Hope you can make it

Hello dear ones,

I'm happy and excited to have some of my work included in a local gallery show. The show is called Scapes. It's a group show and five other artists beside myself are showing their painterly interpretations of the landscape.

Curator for The Whit Galleries, Leo Mazzeo, came to my studio and chose 8 Scapes

both real and imagined.

I hope that if you are nearby, you will stop in and say hello.

Candy Crush Soda-Just a game?

In case you’re not familiar with it, Candy Crush Soda, is a popular, play by yourself, or against others, tile matching, make-the-pieces-go-away, challenging and addictive, video puzzle game. After playing for a few weeks, I've come to the realization that there is actually great wisdom to be attained from it, if one begins to notice.

You may be chuckling right about now, but hear me out. I do think there are life lessons to be learned or reminded of, and no, I don't think I'm just rationalizing how I spend my time.

This is about just giving your brain a pleasure break; something different from the usual daily tasks. Granted, it is problem solving, but nowhere else in life do I get a quirky little girl cartoon puppet jumping for joy when I complete a project.

At first glance, the game board can look daunting. There is no instruction, just a goal simply put, such as: "Find the bears", or "Eat all the chocolate." Each new level may require a very different strategy from the one before.

So what are these "lessons" that I receive when I lay in bed at night with the Ipad on my belly, hi-fiving the air when I complete another 'level'?
-It's safe to just begin, even if I'm not sure of what to do or how to do it.
-One move at a time will reduce the overwhelm and help me get through it.
-I can meet each new level with curiosity and perseverance.

I find CCS visually stimulating and I often come up with creative ideas while playing. (OK, I may totally forget them by the time the game is over.)

More benefits:
-Playing CCS helps to reduce stress when feeling somewhat beat up.
-There's nothing required of me and nobody's watching anyway.
-I can lift the self-judgement and let myself 'be'.

BTW- For us "immigrants", meaning we weren't born with a mouse  in our hands, learning anything new on an electronic device can feel like a major victory. Tackling  the CCS software is good practice without worrying about causing damage.

And finally, one can link the game to Facebook, and send requests and/or help out to other players. These players, from your "friends" list magically appeared on my screen as little icons in cartoon frames. There's my sister, my niece, and several pals from back in the day, who I otherwise have not connected with in 30 years or so, except maybe to 'like' their cat videos.

I neglected to mention that playing a round or six of CCS can also make me feel like I just had a work out at the gym.....well not really;)

Scapes-the art show

Well, I've been busy getting ready for this show. I'm flattered to be included. Several pieces, mostly abstract, were selected by the curator, Leo Mazzeo.
The work spans from my very first collection in 2013, to new works, illustrating my continuing love of watercolor layers and textures. I hope if you're nearby, you'll stop in and say hello. It should be a lively event.

Looking in or looking out?

Haiku for a quiet Sunday

Nature repeats shapes
A microscopic image?
The cosmos maybe

I've been laying in bed since Thursday, sick as a dog. I had fever and was coughing and sneezing and I had no appetite and I couldn't eat! That's sick! By this afternoon I was out of bed, but still not so great. I played Candy Crush Soda on my IPad. I did crosswords and the jumble, using up boxes of tissues all the while.

My go-to remedy for any ailment, physical, emotional, mental, etc. is to paint. I've said it here on the blog many times: I love the feel of the brush dragging the paint, making marks on the paper. My default imagery is spheres. I've heard different explanations of what they may represent. I think of them as a pleasing shape in nature. No beginning or end, repeated within our bodies as well as our environment and beyond. Awesome.

Which way is up?

Here's a piece I had given up on. It just didn't speak to me. So I played around with sepia colored ink and then oil pastels. Then I spun it around.  I think it works better.

Is Anyone Home?

I've been posting less frequently lately. I have been keeping this blog for over 3 years and at times, posting nearly every day. Creative time had become something I looked forward to and mostly enjoyed. Also, and really important, is that I was not locked in  to producing something very labor intensive or complex nor invested in the outcome. I published, unashamedly, knowing that tomorrow I will have another chance. So what happened? I continue to treat painting as my go-to place for inner peace. My dedication to recording my process, however, has slowed down. This is a familiar pattern. I'm good at starting things with great enthusiasm and then it somehow loses it's urgency or importance. Or I seem to have devised new standards for what I post...So I'm making an effort today to write this, and post my latest experiment.
I had some blank canvases on a shelf and I decided to apply thick layers of gesso ino which I pressed some objects to create shapes when it was still wet. Then I started applying paint, just highlighting some of the textures in the surface. I continued to paint what I saw and this is the result. And tomorrow I'll have another chance.