Small works available for purchase

I have created a new blog to present the small works I have available for purchase.

I hope you will visit, by clicking here.

This is one of the works being offered, a collage titled "Armor," from the Patterns Series:

Turkey Day

We had a visit from these friendly turkeys (documented by my husband, Kevin) the other day. Our backyard is one of their favorite spots to get together and have a little chat over a bite to eat.

Wishing you and those you love a very happy and peaceful Thanksgiving Day!

What's it all about?

With a few days off for the Thanksgiving holiday and some time to take a break from curriculum planning, handout Xeroxing, and homework grading, I have started ruminating on my art career. The usual questions that vex all artists are popping into my head. Where should I show my work? Which events offer the best networking opportunities? How much should I charge for my work? How should I present my work? Which grants should I apply for? On and on.

As I mull over all these things, one thought keeps occurring to me. All of this is important, but it's subordinate to one main point: I LOVE TO MAKE PICTURES! I have so much fun playing around with painting, collaging and printing that I want to do it every day for the rest of my life. There are so many exciting directions that I want to pursue in the studio, there just aren't enough canvases or pieces of paper to try them all on! Give me a brush, a surface, and some paint, and I'm in heaven on earth.

Every activity I do -- teaching, attending openings, sending out applications, not to mention grocery-shopping and changing the oil in my car -- I do because, in some way or another, it supports or allows my time in the studio.

As Twyla Tharp says in her wonderful book "The Creative Habit," "I've always thought that one of the great rewards of being a creative person is that I GET TO DO IT" (emphasis hers).

Artists do a lot of other things so they can do their creative thing, but it's all worth it for those glorious moments of elation in the studio.

Struggling to get organized

OK, I admit it. I am WICKED organized. In each class I teach, I give daily handouts arranged in chart form, detailing exactly what we're going to cover and in what order. The clothing in my closet is arranged by color, season, and sleeve length. My books sit neatly on the shelf, grouped by subject and height of spine.

But I'm feeling very disorganized in the studio lately. Paintings aren't as easy to categorize as coats or books. I have them grouped generally in my mind into various series (as you can tell from the gallery page of my website), but I have MANY more pieces than are pictured on the website, and these don't necessarily fit into any particular series.

This wouldn't be a problem at all, but I am facing 2009 with the goal of getting my work out into the world. As I've mentioned before on this blog, I had two months this summer with time to JUST paint, and immediately afterward I jumped into such a heavy autumn teaching schedule that I've barely taken a breath since Labor Day. This means I have a ton of new artwork that I haven't had time to consider yet, and now that I am considering it, I'm feeling overwhelmed!

Getting artwork out into the world means creating organized proposals and presentation packets to send to possible exhibition spaces, galleries and consultants, and I am finding this hard to do with the avalanche of new works sitting in wait in my studio.

I guess the best solution for me is not to rush into things, but "live with" and look at the work for a while. Take some time to carefully investigate the list of places I want to make contact with, and see what kinds of opportunities raise their heads in the spring of 2009 (when there are often floods of calls for entry, etc.).

I have three shows coming up in the next three months, luckily all of which involve curators, so I don't have to make any curatorial decisions about which pieces to show by myself.

But now that a few of my classes have ended for the semester and the rest are winding down, I am excited about turning my attention from my students' artwork to my own art career, and focusing on getting my work OUT THERE.

The two pieces at the top of this blog highlight two directions I've taken in the recent past -- the elegant side of my line-making, and the messier side. I love both, and both are different sides of me.

Money, honey

As Thanksgiving approaches, I am thinking of the many, many things I have to be thankful for -- this year, in particular. One of those things is that every penny I've earned this year has been made in exchange for doing something I LOVE -- painting, writing or teaching.

As someone who was miserable at work until my mid-30s, I consider this quite an accomplishment. I have always liked the people I worked with, but the jobs I held felt like confinement and drudgery. Now, as a painter working in my own studio, an adjunct faculty member, and a freelance writer, I have complete control over my own time, and therefore, my life. What a luxury, for which I am most grateful.

