When Things are Worth the Effort, My Holiday Hopes for You, and My Workshop in Collage-Lab's Virtual Retreat!!

Today after a long day, I was moving suitcases out of the way to get to my family’s wrapping paper stash from last year to wrap a present for my mom. There was already a perfectly good roll out on the desk that I could have used. However, the thought of all the packages being wrapped in the same paper just felt blah. It wouldn’t be the joyous cacophony of pattern under the tree. It just wouldn’t be as fun. I decided it was worth it to put forth the extra effort. Suitcases were moved, doors were opened, digging was done, and voilà! More lovely wrapping paper. More fun. Worth it.

I hope that in this holiday season, whether you are near or far from home, you encounter a thing that requires a bit of effort, that delivers some kind of small reward that makes it all worth it. I also hope that you take some deep breaths, take care of yourself, and treat yourself to something a little fun, whether it’s bubblegum or a bubble bath.

Speaking of fun, if you enjoy learning and my collages, you can now sign up for Collage-Lab’s Virtual Mixed Media Collage Retreat, happening the entire month of April 2023! I’m teaching a workshop about creating dreamy unified landscapes with depth and color. You can find out more on Collage-Lab’s website. Early bird pricing is $125 for a whole month of collage fun! I was an attendee last year and I loved it. I hope you can join us!

Happy Holidays!

A Visit to the National Museum of Women in the Arts in DC: Photography, Plus the Sonya Clark Exhibition

A few months ago I had the opportunity to finally visit the National Museum of Women in the Arts in Washington, DC and it was an absolute pleasure. The museum itself was gorgeous and easy to navigate. I spent a little over two hours there and the roster of artists exhibited included almost every rock star of women artists that you would want to see, as well as new-to-me artists that I want to know more about. Rock stars include: The Guerilla Girls, Lavinia Fontana, Mary Cassatt, Amy Sherald, Cindy Sherman, Niki de Saint-Phalle, Marina Abramovic’, Clara Peeters, Judith Leyster, and Sonya Clark! New-to-me artists included photographer Ruth Orkin, painter Marie Danforth Page, sculptor Patricia Piccinini, painter Hollis Sigler, painter Remedios Varo, photographer Sharon Lockhart, and photographer Mary Ellen Mark.

I was extremely impressed with the emphasis on photographers, but of course, women have been taking photography to the next level since its earliest beginnings by Sarah Anne Bright, Anne Atkins, Julia Margaret Cameron, and beyond. Mary Ellen Mark was included in a special photography exhibit about Girlhood that included various photos of girls in action throughout her travels. My favorite piece was “Batman and Little Barbies at the Toys ‘R’ Us Holiday Parade, New York, 2002”. The exhibit will be up until August 8, 2021, when the museum will be closed due to renovations. If you are a fan of photography, this museum’s collection of significant photography is a joy to behold.

The main temporary exhibit was Sonya Clark’s “Tatter Bristle Mend” and it sadly closed on June 27. Sonya Clark is a textile artist with a social practice that weaves Black history and culture back into world history. It was informative and eye-opening to understand the connections between money, sugar, cotton, hair, racism, the slave trade, and modern day society. Ms. Clark treats hairdressing as a foundation for fiber art and as an expression of the politics around race and gender. She holds a mirror to American democracy and points to the oppression of people formerly treated as commodities and Other Than. Yet, the African Diaspora persists and flourishes. Her work appears so simply presented, but the narratives that unfold from further study and information contain multitudes. My favorite pieces were the ones that encrusted $5 bills in sugar (“Sugar preserves, but it also rots. Lincoln abolished slavery in the USA. What remains of the institution is sugar coated.”—Ms. Clark) and put the perspective of what the artist herself would have cost at the height of the slave trade in modern day currency. The latter piece was a stack of blank bills made from sugarcane pulp with the price $36,683 printed on the paper band around them. That would have been the cost of an actual person if it were in 2016 money.

