The Wax Drum

Dear Friends,

We just sent our newsletter, so if you did not receive it please sign up right over there -> in the margin.  I wanted to extend some ideas in this post today from the newsletter.

A common question after we tell people that we can talk on the phone for four hours is “what do you talk about?”.  After a recent lengthy conversation on the phone about creativity, I thought I would share some thoughts and resources if you are interested in this topic as well.  Laura and I often wonder why we have the drive to create art, why we can’t ignore it (having engaged in various occupations only to return to the arts time and time again), and the mysterious “flow” in the studio we crave.  Mihály Csíkszentmihályi discusses in detail this mental state “in which a person in an activity is fully immersed in a feeling of energized focus, full involvement, and success in the process of the activity.” (as quoted from wikipedia on FLOW).  Certainly flow can happen in any occupation or activity.

Newsweek Magazine recently printed this article titled “The Crisis of Creativity”. (referenced in our newsletter), that sparked our conversation on creativity.    What is creativity?  Can you be creative without being an artist?  What is creativity in an interdisciplinary art practice?  What do we know about how our left and right brain work together and how that affects creativity?  We wanted to extend this conversation to you as well.  Listen to the podcast here to get you goin’

Having just graduated from an Interdisciplinary Arts graduate program at Goddard College, this is a BIG topic for Laura and I.  This is only the beginning of flushing out all our ideas on this one.  At the very core of this topic is the question “can we teach creativity or are you born with it?“.  The Newsweek article speaks to what science knows on this topic with the development of your brain.

This is seriously fascinating to Laura and I.

Daniel Pink addresses this very topic in his book A Whole New Mind: Why Right-Brainers Will Rule the Future.  We have talked about him many times here on the blog, but had to mention him again. Creativity is where our future is headed.  We have gathered so much information over the last centuries, now what will we do with it?  Much of what we will talk about here at the blog is how the arts are responding to this.

Yes….this is why we talk for hours.   Conversation is our way of sorting out the numerous questions.  We have already had a number of thoughtful conversations with other people in our lives on and off the blog related to what we post, so keep it comin’ folks!

Let us know what you think about this “crisis of creativity”

Dear Tina & friends~

I am SO grateful to have TWO of my paintings featured on the front page of the Westerly SUN’s Community section this past week! I thought I would share the lovely article with you. There are no words to express how grateful I am to everyone’s kind words, and loving support of the new show at ACGOW. Thank you! Thank YOU! THANK YOU! It will be up until Septemeber 25, 2010 and the opening reception is September 1st from 5-8:00pm. Hope you get a chance to see it!

xo Laura

click to enlarge

Laura Gaffke, Soulful Essence, acryilc on wood 12" x 12" 2010

Hello Tina & friends!

I found the title Arrivals and Departures fitting for the new show at the Artists Cooperative Gallery this month as I will find myself soon departing CT and arriving in ITALY! This painting, Soulful Essence is one of the new paintings that will be in the show. It is highlighted on this postcard along with the work of Steve Tulka, the other featured artist this month. It is really exciting to see the work all up and hung on the walls of the gallery! I have been working hard on two different bodies of work, one is a continuation of my wine series and the other is the start of a series I am currently calling garden friends. Some of you might remember me promising to be more present in my garden this summer and this painting is an expression of some of my time spent there. I have SO loved sketching, thinking, writing and dreaming of new work and hope I have sketched enough to tide me over through the harsh winter months ahead. The shows opening reception/party is on September 1st and will include wonderful art from all our members as well as libations and delicious treats. I hope you can join all the fun! Since I won’t be there in person I have created a distinct piece of art especially for the show, which I turned into a postcard just for YOU! You can read more about them HERE. Share some sunshine and get them while they last!

Salute!

