Elfing season

This has been a lot of fun!

Our house has been jumping with ideas and steaming kettles, ribbons, tape and twinkles.

What are twinkles, you ask?
Its a seasonal mix of cranberries, cinnamon, charm and gratitude.

#dyigifts #celebrateonashoestring #mullingspices #puttanesca

Time to reflect

It's the time of year where we're attracted to looking back and looking forward. It seems the calendar for 2020 might be potently laden with hindsight. There has been a lot of struggle going on all over the planet. Even though we live in a period of massive prosperity and un-imagined peace, the news fills us in with the horrors of incarcerated children at our countries borders, as we live sandwiched between them and the sorrow of leaky corporate oil lines trespassing Native American reservations. What can I do?

Politics is such a messy money filled game. I gave thousands of dollars in small increments this year to buoy favorite candidates and causes. It seems never enough and always more to do.
What can I do?

We moved from a southern city to the northeast countryside. From apartment living to managing an old house and a couple acres. We feel new to the neighborhood. I love having the seasons again at my door. I enjoy the folks down the road at the farm, and our friends who swing by to chat and drop off jams, soaps and even driveway salt! How can they ever know how thankful we are? It seems so warm up here!

Every morning Michael and I take an early morning walk. Its a balm to our souls. I also think it has helped us acclimate to the environment. Today, when I saw it was 40 degrees, I thought that I didn't need to wear long underwear! Surely, I am almost native now!!!

Flash sale at the Hunt Library

Hunt Library Art Wall

There is still time to catch the sale of over a hundred works on display on the David M. Hunt Village Library Art Wall. It will come down on the 4th of January. This is the 9th annual benefit for the library. The artists each contributed a 12 x 12 inch work of art that would sell for $100. Whether you have your pocketbook on you or not, it is a fun show to peruse. There is an amazing diversity within the specified format. Its like a playground of local artists and friends all in one space.

by Lori Barker

Platter by Diane Schapira

There are paintings and wall hung pottery, cages and collages, paintings, etchings, and drawings. I was surprised by a Lori Barker purple altered photograph. It is a serene Buddha almost drowned in a thick gold architectural frame. Diane and her husband Joel each have works there. They are an art power couple in our community. Very unpretentious, look to them for a good mix of wit and gravitas.

by Craig Wickwire

 Craig Wickwire was an old colleague of mine. We worked together at Kildonan. Now he is the art department at the Webutuck public school. I know he works hard and his large paintings are impressive. The Hunt Library has a small one (12 x 12 inches) that makes me smile. It has a monumental quality to it. It is a wonder how minds work! Another art teacher friend of mine is Val Valenti. The library has at least 4 of her vinyl records, each collaged with found objects in her whimsical way. Right now I imagine she is in her home in Jamaica, far from the icy Falls Village. She seeks inspiration from the spiritual messengers of the natural world and her work is playful and tropical. Charlie Noyes is another area art teacher. He is with the Hotchkiss school. His painting at the show really captures a sense of place and time of year. Under a grand painted sky, we are made to feel humbled as we stand on the earthy planet.

by Val Valenti

by Michael Gellatly

by Charles Noyes

Of course two of my favorite people to attend any art show with had works there. Michael has a piece that is a combination of various studio media--- baked clay and photography. It takes you into another world. Sue gave one of her summer barn watercolors up. It's a snapshot of neighborhood nostalgia.

by Sue Hennelly

And one of my Favorite art-inspired friends, wild momma, and exceptional teacher is Erika Crofut. Heaven help us, she has given over a glazed platter painted all over in her capricious style. It is a signature piece.

Any of these works would make a wonderful gift for yourself now that the holidays are nearly over.
I have a sewn paper piece inthe show that reminds me of my dad's truism, that "Cat's sell". I really want to help the library stay viable. #supportyourlocallibrary

My sewn paper painting, Cattitude.