I felt those pieces because they make greed concrete. People sold people, hurt them, profited off of their labor into the billions of dollars in today’s currency, and fought to keep their rights to do so because of money. The mastery with which Ms. Clark drew parallels between the slave trade and the rot of modern-day systemic racism was incredibly compelling, and I look forward to seeing more of her work in major museums across the globe. She deserves the recognition, and the world needs her to further educate and bring into perspective how much the slave trade of the 16th-19th centuries continues to affect the globe to this day. I love the three words that make up the title of the exhibition, “Tatter Bristle Mend.” It describes how history and society as a whole must unravel and be built up stronger and anew. It’s pragmatic and hopeful.

I look forward to visiting the National Museum of Women in the Arts in DC again! I can’t wait to see what else they have in store. I won’t be able to make it before the renovations start on August 9, but if you’re in the area, please go. Just be aware that their store and library are currently closed to the public. You can plan your trip by visiting their website here. Until next time, dear readers, have a wonderful week.

A Visit to Artechouse in Washington, DC

Recently I had an eight hour layover on a train trip from North Carolina to Pittsburgh, so I decided to use the opportunity to visit some places that I’ve been wanting to go but haven’t had the chance.

My first stop was Artechouse, an interactive art venue that focuses on merging art and technology. The exhibit that I saw was called Renewal 2021, their 4th Annual Cherry Blossom Inspired Installation. Visual Design for the exhibit was by Yuya Takeda, music was by Mario Hammer and the Lonely Robot, and the scenery was by Design Foundry.

There was a short video before entering the exhibit space that explained the exhibit and their policies, then I was free to explore as I pleased.

The main room was an interactive video and sound installation that changed as I moved along the walls. The projections on each wall featured a city 100 years into the future that was covered in garbage, but cherry blossoms as well. When I got close to the walls in the sequence depicting the city, blossoms and piles of garbage flurried around me as I waved my arms and moved about the room. That sequence featured how the world might look in the future: covered in garbage, but with bits of nature waiting to reclaim it. Another sequence was a beautiful meadow, with more blossoms flurrying around me as moved, inspiring hope that we can change our future and make the Earth a healthier place.

In a hallway adjacent to the main room was a futuristic arcade that featured games, vending machines, and stalls selling various wares. There was a long room off of this hallway that mimicked a cat walk above the city with an interactive screen at the end that highlighted my silhouette in fizzy neon pink that scattered into little dots around me.

On the way back from the catwalk was a hallway featuring graffiti from an artist I can’t remember now and could kick myself for not taking a picture of the information plaque. It was like Graffiti Wall 2121 and the part that stuck out to me most was the lettering that said, “Do What You Want to Do.” And I felt that.

In summary, Artechouse is definitely worth a visit if you like being immersed in environments that make you think and make you a part of the work itself. It’s cool that the projections followed me as I moved and the whole thing was eye candy to the max, but it’s also cool that the work is symbolically saying that I am a powerful individual, and I can influence the future now. Right now. And with people like me and you taking care of the planet, the future isn’t bleak. It’s full of promise and possibilities.

26 Things to Do When You're Alone and Lonely

Hello, all! I’m back with some fun things to do when feeling alone and lonely. I am using both of these words because one can feel lonely while in a group, and alone when no one is around, but not necessarily lonely. I am currently living by myself for a few months, and as the holidays are coming up, and COVID continues to require people to isolate themselves, I thought I would do a lil post on what to do when you find yourself alone and lonely. There are some no to low contact things and some mid to high contact things, some indoors and outdoors things, but hopefully there is enough variety that some might suit your situation. And now, the list!

1. Reach out to someone you haven’t talked to in a while, for whatever reason. If you are 18+ years old, I’m sure you have someone on your friends list on Facebook that you can message, even if it feels a little weird to do. If Facebook is not a healthy step for you, keep reading. If you are still on Facebook, here are some conversation starters: “Hey, I was just thinking about you! I hope all is well!” Or, “Hey, I just had a random dream with you in it, haha! Just wanted to check and see how you’re doing! The Universe be crazy sometimes!” Note that these openers are not emotionally loaded or creepy (the dream one could be, so please use wisely.) But everyone is going through something, and maybe no one has actually asked how they’re doing and actually cared about the answer. So, you might be reaching out to someone at just the right time.

