









Recommended beach read this week. I'm half way through and enjoying it immensely. The descriptions of Venice are a treat. I'm .... breathing the venetian air and smelling the smells and.......

NEW "GRANDPUPPY"

"A dog owns nothing, yet is seldom dissatisfied". -Irish Proverb

"A dog is the only thing on earth, that loves you more than he loves himself".
-Josh Billings




We got our first dog, Daisy, a Golden Retriever( above with my son Daniel), when the kids were small. I thought my husband was crazy, Two small children to take care of and now we had a puppy. In the end, Daisy turned out to be a wonderful addition to our family. She lived almost 17 years, which is extraordinary for a large dog. We got Maggie, another Golden, when Daisy was about 10. Boy did we ever love those dogs!!! Maggie has been gone for about a year and a half now, and I still come home from work everyday looking for her to greet me.

Bob and I have contemplated getting another, but we are away so much , we decided it would not be fair to any of us.

"IT"S A BOY"!!!!! ...were the first words I heard this past Sunday morning when Daniel called to let us know that he and Jordana (below) finally pick up their new puppy, Dakota. We are very excited for them and can't wait to see our new "grandpuppy".




ART????
Well this week I'm busy working on my pages for the altered book round robin I'm involved in and am not able to share those images at this point. boo hoo.

WHAT ABOUT BOB?

"The meeting of two personalities is like the contact of two chemical substances: if there is any reaction, both are transformed" -Carl Jung






The blue sailboat is our honeymoon boat. A pastel drawing I did 29 years ago , this weekend. Yes, this weekend, July 22 will be our 29th wedding anniversary. I am lucky enough to say I have truely been married all of this time to the love of my life (yes, I was a child bride...HA!).

It was 102 degrees that day. We, of course, wanted an outdoor wedding. Everyone was tipsy on the champagne punch before we even showed up, they were so thirsty. Reguardless, it was beautiful. To top it off, we went sailing for two weeks in the British Virgin Islands with a few friends (that's the only way we could afford it). Glorious.

Etching of Bob not long after we met.


Pastel drawing soon after we started living together....yes, before we were married. Pssst....don't tell my mother.

In fused glass.

Sketch of Bob sleeping at the beach last weekend.

The happy couple at our place in Telluride wearing our extremely attractive cowboy hats that make our kids feel incredibly mortified.

I only wish that I were as eloquent as some of my fellow bloggers and could tell you with more beautiful words how I feel about this man. As it is, he thinks I spend too much time here anyway, but he knows it makes me happy, so it's ok.

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY, ROBERTO.....mi amore

IT'S ALL IN THE DETAILS

Meet my mother-in-law Yolanda, sisters-in-law Anne and Jane( dear sister-in-law Maria was not there at the time). This photo was taken by, who else?....my daughter the photographer Emily, last summer at a bridal shower for my daughter-in-law Jordana. Why am I telling you all this? Well, it has to do with how I work. I like the details. I like to focus in on something rather than taking in the whole picture. These days I think it has alot to do with my eyesight changing. You know, as you get older, suddenly you are holding things as far away as you possibly can in order to read them.



Being trained as an artist, you are taught to look closely at everything. I find it increasingly frustrating trying to see the details these days. Anyway.....I looked at this photograph and loved how their feet were arranged. I decided to paint them with encaustics (melted, fused beeswax).



I love the texture that you can get with the layers of wax and color. Particularly, the brushstroke marks. I also love the challenge of trying to make the marks that I want with the brush before the wax cools.




On another note.......My friend, ELYNNE ROSENFELD, recently had an exhibit of her paintings at a local hospital/medical center. She sent out an announcement for her show that I thought was incredibly moving and beautiful about ART AND HEALING. Please visit her blog (http://elynnerosenfeldsblog.blogspot.com/) and read what she has to say. I think you will be moved as well. Below are two pieces from her show.

LIKE SHOES?????

So I just returned from a fun trip to visit some dear friends in North Carolina. I played three rounds of golf...some good .....some bad on a gorgeous golf course full of pine trees and lush foliage. I was marveling at the beauty. I turned on my computer to check what has been going on in the world , and got no further than the opening Apple page on my iMac. There was this article about a photographer, Michel Tcherevkoff, who decided to take actual live flowers and create "shoes" out of them to photograph. I had to share.

On a humourous note......I suppose it would be impossible for your feet to develope anything but a lovely smell wearing these.

SOMETHING FOR EVERYONE-almost

I had so many things going through my mind this morning, I was unable to choose one of them to post, so here goes a long one. Perhaps, I can take the next year off....yeah, sure.

