Leaving

beautiful paper that I bought at New York Central art supply

So we packed up and headed out today. I packed all my supplies and shipped them back yesterday. Laura put her wet paintings into her UHaul today.

I'm at the airport waiting on my flight, which looks like it might be late. Keep your fingers crossed that I get to Atlanta in time to catch my flight to Dallas! Hopefully these insurance salesmen behind me will be leaving on a different flight...

Anyway, I had a fabulous time and am kind of sad to leave! If I had it to do differently, I might have brought some painting supplies instead of book supplies. I felt like I was kind of floundering at the beginning, since I didn't really have a plan for what I was going to do. Maybe I was just comparing myself to Laura, who was on a mission and who knew exactly what she wanted to do...

I did finally figure out what I wanted to do, and I will definitely be able to get a lot of work out of the experience when I get back. So it was definitely a great experience.

I would recommend applying for the residency next year. Check the Soaring Gardens website for application information. They like groups and women artists!

I really enjoyed it and I will probably be looking for another residency for next summer.

Books, books, books

Here are some photos of the books I've been making. I finished an altered book, worked out the dummy on a flag book, have the basic idea and form for a small stab book (or series), and am still going strong on those embroidery books that I mentioned earlier.

Altered book.

One of the embroidery books.

I also worked a bit on some drawings that I will collage into encaustic paintings when I get back.


I had a bit of a detour on Thursday - Laura wanted to go to some openings in the city, so we drove back in that day and came back on Friday. We stayed at the beautiful brownstone in Harlem that she and her husband are remodeling, went to 3 openings (without air conditioning!) and then had dinner at a place called Hell's Kitchen.

The next day we went to an awesome art supply store called New York Central. I got some really great paper to use for books when I get back.

Then we went to PS1 to see the Olafur Eliasson show. He's the one that did the waterfalls around the city. He also had some work at MoMA that I had enjoyed.

So it was fun to go to the city again. It was a bit intimidating driving, though. Laura directed me. Actually, she mostly said, "It's OK. Just go!" Luckily I didn't have to drive very far - we just parked at her place and then took the subway, taxis, and her husband drove some, too.

Anyway, the time here is almost up. It's been really fun and inspiring. I'm almost ready to get back to the real world. I've got a lot of work to do when I get back!

Soaring Gardens, part 2

Laura, hard at work in the lower studio...

I'm still blown away by how beautiful it is here. Texas has its charms (well, maybe not), but natural beauty is not one of them. In the Dallas area, at least... So it's quite an experience to be around so much for so long. I have to admit that at times the nature can be a bit much, especially when it buzzes around your ears or poops on your head...

But I'm making work about the surroundings. I'm taking lots of photos and using them in books. I might also do a series of paintings when I get back.

Above is a book that I'm working on. I'm doing embroidery on mulberry paper, making small accordion books, and I plan to make a box to put them in.

I didn't really bring enough supplies. Since I was traveling so much before, I didn't want to lug around a bunch of extra stuff, so I had someone ship me a box of supplies that was waiting for me when I got here. I bought some paper when I was in New York, but I didn't really know what I needed, so I didn't really get enough. And there are really not art supply stores here. So I'm making due with what I have.

Laura, on the other hand, brought her whole studio! She lives in New York, which is only a 3 hour drive, so she rented a truck and brought lots of paint, large canvases, etc. She's here to work, too. She's on a mission. She gets out there early and stays up late working. I feel like a bit of a slacker, really. But I'm here for the inspiration and the experience. It will affect my work in some way, so I'm just soaking it in.

So I'm having a fabulous time and it's been such a great summer so far. I do miss my son, though. That's the only bad part. And today is his birthday, so there's extra mom guilt. But he's on his own Arkansas adventure right now, digging for diamonds and staying in a yurt! So maybe he's not missing me too much...

Soaring Gardens

View of the back of the house at Soaring Gardens.

The Studio at Soaring Gardens

I arrived at Soaring Gardens on Monday. It's about an hour from Scranton, Pennsylvania, and it's absolutely beautiful here.

You can also check out the Flickr set of photos that I've taken so far - I'm adding them slowly.

I'm staying at "The House" with another artist, Laura Iorio, who is from New York City. Nicole Pietrantoni from Iowa is staying at "The Church." We've all been enjoying hanging out and taking in the scenery. Laura is serious about getting a lot of work done and Nicole and I are here for the experience and to be inspired.

I am working, but mostly collecting ideas and images. I've been taking a ton of pictures. I'm going to do work inspired by the natural surroundings - mountains, trees, birds, deer, pond, chipmunks, woodchucks, squirrels, rain, flowers, etc.

I don't get cell phone reception and I have to come into "town" to get email, but that's probably a good thing.