2. If you are not on Facebook, there’s Reddit! Reddit can be totally anonymous (or not), but I am recommending it because the community is 95% of the time very encouraging and positive. Over 30, tired of dating fiascos, and need to vent? There’s r/datingoverthirty. Need your faith in humanity restored? There’s r/HumansBeingBros. Need to see something cute so you don’t fall into the dark gaping maw of politics? There’s r/EyeBleach. These topics are called subreddits, because they are little branches under the larger canopy of Reddit. There is a subreddit for anything and everything. Some art ones that I like are r/ArtistLounge, r/trippingthroughtime, and r/ArtTimelapse. If you’re already on Reddit, and it’s not as interactive as you would like, search via Google “forum” “+niche interest you have”. There probably is one, and if not, it could be time to start one!

3. Sign up for a pen pal. This Travel and Leisure article shares seven platforms that will connect you with a pen pal from anywhere in the world, and it doesn’t have to be through snail mail, although a few prefer that. Some services offer video chatting, texting, or virtual meetups. Postcrossing sounds neat to me! There are also senior care centers around the US asking for pen pals to combat isolation. If you are in Pennsylvania, here is a list of several places who have requested pen pals.

4. Go to your local library and sign up for a library card. Ask them to show you how to borrow books electronically.

5. Go on a walk or hike.

6. Go on an adventure! See what sights are within an hour’s drive of your location. If it’s a restaurant, go try the food. If it’s a comedy club, go check it out. If it’s a museum, see what they have on their walls.

7. Along the same vein, take yourself out on a date, IRL or virtually. Dress up and go all out, pick up your favorite beverage and cook something special that you wouldn’t normally. Get a movie you’ve been wanting to see on your digital device. If going out IRL, check out that new place you’ve been wanting to try. Take your phone, journal, or sketchpad with you and write about what you see and hear. Draw your meal or your surroundings. Pretend you are a food critic and you’re doing a write up. Being alone and dining out isn’t embarrassing when you look fantastic and you’re treating yoself! Also, go you for being brave! A lot of people would rather sit at home in misery than be seen out by themselves, so hell yeah for doing the damn thing!

8. Have a slumber party for one in your living room! Get all your favorite snacks and drinks and funny movies (or Schitt’s Creek!) and pillows and blankets to the floor! Watch all those movies til the early morning and fall asleep where you’re laying, then get up when the sun rises and go back to your comfy bed until noon. Aw yeah, that’s a slumber party done right!

9. Get a cat. Or a fish, if that’s more your level. I say these because they are somewhat low maintenance and provide someone to talk to at the end of your day. According to the CDC, pet ownership can help you manage loneliness and depression, as well provide health benefits like decreased blood pressure and cholesterol. Cats are great because they are affectionate, but independent as well, so if you need be away from home for long periods during the day, you won’t have to worry about your cat. Or your fish. The pluses are really adding up here. Here are more scientific benefits about cat ownership. I currently have two kitties, so I am a tad biased, but here are the benefits to owning fish:)

10. Do NaNoWriMo. It stands for National Novel Writing Month, and the main event takes place in November, but prep for it starts in September. Got a story in you? NaNoWriMo says yes, you do. There are writer’s groups and meetups, pep talks by famous authors (here’s Neil Gaiman’s), and tools to help you build the world that will be your novel. I’m going to do it next year (2021) because I was not fully prepared this year, but I will persevere, and my novel will get written. WHO’S WITH ME?!

11. Draw on your windows with chalk markers, or your sidewalk with sidewalk chalk and tell your neighbors a joke, inspiring quote, or fun trivia fact per day. Goal: lift up oneself and one’s neighbors with knowledge and positivity. Side note: if you decide to use spray chalk, you need to wash it off within 24 hours or it will stain. Speaking from experience.

12. Learn TikTok dances or funny skits and post them.

13. Volunteer to walk dogs at the shelter. Or sign up for Rover and get paid to walk them.

14. Help someone, somehow. Cook a meal for a neighbor. Volunteer at a food bank, soup kitchen, or homeless shelter. Leave a nice note at the bus stop. Buy socks (or go through your sock drawer) and hygiene products and donate them to the homeless. Socks are the least donated, but most needed items for homeless shelters.

15. Go minimal! Watch Tidying Up with Marie Kondo on Netflix. Get rid of the excess baggage and keep the things that spark joy. Go through all your things and donate, sell, recycle, or trash all that extra stuff. Feel how nice a clean, uncluttered space feels. Ah. Breathing room.