Most importantly, today is my mothers 93rd birthday....shhhhh, don't tell anyone. She told some of her friends where she lives that she is 84!! I told her she should be proud of her age and how active she still tries to be, despite extreme osteporosis, but, no, she wants to be 84. She has had a hard life. Always working hard, taking care of my father through his alzheimers, then my grandmother......me. As an only child I am doing my best to keep her happy these days......and let me tell you, sometimes it's not easy (she can be cranky :-)).

The photo above is a "mishmash". It's actually a beautiful photo my daughter Emily took of her, after she "dressed her up" in the weird makeup and curlers. Emily won an award in a show with that photo. I decided to photograph it in the frame. What you see is my reflection, in my blue PJs. I liked it this way. Just ignore the as yet uncombed hair.





She met my father at a ballroom dancing. She loves to dance. The old photo is when she was in her late 20's, still not married. The one in the middle is her now, with my son Daniel, at his wedding in October. What a happy day for all of us. Then the woman who now has trouble walking a few steps without a walker, is seen dancing the hora at the wedding. There is no keeping her still when the right music is playing. Her favorite TV show is "Dancing With the Stars".

Below are three pieces I did , using my mothers images, in response to feelings about aging. They are sandcast glass imbedded with copper. I love working in the sand, imbedding an image and then pouring the hot molten glass into the image and watching it cool.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MOM. I LOVE YOU.





These next images I did for Constance, at Rochambeau. One of her last posts had to do with one of mother natures most beautiful designs, the shell. They make her happy. I got inspired and needed to sketch.




Lastly, my friend Judy at Red Velvet, has been posting some incredibly thought provoking images and writing about the Holocaust. I had mentioned in a previous post or two about an incredible museum in Philadelphia, The Liberty Museum. founded by a man named Irv Borowsky, an incredible man with an incredible art glass collection. He put together a great group of artists that made pieces for a book and exhibit called "Artists Confronting the Inconceivable", remembrances of the Holocaust. Below are just some of the unique and beautifully emotional works that were chosen.


Listen to the Flames by Toan Klein


Portrait of Anne Frank by Dana Zamecnikova


Please Look at Me by Steve Tobin

VISITING NEW YORK

Trash cans in Brooklyn. So....do you think they look better "decorated", or not? I found them to be a welcome change. They made me smile :-)


A face on the wall of a bathroom in Bistro Moutarde in Brooklyn.


From the always fabulous windows of Bergdorf Goodmans. "Fall preview"!!! if you can believe it...so soon.


The product of a wonderful day shopping at New York Central Art Supply. They have the best paper, brush, paint and just about everything else collection/selection I have ever seen crammed into an incredibly small space.


We went to see the Broadway show "Jersey Boys" and went out to dinner for Emilys birthday. I had not been a HUGE 4 Seasons fan (any of you "youngsters" remember them?)....but this show featuring their story and music was fabulous.



Last but certainly NOT least, on the way up to NYC, Em and I had "Dunch"( what we are calling a meal between lunch and dinner) with my friend Constance. I've mentioned her in another post and how fabulous her handbags are. You can see her blog by clicking on her name to the right......anyway, she brought some samples of her new work and this one just grabbed me. I only wish you could see all of the fine detail work inside as well.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, EMILY

"When I approach a child,
she inspires me in two sentiments:
Tenderness for what she is,
and respect for what she may become."

-Louis Pasteur

My lovely, talented daughter, Emily turned 25 yesterday. This is my way of sending everything wonderful her way. Happy Birthday, Em!

PHILADELPHIA MURALS

First, I would like to send many thanks to everyone that offered such kind words from my last post. I've spent the last few days in New York City with my wonderful daughter, keeping her company while she is starting grad school and have not had computer access (sometimes a blessing!!).

With all of the "away time" I have had lately, I have not had ANY time for creating. I do find it mind expanding however, coming up with creative things to post. Since I was in the "big city" the last few days and usually tend to see "rural beauty" on many blogs, I decided that I would share something incredibly wonderful about my city, Philadelphia.

In 1984, a woman named Jane Golden, started what was supposed to be a short lived mural program, to combat the worsening graffiti problem we were having (I was particularly struck by the incredible amount of graffiti I saw in Portugal, which I was told was a recent problem.....just thought I'd mention that). To make a long story short.....yeah...right!......Philadelphia now has the most murals of any city in the world (over 2700)! There are wonderful tours. There is a website (www.muralarts.org). They are truely transforming. These are just a few examples. Enjoy.