 Artworks may be taken upon purchase.  Remaining art will be on display through January 4.  For more information call 860-824-7424 or visit huntlibrary.org. 
David M. Hunt Library, 63 Main Street, Falls Village, CT 06031. 
Hours: Tues & Thurs 10-5, Fri 3-7, Sat 10-1, Sun 11-2.

Crafty tip for the month

Just in time for the Winter Solstice! Here is how to make your own Holiday tree at the last minute
you will need:
    Cardboard...from a large box
    pencil and or marker
    some paint- white of black -with round bristle brush
    a string of Xmas lights
    a blade, like an Xacto knife or box cutter
    an electrical outlet
Steps:
1. Draw in pencil the largest shapes you can, and once you are satisfied with it, go over with marker or black and white paint.
2. Cut out the negativity, I mean the empty spaces.
3. Poke holes in the back where you want the lights to shine through with your knife. Don't make them too big, or the lights wont have that snug fit. A slit is enough.
4. Poke the lights through each slit.
5. Plug into outlet and shine on!!

What is the worst thing you can say to a lady?

1620, painting by Marcus Gheeraerts

I think up there on the list of what is the worst thing you can say, is when someone asks me, "when are you expecting?" I wonder if the regret and angst of the foolish questioner lasts even a fraction of the time that the shame and hurt belonging to the questioned one lasts.
Today the nicest lady asked me that when I was wearing a huge coat and scarf! It was 19 degrees outside and I felt more like an astronaut, with all my layers on, than a young pregnant maiden. I hurriedly reassured her that I was way, way too old to be pregnant! And, not wanting her to feel bad, I even hugged her and forced a laugh. But the rude question swelled in my head as I drove away. Shame filled me for not having a  svelt body that carries clothes like a hangar. I've been exercising daily so, I railed at myself for not dieting, and for even wanting lunch.

1862 Luncheon on the Grass, by E. Manet

It happened earlier this year, last spring when I was touring a museum with my 28 year old son. A museum guard came over and wide-eyed, asked me in broken English when I was due. I was horrified and the dress that, up to then, I had enjoyed wearing, now felt like a cloth sack to be burned.
The worst: is my poor boyfriend, who is left picking up the pieces, and is forced to praise my body, even begging me today to lay on top of him. (I feel sure I would have crushed him flat).
He tries so hard to make me feel beautiful.
I think of the saying that you can only be victimized with your permission, and realize that I need a good comeback. Any out there? Any advice?
My advice to you is to NOT EVER ask that question unless you are in the hospital maternity ward.

Craven's New Nude show really is New

This article appeared in the Lakeville Journal's compass magazine December 12, 2019

painting by Bruno Leydet

Andrew Craven’s show is not your Grandmother’s nude show. It is smartly curated to include a dozen diverse artists who work with an evolving range of nude subjects spanning across the spectrum of skin tones and gender. The word “New” is important for the show’s title, the “New Nude”. For here, the antique fantasy of the passive odalisque in stuffy mausoleums is nowhere in sight. Different perspectives, new materials, shadows, and models that have a tendency to hide challenge the gaze of the viewer. In an era of selfies and “sell me” social postings, these subjects are not craving to be seen, instead they are caught passing through, and in self-reflection and it is the viewer’s unconscious input that haunts the work. There can be no complacency walking through the show.

In cropped environments of textures, the artist’s hand skillfully deconstructs the nude subject. She/He doesn’t lie down. There is a generous supply of chaos with fragments of clothing, skin and thoughtful composition. Each piece of artwork in the room teases.

In Mickalene Thomas’ “Left Behind 2 Again”, a de-saturated naked woman with only one spike-heeled mule showing is surrounded with animal, botanical, and geometric pattern swatches. Her shaded eyes, hidden feet and hands lend a guarded feel, as if she could quickly retreat into the setting of abundant fabrics and drapery. She is claiming her space. Diamonds and stripes form a flag behind her. A gold brocade fragment frames the left side of the image. It is a powerful piece that gives the model agency in the setting that redefines the art historical trope.

Who is looking at whom? In some works there is a definite peering through a peephole effect, yet most of the work seems to relate a feeling of internal privacy.