Laura

Laura and Tina’s Vision from this week:

Tina's Vision 49

Laura's Vision 49

Tina and Laura’s ReVision today:

Laura's ReVision 39

Dear Tina~
The first thing that came to mind after seeing your Vision this week was this fan we have in our dining room. B picked it out long before we were together and although it is not exactly my aesthetic it seems to work in our house. It got me thinking about compromise and how two very different people can live happily together when they are so different. I am hopeful of a balance of sustainable resources like you eluded to in your Vision for this week. Maybe we can learn to live in harmony with nature and all her wonders instead of stripping her of her valuable resources, at least this would be my wish…xoLaura

Tina's ReVision 49

Dear Laura,

It has been awhile since we have created are ReVision~  it feels good to get back into the routine of responding to your images and ideas.  This time of year in South Carolina, the heat is so oppressive and intense that our garden actually dies down for the month and will come alive again mid-September for a second blooming.  Not having the color you have in your garden to respond for this ReVision, I remembered the corn fields of Michigan on our recent road trip to the Midwest.   We ate the corn freshly picked and was pleasantly reminded how the corn is so incredibly good (sweet and crisp) compared to the corn we get here in the Southeast.  The bounty of summer, as you spoke of in your Vision, was truly a bounty when we visited.  If you look closely you can see the corn cobs on the stalks in this photo.  You are right, when you spoke about your peaches, about not getting this flavor of freshness from the grocery store.

Tina

Dear Laura and Friends,

I just signed up for this project, which is sponsored by Art House Co-op.  The best part is that there is no jury process.  For anyone who has applied to something and been denied will know the beauty of an opportunity that is open to everyone.  The sketchbooks are pretty small so could be an easy project to give anyone a jump start in their studio work.  Deadline to sign up is October 31 and to complete it January 15.  The tour begins March of 2011 and will travel to Brooklyn, NY (where Art House Co-op is located), Austin TX, San Francisco CA, Portland ME, Atlanta GA, and my hometown Chicago IL.  Watch the video below created by CNN about this project.  I will post my sketchbook work here once I finish it.  Let me know if you join the fun…

Tina

Laura Gaffke, 2010

Laura Gaffke, 2010

Laura Gaffke, 2010

Hello Tina & friends~

Well, I decided with my upcoming Italy trip it was time to learn how to use the fancy camera my sweet husband surprised me with LAST Christmas! It is one of those amazingly beautiful cameras where you feel like you are going to totally mess it up simply by picking it up. Yes, I dare say I have been a bit afraid of it! Trying to bypass my fears I decided to challenge myself by actually using it. I have been having so much fun playing and staging little “still lives” of the seasonal peaches I have been devouring like candy. There is something so sweet and lovely about the vibrancy of their color, texture, scent and taste. These are not your store bought peaches, that is for sure. I have SO enjoyed playing and creating this way without expectation, just for the pure joy of it. I would love to know what you think of the first efforts with my camera. Is there one image that strikes you over another? Maybe you have some pointers for a new “photographer”?

I would also suggest you go out and find yourself some glorious summer peaches!

Peachy Smiles & love,

Laura

Laura's Vision 49

Dear Tina,

This weeks Vision is all about early morning summer sunshine and all that is growing in my garden right now~giant snowballs of lovely limelight hydrangeas, tiny dark violet blossoms from my butterfly bush, anemones from an early spring garden sale and my all time favorite, cosmos which remind me of summers at the “magical cottage” in NH. They always impress me with how dainty they appear with their willowy stems, yet they withstand harsh wind and rain like we have had the past few days. The juicy summer peaches are the fruit of the moment and my present summer obsession. I can’t seem to get enough of them.  Ahhhh Summer…may it linger….my favorite time of year….xoLaura

Tina's Vision 49

Dear Laura,

My Vision this week comes from the wind farms of Indiana.  This photo was taken while driving on 65 South on our way home from our long road trip.  Something about these large windmills really impressed me.  They seemed so alien-like in their size that it made me pause in wonder.  I wonder how long we will be transitioning from our dependency on oil to our dependency on renewable energy.  Will we see this in our lifetime?

Tina

Dreaming of Sorrento and lemoncello...

