The Goddess and the Feast

I am so excited about this show at Smith Farm Center. I was up till midnight and then back up around 6:30 trying to get my curator's statement finished. Here is is:

The Goddess and the Feast
Luana Kaufmann and Tina Lassiter
What I love about this show, beyond its beautiful imagery, is the juxtaposition of two artists who are using the same media - collage- in such dramatically different ways.

Luana's prints are pure theatre, a world where the stage is filled with deliciously surreal characters and witty visual puns. Created from treasured found images her art weaves a delightful story that is as unlimited as the viewer's imagination.

Tina works in a rush of emotion, there is a sensuous physicality she expresses in her art. In her work, abstracted lines, jewel colors, rich patterns are combined to create the actual image. The image of Woman.

The opening is a week from tonight!

Yesterday I also went by SFC to meet with Jennifer, Pat and Robyn our artists for the Nov/Dec show. Great discussion and sharing of images and ideas. Also saw the roughed in new gallery space - how sweet will that be!

crazy sexy cancer was a great documentary

cancer isn't killing me its pushing me to live....

fascinating exhibit at the National Museum of Women in the Arts

Frida Kahlo: Public Image, Private Life.
A Selection of Photographs and Letters July 6–October 14, 2007

This exhibition celebrating Frida Kahlo's 100th birthday includes the painting Self-Portrait Dedicated to Leon Trotsky, previously unpublished personal letters handwritten by Kahlo, as well as photographs of the artist. The collection of photos includes images of Kahlo's private bathroom and its contents at Casa Azul by Mexican photographer Graciela Iturbide. The combination of these materials will provide a stimulating environment for exploring the relationship between Frida's colorful, mexicanist imagery and the difficult realities of her personal life. This exhibition is presented in partnership with the Smithsonian Latino Center and the Mexican Cultural Institute.

tomorrow on TLC @ 9pm

Looks like an interesting documentary...

http://www.crazysexycancer.com/

hey folks.....

class is over now. everyone seemed happy....much tears. mike and i can rest at last.

food gets stranger....yesterday we had kool-aid and pudding....woo-hoo! weirdly enough the kool aid was made by boiling olives and adding sugar.....the pudding was milk, sugar and chicken breast.....yes........chicken breast. the odd thing is that mike and i actually liked it!

fearing the stockholm syndrome, we are escaping the stalig today and going under the wire. mike and i leave shortly to head into that magnificent city. we will be spending the day searching for air conditioning and edible food.

after lunch we will join richard jolley and tommy rush and are going to check out more of the contemporary art scene here......then all of us are heading back to that magnificent restaurant from the other night.

alright.....this should turn things around. we can't wait to get into istanbul today.

talk to you all later :)

tim

Kathleen Walsh

we are delighted to be exhibiting Kathleen Walsh, mother of the charming Bridget Walsh (see post here) show goes up at NIH early September, then moves on to WCI. Artist Statement
Consider Beauty
Once, while painting in an open field, Beauty crept upon me. "I have a secret," she said. "If you consider with care the mountain, she will seduce you."
My eye took in the mountain and the mountain returned my gaze. It was cobalt, then ochre, then orange. I was seduced. I painted.
The caress of the breeze as it prods night into day. The whisper of the fog when it blows in on swallow’s tail. Gold as it leaps from the hayfield at noon. Heat that sizzles the corn. The song of the cricket. The buzz of the bee. A single fallen petal. I couldn’t paint fast enough.
Then I noted the twisted knot of the gnarled tree, the bone-like branches of a withered bush, the broken pod of the milkweed. This too I painted.
Night came. Suddenly, I was alone in harrowing silence. I sat a while on the knoll, terrified. No one came. Then, in soundless grace, the moon slipped in. With practiced hand she washed the world silver blue. Who could imagine such mastery? Here was the Artist. I couldn’t help it; exhausted, I fell asleep in the grass.
Beauty returned with morning mists. I could feel her standing beside me. She looked over my work; unfinished, imperfect, my best effort. I could not bring myself to speak, so delightful was she. "Welcome home," she said.

go draw!

great post from eyewash here

Tim's latest

hey folks....

we are coming in the home stretch here. temperatures are still startlingly high, and the humidity drips off you. i will never think badly of a sweaty smelly street person again. we all smell like goats here. huge kiln failure here today....so we were all a little depressed.