16. Sign up for a virtual meetup. Meetup.com is still active, some virtually, some IRL. I’ve seen hiking ones, life drawing ones, free and almost free ones, the possibilities are endless!

17. Organize a silly walk parade in your neighborhood. Put up some flyers and ask everyone to join in the fun. Keep your six feet of distance, but be as silly as possible on two feet.

18. Cut out some magazine pictures and grab a glue stick. Glue them to places around town! Paper is biodegradable and if the glue is water soluble, it won’t permanently damage what you’re gluing it to. Be wise about where you glue though. No store windows or super public places. Let it be a little treasure for someone to find.

19. Pretend you’re Kevin McAllister in Home Alone and do all the things you are not allowed to do when people are around, like dance naked or make a tower of ice cream, then eat it for dinner.

20. Take the bus and get coffee in a neighborhood you don’t normally visit.

21. Go outside and use your phone to take pictures of ten different textures or all the yellow things you see around your neighborhood.

22. Start a gratitude journal and start small, then think bigger. To begin: I am thankful that I can blink. And the middle/daily stuff: I am thankful I got up the second time my alarm went off. And get bigger: I am thankful that the moon is always there, even when I can’t see it.

23. Practice a hobby that involves working with your hands or using your creative brain powers. It’s hard to feel lonely when you’re in the flow of making something.

24. Fashion show! Put on ridiculous outfits and strut in front of your mirror. Or get the mail.

25. Listen to podcasts while you do chores around the house. One of my favorites is The Moth, a storytelling podcast and live event. They are doing a virtual gala to honor Padma Lakshmi on November 17th, and the theme is LIFT OFF: Stories of Going Above and Beyond. Other favorite podcasts include Optimal Living Daily, Getting Curious with Jonathan Van Ness, Rebel Eaters Club, The Jealous Curator: Art for Your Ear, and Creative Pep Talk with Andy J. Pizza.

26. Support an artist on Patreon and participate in their community. If you support an artist on Patreon with a monthly donation, you get some cool rewards, including an exclusive private feed for fans, and the ability to contact the artist directly. There are musicians, YouTube creators, podcast hosts, visual artists, and more. It’s definitely worth checking out because you can donate as little as $1-$3 per month and get inside info and a community led by your favorite artists. I’ll be launching my Patreon soon, so stay tuned!

That is all, friends. I hope some of these activities inspire you to be brave and take loneliness by the hand and trot into the sunset of the joy of being alone ( or together, depending on your activity of choice). Being lonely can make you feel lost and helpless, but hopefully this list will inspire you to take some control over your situation and help you forget about it for a bit. Let me know if you try them in the comments or via the Contact form! I wish everyone good health and a good weekend:)

Fall in NYC

Last weekend my three friends and I took a lil road trip to NYC.  It is impossible to put NYC into words.  There is so much to see and do.  So much culture!  So much humanity and time spent on the subway!  So many personalities weaving in and around each other every day!  In other words, New York City is special.

We were trying to go to the galleries in Chelsea and got off on the 23rd St stop, but it ended up being in Long Island City next to the MoMA PS1.  So we went there.  Carolee Schneemann was one of the artists featured, as well as video from the underground art scene of the 60s and 70s.  Cathy Wilkes  was also on view, but her work didn't resonate with me the way Carolee Schneemann's did.  Schneemann began as a painter in an Abstract Expressionist, male-dominated field.  Apparently it was suggested to her that she become a nude model instead of a painter.  Thankfully she rejected that notion, but did use her body to express the power of a free woman.  I saw work that I had only read about: photo documentation of The Interior Scroll,, a performance in which Schneemann pulls a scroll from her vagina and reads it aloud as she unrolls it. Meat Joy, in which scantily clad men and women sensually play with each other's bodies and a variety of raw meat.  I could not hear the Motown soundtrack that was supposed to be playing during the performance, so I was disappointed that I did not get the full effect of the piece.  But Schneemann was a pioneer of performance art, of feminist art, and of the requirement of artists to break down social taboos.  She worked with a variety of processes, from performance to collage to video.  It's definitely worth a trip to see her work before it comes down March 11, 2018.  