Dear Tina & friends~

In anticipation of my trip to Italy and the workshop I will be taking with Sabrina Ward Harrison I decided to pool through the pictures of the first workshop I took with her in California a few years back. Dreaming of all of the lemoncello I look forward to indulging in while in Italy for her upcoming workshop in Positano, I remembered the pictures of the lemon trees growing in the yard at the Carol Parks Studio where the workshop was held. I wanted to use these images as inspiration for the special postcard I have been working on for the September show at the COOP. Everything was magical about my time at the Carol Parks Studio. From the moment you entered the place you felt immediately at ease, greeted with the simple word “UNFOLD” printed in chalk on the sidewalk entrance. Even though the studio was in a residential neighborhood and the houses were close, the studio felt cozy surrounded in lush flowers, trees and even a white picket fence. Adirondack chairs in bright red and chartruse green with big umbrellas and sassy birdhouses adorned with jewels sprinkled the yard and gave it a sense of whimsy. There were even tiny birds with excited chatter in vintage birdcages scattered about.

Entrance to the Carol Parks Studio

The workshop proved to be an extraordinary time spent with my friend Liz who lived in LA at the time and took the workshop with me. I remember driving with her to find Carol Parks Studio, anticipating what it would be like. I had come across Sabrina many years ago after reading about her in one of SARK’s amazing books (if you haven’t read any SARK go now and immerse yourself). Sabrina had just published her first of many books called Spilling Open and I couldn’t put it down. I was enthralled by the way she wove painting, photography, collage and text through each page. It was like she was speaking to me. While now there are a plethora of blogs in which to learn about artists lives, Sabrina was the first artist I had ever come across (besides SARK) who shared her art and life so openly. I responded to the quotes, poetry and uplifting books she noted. Spilling Open gave me a glimpse into the creative process I was craving at the time. It reaffirmed for me that all things are possible when you remain true to your authentic self.

I remember questioning what I was doing with my own art at that time, as I was at a point in my life where teaching both filled me up and consumed me. I longed to have the time to “spill” and had finally found someone close in age to me who was following her creative dream. This gave me hope and inspires me to this day as I have followed her journey through her other books. Being an avid journal keeper myself I continue to reflect and have sought ways to integrate image and text into my own work while staying true to my own personal intentions as an artist. I will leave you with some of the pictures from that magical weekend and you can anticipate many, many new images and experiences to share from my upcoming trip. Until then…

Hugs, Laura

Aidan looking in the reflective sculpture "Cloud Gate" by Anis Kapoor at Millennium Park, downtown Chicago

Dear Laura and Friends,

We made it – 2,400 miles round trip driving to visit family and friends.  I  thought I would share one experience from the trip about going to the Art Institute of Chicago with my whole family (14 of us), but first…… I want to THANK Laura for writing all the blog posts while I have been gone.  I will return the favor as she heads to Italy soon.

Soon we will both be done traveling for awhile so we will return to our regular posts, correspondence, and mail art.

I am not sure how I got everyone in my family to agree to take the train downtown Chicago and see the sights.  Just getting on the train in the morning was a feat all in itself, but we all did it (even with coffee in hand).  I wasn’t sure how each family member would respond or even enjoy the Art Institute of Chicago, since I am one of the few artist’s in the family.  We got there and decided it would be best to split up and meet back in a few hours.  I went right for the contemporary art wing while everyone one else rambled off in their own directions.

One artist that keeps me returning over and over again to his work is Joseph Cornell.

Joseph Cornell

view in the gallery

He informed much of my work in graduate school and the sculptural work I do today.  I have previously only seen two of his boxes at the National Gallery in Washington D.C.. This day at the Art Institute I saw 38 pieces of his art.  Many I had never seen in the numerous books I have looked at.  Yes, I felt like crying when I stumbled upon the work.  You know that sound of the angels singing in a moment of awe~ that is how I felt.  I only had a half hour with Cornell’s work, but I took every minute to look at each one slowly at least two times.  All that art work was there as a generous donation from private collectors Lindy and Edwin Bergman, who knew Cornell very well and bought the work directly from him.  They also collected numerous pieces of Surrealist artists such as: Jean Arp, Andr Breton, Leonora Carrington, Salvador Dali, Jean Dubuffet, Max Ernst, Wifredo Lam, Rene Magritte, Joan Mir, Francis Picabia, Pablo Picasso, and Yves Tanguy.   VERY impressive personal collection!  I am grateful they donated this body of work so I could see in person all the intricate pieces that do not translate in a photograph.