but the imam's call to prayers still haunts me in the most beautiful way. you should really experience it. i will put it into a video reliquary when i get back..

one of our students took pity on mike and i tonight and brought us 4 domino pizzas. i was so happy i almost buried my head in her giant breasts and blew razzberry sounds. tonight is the big dance. can't wait to get back and shower in my room.

i keep petting all the stray dogs and kitties.....so i'm covered in fleas. i can't help it.....they just need some lovin so badly.

i made a piece today i actually liked. i gave it to a student....but had to hide it as the school nazi eva braun says all pieces made here belong to the school. fat chance...

the two armenian students left today. they started crying..it was very sweet

Jane Jerardi

Chance
A new video-dance project, Chance, takes as its starting point the investigation of coincidence and synchronicity in day-to-day life. A set of dances created for video, the Chance series will eventually be presented as public art -- through the projection of video on the outsides of buildings in downtown Washington DC, in early fall 2007 and presented by Transformer. Imagine stumbling upon dance projected outside in the evening viewing light and movement overhead from the street. Dates include:
Friday Sept 7 - 8-9:30 pm The Warehouse as a part of its last ArtRomp event
Saturday Sept 15 - 8-10:00 pm 1515 14th Street NW raindate on Sept 16
Friday Sept 28 8-9:30 pm Dance Institute of Washington
Sat September 29 8-9:30 pm Next door to Mexicali Blues Restaurant  2925 Wilson Blvd as part of Clarendon DayRead more...
Jane's web site here

great article about Nature Boy @ NIH

Read it here

more Michael's pics from Istanbul

Hey Folks.....

yesterday we actually have a successful firing...yahoo! the language barrier still presents many problems. one of our students took mike and i out to dinner in istanbul. the restaurant was atop one of the hills of istanbul...overlooking the great blue mosque....the boshorous. the most beautiful view on earth....the whole city spread below you.

and the food was spectacular........my leeks in bechamel sauce, my filet in basil sauce and my milk pudding with fresh black berries was one of my best meals of my life.

twice during dinner 5 different mosques had a call to prayer.....so magical. a wedding was just below us.....shooting off fireworks and releasing doves. it was incredible. the only thing missing was a flying carpet.

tonight at dinner at the school i had white bread and rice....god's punishment for my hubris of last nights meal.

more later.....write to me...please!!! i'm totally homesick!!!

tim

its been a plague on the house for the last few says... after the water main break to the house last week, a flood in the kitchen at 4am.... enough already! KT has gone to school, Gabe helped drive and move her stuff. Raph leaves over the weekend.

Tim's second email

Howdy Folks........

Heres our latest update. Daily life here is settling in. it can be tough at times. the language barrier has caused some problems...it seems the half the class can't figure out whats going on. but we keep plugging. the australian got cut badly today. we had our nearest good firing yesterday, so that gives us hope.nothing but scraffitto seems to work perfectly.

Friday night we went to a "restaurant" on the river. extremely rustic....grilled meats and veggies. not terrible till an hour or so later....

we spent yesterday in istanbul all day. first, we found a few antique shops where we got a few things for molds. we had our best meal since we arrived....the first not on a stick. the oz met us in taksim square and took us to the studio of what was probably the most successful artist in istanbul. mostly painted tiles into huge 60 ft wall murals. he will demo for our class on tuesday. should be interesting. food is so bad here on campus. i had boiled potatoes tonight.....i don't even bother with breakfast anymore.

after visiting the artist we went to what was supposed to be the best restaurant in istanbul with a great view of the bosphorus at night. got there...all tables up near view were reserved for the hude cruise ships. we sat in back....more meat on a stick. but god thid city is spectacular.

today we went to their version of a flea market....kind of interesting...nothing great. but then a beautiful boat ride between the european and asian sides of the city. breathtakingly beautiful. just so hot outside we melt.......95 or above everyday with horrible humidity. you start sweating as soon as you get out of the shower.

this marks the halfway point. we don't come home this tuesday, but the following tuesday.

sent us emails.....we are homesick!

tim

from Tim Tate

hey folks....

just thought i'd send an update. the flight over was magnificent. best flight ever. i will try to fly business class always the rest of my life. such a huge difference.