At the original MoMA, Louise Bourgeois's prints were on display, along with a few of her sculptures.  As I had only seen her spiders in Washington, D.C. and Bentonville, AR, I did not realize that she had worked in prints and art books.  Or that she was the one responsible for drawing a woman as half a house.  Her interest and application of architecture to her prints were so unique, and I also did not know that she was into feminist art and what it means to have a female body, from daughter to mother and back again.  Her screenprints were the most exciting to me, especially in the fabric artist books that were on display.

For our evening entertainment, we went to the comedy clubs The Grisly Pear and The Comedy Cellar, both great fun!  If you don't have tickets for the Comedy Cellar and show up around show time, you might still get in if you're lucky!  It's worth a try!  If you check out their website, they save a few seats for showtime in order to not oversell the seats.  We were able to get in to the 12:15 show.  So if you're in NYC and looking for a good laugh, it's worth it to check out the Comedy Cellar and The Grisly Pear.  :)

Greetings from Summertime: Road trips and Crystal Bridges

Hallo, friends!  It has been a while and I do apologize for lack of blog updates, but this one will be a twofer: a rocking road trip playlist and a review of the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art Chihuly exhibit.  

This summer I have driven back and forth between Pennsylvania and North Carolina five times, between North Carolina and Arkansas twice, and between Arkansas and Kansas City, MO twice.  So you can imagine all the tunes I have listened to while enjoying all that open road and drive time.  When driving by yourself for several hours at a time, jams are of the utmost importance, in addition to podcasts and audiobooks.  When my mom and I travel together, we listen to the series of books by the veterinarian James Herriot.  He was a vet during the 1930s and beyond in the UK, and his word selection, heart, and humor are a delight to listen to.  If you like animals and laughing out loud, try All Creatures Great and Small, his first book.

As for podcasts, I have enjoyed the interviews of You Made It Weird with Pete Holmes and The Moth's stories, but I have recently discovered My Dad Wrote a Porno.  It is full of funny and explicitly sexy things.  Give it a listen and let me know what you think. :)

And as for rocking out, please enjoy the following:

1. Tom Sawyer-Rush
2. My Sharona-The Knack
3. Shut Up And Dance-Walk the Moon
4. Alright-John Legend
5. Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)-Eurythmics
6. Open Road Song-Eve 6
7. Bitch Better Have My Money-Rihanna
8. Sabotage-Beastie Boys
9. Seven Nation Army-The White Stripes
10. Your Love-The Outfield
11. Take Me Away-FeFe Dobson
12. Breathing-Yellowcard
13. Intergalactic-Beastie Boys
14. Take It Off-The Donnas
15. Heartbreaker-Pat Benatar
 

Sure, some of it is not technically rock, but rocking is more about attitude than genre. :)

Now on to the Crystal Bridges Chihuly Exhibit: it was awesome!  The variety of forms, the colors, the light, the organization of the show, everything was perfection.  In addition to his glasswork, there were also drawings and paintings essential to Chihuly's process.  There were also three short films on view to help the viewer gain insight into how much he pushes the material to its limits and how collaborative his studio is.  There are also installations outdoors that show how much Chihuly has extended the boundaries of glasswork.  I recommend going around sunset to see the glow of light and color in the glass.  Also, it will be somewhat cooler.  Arkansas is HOT in the summer, so wear something light and breathable.  I wasn't able to see much of the Crystal Bridges permanent collection, but what I did see was varied, contemporary, and important to the history of art.  If you are in the Mid-South or near it, Crystal Bridges is worth a trip for any art lover.  Admission to the main museum is free thanks to WalMart, and the Chihuly exhibit is about $20.

Enjoy the road, the summer, and wherever you may travel!

An Awesome Weekend in Charleston

This past weekend I was finally able to visit Charleston and see if it really is worthy of its rivalry with Savannah.  I have decided that it is.  However, I cannot decide if one really is better than the other.  I think they are both equal members of the Best Cities to Visit group.  I went with my friend Kendall, who is also artsy and travel minded.