The subjects can seem lost in thought. Their gaze is internal and our gaze is drawn into their puzzling world. Erwin Olaf, a Dutch photographer of worldwide acclaim, orchestrates scenes of emptiness and longing inspired by the masters. In his “Keyhole #2” a European styled woman, seemingly spied on, clutches her deco baubles and turns away from the viewer. There is emotion under her skin.

Troy Michie, young American collage artist hailing from Texas and Yale grad school, investigates identity and power in his life-size work, “La Bicicleta”. His cornered image of a man with three eyes on a bike is portrayed so intriguingly complex, that the collage keeps you looking. It is a mischievous puzzle of design.

Jeremy Kost’s “Adam Upstate” is a collage of Polaroids that fragment the small exposed figure and lends significant weight to the details of the landscape.

It feels as though the nudes in Craven’s show must deal with the sensitivity of being searched for.

One of the two 2019 Whitney Biennial artists in the show, Paul Mpagi Sepuya presents an image, called “Mirror study”, that negates the nude, the artist and the viewer. Using mirror shards, drapery and taped collage, he teases us to piece the scene together. It is a symphony of whites, warm to cool, with the artist’s black elbow and hand running like a snake in the background. We are given just enough, and then some.

Bruno Leydet, a Canadian painter, juxtaposes patterns, textures, tamely cropped nude males and florals. Even ensconced in their tight settings, the expressions in both of his portrait paintings show the nude model to be miles away.

Local Washington CT author and artist John Frederick Walker is given a table laden with one-of-a-kind altered books. Most have the pages ripped out and collaged nude photos of females, heavily cropped, interact discreetly and audaciously with the spine and gutters of the book. They are sculptural statements of handy transactions of porn through the ages.

There is another table of fabulous art books not to be missed. The monographs on each of the artists in the show will teach you more about them and put them in context. If you ask really nicely Craven might show you the hidden extra drawing among the show.

The show will be up till mid January.

 
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On Being a Good Hostess for Heartbreak

Haunting, acrylic on panel

These festive holidays of light actually fall on some of the darkest days of the year. Every year, as Christmas and Hanukkah approaches, many people see the world like George Bailey in “It’s a wonderful Life”. They feel that they just can’t do it. There is so much stress, from going off diets to diving deep in the red with finances. On top of it, we may have attended more than our fair share of funerals. My aunt, (who was a veritable Christmas elf) passed away at the end of November and a friend lost her grown son to the ultimate moments of depression.

Do I need to go into all the reasons people might not be as happy as those perfect family units in the advertisements? Some people can’t handle it. Perhaps a loss, a breakup, some past trauma, the political divide, the seasonal light disorder, or insufficient funds are to blame. In a season of ritual gathering, pressure gifting and belting carols, we can feel alone and unworthy heading into the holidays.

Throwing a party comes with all sorts of lists and preparatory steps. May I suggest that we not forget the friend suffering depression at this time? Gatherings can seem full of false cheer and guests may feel as if divided by an invisible wall looking in.

Have on hand simple items like tissues, treats, small oranges and offer your friend moments of stillness. I always try to have wine, nuts, assorted teas and fruit to share. Small oranges can remind us of brighter times with their sunny color and sweet taste. I keep a few handy to pass to the homeless on the street corners.

How can we be here for each other? The biggest gift of all the holiday gifts, the one the corporations don’t intend us to remember, is the gift of our attention. Speak frankly and share memories. Listen in stillness and try to understand. Don’t tell someone depressed to “cheer up”, but be honest and unflinching with your concern. When people are grieving and mourning, it’s okay to remember together and even laugh with the tears. It is important to talk and listen with respect. Everyone’s depression is different. If the discussion gets heated and aggressive, try saying, “Lets talk about that another time.” And walk away. Moving the body is always good, so an invitation to walk around the block can be just the ticket to brighten some ones mood. Some depressed folks appreciate a sad movie or a depressing book, like The Bell Jar by Silvia Plath. Self-help books should be shared sparingly. Often it’s a double-edged sword, leading to additional feelings of inadequacy.