The picture above is "Yellow Web 3" (acrylic on canvas, 50" H x 30" W), one of my paintings that was sold this year.

Money is money, but somehow it feels better to pay one's bills with dollars that were earned by labors of love.

Grace Hartigan has died

I am sad to note that painter Grace Hartigan died on Saturday at age 86. She was a great inspiration to me, as a person and as an artist, when I was finding my direction in graduate school.

This obituary seems to talk more about Jackson Pollock and Ms. Hartigan's husband than it does about the artist herself, but at least it gives the basic facts on her life. I highly recommend the book "Grace Hartigan: A Painter's World" by Robert Saltonstall Mattison to find out more about her.

A day of rest

Today I had a touch of the flu that's making the rounds. Best way to fight off a virus: some good old-fashioned ZZZZZZs. Luckily, today was also my day off, so I was able to rest ... with some company from the cat. Feeling much better now, ready to get back in the swing of things tomorrow. The human body knows how to heal itself, if you just let it alone to do its thing!

Icons + Altars exhibit online

The "Icons + Altars" benefit auction I participate in each year, held at and in support of the New Art Center in Newton, Mass., has posted its exhibition on line as of this morning. Click here to see the variety of fun, elegant and/or intriguing works in this year's show!

Artists are given the general guideline of creating an "altar" or "icon," and we're asked to work smaller than 18" in any direction, but beyond that, it's up to the individual exactly what to concoct. The results are an eclectic and stimulating (and affordable) group of artworks.

My husband and I always spend time wandering through the gallery on our own, then we get together and compare notes, picking our individual top five favorites and top ten favorites. Often we agree on at least a few, and end up bringing up one or two that the other would have missed.

This year my top five are (in alphabetical order) Heidi Dauphin, Pablo Gonzalez, Julie Levesque, Laura Tangusso, and Julie Weiman.

The benefits of hanging in there

Apparently it's true, the theory that if you hang around long enough, eventually people will notice you.

A friend of mine from work is investigating potential MFA programs, and over the weekend she visited the studio of an artist who has graduated from one of the programs she's considering, to ask about her experiences. My friend happened to mention me during their conversation, and the artist said, "Oh, I know who she is, she's the one who ..." and she traced a swirling shape in the air with her finger.

Now I have never met this particular artist, and when my friend told me this story, frankly I got a little charge from the idea that the woman had seen my work somewhere and that it was distinctive enough for her to have remembered it.

It's been 11 years since I received my master's degree and "officially" began my career as a professional artist (as well as secretary, copy editor, teacher, and the other things I've done to finance my artistic career). In a way it's gratifying to think that maybe those years of effort might be starting to earn me some name recognition in the small world that is the Boston-area art scene.

My ego likes to think so, anyway! And let's face it, as mature and stoic as we try to be about rejection letters, false starts in the studio, being misunderstood by the general public, and the other trials and tribulations that come with being an artist, sometimes our egos can use a little boost.

Artists on a "Long Journey"

Here are the artists in "Long Journey," the group show I'm in at the Artspace Gallery in Maynard, Massachusetts, taken at the opening reception on November 8. For more information, click here.

Front row, from left to right, Jennifer Maestre, Ruth Rosner, and Virginia Fitzgerald. Back row, from left to right, me (Catherine Carter), Catherine Evans (curator of the exhibit), Jeanne Williamson, and Jero Nesson (director of the Artspace Gallery).

Biographical assemblages

Here are images of artworks by the wonderful students in my "Beyond the Palette: Experimental Acrylic Techniques" class at the Danforth Museum School in Framingham, Massachusetts. This a graduate course for teachers in the public school system. The assignment was to explore the adhesive possibilities of acrylic, in an assemblage that's a tribute to someone the student admires, inspired by the boxes of Joseph Cornell.

