Took a teaching job in Europe and high-tailed it out of here!

Lufthanza flight from JFK (ny) to Frankfurt Germany

One of 4 trains across Switzerland

First view of the Alps ahead, my new home for the next 3 months.

 I've been offline for the last few months. Had an amazing opportunity to work with some superb teenagers in a foreign country. I hiked, and skied and taught art history and watercolor painting. #swisssemester 

FABULOUS TIME

The well is full

Like this giant dusty tap in the Sacramento sky, I am poised for the school season to start again. Reporting back to my class room in Miami last week, I truly had returned home from 7 weeks of family gatherings and solo studio work. (Teachers are so lucky to get summer off)

Sorry about dropping the blog this summer. There was so much going on in my head and so much writing for my newest project that I didn't have the words left over to share. I started an Instagram account!!! If you are on it too, look for me as Tilly Strauss. It's perfect for sharing pictures with less commentary.

It was a great summer. I did work that I am very excited about... but can't share yet. Through a serendipitous meeting of friends and old books I have gathered fodder to fuel the passion that got me into teaching in the first place. My goal right now is to be the best teacher I can be. I will be teaching 2 painting, 2 drawing, an art history and an AP studio class. The schedule leave little room for much else.

Time to turn on the tap!

My favorite ingredients

for a birthday meal:

the potato and a suitcase.
It's one of my life's best and simplest pleasures.
My bags are packed.

Tomorrow I head out to my painting residency!

Making gift bags of art materials

Armed with stacks of sketchpads, brushes and color pencils, the students spend the first evening in Haiti compiling zip lock bags full of art supplies as gifts to the school children.

In addition to the assorted art materials, we added a granola bar and a balloon to each bag.

It was a hit! The point of the program is to build relationships and with these tools,(the gift bags and the materials, food,and toys, the children), my students and the students of Lamecette, played together.

Peripatic musings on Mana Wynwood art exhibition

Hoping to find manageable crowds and great art, I took a professional day to explore mid-week, mid-day, in the shadows of the great Basel Art Fair. Our first stop was the Mana Wynwood convention center, a giant 140,000 square foot building with several curated collections to see.

Jorge Magyaroff

Our first impression of PINTA Miami (in Mana) was that it was still under construction, and possibly not open. But it was Thursday and even though some booths seemed under plastic, and men on ladders had drills working on the doors and scrapers finishing the floors, we were assured we could roam about. Focusing on Ibero-American art identities and issues, the show was full of strong abstract statements. Right away we were greeted by a giant in the art world, Brazillian Ernesto Neto with a scented nylon sculpture suspended to the ceiling and anchored by seductively curved sacks of sand and of cloves. In the Atrium Art gallery we enjoyed looking at award winning photography- my favorite was a documentary photographer from Chile, Tomas Munita. The clarity and detail in his prints was astounding, the mood was surreal, the topic was the landscape with man. I loved his Guano series. There were a few photo pieces by Vic Muniz from his garbage series and the movie documentary, Wasteland.

Vic Muniz

The Sleep of Reason by Barcellos

I enjoyed Bel Barcellos' whose embroidery I had seen on Saatchi art sites.  It was simple and a complex story. A gallery from Bogota had the drawings of Cuban artist Glexis Novoa. This time the graphite drawings were on drywall fragments cut and re-embedded into the walls. I think we first saw his work a couple weeks ago on the River walk downtown- drawings on marble encassed in thick glass and metal cases into the retaining walls of Brickell! I like the way he plays with material, setting a classically and sweetly rendered image into a raw format.

Glexis Novoa, pencil on drywall

I was humored by a large digital mural created b Cassio Vasconellos. The overhead perspective of a busy airport reminded me of my night dreams, as well as the Richard Scary illustrations full of busy workplaces that I enjoyed as a child.

In that vein, I was swept by the resin and suitcase sculptures by a Columbian artist L.F. Palaez in the Sextante Bogota gallery. They were little mini dioramas of a wasteland of sorts...

In the traveling mood, outside the galleries on the way to the next collection of work, we passed an incredible sculpture of excess- an F1 Eagle race car and collection of helmets all covered in class bead patterns!

The next major collection of work we visited was from Tiroche DeLeon, curated by Londoner Catherine Petitgas, "one of the worlds most respected collectors of Latin American art". I was delighted to find an art car by the twins "Os Gemos"...

The mixed media vehicle was controlled by musical instruments and filled with plush red heart shaped pillows and the giant mirror lined head held a collection of clocks. Such poetry to our ramblings through life! There was also a few subversive references to the Banana republic mentality of colonialism. Paolo Nazereth's sculpture from 2011 was on display... a minibus filled with bananas, conceived as he walked from Brazil to the USA.
As we started to feel our own feet...

The "Made in California:selections from the Frederick R. Weismann Art Foundation" was our next stop. The show of over 100 works of art highlighted the California sensitivity to light and their love of new 20th century materials such as epoxy, neon colors, duct tape, polaroids, etc... There were great optical treats by Larry bell, Robert Irwin, David Hockney and Ed Ruscha, among others. As a final stop before heading back to our car we stood in what I would call the sky room, with each of the 4 walls holding a long horizontal sky-scape by Ed Ruscha. His labels, somewhat functioning as a map marker, made us giggle. 

We went on to little Haiti, traveling past scorched earth to get there! More on that part of the day, later!

who is the artist here?

Contemplating a break in the schedule

How can I not be inspired? There are so many directions to go towards! Ideas merge and criss-cross. Some rise like clouds into the sky. I've turned off the alarm.

And packed a bag.

