I went to visit an longstanding family friend who had just lost his Mom (yes, with a capital "M"). He lived with her and has to sell the house which is the only one he has known all his life. I left him and went to the Farmer's Market where I bumped into another longstanding friend, a realtor. You know how you hear people's stories when you first meet them and then it's 20 years later and you need a refresher course?
So I asked this realtor friend where he grew up. It was the same block of the same street of the house which needs to have a new owner. The realtor's parents sold every house on that street and in a five block radius as they began their business 40 years ago. And my friend would LOVE to go back to his family's beginnings and sell this familiar house on this familiar street. And by the way, I haven't seen him or his wife in a year. We also found out that we'll be attending the same concert tomorrow for a mutual friend Sharon Katz and the Peace Train who is raising monies for a sucessful music therapy program for children whose lives have been affected by AIDS in South Afica
It's really fun to continually bump into these coincidences.
TOWER OF INDUSTRY: GRANDMOTHER STITCHES
(flameworked glass, fabric, gold leaf, mixed media)
This sculpture has been juried into a Philadelphia Sculptors' exibition at West Chester University, PA. The images of my grandmother are from one of my oil paintings, the sewing machine and lace are glass that I flameworked, the bobbins and spool were my grandmother's. There is even a cloth replication of her ILGWU card which she proudly carried.
So, Philadelphia finally has a new mayor, Michael Nutter, who seems to be liked by many. Now that is a change for this city of Brotherly Love which holds the record for the past 2 years and it ain't for kissing. We had the highest murder rate of any city in the USofA. As soon as Mayor Nutter got into office, he declared an essential war on violence in the city and we all have a great deal of hope that he will be able to redirect all of this negative energy and pain.
In the meantime, one of my sculptures is being enjoyed by our new Mayor since it was chosen to be on exhibit outside his office as part of the Art in City Hall's juried exhibit by Mary Salvante entitled TOYING WITH ART . A perfect match for this artist who is currently working on a series of glass "toys"!
Now this is not your ordinary dollhouse, since there are no windows or doors. It's other name is "INCUBATOR" which is fitting for this houses an egg. You know there's something inside (there are some branches protruding mysteriously out of the corners) , but it's hard to see inside unless you are putting your eye right up to the peephole. It's a protected yet somewhat thorny and dangerous world inside and if you look really carefully, you can see your eye blink inside the egg.
inside the peephole:
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I hope Mayor Nutter took time to look inside. This piece reminds me of what it must feel like be a parent of children in a dicey neighborhood, where it's too scary to let them play outside, walk to the store or even go to school. We need to fix this immediately or we'll lose another generation of creative minds to violence and all of its repercussions.
My husband's cousins (for those who know him, he does have one in every port) from Washington, DC visited us for brunch today. They brought their adorable midgets ("2 3/4, 5 1/2 and 7 3/4 years old") who we have had the pleasure of meeting 3-4 times in their teensy lives. They walked into the house as if we were their long lost cousins (?!) and gave us each a big bear hug. The saying that "blood is thicker than water" rang true as they knew at their oh-so-young ages that we had special meaning in their lives. Yet we are essentially strangers who piggyback onto each other's stories that go way back.
PIGGYBACK (Prismacolor on paper)
Those genes are powerful stuff when you get right down to it.
The connections continue as one muse bumps into another.
Three years ago I was determined to use my art to make a difference in the Philadelphia community. I am a strong believer that if we had more art in the world...real hands on magic would develop. There is something so exciting and transforming about starting with nothin' and ending up with somethin'. SO I decided to gather a group of artists together and get to it.
Our mission is to teach stained glass to any interested 9-12th graders from a local city school's after-school program. We teach the kids to follow their dreams and make whatever they'd like. Glass artists and shops from the community have generously donated all kinds of goodies, and the church that hosts the after-school program helps out too.
None of the students has ever actually created something from glass. Most have serious learning differences. Most can't concentrate for longer than a nano-second...except when they are working on their projects. Suddenly, they are focused for 2 hours. They don't fidget. They wait their turn patiently. They are calm. They are pleasant. They are thoughtful. They are proud. And they come up with some darn creative ideas.
After only one session, each student is on a new road as they learn about themselves.
SKEWED VIEW (flameworked glass, mixed media)
I am about to embark on another unplanned and unpredicable voyage. Since my eloquent son, sister-in-law and artist bud each started blogs, I have realized that I need to express myself in words in order to maintain the ability to speak, a process which is rapidly diminishing over time. In fact, I used to be able to speak several languages and now find that English alone is a challenge. So I have made up my mind to create a trail of my travels and influences and the creations I develop as a result. In honor of my first post, here is a flameworked sculpture I made which celecbrates writing, painting, creativity...ART!