istanbul is stunningly beautiful. its the juxtaposition of new and ancient that seems so appealing. mike and i got to spend all last Friday in the city. we started at the blue mosque....went to the museum of sophia...incredible.......then down to the grand bazarre. architecturally breath taking....but sort of a bad duty free mall on a huge scale.

then off to the istanbul modern....where i saw my favorite video, photography and installation art of the last 5 years. 3 artists i had never heard of. a wonderful dinner there over looking the bosphorus.....which is one of the magnificent sights on earth.

class began on saturday.......but not without the australian student being the biggest pain in the ass in all our years of teaching. we are trying to manage him, but i think he is managing us. the others in the class include one american, 2 greeks, 4 turks, 2 armenians , the australian and an uzbekastanian who dissapeared in transit., as you can imagine, we spend most of our time here translating. we start by a statement in english....have that translated to turkish....the try to communicate in russian to the armenians. loads of fun.

other than the huge language barrier,and the australian......the staff and students are wonderful to us. we are way way out in the country....one and 1/2 hours from istanbul. very very little to do in the evenings. Friday night we go to a bbq restaurant on the river right near here. Saturday we are spending the day in istanbul with our old friend oz who we met in washington thru the smithsonian.

he will take us the the antique stores and artist studios all day, then his friend owns the best restaurant in istanbul which overlooks the bosphurus and we are being given the royal treatment. it will be a long but fun day.

Sunday we are going to the local flea market......then taking a boat to a second flea market. that should be fun.

anyway......i'm off .....more as it unfolds......

tim

glorious if rough surf yesterday, finished my book "the myth of you and me" by Leah Stewart, a good beach book. cooked out on the grill last night, more excellent corn and watched Home Movie a documentary by Chris Smith, about 5 people and their wacky unusual homes/lifestyles. today I'll head back to Alexandria. Ray and the boys are staying until Tuesday.

this is the view from our little porch, its a beautiful morning, going to get up to about 80 today. perfect weather.

great day at the beach, weather was perfect, water was amazing. had a lovely dinner w/shrimp and fresh corn. missed KT.

off to the beach for a long weekend. KT cut her foot and is staying home. water main break to the house on Thursday. a scramble to get Nature boy installed. and still lots of work to do. don't know what the Internet situation will be but at least I'll be able to take lots of pictures.

great meeting today at USBG! hopefully we will be exhibiting Margaret Boozer next summer and Jeanne Drevas in the spring of 09. very exciting times these. If you get a chance go by their garden and see the Dale Chihuly on exhibit in the garden.

as always idyllic trip to cville & nice to see Susan. we are planning the 2008 exhibition schedule and making some purchases for the renovated areas of the old hospital. Tomorrow early morning meeting at the USBG to plan their exhibits and then back to NIH in the afternoon.

this from Michael Janis

interior of the blue mosque

Happy bday Gretchen!

went swimming today, wasn't quite this beautiful but really felt great, then went upstairs and watched top chef while working out on the treadmill. sweet! I'm working from home today, doing some paperwork and cleaning upstairs. Tonight I'm hoping to go by the opening of the Landscape show at Torpedo. then next mon/tues its back to cville.

just got an email from Michael Janis saying he and Tim are off to teach at Istanbul's Glass Furnace see more here. He promises to send photos to blog. another nice article about the Washington Glass School here.

We will be showing Michael's work in May in Smith Farm Center's new gallery space.

The Goddess and the Feast

great show coming up in September at Smith Farm Center for Healing and the Arts

Sara Poly

Went on a delightful studio visit to see Sara Poly's work at Columbia Pike Artist Studios. I've know Sara for years, ever since she worked at the Art League and she's just one of the best landscape artists around. I'm hoping NIH purchases one of the following paintings for their permanent collection & we are planning a one-person show of her smaller works next year. Sara's web site here

visited torpedo factory last week. went a little too early and no one was in

not feeling too well today. thought a workout would help but it gave me such a bad case of vertigo I can't drive. oh well, always lots to do from home. and it did force me to make a doctor's appointment for Friday which is long over due. Had a nice (if simple) dinner w/KT and E! last night. Plan to have a meeting with Herman Miller tomorrow.