April Art Action

      Not only was it fun to have three paintings (The Fire Trilogy) in Fairytales, Folktales & Fables, but a bit of a write-up in the local Belmont paper. That done and nostalgic for my roots, I started an oil painting "Oh give me a home, where the buffalo roam, and the skies are not cloudy all day." I'm not sure how it will clean up! I have some more tunes in mind. Click to enlarge photos.

 

      Then Joe and I headed to NYC for an art trip, courtesy of son Jim and Colin who were on the road traveling. Joe and I first hit the Neue Gallery for a touching show Before the Fall, about art life during the rise of Hitler and before the Holocaust, the works of artists of different persuasions at that time and what they offered. There were only a few masterpieces in the show, but the collections there were moving. We didn't want to miss the Met Breur's Like Life with all the shocking and amazing bodies. Then we ran to the Frick for the last day of Zubaran's Jacob and his sons, giant portraits of the founders of the 12 tribes of Israel. Other days there were Grant Wood nearby at the Whitney and the Met's thoughtful Thomas Cole with paintings reminding of our three years nearby in South Hadley when Joe taught at Mt. Holyoke. I loved Cole's warnings to America at the time of Jackson's presidency!We stopped at MOMA and saw paintings by the Brazilian artist Tarsal do Amaral who wanted to paint her homeland.We made it to several gallery shows, but David Hockney's was by far the most exciting to me with his new giant digital photographs and shaped canvases. We went down to the Bowery to see the Triennial at the New Museum and learned Banksy had just been nearby. Then to Chinatown for blue and white bowls for our new blue and white dining room. 

     Joe and I had fun eating very casually at The Rocking Horse Cafe for Mexican food, Neue's Cafe Sabarsky for Viennese food, the Whitney Studio Cafe for toasts, La Bonne Soupe down from Trump Tower, the Empire Diner and Le Grainne in Chelsea near the High Line, the Oyster Bar with a stop at the New York Public Library, and Atticus in New Haven on our way to the fantastic New Britain Museum of American Art for the Prendergast brothers.  I will continue the magic with books I got for myself and the children. Joe has his thrillers. It is finally 63 degrees here and the jackets are back on their hangers!

for Linda

for the grandchildren and Linda

for the kitchen from Japan

April's March Mixups

     Snow moved the March opening reception to April for the Belmont Gallery of Art's Fairytales, Folk Tales and Fables. I have three paintings hanging: The Fire Trilogy.

       After the fire in 2016 at our home of 40 years, I found painting therapeutic.

       In the first of the trilogy painted shortly after the conflagration, in Medieval imagery, the Mouths of Hell were consuming in fire all our earthly treasures — including my beloved library of art books, unfinished paintings, easels and a studio full of art supplies.

       In the second painting, Courage, ladders reached to Heaven through the smoke, destruction and chaos for strength to bear the insurance negotiations and restoration predicaments.

       In the third, Phoenix Rising, our house like the ancient Phoenix rose from its ashes; and its champion, the Sun, broke back through.

      The weather was confused and snowed the day after sunny Easter. However, I am thinking sunflowers. I got some good artificial blooms from Michael's and look forward to painting them again in my new upstairs studio w lots of sun. I want to do more Southwestern themes for Joe to finish as he did my recent sunflowers that I love. Joe is a super in-house picture framer. He also replaced my table jigsaw at a Sears closing so I can cut out some clever shaped canvas/frames in the future. His wood workshop is in the basement along with my other art studio.I always said my jigsaw machine was the first thing I would take out in a fire, but I took out myself, wisely, instead.

        Easter was a two-day celebration with surprise additions, food and activities.I will only say my "aging" grandchildren are never too old to hunt eggs and turn it into Olympic seriousness. In the drugstore, I ran into other mothers who still send off chocolate eggs to children in their 20s and 30s and fill baskets appreciated by their spouses or boyfriends as well. Good bye March and April Fool! The children did giggle at asparagus and broccoli in some of the plastic eggs.