So, you may be wondering how the whole family responded to the art museum?  I am happy to report that each person found at least one gallery they liked.  The artwork they liked had to do with some sort of interest in their own lives.  For example my Mom and Dad have an antique business and enjoyed the antique furniture displayed within each exhibit.  My Dad liked the Monet’s and his use of color.  My brother liked the Native American weavings.  My nieces liked Jackson Pollock.  My husband and sons liked the Art & Architecture exhibit.  My other brother liked Van Gogh.

Overall, the day was a success.  Who knows what I will have planned for them next summer!

Tina

Laura Gaffke, Ten nice things (detail), mixed media, 12" x 12"

Hello Tina & friends,

As you can imagine I am busily preparing for my trip to Italy (in just twelve days, but who’s counting!) as well as finishing work for ACGOW’s new show, opening September 1st from 5-8:00pm. It promises to be quite a party that I am sad to say I will miss-Can you believe it? The day of the opening I will have just arrived in Italy, giddy thinking about my workshop. What are the chances these two wondrous events should coincide?!?! When I found out I was one of the featured artists for September it was almost a year ago and I was elated. I did not know then that life would throw me such a stupendous curve ball and that I wouldn’t be attending the opening! In fact, I am jittery just thinking thinking about the new work I created, wondering how it will be received (if you should go, I would love to know!). As a means of reconciling my absence I actually dreamt, yes dreamt (this has been keeping me up at night) of creating a special piece of art that could be given as a “gift” for anyone who attends the opening. (I would SO appreciate that!). I will print the work as a postcard to reflect my traveling. The postcards can be kept or sent as a random act of kindness to brighten someone’s day. Being a huge mail art fan I know how much I LOVE getting special surprises in my mailbox and wish to reciprocate this goodness with others. The piece is almost finished and I will be delighted to share it with you soon! Until then I will leave you with the image above, a detail of one of my new pieces that will be in the show.
Creativity & love your way,

Laura

Laura Gaffke, "Friendship is..." mixed media on wood, 12" x 12"

There is so much goodness going on for me lately I have to pinch myself to believe it is all true! First off I got a call this week from the lovely Dora Szekely with a wonderful opportunity to show my work along with several other artists in a bright, airy storefront in downtown Mystic for the month of August (possibly longer). The shop is located at 3 Pearl Street and is directly across from Harp and Hound, a favorite local Irish Pub. It will be open for the Mystic Arts Festival THIS WEEKEND, making that the icing on the cake! The Mystic Arts Festival is a magical event which features the work of over 250 fine artists and over 60 craftsmen. I plan to get a little Christmas shopping done at the show as it is my wish to buy most things handmade this year.

As if this opportunity wasn’t amazing enough, I have been busy getting my work ready for TWO upcoming shows. One is at ACGOW where my work will be featured with the fabulous Steve Tukla, a woodworker I have a special affinity for as we were both juried into the Cooperative Gallery at the same time. The show opens September 1st from 5-8pm and runs for the month. I am sad to say I won’t be able to attend the opening as I will be in ITALY!!! I am however working on something special for those of you who go to the opening, so stay tuned as I see if I can pull it off… The other show is with the Stonington Printmaker’s Society and will be held at the LaGrua Center. You won’t want to miss the preview party Septemeber 17th from 5-7. I would LOVE to share my Italian adventures with you then! Cheery smiles your way…xoLaura

TA DA! The newly painted files!

Well, I have been hard at work with Millie, my new studio mate sprucing up the studio. The floors were in desperate need of a good cleaning and having the studio empty gave us the perfect opportunity to scrub away with Millie’s handy dandy wet vac. The whole studio now smells like fresh lemons. It is amazing how much grime that floor can accumulate! I now feel like I can walk barefoot on the floors again. Interestingly enough I just learned that these floors were a gathering place for the American Legion between the wars. Long before the studio was divided in half it was a big open area where dances were held. How cool is that? I would love to learn more about the history of this building.