Art and music can be used to set a mood that embraces the idea of small joys making big holidays. Song lists can cover a range of holiday genre and eras. So often I am not truly in the present moment unless I am painting a picture. For me paintings capture the fleeting moment that enriches my appreciation for little things, like sunlight and a good mug of tea. Looking at a work of art can bring wonder to life.

Lit Candle, sewn paper painting

Don’t forget the tissue box.

Picasso's O moment

My interpretation of Picasso's interpretation

Version O, was the last of the series of Women of Algiers after Delacroix painted by Picasso in homage to his great friend and rival, Henri Matisse. From June to October of 1955, the Musée des Arts Décoratifs in Paris displayed the entire series together as part of a retrospective exhibition of the last 55 years of Picasso's career. Unfortunately these paintings have not been on view together since the original sale at Kahnwaller’s gallery in Paris in 1956. They were for sale as a complete set and bought by New York collectors Victor and Sally Ganz for $212,000. They later sold off eleven of the paintings to museums and private collectors. Since then, pieces have scattered to private collections and various museums. 

Version O was depicted in LifeMagazine Dec 27, 1968.

The painting has wonderful hatch lines and pattern, recalling the first interpretation, Version A. It’s got a bit of Matisse in it and Jacqueline Roque’s face is clearly on the left side. The black, as only Picasso can use black, sings!  New York Magazine's Jerry Saltz calls Version O "an epic master class on the ways of painting, art history, color, structure, and form.” 

Picasso always said he was a non-political painter. That is how he survived world war II holed up in his studio in Paris and avoided the stench of collaborator. Yet his great masterpiece Guernica and his on again off again relationship with the communist party in France, defies that stance.

In looking at his 15 renditions (or interpretations) of The Women of Algiers, one may suggest he might not have been political but he was radical. 

My interpretation of Delacroix's painting of a fantasy harem

His sympathies were for the Algerians in 1954 as they rebelled yet again under French colonial rule. Incredibly, given Picasso's history of splaying naked women on the canvas for the male gaze, this painting was picked up by the rebellious Algerian women as an emblem of their strength. They felt that he had taken Eugene Delacroix's scene of submissive sirens and articulated a new idea of Women in their private apartment.These were women of strength and solidarity, not to be messed with!

In 1997, upon the death of art collector widow Sally Ganz, the Version O was sold for 31.9 million dollars and then auctioned through Christie's in 2015. It broke records selling for $179 million to an Arab Sheik, Former Prime minister of Qatar, Hamid bin Jassim bin Jaber Al Thani.  

Unknown until the Panama Papers were leaked, is that the Ganz heirs appeared to have sold the collection months before the auction. "The key player in the transaction was a corporation based on Niue, a speck of an island in the South Pacific. The company was named Simsbury International Corp. Simsbury International appears to have been created solely for the Ganz transaction. It was incorporated in April 1997. A month later it purchased the collection.Simsbury’s registered agent was Mossack Fonseca. Employees of the Panamanian law firm served as Simsbury International’s “nominee” directors, stand-ins who controlled the company on paper but who exercised no real authority over its activities. These paper directors signed agreements on the company’s behalf with a bank, an auction house and an art shipping company. Ownership of the company was held through “bearer shares.”

These are simply certificates that allow whoever holds the paper to anonymously transfer or claim their value. Today, they are banned in many countries because of their usefulness to those who want to engage in tax evasion and money laundering. The man who had power of attorney for Simsbury, and thus exercised control over the company and its bank account, was British billionaire Joseph Lewis. Then the richest man in England, Lewis made his fortune betting on currency movements. He was also Christie’s largest shareholder.

The game "Auctioneer"

The Ganz catalogue stated “Christie’s has a direct financial interest in all property in this sale,” but the terms of that interest were never explained. The Ganz auction would help turn 1997 into one of Christie’s biggest years for sales up until then. The auctioneer raked in more than $2 billion that year."

