Rhododendron

Apparently endless rain is great for rhododendron. I, on the other hand, am solar powered. Bring back the sun!! But in the mean time these bushes are amazing.

The Latest Studio Notes

I don’t have a title for this one yet. In fact I still have to sew several of those rows onto the whole, but this is what it’s going to look like. There’s a line drawn on the wall that is visible when you look at the piece but is not really visible in the photos. I love the idea of drawing on the wall. Ok, I guess I love ACTUALLY drawing on the wall. I’ve got an idea I might do more of it. Anyway, I’ve been working on this one for so long I might miss working on it. On the other hand I’ve got quite a few other ideas I want to work on.

Roses in the City

More Inspiration from the BMA

Baltimore Museum of Art

These Pre-Columbian dogs always make me smile.

Grace Hartigan

We went to the Baltimore Museum of Art this weekend. I was sorry to see that Grace Hartigan died last year. They had a room full of her paintings set up as a memorial to her. I hope we'll get to see a big retrospective soon.

Loving the Homemade Gift

Juxtaposition

I went back to the Eastern State Penitentiary in the morning when the light was much brighter than on my first visit. I took quite a lot of beautiful images of the the decrepit, decaying structure. I love the light in these two.



And from today, the mirrored walls of the American Visionary Museum in Baltimore, Maryland. Sadly they don't allow photos inside so you'll have to visit to enjoy it. On the other hand, this is more than enough fun!


And then this. What's better than one of me? Lots of me!

Box Buildings

Eastern State Penitentiary

Olivia and I went to an opening last Friday at the Eastern State Penitentiary. It's an amazing place. Olivia was fascinated so don't forget to bring your kids here if you visit Philadelphia.


View inside one of the cells.


Video piece by Johanna Inman and Anna Norton. There were several of these set into the windows of the cell doors. They document the movement of the light inside the Penitentiary. The pieces are beautifully set up and interesting to watch.


Susan Hagan's sculptures were especially fun to photograph. I love the way they seem to glow.

While we were in Charlottesville we visited the Kluge-Ruhe Aboriginal Art Collection. We saw an exhibit of bark paintings, some of which were really great. I tried to capture the names of the artists but unfortunately most of those photos are too blurry to read.

Wisteria, the plant not the lane

I know I promised to post some art. And you may think you’ve seen enough wisteria. You’re wrong. You just can’t get enough. Or rather I can’t. But look at these trees. This stuff is amazing. Oh, and check out the blue sky! Sunshine rules!






And for good measure, another Philadelphia purple tree. Can someone please tell me what these are called?


And maybe tomorrow I'll post some art but after two weeks of gray and rain this crazy sunshine might overwhelm me again.

I’m going to post some art soon, I swear, but first this. I drive past this building everyday but it wasn’t until just recently that I saw this side of it. The first time I saw it I didn’t have a camera so I made a special trip out there just for you. I don’t know why I love it so much, but there you have it.

Wisteria and the purple tree

There are two things dotting the sky purple these days. The first is the wild wisteria. I didn’t even know wisteria grew in the wild like this. I always thought of it as a difficult plant to grow. I guess it can take up to 10 years from germination to flowering but once it gets going watch out. It’s incredibly beautiful.


The second is a tree that grows all over the city of Philadelphia. I don’t know what it’s called. Someone told me they thought it had been imported from China because it grows quickly. But since I can’t find the name of the tree I can’t investigate it’s origins. I did see quite a few of them growing out in the country in Virginia this weekend.

The sun is out. FINALLY!

Now THIS is an azalea! It seems to have stopped raining. Hopefully that will last because we are taking our tent out for a trial run this weekend. And tonight, an opening at the Eastern State Penitentiary. With any luck next week's blog will be full of wonderful and exciting images. It's definitely time to get back to the woods and the weeds. Oh my, the rain has encouraged the weeds in the garden to grow like crazy. The zucchini don't seem to like it. I hope the yellow color will fade as the sun comes out. (Somehow I don't think it's quite how it works...)

It’s getting dark at 5pm, the beagle won’t stay off the couch and I’m still cutting these.

Cinco de Mayo!

This image is from Cinco de Mayo festivities at the Toledo Zoo a few years ago. Love that zoo.

Once Upon a Time

One day last week, was it last week??, it seems so long ago... Anyway one day last week, I think, it was actually sunny and warm. That's right, both sunny AND warm. I took the girls to the park before school. Fun times. And now? Now it's cold and raining. AND it's been cold and raining for years, I mean days.

Virtual Travel

The Penguin Colony on Boulders Beach in Africa sent by my parents who are on a cruise around the world. This image is titled "Woe is me." Ha.

Studio Notes

This week has been very busy in the studio. Yesterday, in particular, I pulled out all the stops. First up, the scale painting is still in progress and gradually growing. I'm concerned about the strength of the thread vs. the weight of the piece. Right now it's @ 6feet wide and 3feet tall. My plan is to make it at least 6feet tall, but I'm afraid it will pull itself apart. It may have to be constructed in sections. I don't want to do that because the way it pulls on itself impacts the way it hangs so making it in sections will change that. We shall see.


I also pulled out some drawings from last summer to work back into.


And then I started pulling out all my old work. I'm looking for things to scavenge for my scale piece. I'd also like to pare down my storage section. I think this one still has some merit, but the pieces on stretchers are just not...broken glass downstairs brb.

Ok, glass picked up and all children off to their various buses. Now, I was saying, the first works I made layering canvas were glued onto stretchers. Something about the stretcher seems to limit the works, maybe contain them. At any rate I'm torn because I still like some of the stretched pieces but they just don't have the strength of the unstretched works.