Resurfacing after a long winter and neglect of blog

Last weekend I participated in the Paradise City Arts Festival in
Northampton.  A young woman came by to make sure I was still
alive and well...She'd been  checking my blog and saw it had been
a very long time since I posted -Dec. 2014!!!  I apologized to her
and now to everyone else who has been wondering just where Wendy
was wandering...and in what universe.

I'm happy to relate that I didn't disappear under the 100+ inches of
snow we had in Boston this winter, nor fall to some dreadful disease.
My life just became complicated by an extra job. Sam, the long time
director of Hawthorne Youth and Community Center  where I was
teaching art workshops once a week went into the hospital in January
and died in  early February.  She had led the organization for over 40
years, working  often 80-90 hours a week up to the day she entered
the hospital. Needless to  say the sense of loss to the organization
and community at large was significant.  Processing  loss and grief
on the part of the children and adults was difficult. Someone who
knew the after school children was needed to fill in every afternoon
from 2-6. Since I live only a couple blocks away, I was the logical
choice...especially considering the conditions which prevailed in this
record  breaking Boston winter.  There certainly have been snowy
winters before, but usually the snow melted between storms.

It has been good to be there for kids and adults, but has impacted the
time I've  been able to spend on some  aspects of my art business like
my blog.  For the next few weeks I'm going to try to catch up  on that
front....reflect on some of  my art making, the art of others, and some
of the projects I've done with the after school children.

Now that it is actually warm in Boston,perhaps I can look back with
a smile  at  this winter... and what emerged from under the snow.
I created the traveling  librarian pictured above during the February
blizzard names "Juno" - thus their title "Juno and Julz".  It seemed a
bit like we were living in Alaska. Juno's snout was one of the stones
I picked up in the caves of the Bruce Peninsula - see my blog post
from last September 19

I continued my series of traveling librarians this year and printed up
a small 8"x8" book with images of  them, a couple poems and
description of our daughter and son-in-law's library and literacy
non profit From Words to Wings. I sell the book  on behalf of their
program in Ecuador. ($25 paperback,, $30 hardback).

In February, I participated  in the Baltimore American Craft Council
show.As always I was inspired  by the creativity of exhibitors...
including their creativity of finding ways to actually make it to the
show.   An example of the extraordinary work at the this show is this
sculpture by  Jeffrey Raasch, title "Brick Treehouse". It stretched
my concept of tree houses.

I've been in awe of Jeffrey's work for many years.  Be sure to check
out his website: jefraasch.net to see photos of his spectacular work
and his story.
    One of my favorite puppeteers, Don Becker was also there:

Don was going to participate in the New Orleans Jazz Fest this
spring.  Have to check in with him and hear reports.  I'm sure
his sales were spectacular.
    Sometimes connections are made at shows via folks who see
your work and are sure who else will like it.  That happened for
me this year at Baltimore.  A couple came by and immediately
thought of a friend of theirs who is a dragon collector and gave
me his contact info.  Turns out he has more than 20,000 dragons
in his collection - but only two leather ones.  I said we had to do
something about that....This spring I made him up one of my
Dragon Names books - with now 465 different names of dragons
in it:

Understandably he doesn't have room for my 4 foot or 10 foot dragons,
but has ordered a 12" leather dragon sculpture.  It's still in the hatching
stage.

    I'm continuing to work with children after school until the school
year ends, but don't have any more spring shows so hope to be able
to post on a regular basis...catching up for this year.

   See you back here soon...and thank you for your patience.

   Adventure on.    Wendy
 

ACC Baltimore - elegance, design, and wild fun

ACC Baltimore was as inspiring as ever this year.  Part of that comes
from the amazing variety of work that is presented at the show.  You
can be overwhelmed by the incredible technique and sophistication by
work such as that by the ceramic artist Mariko Swisher pictured above.
Some of her elaborate geometric pieces takes over a month to
complete. Mariko's booth offers a serene environment and opportunity
to get to know this extraordinary and gentle artist: 

Or  be pulled in by the work of another ceramic artist, James Aarons
and  his "exploration of space" (James description of his new work.)
Intrigued  by urban spaces and movement within them, he says "the
main purpose of my work is to inspire curiosity and action". Movement
and action - not a surprise since James has also had an extensive career
as a modern dancer. 

