getting my toes wet

showing your art online is a much easier thing to do than showing it in person and recently i've been trying to overcome my, shall i say shyness, about showing my work in public.  it feels a bit like standing naked in the middle of a room at a party.  so when the opportunity came for me to hang my work in a public place (no not a big, scary gallery, thank goodness!) i had to take it.  since the beginning of may, i've had most of my canvases hanging in this neat place called body be well in red hook, ny.  it's a pilates and yoga workout studio offering private and group classes in a friendly and supportive environment.  at the studio they also have an all women's gym so those of us who might be a little uncomfortable working out in the company of the opposite sex, can sweat freely.  that's where i come in, and no, i don't mean the sweating part.  the gym is also a gallery where local artists can show their work.  so up my canvases went.  the very next day after they went up i was honored to be sent an email by someone from the gym saying that she enjoyed working out to the view and could she purchase the one called nest?  of course she could!  

and this is nest, now gone to it's new home

what a great way to get my toes wet with this first public showing.  thanks to cheryl, gallery curator and instructor and chelsea, owner of body be well for giving artists a chance to show their stuff!  in my opinion it's an awesome place that caters not only to the body but the soul as well.

and just a follow up on my previous pergola post (nice alliteration there, hunh?)  in allowing myself to dream big i found these.

find this tuscan castle rental here

find this amalfi coast rental here

now if i can just sell oh, about a zillion more canvases.....

enjoy!

summer dreams

since we moved to our new home we've been talking about building a pergola/enclosed space/privacy fence in our very public backyard.  we have great neighbors on all sides but when you're used to being secluded enough to be able to walk around outside in your pj's, it's hard not to feel a bit exposed.  so...rather than an ugly 8ft. high stockade fence we want something that allows some privacy along with some neighborliness. so i'm allowing myself to dream big before i come down to earth.  i thought i'd share with you some of my inspiration.

good fences make good neighbors keeps popping into my head.  and besides maybe the neighbors don't want to see us in our pj's.

via em for marvelous

via kris allen daily

via dublin durller-wilson

southern living

houzz

via angela llewellyn

there's even more over at my pinterest board cause i can't seem to stop myself.

mother's day

mother's day at the clermont in germantown ny.   beautiful gardens.  beautiful house.  beautiful view.  and my 17 and 19 year old sons came willingly and gracefully along for the ride.  awesome day.

a little snack before mother's day dinner.  aren't these colors gorgeous?

hope all you moms had lovely days!

its in the mail

it was a crazy few days trying to finish my little sketchbook before the deadline and afterward i felt a bit hollowed out inside.  i mean, i never wanted to walk into my studio again.  and not just because it was a disaster area.  deadline day saw me dropping paper scraps on the floor, stacking books precariously on top of water jars, painting with my gluey fingers...  it was insane.  but then, i was insanely happy that it was done, mailed to the brooklyn art library, never to be mine again.  it was liberating.  i'd never been so happy to let something go.  

following this, middle son came home from college, we repaired some sagging front steps, and then you know, laundry, dinner, chauffeuring, etc.  so i didn't have a lot of time to go into the studio anyway.  but one day i was coming up the stairs and i passed the open doorway and waded in.  didn't even clean up, just started working on top of the mess, on a small canvas.  then dug out a shadowbox i'd been working on forever and another canvas.  seems i'm ready to start again.  boy i'm happy about that.

here's a couple of pages of my little sketchbook.  you can see more here

i'm calling this navigate.  its got old poetry pages underneath and pretty blue paint and part of a vintage map (of course) that has been stitched with vintage thread. maybe one day i'll stop being obsessed with these images - maps, constellations, ways of navigating.  but for now, you can find this here in the shop.

it's very late here kids so i'm going to bed... sweet dreams.