I am feeling Artsy

Check out my work online on a new gallery venture called Flow-305. 
It's easy to see the work of my friends and check out individual pieces that represent the best I have to offer. Please look at it and if you can, forward it to a friend. I have some new paintings, all inspired by the joy of living in a tropical zone.

Birds of a Feather

All acrylic works on paper, 12 x 18 inches. Right now I am asking $400, but the price might have to go up.

Flamingo Pat Party

Also these are uploaded onto my Fine Art America account for printing onto Merchandise!

Outdoor Flamingo Party

I went to the Miami art fairs and all I brought home was some snake oil

All I brought home was some snake oil, a stack of cards, sore feet and aching eyes. But, boy, we had fun!!!

There were so many fairs going on at once, outside the BIG ONE at the convention center, that I had to make some decisions regarding my finances, my tolerance level, and Miami traffic.
Untitled is by far my favorite fair. The tent on the beach glows with diffused light and the art work is smart.

Carl D'Alvia work (its a drawing of one of our sculptures!)

house flipping- a common sight in my neighborhood

burned out rubble of a neighborhood, spelling...

more commentary on Florida real estate?

In addition to clever drawings and sculptures, there was an abundance of good painting. I was intrigued by the works in umber and browns on top of neon yellows and oranges by Karine Hoffman of Galerie DIX9 in Paris. Very beautiful. Yet my favorite works were these crazy clever tight photographs of painted elements arranged with attention to the juxtopositions of shapes, the very edges of shapes forming new shapes, by Erin O'keefe. She calls herself an architect and a photographer and was represented by Denny Dimin of NYC. The work almost took off where de Chirico left off.
Next door in SMAC, gallery from South Africa, were some thickly painted largely smeared portraits by Georgina Gratix of Mexico city. Enjoying her work was all about the viscosity of paint.

There was such an array of materials on display! Miami artist Michelle Weinberg had a rack of bleached jean jackets for sale and for use in a daily collaborative dance performance. She was in the midst of sewing her tattoo designs onto one of them when we stopped by. We had enjoyed her open studio at Fountainhead studios last weekend and it was great to see another side of her art practice.

a series of words cut through almanac pages give new meaning to the map

these porcelain models are absorbed on their cell phones

 Topics such as immigration and technology pervaded much of the works on display. I love the use of different materials... especially the variety of the woven materials. There were woven photographs, woven furniture, recycled toothbrush heads, the plastic bags turned into dresses, and embroidery patches sewn to walls.

A good warning for some of us- but I avoided putting on the ear buds.

After Untitled we lunched with a view of the ocean, and then went into Scope. That fair was full of riffs and humor. My camera started to die, but I did get a few images... I had to wrestle past all the people striking selfie poses with the works.

I had a few "aha" moments... as an artist, as a teacher, and as a human being. I got to see in real life the paintings of Emilio Villalba from San Fransisco who I enjoy on Instagram. I saw art that gave me lesson plan ideas, such as the guy using packing tape on light boxes, Max Zorn in Stick together Gallery. And art that should have been what I was doing like the guy painting portraits out of his ice cream shoppe in BGArt Gallery from Santa Monica! For $80 John Kilduff would "serve up" a custom small 8x 10 portrait of you as an ice ream cone. Apparently he is the host of a TV series called Let's Paint TV. In other acts he paints while running on a treadmill or answering live calls on air. Basically it was a performance and a fun spot for creating a carnival atmosphere in truth.

There was serious stuff to think about such as a lot of art addressing gun control and school shootings. This exhibit gave me pause.

We left the fair in the late afternoon and then found our way, by a few clubs, to my favorite little hotel fair: Aqua. It was dark and the music was pounding. Our feet were starting to really ache. If we didn't laugh we would have cried. At one point we seriously contemplated how we could purchase a $4600 painting by John Sanchez for my son for Christmas. That's when I knew we should go home.
Somewhere along the way we picked up the bottle of snake oil.

Palm Trees are my fantasy trees

I keep trying to capture the essence of a palm tree for my art series of #100favFloridathings, and I keep falling short. They never turn out as whimsical or funny or breathtaking as I want. I think Dr. Seuss did a good job of it with his Truffulla trees.

Each day the trees clap in the breeze calling me outside to my balcony. They refuge squirrels and parrots and frame jets leaving for Europe or Africa suspended in the sky. They cast purple shadows on the beach sand and beckon us to tie up our hammocks. Rising out of a turmoil of shrubbery and tangled flowering trees, the palm appears like a bursting frozen firework, hovering above the traffic light....a celebration of the day.

They make me smile.

Miami, love in three attempts

My favorite thing, hands down, about living in Florida is actually the city of Miami. It holds a unique place in geography, at the tip of this peninsula, with a vibrant cross section of diverse ethnic citizens creating the fabric of each community. We have Persian restaurants, Little Haiti, Little Havana, and multiple places where you can enjoy the arts of South America or dance to the Latin beat. I would not want to live in any other Florida city- To me, they all pale in comparison, literally- from the skin tones to the food flavors!

