Summer Album

Nothing more to say! It's been a busy summer with lots of cherished family and friends visiting, plenty of good food, not enough art-making, not enough gardening...the weeds have won.

Turning it Down a Notch

I have not been here lately because life is so full of things I must do. Things I want to do. Unexpected things that must be attended to. Election worries. I feel the urge to run away from all of those responsibilities by finding, and pinning, pretty pictures on Pinterest. Online activities are so seductive; so easy, compared to living real life day to day. I must remind myself that pinning pictures of life, and what others create, is not the same as living my own life and creating my own art. I know that sounds lame, but I can actually convince myself that I've done something by pinning! And yet, it is a way to see more than I would see, and to be inspired, or to get specific ideas for the kitchen we need to remodel, and to connect, however superficially, to others. But only to a certain extent. I was reminded of this one evening last week when I went over to Heidi Swanson's blog 101 Cookbooks, here, and saw one of her "favorites lists". As I connected to her links I was aware of a loosening of tension in my body, and a feeling of well-being which I don't normally feel online. Usually my mental state is that of a pointer dog in search of the quarry...all nose and running legs, trying to sniff out and catch the interesting tidbit. But these links Heidi put up were comforting, showing a wide-ranging and genuine interest in life. She had obviously really read and been enriched by these articles, books and videos. It got me thinking about what really has captured and held my interest lately. So I'm going to share some of those here, in my own "favorites list" of sorts. I think the most important thing about this list is that it contains things that I do, and will do, and experience, in real life. That's what I finally realized makes me feel strung out online...too much looking and not enough experiencing.

Tea. I love tea because it stimulates at the same time as it calms and makes me feel relaxed. Not the same experience as coffee at all. I need the coffee in the morning, but by afternoon, give me tea. And this video, All This Tea, is a taste of a beautiful documentary on tea. I posted about this a few years ago, but it's worth revisiting. And I found the perfect everyday tea for me is Yorkshire Gold.

Rosa Nguyen. She is an artist who works in ceramics and glass, and bases her forms on nature. I've admired the intuitive the way she works in clay since she was featured in Contemporary Natural, by Phyllis Richardson and Solvi dos Santos. Here is a shot from that book.

A couple of cookbooks have to make it into any favorites list of mine. An enduring one for me is Cafe Beaujolais, by Margaret Fox and John Bear. I still can't find better chocolate cake recipes than hers. There is just something about cookbooks which are really memoirs that I find fascinating. The engagement with food is so deep in this one, and in another favorite of mine, Pass The Polenta, by Teresa Lust. I've also found Sauces, by Louise Pickford to be very useful and pretty simple. 

If you have never seen the documentary on Bill Cunningham, take a look at the trailer here, and watch it! Especially if you think fashion is an art form, and want a little inspiration about living a vibrant life.

Swann's Island Blankets are still a favorite. I'd like to own one someday! Every time I think I've got the money saved something in the house breaks down. Such is life. Meanwhile I can dream, and so can you by going over here. Wool is just about as low tech as you can get, and I'm for that.

That's probably enough for now. If you've made it this far I'd be amazed. All this talk about the issues with being online so much, and here I am encouraging you to spend more time here! But there is that connection thing.

Vacation Diary

Megan Chase at Perimeter Gallery

We really needed a vacation. I didn't know how tired I was until we were into week 2! We promised ourselves that we would do only what we really wanted to do. That involved going to Mt. Desert to stay at the old-fashioned Claremont Hotel and hiking on the carriage roads in Acadia National Park; several occasions of eating and buying vegetables at Chases Daily, where I had the best blueberry tart of my life this past Thursday afternoon. We saw Megan Chase's gorgeous paintings there also. We went to the wonderful Thuya Garden. We went "a-berrying" as my dear Henry David Thoreau would call it, and made black raspberry crisp. We saw cherished family and went to the Five Islands lobster pound, and to the beach with nieces and nephews. Our darling son came for a visit, and the three of us picnicked at Ocean Point. We helped to save a man who had gone overboard off his boat and had spent an hour and a half in cold, cold water! We went to Sturbridge Village, and to Ikea to stock up on pretty paper napkins. I even made some art. We watched Agatha Christie's Poirot movies until we dropped. I re-read Death Comes for the Archbishop (such a beautiful, beautiful book) for our next book group, and the incredible Art & Fear, by David Bayles and Ted Orland. You never know what will happen in any span of time, but you can bet it will be packed with life...especially if you are a lover of life.

Corey Daniels

Work by Peter Bennett

Melissa Turner

Clint Fulkerson

Last week I went to Corey Daniels (website here) in Wells, Maine. I've been told about this place by a friend for years, but never made it there. It's pretty wonderful, as you can see by the photos. Art and antiques and STYLE. I don't know who all the artists are, so forgive me. I'm not doing much due diligence these days as we are on a 2 week vacation and promising ourselves to do only what we really want to do. You can look at an interesting article in the NYT on Corey Daniels here. Clint Fulkerson is a Maine artist whose work is on show at Corey Daniels now.  I really wish I could own that blanket!

Peter Voshefski

I saw a show of Peter Voshevski's work at the Perimeter Gallery at Chase's in Belfast, Maine this weekend. The top four images are from that show, and the bottom three images were obtained from the internet. What I really liked about the work is the delicacy and obsessiveness, and the supports he uses for the small paintings. He is using a thin plywood in many cases, which has been meticulously sanded and rubbed with paint to create this well-crafted surface. I love the way he just sinks in there and paints dots to his hearts content. You can see more about this artist, living and teaching in New Mexico, here. I wish the Perimeter Gallery had a website, but they do not.

Ingrid Ellison

Ingrid Ellison is a painter living almost next door to me in mid-coast Maine! She commented on my last post, and so I went over to her blog here, and learned a little about her. You can see more of her work on her website. She was featured in Artscope magazine in July/August 2010. She also just did a post about In the Make which is a fabulous blog on artists, including studio visits and interviews. Ingrid did a great post from Painters Bread of a film of painter Squeak Carnath. Very interesting to hear about her process. 

More Maine Pride

These photos are via Design Sponge, and are from a  sneak peek of the summer home of Annie Coggan and Caleb Crawfords. It's in Belfast, Maine. Both inhabitants are designers, as is pretty obvious. I think many people come to maine because of the freedom to pursue anything they feel drawn to explore. There is a small population here, and it feels like most of those are artists and farmers! I can't adequately describe the fresh light and sense of possibility that symbolizes Maine for me. I only know that I love it more with each year that passes. It's been 9 years since we moved here from a loft in downtown Chicago. Those first few years I wanted to turn tail and run "home" because the change was so abrupt. But that was not an option, and it made me realize that home is where you live, and that's what I was doing, one day at a time.