As if the floors weren’t enough to tackle, we decided to paint the  flat files that I mentioned earlier in the week. They have under gone a HUGE transformation thanks to Millie and the boys from Home Depot! As many creative projects go, you must be open to chance and be willing to let go of expectations. This project was no different. I originally wanted to paint the files a lovely robins egg blue, which I did for one of the files. I TOTALLY underestimated how much paint I would need and when I returned to the hardware store, of course they were out. I promptly called around everywhere for more paint but with no luck, finally settling on a lovely green apple color which I LOVE even more! It was  totally a “happy accident.” Millie then worked her magic and helped me put casters on the bottom of the files so they could easily be moved around. The final touch was the nice piece of wood we stained chocolate brown to be used as a working surface. It still needs to be sealed but I know it will get a lot of use. Even though this project ended up being a lot more work than anticipated, I am VERY happy with the results. We are both quite smitten and proud of ourselves I must say. Now onto organizing and setting up the flow of the studio. We are ALMOST there and I am ridiculously giddy over the new look and feel of the space. More to come if you can stand the wait! In the meantime I will leave you with a few pictures of the work in progress.

Creativity & love your way…Laura

this is the files before the new paint job

this is the lovely robin's egg blue I started with

this is the progression to green

This is the work table top. We put braces on the underside so it won't move~aren't we cleaver?

The finished product! We made the table top overhang on the sides to put stools underneath.

flat files before the "paint job"

Hello sweet friends!

As my new studio mate Millie has slowly been moving her things into the studio we have been reevaluating the space. It has been so much fun to think about how we can organize our space to make the best use of all of our I eclectic possessions. I had purchased these well loved and useful flat filing cabinets from Susan before she left the studio and LOVE them! I just didn’t love how dinged up they were so I decided to paint them (what a project this is!). Millie and I are also working on making a table top for them and adding casters so they can be moved around easily and utilized well. You can look forward to seeing the finished product, hopefully this week! I will give you a hint….robin’s egg blue and a dark stain! I CANNOT wait until it is done!

Creativity & love your way,

Laura

Dear Tina & Friends,

As you know Tina has been writing about her exciting new home studio in a series called, A room of one’s own. You can read more about it HERE. She thoughtfully writes about why it is important for her to have a home studio at this point in her life. I, in contrast feel the need to have my studio out of my house for various reasons, largely because being around others feeds my practice. It also gives me a space in which I can teach.

The past few months have been filled with daydreaming, anticipation and wonder with a little sadness thrown in. For the past year and a half I have had the pleasure of sharing my studio at Above Elite Studios with five outstanding artists, Regan Stacy, Charles Estabrooks, Lisa Szaro, Joyita Neerkaje and Susan Stone. The studios are located on the second floor of a wonderful old mill building above Elite Cleaners, (hence the name~ha!) which overlooks the gorgeous river it resides on. You will often see people whizzing by on their boats and feel the cool breeze off the water. A sense of nostalgia for the people who have resided there before is felt from the moment you walk up the well worn stairs and see the exposed architecture within.

Although I wouldn’t call the studio glamourous, it has a charm which puts me at ease and makes me feel at home. Charles and I are going through a bit of a transition these days as Lisa, Joy, Susan and Regan are all moving out! It is with sadness and well wishes that we will see them off, knowing that we all share a unique bond. I would like to thank Susan in particular as she is the one I spent the most time with at the studio. She was an ideal studio mate and mentor, helping me navigate the art world that was so new to me, even encouraging me to become a part of the Artists’ Cooperative Gallery. Moving from my home studio into this new space was a big step for me and in some ways it legitimized in my mind that I was in fact a working artist. It was infectious being around Susan’s energy and light and seeing someone who was making a living doing what she loved. THANK YOU SUSAN! and all my other studio mates for their inspiration, love and support!

Things are a changing that is for sure but we are over the moon delighted to welcome the fabulous Millie Donovan of the Riverside Artists into our space! She will be sharing the front part of the building with me and we have big plans for it~bigger teaching space, work station for matting and framing and much, much more. I will share our journey with you as soon as we set up shop, until then, WELCOME MILLIE!

I will leave you with a few “before” and “after” pictures of my studio. Cheery day to you! xoLaura

studio before I moved in

studio after I moved in

The article written about us!!!