 Downtown Miami is like a wall of tall buildings cupping and reflecting the waters edge. The highways, especially I95 (route 1) straps against the architecture high on pillars along the backside. There is the latest (and her last) Zaha Hadid Condo , almost finished overlooking the lovely Perez Art Museum next to the Patricia and Phillip Frost Science museum. I actually live 88 blocks south of downtown, where, in the picture, you see a few tall buildings now going up. That is about 10 miles. But I can get to the museums between about 45 minutes and an hour on the Metrorail. Same time as  to drive, but without gritting my teeth as hard or the need to park.

The bridges to the left lead to South Beach, the Cruise ship port and Crandon Park (lighthouse) beach on Key Biscayne.

In the final drawing, I tried to capture the vibrant energy, with the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts anchoring the picture, but my ink got away from me. It is #Inktober
#100favfloridathings  #Miamiliving

Sandcastles and Sand Prince

Unsent Letter by Pavel Mylnikov, sand artist from Moscow

 Another lovely day... we stumbled upon the Sanding Ovation's Master Cup in St Pete

...and we found a perfect postcard scenic overlook.  I'm thankful for my intimate world and the larger universe around me. It's going to be a new year soon, and I am thinking of sending that "unsent letter"  clarifying my stance- my thoughts, my beliefs, an inventory of my gifts of health and wealth, and an affirmation of how much love I am willing to experience. I pray for wisdom and the capability to create the life I desire and accept all that is good and fight all that is detrimental to the planet.

mother and son

Love moments like this when my grown son comes to visit. Nothing gives me more pleasure than spending time with him and hearing all about his life, his thoughts, his dreams and aspirations.
Bill Baggs Park on Key Biscayne was pretty jumping today too. Being there meant leaving the phone and all my to-do lists behind. Living the Miami dream.

Poignant brushwork portraits

I just told someone that I didn't paint people- and here I am finishing a series of portraits!

 This group was filled with personalities, all so different. Outside of the advisory they were not the best of friends with each other, but inside the room, they had each other's backs, they respected each other and ... we all learned from each other.

 I am grateful to my job for giving me the opportunity to get to know these kids, and through our Mosaic program we studied, discussed and learned about our ethnicity, our privilege, our inherent biases, our understanding of gender preferences and identification, as well as how to change a tire on a car, cook with an iron, balance a check book and make a monthly budget. We explored the UN's sustainable development goals and found the ones we were passionate about and made a plan, we painted murals, served dinner to the homeless, traveled to Universal studios, and spent a day on South Beach. I saw them elected homecoming king, Mr. Falcon, and into honor societies. We won contests for our decorations, our posters, scavenger hunts and more. I admired their work as editors of the yearbook, as creator of films, as Agents of Change, as soccer stars, as football running-back-record-breakers, as directors and actors, as potters, as poets, as musicians, and as painters.

  I also grieved as they were suspended, disciplined, failed, rejected and heartbroken. I applaud their courage and curiosities. I truly love these guys and will really miss them during fire drills next fall.

 I don't remember many of my own high school teachers. I know I had some good ones, but they've faded, and I never looked back.

These kids ARE my teachers and I must now buck up and look forward.

Finding peace and joy

Dusk and a light dinner on the porch

Bike ride in the rain to the farmers market

Siesta in the sun

sea oats spreading their love

a path to the shore

a discovery

investigation and wonder

best friends

Perks of living in Miami

floating

Getting to the beach, no matter how close we live, is like going on an exodus. Michael and Sophie (my niece) and I pack bags and boxes of stuff, sling blankets and chairs and umbrellas over our shoulders and we withdraw from the chores, the calendar, the phone, the lists, and the daily flow of nagging details. At the beach the breeze and the roar of the surf renders us into an auditory envelope, the the water suspends us womb-like, harking us back to our earliest memories... a place of no language, perhaps really the memories of our cells.
I think the name of this nail color is "Spoiled". It goes well, if I do say so, with the skies, the water, the clouds, and many umbrellas. Nothing could spoil my day.

Michael and Sophie- in the roar

relaxing near the water

It has become important for me to get to the water every weekend. Once there I am able to relax and forget about all my to-do lists... for a little while.

This doodle is from poolside at Uncle Pat's place. You can see the Skyway bridge from there.

Golf course on a florida map

I painted this for my car salesman, as I believe he did me right AND his cubicle has no art...just a single nail on the wall. I found out that he is a golfer- so here is Crandon Golf course...delivering tomorrow.

We have a coral lab at the school

I love taking my art students in there to sketch and paint. The dim lights and the gurgling water puts them in a trance. Each of the four tanks holds a different experiment. Some of the students imagine their own.

We see how the students are growing coral, and making studies of the invasive Lion fish. It is an awareness needed in this part of the world. The sad and shocking fact is our seas are in peril. Below is a picture off shore Ft. Lauderdale.