Moving Mom

I did not blog most of July for several reasons. Travel, exhaustion, and emotion kind of wrapped me up with a loss for words. Today my mom leaves for her new home with my sister in Europe. Over the last three years we have helped her move every summer into successively smaller living spaces. She wasn't happy. This move will be good for her, but it leaves me gutted. I have been used to calling her for no reason a couple times a week as I drive home from work. I am used to calling her with my fears and to count on her advise in all types of crisis. Most recently my sons were living with her. I counted on her to watch over them and keep me in the loop. I called her for gossip and political insight. I called on her for anything and everything. She tells great stories and loves unconditionally.

I guess it is time for me to be on my own, and let her go peacefully into her new adventure across the sea and into a totally different time zone. I will be alright. I will be alright. I will be alright.

Akin Show opens to rave reviews

The Akin Free Library on Quaker Hill is a historic eclectic late Victorian stone building in the hamlet of Quaker Hill, town of Pawling, Dutchess County, New York, USA, listed in the National Register of Historic Places as a historic place of local significance since 1991. Bibiana Mattheis has just curated an exhibition of 49 artists that intends to creat a dialogue with the historic and anthropological collection that exists in the library/museum.
Exhibit Title: Meeting Past at the Akin Library and Museums – 49 contemporary artists find resonance between their work and the historic artifacts
Opening: Friday, September 14^th – 6:00 to 9:00 PM
Exhibit Dates and Times: Every Friday, Saturday, and Sunday through October 21 from 1PM to 4 PM
Location: 378 Old Quaker Hill Road in Pawling, NY 12564
Telephone: 845-855-5099
In 2011, the first “Meeting Past” exhibition featured sixteen artists at the Akin Library and Museums. The event drew an unprecedented 700 visitors to the Akin, making it one of the biggest fine-art exhibits in Pawling’s history. Once again, the Akin Library and Museums will host 49 contemporary artists to find resonance between their work and the historic artifacts and natural history objects. Participating artists from around the region, and the nation, will establish a connection with the important Pawling landmark and cultural site.
Curated by Bibiana Huang Matheis, a Pawling resident, the exhibit is focused directly on the special historical environment and content of the Akin Library and Museums. With the thematic “Meeting Past” the artists set out to either create artwork specifically to fit the place and subject, or they selected fitting artwork to harmonize with the environment, juxtaposing “new” to “old”. The effort was to combine art with the 19^th Century natural history objects, furnishings and books of the Akin building.
The artwork includes all types of fine-art media including: paintings, photography, sculpture, drawings, and mixed media construction – encompassing many styles and directions, from traditional to modern, from realistic to conceptual. Visitors will be encouraged to discover the artists’ creations interspersed throughout the permanent museum collection.
The exhibit is dedicated to Amanda Akin Stearns, sister of Albert J. Akin and Civil War nurse at the Armory Square Hospital, Washington, DC, from April 1863 to July 1864.
The Akin Library & Museum on Quaker Hill is a historic late Victorian stone building in the hamlet of Quaker Hill, listed in the National Registry of Historic Places. The Akin Library was a gift from the Quaker Albert J. Akin (1803–1903), founder of the Bank of Pawling and the Mizzentop Hotel on Quaker Hill. The building was designed by the architect John A. Wood. The library is located on the first floor of the building. The Historical Society Museum occupies the second floor. Its collections include objects pertaining to the local history. The lower floor of the building houses the Olive Gunnison Natural History Museum, which displays birds, rocks and minerals.
For details see: www.MeetingPast@blogspot.com. For more information contact:

Bibiana Huang Matheis 845-855-9345  bibianaphoto@gmail.com

My bag is full of treasures #paintingchallenge

#30 painting a day series  6 x 6 inches mixed media This is the satchel I take back and forth to work. From it dangles my keys and in it lies a universe of goodies. Almost like Mary Poppins' bag, I have relied on this to carry me through crises, isolation, drought, and time. From it I have retrieved magic, hope, healing, and bridges. It is more than a carrying case for band-aids, calendars, and phone. How do I paint such a thing? I can only try.

To Ashes, my painting and my bones

This is a day of ritual; a day of contemplation, and a time to meditate on the ephemeral nature of the things of this earth. I'm sharing some images of paintings made and burned up. They are not my golden calf, they are my language to praise God and life. Today is a day of contemplating one's transgressions.

Today, the first day of Lent, marks the start of a 43-day period between Mardis gras and Easter, which is an allusion to the separation of Jesus from all the hubub, when he went in the desert to fast and pray. The devil tempted him. Matthew 4:1–11, Mark 1:12–13, and Luke 4:1–13.While not specifically instituted in the Bible text, the 40-day period of repentance is also analogous to the 40 days during which Moses repented and fasted in response to the making of the Golden Calf . A lot happens with disciplined focus in 40 days. See my forty divorce documents, (2010), a daily painting ritual that brought me peace and hope with the end of a dream.

Remember that thou art dust, and to dust thou shalt return.

—Genesis 3:19

According to Wikipedia, "in some traditions, other practices are sometimes added or substituted, as other ways of symbolizing the confession and penitence of the day. For example, in one common variation, small cards are distributed to the congregation on which people are invited to write a sin they wish to confess. These small cards are brought forth to the altar table where they are burned."

A couple of destroyed paintings from past Ash Wednesday seasons. (The old nest in my head, birdsongs, and suitcase full of shoes)

Figures of Class

I am so glad I moved to Miami to teach these kids. They are taking everything I offer, everything I bring to them, and learning! Working with proportions and light, perspective and some fore-shortening, my students made great strides in painting what they see, knowing what they were looking at, and playing with the idea of a figure and ground.

That's me with my bag (by me), and the rest are by kids in 8th to 12th grade. It is a sampling--- I have 37 painters in my class!

Tomorrow we are starting the proportions and details of the face.