We met in Charleston at our hotel, the Motel 6.  It was the cheapest place to stay and it was about 15-20 minutes away from everything, so it wasn't too shabby.  Everything was easily accessible via the highway.  Bay Street Biergarten (baystreetbiergarten.com)  was our first stop for dinner and drinks.  We both got spaetzle with parmesan cream sauce, sauteed onions and mushrooms, and slices of fried pork belly adorning the top.  It was goooooood, especially with a nice Hefeweizen to accompany it.  From there we went to the Faculty Lounge, a dive bar/dance club.  We both got a drink with rum in it, and boy was there rum.  We chatted and drank and people watched, but no one was on the dance floor.  We did leave a little early, around midnight, so that could account for no one dancing, but oh well.  It was a good drink and a nice atmosphere; the bartenders were both super nice.  

On Saturday morning we got up early for breakfast at IHOP and a tour of the harbor followed by a horse-drawn carriage tour.  Charleston Harbor Tours and Palmetto Carriage Works were the providers (charlestonharbortours.com, check out combo tours).  Each tour was great.  The harbor tour is a little fuzzy because I was sleepy, but I enjoyed learning about the history of Charleston from a nautical perspective.  We left the car at the harbor and walked to Palmetto Carriage Works, where we checked in for the 12:30 tour.  Everything was in walking distance so we walked through the City Market (thecharlestoncitymarket.com) and by the time we saw everything it was time to go back to check in for the carriage ride.  

The carriage ride was also enjoyable, our tour guide/driver was very knowledgeable and friendly.  I wish I could remember his name!  We drove by the harbor, through the French Quarter, down Rainbow Row, past many historical houses, and the city market, for an hour.  Lots and lots of history that is all a blur to me now, but was really entertaining when we were on the tour.  Also, while it was really hot in Charleston, the carriage ride was actually pretty cool due to the roof on our carriage and the famous winds and breezes that made walking around a little more tolerable in the heat.  It was time for lunch, so we went to a crab place that was near the city market.  I wish I could remember the name of it!  I'm kicking myself for not checking in there.  Anyway, I had a delicious shrimp po'boy, Kendall had a crab cake sandwich, and we had fried green tomatoes to start.  Everything was great.  The shrimp was fantastic.  Charleston is the place to get shrimp!

After lunch, we walked back through the French Quarter to check out as many art galleries as possible.  I noticed that much of the artwork could fall into these categories: landscape, seascape/nautical theme, still life, non-objective, realism, and people.  Most of these galleries were like the ones that you would find anywhere, with nothing really new and unique.  The last gallery we were able to go to had some interesting contemporary genre paintings that were priced at about $13,000-$15,000 dollars.  The pricing for some of the work I saw was crazy and eye-opening: there's no rhyme or reason to how artwork is priced!  By the time we visited our last gallery it was 5pm, and apparently many things shut down at 5pm on Saturdays in Charleston, which surprised us.  We weren't able to visit Robert Lange Studios or the Halsey Institute for Contemporary Art, so possibly more cutting edge stuff would have been found there.  

On our way to find some pralines for my mom, a girl stopped us to offer us samples of Italian ice, which we ended up buying, and thank goodness because it was hot!  When we walked into River Street Sweets (riverstreetsweets.com) they gave us warm samples of pralines that you could just taste the butter in.  I bought a pound and they threw in another half pound.  They are the same company that sells pralines along River Street in Savannah, but we thought the Charleston ones tasted better.   

We went back to the hotel room to regroup before going to see an improv show at Theater 99 (theatre99.com), but when we called about their ticketing procedures we found out they were sold out for that evening's show.  Bummer!  However, one of the gallery owners had told us about Boxcar Betty's and the Early Bird Diner, so we decided to head to Boxcar Betty's (boxcarbetty.com) for dinner.  We each got a different sandwich so we could split them and share, plus an order each of fried pickled green tomatoes and fried pickles.  The sandwich that I got was called the Chicken and Not So Waffle.  It had Pimiento Cheese, Bacon Jam, Tomato, Maple Bacon Sauce, and Maple Syrup on it.  Kendall got the Boxcar, which had Pimiento Cheese, Peach Slaw, Spicy Mayo, and Housemade Pickles.  We both decided the Chicken and Not So Waffle was the best.  By this time, we found out the night tour about the shady history of Charleston was also sold out, so we decided to go see "Inside Out" at a local movie theater.  