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The Trixi Strauss Annual Christmas Bird Count

Trixi and my Grandpa, Bill Strauss

Since returning to the farm 6 months ago, I have become aware of slight memories and remnants of my grandparents in almost everything I do. Perhaps I am closer to their age, but for whatever reason, I think of them both a lot more than usual when walking around the farm, prepping food in the kitchen, or hanging with my dad. Their spirit infuses the land. One of my favorite sweaters to wear when I write is a green one knitted and worn by Trixi. It has a slip of paper in the pocket like she always had. So I was excited to do more this year with keeping the Trixi Strauss Audobon Annual Christmas Bird Count alive. It is organized by the Sharon Audobon Center, a few miles away.

I set up my post just inside the bedroom windows, looking towards the back yard, two full birdseed holders and a suet cage.

Then I watched the sun come up. The high winds must have kept the birds away... until the first little Slate grey Junco arrived. Then pairs of Tufted Titmice came. We had a finch, and a couple small cowbirds.

I think these are cowbirds.

One of three aggressive Blue Jays

I am an amateur armed with bird books, binoculars and paint. The overall abundance of birdseed visitors this morning have been the woodpeckers. I am so pleased. We have them in all sizes, from the Downy to the Red Headed, and even a noble Pileated was seen landing on the backyard trees.

#dailypainting #birdwatcher #woodpecker
And now- at 5pm, the feeders are abandoned as the light of day turns to the dark of night.

Picasso Gives it Over to the Women, Version N

My copy of Picasso's version N

I think the second to last, this Version N, is my favorite. I love the fracturing of space and simplicity of color within the integrity of the scene. The floating teapot, highlighted in a triangle, the machine-like legs of the reclining figure and the winking belly button of the seated woman are all tongue-in-cheek-Picasso-playful.
It is on view at the Mildred Lane Kemper Art Museum at Wash U/St Louis.
The label says: "Here Delacroix's scene of imagined sexual invitation and passive femininity becomes one of female self-possession and confidence"

Do you agree?

Beyond the Signature Cubist Style, a closer tracking of Picasso's Versions K, L and M

My interpretation of Picasso's interpretated Version K

Picasso's continuing exploration of Delacroix's famous Women of Algiers in their Apartment, led to fifteen oil painted canvas interpretations. Not merely copying, Picasso was stealing motifs and transforming the image into his own language. (He is believed to have said, "Good artist's copy, great artists steal") Each translated version was named for the sequential letters of the alphabet. 

His Version’s K, L and M are all monochromatic cubist designs. Cubism is the most recognizable style of Picasso at the height of his powers. These works excited the public and once they hit the market, post Ganz family collection, they held a range in value between 7 and 13 million dollars individually. I love the asterisk-like armpit hairs in the reclining figure. It certainly dates the work.

Versions K and M are in private collections. 

My copy of Version L

Version L, a solitary seated woman, was bought by Berlin’s Museum Berrgruen for over 11 million in 2011 at auction. The catalogue said, “She is the Goddess Astarte enthroned in her temple, seated en majeste, but also sphinx-like, inscrutable, a mythic image of sexually powerful and fertile womanhood brought forward from the distant past, to be approached with deference and awe”.

My interpretation of Picasso's Version M

Version M was painted the day Picasso heard his wife Olga, whom he had been estranged from, yet refused to divorce for decades (because he was Catholic), had died. It is in monochromatic tones of umber. There are no facial features. Picasso has simplified the figures to outlines of geometric shapes piled together like a child's play blocks. The precarious balance of parts makes the space one you would only enter at your own peril. The inviting odalisque trope is gone. These "women" inhabit their chamber and warn the trespasser of freshly mined territory. This painting was last seen when it sold for $10 million to a private collector in 1997. For Picasso, freshly widowed and recently broken up, this version signaled the near end of the series. Only two more explosions follow.