Dear friends~
You might remember how EXCITED I was yesterday about the article written us. Well it was a true delight to read and I SO APPRECIATE Karyn Souza’s thoughtful writing. She has a way of asking just the right questions to make you really reflective. We both loved hearing her thoughts about our work together and felt honored that she found us inspiring. At the end of the day, even though we would do this work anyway we hope that by giving it a public forum we can contribute to others learning in some way whether that be through sharing new techniques, our collaborative art or even an occasional fun recipe. I think this is why these intense studio visits are so important to us. We work, work, work and then we pause, look, listen and reflect. From there we set new goals (some super wonderful things to share soon!) and intentions for our work. One thing that stood out for me in the interview was Karyn asking us what our dream was. This is something I thought I had clear in my head but realized I needed to go back and reassess the dreams I have for myself.

Here is a snippet about our dreams that I will share from the article. You can read the full article HERE.

When thinking about the progression of their individual practices, Laura said, “I like to foster creativity in others and share the thought that anyone can be an artist. It can be through gardening or cooking or even the way you view the world and create your own life. I want to encourage people to make time for their own creativity.”

Tina shares, “I want to create through my eyes as a mother. I’d like to speak about this delicate place of being a parent and the work of raising another human being. It’s a lot of work to be present with your child and to notice and foster the amazing things about them. It’s important to be in that deep listening place in order to recognize the beauty there. I see this work as long term. I want to share the question with other mother/artists, ‘How can we express our experiences as mothers through our art?’

What are your dreams? I think writing them down or saying them out loud (even to yourself) gives them power and helps you move forward.

Until then…Creativity & love your way,

Laura

The mojitos Tina & I shared to celebrate!

Hello friends!

While Tina was here we had the pleasure of getting interviewed by the FABULOUS Karyn Souza! You might remember her from the article she wrote about the Spring Fling at Above Elite Studios. This was the very first interview I  ever had and was a little nervous. From the moment I met Karyn, it was like we were old friends and I was immediately put at ease. Our conversation moved beyond the Spring Fling as our time together wove into the tapestry of our lives, including inspiring stories (she has many) and the importance of sharing our gifts with the world. She appreciated seeing all of the collaborative work Tina & I had been doing and said she would love to interview us another time. You can imagine how absolutely thrilled we were when she agreed to meet with us while Tina was here last week! Can we say BEYOND EXCITED!!! This interview had a similar, easy going vibe and I think Tina felt right at home with Karyn as well. The article comes out in the Chariho Times TODAY!!! and the Narragansett Times TOMORROW!!! I am off to seek out a couple of copies and will let you know how it turns out tomorrow. YIPPEE!!!!

Cheery Smiles & love,

Laura

A joyous day to you!

Some of you may have noticed the snazzy NEW “look” of our blog and might be thinking, why did they go and change their banner again? Didn’t they just create a new one during their last  studio visit?!? Wasn’t their last banner delightful enough? Are they ever happy? Well, at the end of the day although we still like our old banner we just didn’t feel like it truly expressed our work together.

I recently took two wonderful classes, In the Fishbowl with Marisa Haedike and Flying Lessons with Kelly Rae Roberts which opened Tina and I to a conversation about  “branding“ and the importance of having an identifying marker for our work together. This is something we knew we should have but honestly lacked the computer graphic know how to pull it off. Luckily for us Tina stepped up and used her savvy “I’ll figure it out skills” (love that about her) and diligently learned how to navigate Photoshop (which still scares the heck out of me, just so you know). We brainstormed and negotiated for hours and hours discussing composition, deciding on colors, fonts, and even going back to our previous banners and assessing them. It was important for us to include a sense of nostalgia for our friendship, show the distance between us and that we correspond through the mail. We always loved those silly girls from our very first Vision/Revision and decided to make them into a stamp that could be changed from time to time to keep things fresh. The vintage map, postcard and seal all illustrate the space between us and the sentimentality we were looking for. Tina and I are pleased with our choices so far but you never know when we might mix thing up. What do YOU think of our new look?

Much love,
Laura & Tina

Notice the "2" in the flag and how Tina added our names in the seal as well as when we started our correspondence. Isn't she clever? This seal will be made into a real stamp in the future.