Then, turn the corner to see funk and fun by Amy Flynn.  Her
one-of-a-kind Fobots  made from found objects are full of energy
and fun...reminding us not to take ourselves too seriously.

Or admit that serious fun is needed too.  A dramatic contrast from the
booths of Mariko and James, Amy's booth demonstrates how different
work requires a different approach to display.  Unfortunately I wasn't
able to visit with Amy at the show, hope to connect with her down the
road. I was able to talk at least a bit with Don Becker whom I met for
the first time at ACC Baltimore in 2010 when he had one of the small
alt craft booths. I  was pleased to see this puppeteer par excellence in a
full  booth this year:

By the time I took a photo of his booth, quite a few puppets and
sculptures had already lept off the shelves. One of Don's
puppets greets me every day as I walk into my studio.

And where does my work fit in the midst of these wild contrasts?
Perhaps somewhere inbetween. Here is an image of my booth
this year at ACC Baltimore taken by the photographer, Bob Barrett.

I had  Bob Barrett take some photos of individual pieces as well....I'll
share them in my next post.

Adventure on.    Wendy

Savoring the world of the "In Between"

Since 2006, I've been on the Executive Board of the
Interstitial Arts Foundation -a merry band of artists,
writers, musicians and energetic folk who love to work
in the "in between" rather than try to fit into
marketing genres or categories. Artist without borders.
The IAF is all about networking and supporting creativity
and definitely has pushed beyond the craft show box
which was getting rather comfortable(if less and less
profitable.) Hanging with and being challenged by writers,
musicians,computer techies and more has shown me worlds
I never knew existed.It's amazing to see what lies by the
side of the road, once you step out the door!

This month, we're putting daily (or almost daily) posts on
the IAF blog - with answers to a few simple interview
questions directed to the Board, a way of introducing who
we are, as well as posting info on people and groups we
think play in the same worlds we do.I urge everyone to
check it out at:www.interstitialarts.org

My interview went up on March 17th:www.interstitialarts.org/wordpress/?p=171
- perhaps a logical date for posting
since one of my great grandmothers did hail from merry
Ireland. (I'm trying to find out more about her journey
here...I suspect Ireland wasn't so merry when she left!).
I never used to think much about the Irish side of my
heritage until someone pointed out that I should look at
what I have been creating all these years...populating the
world with little people and creatures with more than a
touch of Celtic influence and Irish folk tale essence. Lately
I've been thinking a lot about the threads which seem to pull
us through life,connecting us to the past and pulling us
into the future.

The artist I lifted up on the IAF site was Thomas Wargin. You'll
see info and some of Thomas's sculptures there, but I recommend
going to his full site as well:www.wargin.com
He's one of the artists who always inspires me when I see him at
shows and makes me want to push the limits of my work, not
worrying about where it seems to want to go, just being willing
to leap and fly there. This is not an easy thing to do in
difficult economic times, and yet, perhaps that is just when
we can't afford to be cautious. Below is one of Thomas's
bronze sculptures from his "narrative series"..with the
title "Eves Untold Story" Think of the tales it contains!



In my last post, I promised to begin to talk about some of my
favorite artists who were at the American Craft Council show in
Baltimore this year. Thomas was there. As was Christine Kaiser.
I love Christine's quirky, story-filled work. Here are a couple
images I took at Baltimore. The first one is titled "In a Minute".
The title of the one on the left in the second image is
"I should Dance".





Christine describes her work this way:"My pieces are fairy tales
for the modern world. Like most folktales their story isn’t
always revealed on first glance. They are (I hope) engaging
enough to catch your eye again and again. Part of their charm
is the tension between sweet and not so sweet." I'm drawn to
work with an edge...with tension and a bit of a question. Have
fun checking out her website:www.christinekaiser.com

Finally here is an image of a character I picked up at Baltimore
this year - named "Snogwart" by my grandchildren. He's climbing
on the back of my large dragon. Puppet is by Don Becker....more
about Don in my next post!



Now I'm off to work on my taxes - the Spring fun for all
self-employed people! Peace, Wendy