Endings

I'm back from Arkansas where we held a Memorial for Mom on the 27th in Hot Springs. Her wishes were to have the extended family and close friends gather informally to celebrate her life. That was exactly what we did and she would have loved it. One of her friends, Kay, who couldn't attend, wrote something to be read which I'll repeat here:

"I think the conversation that will forever stay with me and sums up the wonderful attitude Marian had about life and people was when she told me she knew her time was getting shorter and she just wanted me to remember she's had a wonderful, wonderful life and to remember she loved me! That was Marian."

Yes, that was my Mom.

After the Memorial, all the relatives (except for Bob, who was happy to have quiet time at home) went to Garvin Woodland Gardens to see the extraordinary light display. We had such a good time! I love each and every one of these terrific people and am so grateful to have had them all there.

Celebration Time

Classes are done and grades are in! The Semester Break has begun! Yippee! 

Honoring Romare Bearden

With all the media hype these days about "art star" Damien Hirst and his tedious spot paintings, I was thrilled to read a recent article by Holland Cotter in the NYTimes about Romare Bearden. It is the centennial year of his birth and quite a few exhibitions of his work are appearing around the country including several in New York. Bearden is the real art star, in my opinion.

Here are some interesting facts about Romare Bearden I learned from Cotter's article:


1.  Bearden was fortunate in being part of a culturally alert family, in getting a multilayered education and in having talents that extended beyond art to writing (he was a jazz lyricist) and social organizing (he became a founder of the Studio museum).


2.  For almost three decades, until he was in his late 50s, he held a full-time job as a case worker in the New York City Social Services Department, with studio time available only at night and on weekends.


3.  His generosity toward other, often younger artists was legendary.


4.  The making of art did not come easily to him.


5.  More than a decade of art making would pass, and a string of formal experiments, before Bearden would finally claim collage, considered his genius, as his primary medium.

Here are some examples of Romare Bearden's work:

Printmaking Class Update

It's that time of year again - the end of fall semester. I thought the screenprinting group was particularly remarkable this term...quick to pick up on new skills, industrious and self-reliant, able to sort out problems, mindful of using time well and meeting deadlines. Here are some views:

Last work day of the semester

Oscar Rangel and his excellent poster

Paula Isenberg, a painter, created a screenprint based on a series of her paintings.

The last assignment involved layering with transparent ink. Janet Pineda very successfully 

pushed the see-through and watercolor qualities of her inks to their fullest strengths. 

Jack Roberts, an independent study student, focused this semester on 

portraying world disasters. Here is his print about 9/11/2001.

Jennifer Warren has a couple more layers to complete on this piece, but it is already wonderful. 

You can detect her excellent drawing skills. She teaches art at a socal high school and 

I think her students are lucky to have her.

Now, on to the Intaglio classroom. This is the area where Breanne Patterson sat for at least six hours on the last work day. I took this shot at 9:28 p.m., two minutes before the end of class when I turn into a pumpkin. Breanne swore she'd finish cleanup by 9:30. I was dubious... what do you think?

Here is Breanne. She wasn't done with cleanup quite at 9:30, but she was finished really soon after.

I'll post some more prints from this semester soon....

Novels About the Northwest

The Jump-Off Creek, by Molly Gloss, is a wonderful read about a women homesteading on her own in Oregon in the 1800's.

Brian Doyle's Mink River is a story about the people in a small town on the Oregon coast. There is a bit of wonderful Magical Realism and a lot of history packed into the story. I loved it.