The next day, we went to the Early Bird Diner for breakfast (earlybirddiner.com).  There was a slight wait, but it was totally worth it.  I got the shrimp and grits and Kendall got a mess of something delicious.  We each got a biscuit with our meals and they were also deelish.  Afterwards, we went to Folly Beach (follybeach.com).  It was by far the best beach experience I have ever had.  There wasn't much public parking; everyone just parked along the street.  We parked a few blocks away and walked to the beach.  It was HOT!  Kendall and I agreed later that Portugal wasn't even as hot when we visited there in July/August 2008.  We rented some chairs and an umbrella close to the water's edge and just basked in the state of being at the beach.  We sat for hours just enjoying the State of Being.  When we finally got into the water it was perfect: tepid, with gentle waves.  The bottom was nice and sandy and shallow.  We would have had to go pretty far out to be in waist deep water.  We swam for a bit, then just sat in the surf and chatted.  It was so lovely.  We had to get out of the water when the lifeguard said there was lightning in the area, so we took that as our cue to go home.  Folly Beach has now topped Oak Island as My Favorite Beach.

All in all, an Awesome Weekend in Charleston!  :D  

Visual Smorgasbord in Washington DC, Chicago, and Rapid City, SD

Three weeks ago I took the train from Fayetteville, NC to Omaha, NE, then took a car to Rapid City, SD.  I had two seven hour layovers in Washington DC and one four hour layover in Chicago, so I used my time to visit some area museums and galleries.

Washington DC

On my first layover in Washington DC, I visited the National Gallery of Art and attended two tours, one on the choices artists make and what they mean, and one on 19th century painting.  I saw my favorite Monet painting there!  -->Madame Monet and Her Son, 1875. <--  The tour regarding artist choice was not as fruitful as I had hoped, but I thoroughly enjoyed the tour through 19th century painting.  The National Gallery has a lovely collection of Impressionists and Post-Impressionists, as well as Modern Art.  While visiting the East Building, I ran into Modern artists such as Matisse, Picasso, and Mondrian, as well as Ernst Kirchner (I enjoyed his brushwork and color), Sol LeWitt, Jasper Johns, and Alexander Calder.

On my second layover in Washington DC, I went to the Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery, which was a bit on the dry side.  I might have been tired since it was the last leg of my journey, but it didn't hold many gems for me other than its large collection of folk art and WPA paintings.  I was enchanted by the WPA paintings for their slice-of-American-life imagery, heavy, sensuous forms, and wonderful use of color.  The folk art had quite a bit of religious imagery which surprised me, but lent a new perspective on imagery from Revelations and the Crucifixion, as well as the Throne of God.  

Chicago

On my first layover in Chicago, I had a chance to visit the Museum of Contemporary Art.  They had a significant exhibition of Alexander Calder's work, which was a delight, and a large retrospective exhibition of the work of Doris Salcedo, whose work I had never seen before.  She creates sculptures and installations addressing the feeling of loss due to violence.  Her work was highly symbolic and abstract, and a great catalyst for thinking about my own beliefs about art and the use of personal symbols.

Rapid City

While in Rapid City, I created a small mural in their Art Alley, which is an alleyway that is open to taggers and street artists to use as their personal canvas.  Justin and I painted a bunny giving a peace sign and a giant panda saying I love you in sign language.  I signed it with my instagram handle and got a follower!  She took a picture of the work and created her own version of it with emojis!  So cool!  :)

I also visited the Dahl Arts Center in downtown Rapid City.  They featured an exhibition that had the creme de la creme of South Dakota artists.  There was some incredible variety among the works there.  I was impressed and I got some great inspiration for painting and printmaking.  An artist separate from the South Dakota artists exhibition that they featured was poster artist Jay Ryan (thebirdmachine.com).  His imagery, colors, and printing process were also inspirational. Imma hafta go look up some videos on YouTube and see if there are any videos on his processes.  

It was a wonderful trip that was artistically and spiritually refreshing.  Not only did I get to see Justin, but I also got to see some wonderful artwork to inspire and reflect upon as I start to seriously create my own work for my MFA.