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Full Moon notes

Full moon painting by Gretchen Kelly of gretchenkellystudio.com

This is the last of the 2019 full moons. They are important to me because they remind me of the cyclical nature of time and, when bursting in brightness, they fill me with awe.
For the last several years Michael and I have followed Lena's monthly forecast: the Powerpath where she connects us and the planet in spirit.
It's always thought-provoking and helpful to get the bigger picture of what is going on with the energies and the lunar cycles.
May this moon bring you blessings of playfulness and peace!
Tilly

Picasso Version H ( I and J) depicts the Danger and Allure of the Women of Algiers

My copy of Picasso's version H

Picasso reportedly told his lover Francoise Gilot that there were two types of women: Goddesses and Doormats. In this painted version H, he goes back to square one, and seems to start over with his attempts to translate Delacroix’ Women of Algiers in Their Apartment.  Concentrating on the two figures in the foreground, Picasso contrasts his approach to them, exhibiting the danger and allure of an Odalisque. To the right, the shifting jumbled mass of the reclining woman is like a hallucination. This cubist affront of the body is how Picasso paints women he is breaking up with. At the time his lover and mother of two of his children, Gilot, was leaving him. The regal hookah smoker to the left who is both poised and paused, was modeled after Picasso’s new lover and future wife, JaquelineRoque.

Lounging, for all we know, in the storage of  Guiseppe Nachmad, a private collector in Switzerland, it was last seen publicly in 2010 at Tate Liverpool in a special exhibition called Picasso: Peace and Freedom. The show was curated by Prof. Lynda Morris, AHRC Research Fellow at Norwich University College of the Arts, and Dr.Christoph Grunenberg, Director, Tate Liverpool. And there exists a small photograph of it hanging above the couch in the Ganz living room. 

Version I was painted January 25^th, 1955, belongs to the Norton Simon Museum in Pasedena, California. 

My sketch of Picasso's version I

Of the 885 works owned by Norton Simon, this work is not on view. Emily A. Beeny, Curator at the Getty, who was associate curator of the Norton Simon Museum, has narrated a good 6-minute video about the Picassocollection and mentions that Picasso said, “Painting is a sum of destructions”. That rings true especially in this work where he has scraped away much of the details. The relaxed brushwork and color is focus here. Picasso limits his palette to the primaries and Black and white. This version is much looser and sketchier than version H. It is as if Picasso used one brush and the leftover paints from painting version H to replicate the scene. 

An artist might do this to enable the essence of the composition to shine through and to explore where the unifying elements lie.  It’s like I tell my students, “squint and just look at the main shapes to see what is working, or not”.

My copy of version J

Version J is like versions H and I, but tighter and more unified. Color is secondary to form and shape. It sold through Sotheby’s in 2006 for $18.6 million and is now in the collection of the shady art collecting Helly Nahmad who resides, (after a brief stint in Otisville correctional facility), in the NY Trump Towers, and Monaco. The painting is reproduced in the 2006 catalogue of Nahmad’s exhibit Picasso: La Californie(London)

Cleve Gray at Hotchkiss

This article of mine appeared in the Compass Art section of the Lakeville Journal on Thursday December 5, 2019

One does not make friends, one recognizes them, so the saying goes, and it seems Joan Baldwin has taken it to heart. She has intelligently curated and installed an exhibition that honors Cleve Gray, the artist scholar, by bringing us into his work and studio through her selections from the Cleve Gray Flat Files. The installation at the Hotchkiss School’sTremain Gallery covers six decades, from his work in high school to the Interplay series created just two years before his death in 2004.

An opportunity to see the contemplative life of Cleve Gray, the show feels half library and half studio. Work is pinned to slanted pedestal shelves. Watercolors, prints and drawings are mounted with bull clips, loose and unframed, so you can practically rub your nose on them. On thick deckle-edged paper, the work feels like a remnant of an event with each gesture of mark-making and color response that, either horizontal or vertical, contains it and converses with the next piece. His ink figures and watercolor landscapes all bear similar signatures with blocked tones, infused color transitions, repeated fractures of light, and screens of geometric patterning created with the long edge of his charcoal sticks.

