Hi Rene’, Finally had time to spend on your blog! i really like it. I’m enjoying your observations and learning about new directions (like using bolder colors). Anyway, just wanted to say:Good Job!

You go, girl!

Hey Rene! I love that you are doing a blog!  Keep up the good work…..  We have started a blog for John, about woodworking - it’s called “ieatthesawdust.com”   Check it out and let me know what you think…

Tracking Goals

I have found that goals realized are a powerful incentive to set new ones. Achieving goals, and reviewing them, is a great way of inspiring confidence to keep on track with my work. Once a project is accomplished, it seems to instantly turn from “unobtainable” into something like “Oh - THAT was easy!” Have you ever noticed that phenomenon? In reviewing goals I have achieved so far, particularly ones that once seemed so overwhelming - such as mounting solo exhibits, creating a dedicated studio space, and retiring early in order to spend more time on my artwork - I find that I am even more motivated to focus on a larger goal: reaching out to new communities. 

In attempting to capture the spirit of a place, I create a series of images using representations of architecture, streetscapes, light, and color. The newness of a place is exciting to me and I like to create mementos of its “specialness” to be enjoyed by locals and visitors alike. It excites me to see people’s reactions when they see my work of a place they are familiar with – when they can see it from a different perspective, or when they notice a beautiful detail that may have previously escaped their attention. 

For example, in October I was on the Mediterranean coast in Southern France, in a town called Port Vendres. As I explored this new area, I was struck by the beauty of this church. I loved the way it faced the harbour, and the multitude of ways that parishioners could arrive for services - they could walk, drive a car or moto, ride their bicycle, or bring their boat right up to the front door of the church. I had never seen such a thing! In seeking to capture the sense of this church and this place, these habits and these people, I created this piece: 

THIS is what I want to do more of. I have tried to break this large goal down into smaller ones, and I review them on a weekly basis (at the coffee shop, of course!), using the list as a source of inspiration and reflection. So I continue to sketch, to seek out opportunities to travel to new places (whether they be overseas or down the road), to contact new venues, and to research organizations to collaborate with. I am networking, learning new media, creating more product options, and entering more group shows and artists’ competitions. Word of mouth and personal contacts remain my most valuable source of new work, so I am working on ensuring that my goals, abilities, and potential are clear to clients and friends, new and old. 

I look forward to new explorations!

Brooklyn + New York

 I grew up in New York, and as a 15-year-old I would go into The City (across the harbor on a ferry ride from Staten Island), and discover what my city had to offer. Bike riding on a Sunday morning in the financial district, watching the birds hover in Washington Square Park, sketching passengers on the subway and ferry, looking up at the tall buildings in Midtown, and saying out loud to myself: This is where I belong.

 As we know, my future lay in Georgia, not New York, and I am happy for that, but I am equally happy to be back visiting Brooklyn and Manhattan this week. I saw an old map when I was at the archives last week, spelling out the neighborhood my high school was in, not New Dorp, but Nieuwe Dorp, highlighting its Dutch ancestry. I was intrigued by this alternate spelling, and I love the sense of history the words gave to me.

 I went to the Brooklyn Museum of Art tonight and did sketches of Egyptian carvings. They were pretty inspirational – a few that I sketched for further reference are of an oryx, and a fish, from 1539-1292 BC!:

 The building is beautiful – they have added a modern entrance to their Beaux-Arts building, which gave a pretty wonderful feel of the new with the old. I loved the way that the piers of the old building were revealed to expose the red brick in the glass and steel lobby. The Brooklyn Museum website states that the :“brick support piers that once housed the five front doors have been ‘excavated,’ restored, and left permanently exposed, showing the foundations of the institution both structurally and symbolically.” Very nice!

 

 As I type this, I am sitting in the Tea Lounge on Union Street in Park Slope. It is a most welcoming tea/coffee shop – with s p a c e – something I have noticed is lacking in most restaurants and coffeeshops I’ve been to since arriving in the northeast. There is a nice buzz to the environment here – music, people talking, espresso machines swooshing – and I feel right at home. We are sharing a pot of Moroccan Mint tea while I work on this blog entry.

 

  I’ll be visiting some more museums and then heading back home to my studio in a few days. I can’t wait to see what artworks come out of my recent adventures!