Gray Cat Studio

Merry Christmas to All

Winter Memories digital collage

Kaleidoscopes

I have resisted buying and playing with Kaleidoscope software for a long time.  Finally, today I decided to go ahead and I'm hooked. I am using Kaleidoscope Kreator  Here are some of my favorites, which I made using some of my Digital Collage as a starting point.

 

 

Missing

I've been bad and very silent for awhile.  I've been busy and depressed about my situation.  On a much better note, this is my encaustic "Missing" that was in an exhibition last August in Lowell, MA.  It was created using an old baby dress.  The dress comes away from the surface as if there was a child there at some point, but is now missing.  It was photographed against a black background.  The really super news is that I sold it almost immediately after the show was taken down to a good friend.  I was so thrilling.

I promise not to be so out of touch again.

New England Wax at the ICA in Boston

Yesterday New England Wax met at the Institute of Contemporary Art (ICA) in Boston.  I had never been there before.  The drive was an easy 25 minutes from Woburn on a Sunday.  The museum building is very interesting and includes a wide set of wooden stairs/seats on the harbor side.  People walking or running down by the water would stop in and sit on the stairs and look out to the harbor. 
Here is the view from the side of the building:

As you can see, it was a beautiful day.  We met in lobby and then went to see the last day of the Shepard Fairey exhibition.  It was extraordinary and investigating his layering methodology worth the trip. Some of the pieces were on canvas or wood and filled a wall in one of the rooms.  We had lunch at the Water Cafe, outdoors, on a shaded porch with a soft sea breeze.  When lunch was over we had out meeting on the steps I spoke about earlier.
Here are two pictures from the meeting:

 
There is Kim Bernard in front.

In Lowell during the Quilt Festival

I have been very pleased to have a piece in the "The Fabrication of Imagination" exhibit at the ALL Gallery in Lowell, MA.  Every piece in the show explores the boundaries of using fiber in art.

Saturday was the busiest day during the Lowell Quilt Festival and I spent time with many friends and met a lot of new quilters as well.  In the morning, I went to the SAQA regional meeting at the New England Quilt Museum, where Rosemary Hoffenberg gave a wonderful slide show.  Then to lunch with Rosemary, Sandy Donabed and Silvia Einstein.  Then I went to the reception at the ALL Gallery, and on to the reception for the quilt exhibiton at The Brush Gallery.  A great day.

My piece, "Missing" is an encaustic using a vintage baby dress.

Here are some other images from the reception yesterday.

Banners by Cornelia Jutta Forster, which wafted through the air surrounding you as you entered the gallery.

 

Directly to the left and in the center, stitched wonders by Laura Sapelly, who I had not seen for awhile.  The huge bag "Excess Baggage" by Susan Webber is truly wonderful. 

Extraodinary dresses by Virginia Fitzgerald, on the far wall pieces by Linda Dunn and Merill Comeau and
Linda Dunn.  The case holds beautiful jewelry knitted from copper wire by Alessandrina Costa.

Book Recommendation - Art Revolution by Lisa L. Cyr

Art Revolution: Alternative Approaches for Fine Artists and Illustrators
by Lisa Cyr


 

The is a super book, filled with inspirational and instructional information and examples.  The author profiles the work of many artists, some of which supply instruction about how they create their art.  I found out about this book at Leslie Avon Miller's  textures shapes and color blog.

Born on the 4th of July

 

Digital collage, July 2007

This is a partial repeat of a post from 2007 on this day.

The 4th of July was my fathers birthday , so many memories: chocolate cakes with whipped cream and fruit that were shaped like the flag or the map of the US; presents that we gave my father that had a July 4th theme; the silly hat we made him wear when we celebrated in Monterey, CA.

The boy in the picture is my father as a child.

What I'm reading

Before talking about the books I am reading now, I'd like to mention a book I just finished - "A Pearl in the Storm".

This book is about Tori Murden Mcclure who was the first woman to row across the Atlantic ocean.  It is a real page turner as she is tossed about on the ocean on her first try.  She finally made it on her second try.  This is a great book and I highly reccommend it.

Right now I'm reading "Marked" the first in the series about Night School, the vampire finishing school in Tulsa Oklahome.

I'm really enjoying it and have ordered the next 3 in the series, used from Amazon.  It's kinda young adult, but there are definately some racy and erotic parts to it, so fun for adults too.

I'm also reading "The Jungle Effect: A Doctor Discovers the Healthiest Diets from Around the World--Why They Work and How to Bring Them Home" 

As indicated by the subtitle, it is about changing how one eats and protecting yourself from disease by following the diets of areas of the world where the residents are actually free of those diseases.  It has been interesting reading and seems like it might work.  I'll let you know.

A short rant about the weather

Today the weather finally got to me.  I had to turn the lights on in my house this morning, in the middle of summer, it was so dark at 7:30am.  That is ridiculous!  Here is the garden outside the store where I work on Wednesday and Thursday.

I'll add an image here tomorrow

We took down the "Women of Letters" show last Sunday.  Since then, and because of the weather, I just haven't felt like posting. Everything is in my studio waiting to be hung for Open Studios on Saturday at Western Ave Studios in Lowell, MA

Another Gray Day

It has rained 19 of the last 24 days in Massachusetts.  Right now it is just gray, endless gray.  We are expecting to see the sun on Thursday, thank goodness.  However, I'm not holding my breath.

Last Saturday, I took an encaustic class from Tracy Spadafora in Somerville.  It was super and I learned a lot for just one day.  I have one piece that is almost done, which I will post when it is complete.

Visit her site, her work is really beautiful.

Here is another piece from my current show, "A through Z"