Art Tour

The Saugerties Artists Studio Tour was the weekend of the 8th&9th and I realized I hadn't written about it. Since losing my studio last year, I have relied on the generosity of others to have a Saugerties venue in which to show my work. I am also grateful to the members of the Tour who allow me to continue to be part of the group. The fact that I do the website, poster, postcard and this year's tee-shirt design may have something to do with it too... no, they really are a good group of people, the kindness of some of them shames and astounds me.
Anyway, over the weekend I came to somewhat regret not leaving the area altogether to start again somewhere else. I find the endless questions about where I am living now, how do I like it (I don't,) it must be nice there (it isn't,) surely I will be able to move back to the country soon (I won't unless I win the lottery or you all buy my art...) I just stand there with a gritted smile on my face but as Anne Morrow Lindbergh said, "insincerity is exhausting."
I sold some small pieces. I debated whether or not to bring small works but in the end my fears got the better of me and I did bring the set of postcard-sized pieces I brought back from the show down in the city.
Do I sound ungrateful? Perhaps I am a bit. I am tired of being grateful for scraps. Sometimes I think this is a big lesson in humility; sometimes I think I didn't need this big a lesson; perhaps this is a lesson in provoking me to get off my sorry butt and take my work down to the big city...
It is terribly hot and humid here nd the "a" is sticking on my keyboard, perhaps it is time to close.

Treasure Hunt

My piece for the Saugerties Artists Studio Tour's "Explore Saugerties Artists Treasure Hunt" is in place. ( I have to say that there have been 2 storms since I put my piece up and who knows about vandals, maybe I need to go check it...) Anyway, I am relatively happy with it but mostly happy that I got it done in time. Since I no longer live in Saugerties I am out of the loop and even more out of touch than I used to be- if that were possible... so I have no idea if anyone has made the effort to decipher my clue and found the piece. But I would be happy if only 1 person did that, just that one hardy, persistent soul would be vindication enough.

Ghosts of the Hudson Valley

As part of the Henry Hudson Quadricentennial, the Artists of the Saugerties Artists Studio Tour are doing a public art project entitled: "Explore Saugerties: Artists Treasure Hunt." It was the result of some brainstorming between another member of the group, Gus Pedersen, and myself to have members of the Tour wreck our artistic will on 18"x18" boxes or frames that have been painted gold (hence the treasure aspect.) The theme of the works should be Hudson-related. My contribution was the idea to have the boxes/frames hidden at various locations around the township and have written clues to the whereabouts of the works for searchers to find them. I had assumed that being artists, all of us would seek out odd and unusual nooks and crannies of the township in which to put our treasures... well, a few of us have; the rest are putting their boxes in shops in the village- about as exciting and evocative as having an easter egg hunt at a mall...
Anyway, I have found a nice spot for my contribution- titled: Ghosts of the Hudson Valley.




Here is my clue:(I was going to have it translated into Old Dutch but that was pushing it a bit too far...)
I was a maid, then I was a wife.
We came to the New World
to start a new life.
But a new life took me
ere I was one and twenty;
my child, not I, walked this land of plenty.
From Aesculus' Crown I watch below
as iron wagons rush to and fro.
An argent stag for company I keep,
I wander in shadows, I dream,
yet I do not sleep.
(Please tread lightly, I share my prospect.
Others here too deserve your respect.)

(location: Chestnut Hill Cemetery, which for those not familiar with the area, is on a hill across from a place called New World Home Cooking, and it has a big silver stag statue there, and the major road between Saugerties and Woodstock runs below.)
I am in the process of putting together a page on the Art Tour website for the Treasure Hunt, the whole thing should be set up in the next week or two.
My own piece is two-sided and made of masonite and sheet acrylic. I have weatherproofed it to the best of my ability and who knows about vandalism- its a gamble but there you are...

Horse Hockey

For the first time in the 15 years I have lived in this area, I fulfilled my small-towner's obligation to be a curmudgeon and wrote a cranky letter to the editor of the local paper. The project in question is called: "Hors'n Around Saugerties," HITS is a summer horse camp for the very rich that has made its home in Saugerties, Saugerties is located on the western shore of the Hudson River, 100 miles north of NYC, the rest is obvious. Herewith is my rant:

To the Editor:

The upcoming quadricentennial of Henry Hudson's historic voyage up the Hudson is being celebrated by Saugerties with a display of painted fiberglass carousel horses. A call has gone out to local artists to donate their talent and time to this display. With great regret I have decided to not participate in this event despite my great fondness for the village and town. Up until recently I had resided for 15 years in the Township. During that time I participated in the Saugerties Artists Studio Tour, the Little Dutch Barn Auction, and painted 4 panels for the mural in the clerk's office. I was happy to learn that no longer living in Saugerties would not be a barrier to participating.