His brushes are displayed under glass. Scumbled, frayed, split, thickly coated and caked, their disintegrating handles are evidence of Work. Large chunks of pastels, blocks of dried red and orange pigments and wax crayons are presented as relics of a life of physical commitment. A large photograph is displayed of his paint splattered studio sink. His materials look impulsive and untidy. There is a physicality emphasized, with inclusions of worn studio ephemera and text panels describing Gray’s physical breath work that preceded the painted marks. He was a striving, curious, hardworking artist.

The installation is intentionally thematic rather than chronological because of so many returns in his practice to investigations of color, line, pattern, and the open and closed compositions. Included in the show is an early portrait he drew as a teenager at Phillips Academy that heralds his interest in cubism with angular form and emotive use of color. This lens is returned to in his Paris years, his southwestern landscapes of the 50’s and his vertical abstracts of the 60’s.

His college thesis was on Yuan Chinese landscape painting and the theory and process became a lifelong influence. The Yuan Dynasty Chinese painters responded with their spirit to the subject and then relished the marks of the material as spontaneous and transcendent. Gray’s brushwork shows in layers of transparency built up and in the combination of dry and wet marks. In all the work you can see an interest in the calligraphic line and in experimenting with media. A long scroll landscape of the Southwest has multi-vanishing points and details lightened and darkened for emphasis, with field notations woven through out.

After serving in WWII, young and curious, Cleve Gray stayed in Paris making art and joined other artists working in Jacques Villon’s studio. A pastel portrait of Claude McKay, a Harlem renaissance poet who was both a friend and a model at the studio, is an example of this time.

A large wall-sized diagram connects Cleve Gray, “artist, writer, farmer, friend”, to his influences in the educational, literary, musical, and artistic worlds.

There is space for students and visitors to sit and peer through monographs and books on painting, while listening in ear pods to the music of the studio. Music is part of the experiential event and the gallery is filled with the music from Shostakovich to Tchaikovsky that Cleve Gray listened to as he worked.

At the entrance to the show, Joan Baldwin has chosen a quote about the vast array of artistic concerns and the repetitive use of media that keep surfacing in the works over the decades. Cleve Gray was about movement and practice and referred to the pendulum as a way to find his own center, as reflected in Untitled, with it’s two mirroring brushstrokes that are black and white, transparent and opaque.

When swinging on a pendulum between black and white, one always returns to Gray.

Cleve Gray lived in Warren CT. This is his third exhibition at Hotchkiss. He was a parent and grandparent to Hotchkiss students. The Cleve GrayFoundation has been generous in offering us access to this work.

Participating in the Lab Space art show, "Holiday", that is strikingly original and wall-to-wall untamed.

If you are curious and fascinated by whimsy or just need to address the bit of winter blues and add some swing into your life, be sure to shop at the LabSpace Holiday group show in Hillsdale NY. It opened this weekend and the event was so packed you could hardly move. Squeezing between bodies, I was able to delicately circumnavigate the small two-room gallery, twice. The 200+ works are all under 12 x 12 inches and between 100 and 800 dollars and they pack a wild punch.  The variety is astounding and guaranteed to be a pleasure. There are drawings, paintings and sculptures. It’s a show full of creative freedom and syncopation that reflects the curatorial style of Julie Torres and EllenLetcher. 

Several people deep to get to the wall

I was thrilled to have my Starry Night Traffic Jam hanging low by the knees. It was in good company. This gallery space has brought together the art community of players into the hamlet in southeastern Columbia county. The hot gallery is known for presenting quirky and colorful works by new artists with jaunty mixes of more established studios. The openings are intellectually rich and youthful. I spoke with a young man, clad in Carhart, flannel and steeled-toe work boots. Asking if he was an artist, he said no, just curious. When I asked him to point out his favorite, he pointed to two works and used the words, “delectable” and “spiritual” in regards to technique and affect.

It was not lost on me that this was the closing of Art Basil, the favorite art week in Miami where many of my friends were immersed in the art world. Looking around the Lab, I laughed at the difference to what I imagine is just 1400 miles south. I felt so happy to be here enjoying a show.

Michael showing off his work

Foot fashion

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