Notice that this seal includes our "TWO" locations.

A picture from last year's annual road trip

Dear Friends,

I sit in my new home studio for the first time this morning thinking about what lies ahead in the near future.  This Fall will be full of new prospects as my boys return to school, I start a new job, and begin a new creative rhythm of having a home studio.  In the last remaining weeks of summer time, we always hit the road to visit family in the Chicagoland area.  It is always a wonderful journey of camping, driving, site seeing, and time well spent together.

Sometimes it is hard to take a break from my art practice.  I am always thinking, planning, sketching, and writing.  It is not one of those professions you “leave at work” then do your other business of life.  Sometimes I wish it was easy to turn off, but most times I am grateful to have a creative drive that keeps me curious all the time.  So….I will take my sketchbook on our roadtrip, take notes and draw daily.  Often this proves to be one of the most productive times for clarifying the ideas in my artwork.

Leaving home and getting out of the daily routine leaves unexpected moments for this clarity to surface.

In the meantime I leave you with a picture of some work I have recently completed.  I have not shown this to anyone besides Laura.  I feel this work is very close to my heart and feel vulnerable about it so have hesitated to share it yet.  I have five others and plan to dive deeper into this series when I return from our roadtrip.

Until then, I leave Laura in the driving seat for the blog – what a benefit to creating this collaboratively.  She has wonderful travel plans (I am secret jealous…which I guess is no longer secret!) with her friend Millie (who I adore) that I hope she will share with you all.

Cheers!

Tina

The Mockingbird Protects Her Nest

Our Wish

Dear Friends,

Many artists speak of the importance of ritual in their art practice.  Whether it is lighting a candle as they enter the studio, meditating before working, listening to a certain musician, walking to gather thoughts for the day, and the list can go on.  We talked about this while together this week and what rituals we have already established (our regular correspondence through the mail and regular blog posts about our process as two artists working collaboratively).

We wanted to begin a ongoing ritual to complete and honor our time spent together.  Finding Flying Wish Paper at a shop in Providence seemed like the perfect solution.  There is a video at that link that shows what flying wish paper is.

It is our attempt at setting an intention/wish for the in between time until we see one another again. We focused on our current success and what we are proposing for the future months to come.

Below are some highlights from this ritual on Laura’s backyard riverfront dock.

rolling the wish paper

lighting the wish paper on fire

just before it flies up in the air into ashes

We are busy writing more posts about our time together and all that we have planned for the next few months so stay tuned for more posts about our visit.

Laura & Tina

until next time...

View of Skipper's Dock where we had lunch and docked the boat. It was a bumpy ride over, but FUN!

Dear Friends, We sit on Laura’s back porch looking over our To-Do list and wishing we had just one more day to do it all.  We seem to always have more ideas than we do time.  Really, our favorite moments on visits like these are when we are in the studio creating artwork and dreaming up our next collaborative project.  The business of selling our work, marketing what we do, making contacts for teaching and speaking engagements can really bog us down.  We needed to remind ourselves today on the ride back from Laura’s studio that the business side is only a small piece to this important work we are doing together.  Gently taking care of the wonderful friendship we have fostered over the past four years is our primary concern.  Our friendship is what has allowed us to come this far in our work and continues to inspire us to continue pushing our work to be better.  We want to not only be better artists, but better people having known one another.

We are all lucky if we find one true friend in this life time.  We are charting unknown territory as we travel along this road to making our work into a business and want to thank you all for coming along with us.

Shells and rocks Tina collected while we were at the beach at Pine Island

We have many posts to come in the next few weeks about all the business decisions, creative jumps, celebrations of completed work, and projects planned for this coming year.  For now we will leave you with some pictures of our “play” time while in Connecticut.

Two Friends.

Two Artists.

Two Entrepreneurs.

“Each friend represents a world in us, a world possibly not born until they arrive, and it is only by this  meeting that a new world is born.”
– Anais Nin

Cheers!

Tina & Laura

Here we are getting ready to go shopping in the Borough after a lovely lunch

Studio work -> Tina working on our last page to the Book Exchange

Laura's turn to work on the Book Exchange...It is now complete and we will share more soon.