This piece is by Colby Caravaggio, as an homage to his great aunt:



This piece is by Ed Hardy, as an homage to Lord Horatio Nelson:



This piece is by Jbar Kenny, as an homage to Casey Jones:



This piece is by Linda Minnick, as an homage to Pablo Picasso:



This piece is by Margaret Primack, as an homage to her mother-in-law:



This piece is by Rosanne Walsh, as an homage to Isadora Duncan:

Opening tonight

Tonight is the opening for a local six-person show I am in, located in Maynard, Massachusetts. If you're in the area, or if you have a chauffeur and/or private jet at your disposal, please stop by! It's an interesting array of styles and media, sharing the artists' dedication to a particular direction over a period of years.

Icons + Altars invitation

This is nice -- an image of the piece I contributed to benefit a local art center was featured on their invitational flyer (center image in the top row). This particular organization offers participating artists 50% of the proceeds, which is fair and rare. It's a win/win/win for all involved: the center, the artists, and the collectors.

Election night guest

Last night while watching the election coverage on TV, I heard rustling in the chimney above the living room fireplace. Too early for Santa Claus. I was concerned it might be our cat Petey, but I checked and he was slumbering in his bed. The rustling ceased and I again became engrossed in the doings on TV.

Later on, more rustling, and there was Petey, sniffing around the fireplace grille. Then suddenly a small brown/gray form shot from the fireplace, followed closely by Petey in hot pursuit. At first I thought it was a rat, but he had a bushy gray tail.

The poor little guy was finally cornered in the kitchen -- it was a flying squirrel! We managed to sequester Petey in the bathroom and urge the flying squirrel out through the garage.

Not long afterward, Barack Obama gave his acceptance speech. A very dramatic night, all in all!

I had just been reading about animal guides in "Ask Your Guides" by Sonia Choquette. I tried looking up the symbolism of flying squirrels online, but all the information I found was about "regular" squirrels. So who knows if this was a deeply significant event ... or just a cold squirrel investigating a warm chimney?

Works to savor

Carol O'Malia is a most amazing painter, as well as a long-time friend. I am always awestruck by the eloquence of her work, and was so excited by the new pieces shown on her website that I wanted to share them with you. Click here and enjoy!

You can forget about my vote

It is 9:30 AM (including time change) on a Sunday morning. I usually work on Sundays; I happen to have today off. And this will be my only day off until next Tuesday, November 11, the Veterans Day holiday.

The peaceful atmosphere of my living room was just shattered by the jangling of the telephone. It was a call from the office of a candidate for Senate whom I was already prepared to vote for, urging me not only to vote for her but to cast my vote a certain way on one of the referendum questions slated to appear on the Massachusetts ballot on Tuesday.

Since this call was a recording, I was not able to answer the telephone and yell my rage at this invasion into the receiver. An online search was not able to turn up any sort of a website for this candidate, so I couldn't email her office either. Hence, my blog entry.

Madam, I don't care if you are a Democrat or a Republican. If you think it is acceptable behavior to telephone a constituent at home, early on a Sunday morning, and push them not only to vote for you but to vote a certain way on a particular referendum question, you clearly do not have my best interests at heart, nor do you give my intelligence, my sense of reason, or my right to freedom the slightest amount of credit or consideration.

Not only do I now intend NOT to vote for you, I plan to vote for your opponent. Have a nice day.

So long, perfectionism

There was something in the air today -- I found myself completely unable to stick to the SHOULDs I usually impose on myself.

I meant to spend the morning doing things I "should" do -- laundry, cleaning the bathrooms, grading homeworks, doing dishes -- but a little art got in the way, and I suddenly found myself with a studio full of groovy new monotypes. Here are three of my favorites:







Later on, my sense of discipline went even further out the window. I had eaten no candy for Halloween yesterday, not one bite. In fact, the last bite of chocolate I had was at a family birthday party in August. But my resolve had to give out sooner or later. I passed the vending machine at school this afternoon, and I suddenly found myself $1 poorer, with a Snickers bar in my hand. I felt a momentary pang of guilt .. but as I removed the wrapper, I decided I might as well stop trying to be perfect.

Tomorrow I'll go back to healthy eating, and tomorrow I'll finish the laundry and grading papers. But today seemed like a good day to be a human being (imperfect!).