Then I downloaded the specifications. The transfer of copyright agreement was obviously written without any input from or collaboration with someone representing artists. While it is not as horrible as it could have been, it is still a terribly one-sided document that saddles the artists with a tax burden if their work sells for more than the $50 stipend for materials; transfers all rights to the original piece and all derivative rights to the Chamber; and finally transfers all rights to even the preparatory materials to the Chamber. There are many ways this agreement could have been made fairer to artists without harming the Chamber or the Village or Town. The excuse that the boilerplate was lifted wholesale from the Catskill display? As mothers through the ages have replied: "if your friends all jumped off a cliff would you do it too?"

Then there is the total lack of any connection between carousel horses and Henry Hudson, the Half Moon or the Hudson River itself. The reason why it is carousel horses: HITS has thrown its weight around to get something to promote itself at the expense of history. (And shame on you, Senator Schumer for supporting this cowtowing to corporate interests.) We can only be thankful that an arms company is not the economic heavyweight in town, otherwise I assume we'd be asked to decorate M-1 tanks or howitzers; or a pharmaceutical company- imagine gigantic pills on every corner painted with scenes of the Half Moon sailing up the great river...

Besides the egregious disregard for history- the very thing the quadricentennial is supposed to be celebrating- the use of carousel horses hamstrings the artists who do choose to go through with this exercise because they are already covered with raised decorations. It is in fact not a blank canvas, there is no room for an artist's expression.

So, despite my fondness for Saugerties and my desire to be part of the Hudson celebrations, I will not be hors'n around Saugerties; I hope some other, more relevant, fairer and respectful opportunities present themselves.

Moving On II

Well, I've been putting off announcing the big change in my life that is coming up- I have lost my home and studio and have to sell off, pack up and move on. I have struggled so for the past couple of years and despite my best efforts, and because of some of my greatest shortcomings, I must now move on. This is a wrench and it stinks but it cannot- nor should it- be avoided.
The selling off part is actually okay. I am not as much of an accumulator as many but I still have stuff that I will not miss and cannot take with me, so I am arranging to have a moving sale conducted by a third party. I will be at my weekend job while the sale is going on so I won't have to watch people pawing through stuff- a small blessing. The smaller bits of the garden will be dispersed- that will be the second hardest part. I don't know where I am going yet and I probably can't afford anything with any workable land so gardening may be off my agenda for a while. A blow to be sure.
The hardest part is losing the studio. Besides the loss of all the money I paid to build it, I have been so very happy and productive here, surrounded by birdsong and green. I fear I won't have a place to work which would be like not having lungs to breathe with. But that is my fear, so far not reality. I am applying for emergency grants from arts foundations so I may be able to find a decent place to live and a congenial place to work. I want to stay in Saugerties- I love this place and its people and would truly miss not being able to be part of the annual Artists Studio Tour. I also work north of here in the winter and south of here in the summer so a move in either of those directions would make one of the jobs impossible. But mostly it is because this is first place I've lived as an adult where I feel part of the community, I treasure that.
Friends have rallied round and I am overwhelmed with gratitude for their support. Indeed, people I know only in passing have been generous and supportive. I am reminded of the final scene from "It's a Wonderful Life"- I have thought that I was alone in the world but I am not, a gift truly beyond all riches. So, with the help and forebearance of my friends I will make it through this. Crying often, I hope laughing sometimes, but still moving forward with their love and support.

Atta boy, Clarence.

Moving on

As much as I love the Mid-Hudson Valley of New York, my home; it is time for my art to move out of the area. I have been showing at galleries in salon shows, juried competitions and invitational shows within a 25 mile radius, as well as an annual studio tour, but that is just not enough anymore. The clamor from the various framed pieces stacked up along the walls of my studio had become annoying so the other day I shipped 10 of them down to Poughkeepsie for an invitational show at the Barrett Clay Works gallery and 1 lucky piece got to go down to North Carolina (the piece in the image above:"A Child's Garden of Entropy: Evidence of Entropy Mounts," bricolage, 2007.) I hope most of them don't return and that they go, with my blessings, to good homes.

The first time I sold a piece it was a wrench. I know, I know; I'm trying to earn a living with this work so that means I must sell. A conundrum all artists face. When I do illustration work, I am only licensing the reproduction rights to the work; and with scanners and digital cameras the original art never has to leave my studio- it just goes *poof* into the ether and arrives at the client's in mere seconds.

Not so with my gallery art. The original must go. Sometimes it is a piece I have barely had time to appreciate. Oh, let me be honest- it is a piece I have not spent enough time admiring, preening in that mirror of my abilities. Show me an artist whose work is not such a mirror... Anyway, sometimes I barely get the piece finished before it must be submitted. If and when it is returned to me after the run of the exhibit, it is almost as if I am seeing it for the first time- "I did this? hmmm..." And it joins its siblings in the stack. Sometimes it is a piece I secretly hope will not be sold but needs must, I cannot live on beauty. Those are the heart-wrenchers, the best work, the most authentic work.

So, fare thee well my art, my heart's work- just send the check right away...


(to see some art that is really ready to move on: visit Etsy and search "sellers" for "pmlaw" Thanks.)