Art and Culture Crossings

Left: the mixed media print I'll be showing in Korea and China next month. I used mixed media on archival digital composite print of my drawings.

I've posted about the wonderful experience I had showing art in S. Korea in 2002. In the meantime an artist I know has continued her mission to create opportunities for international exchanges between American and S. Korean artists. She is an exotic force of nature... capable of moving mountains and organizing artists scattered all over the world. Each has diverse experiences... traveling to Korea and then hosting Korean Artists in the US.

Virginia artists will have work traveling to S. Korea and China next month. I don't know how our team will do it. The dollar is in the loo so there aren't many artists able to afford the trip. I don't think the other people involved have a clue as to what our team will have to endure to get this artwork on the flight and then through customs. We have a forceful leader, I'm telling ya because it is something one cannot take lightly... being responsible for the safety of other artists' work as well as making sure it arrives on time and in good shape so it can be installed in China AND S. Korea! Its harder and can be expensive as moving a mountain. She'll make it happen.

It's a dream opportunity - to travel to China and then to S. Korea again. I just can't swing the money or the time away from my work right now. If I were traveling to that part of the world I think I'd be compelled to stay longer... perhaps work on a residency in Australia, visit Thailand...it is so far away and there is much to learn... plus I have so many friends in Aussieland who love a good glass of wine as much as I do. (The Australians I know don't drink Foster's. Some of them actually really dig Miller Ponies, the Champayne of Beers. If I ever get to Australia I'll be sure to take as many as I can squeeze into my carry on - and that's even harder than moving art these days!")

Girlfriends

Women in Art

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A girlfriend sent me this. Watching it is like imagining the most wonderful girls' night out or tea party with all the best women I know. The food, wine, coffee and tea would be inspired by the *gossip and opinions of world events - which would be timleess. Please rsvp and, as always, bring a great girlfriend.

*Depicted: 500 Years of Female Portraits in Western Art - Leonardo Da Vinci, Raphael - Raffaello, Titian - Tiziano Vecellio , Sandro Botticelli , Giovanni Antonio Boltraffio, Albrecht Dürer, Lucas Cranach the Elder, Messina, Pietro Perugino, Hans Memling, El Greco, Hans Holbein, Fyodor Stepanovich Rokotov , Peter Paul Rubens, Gobert, Caspar Netscher, Pierre Mignard, Jean-Marc Nattier, Élisabeth-Louise Vigée-Le Brun, Sir Joshua Reynolds, Franz Xaver Winterhalter, Alexei Vasilievich Tyranov, Vladimir Lukich Borovikovsky, Alexey Gavrilovich Venetsianov, Antoine-Jean Gros, Orest Adamovich Kiprensky, Amalie, Jean-Baptiste Camille Corot, Édouard Manet, Flatour, Jean Auguste Dominique Ingres, Wontner, William-Adolphe Bouguereau, Comerre, Leighton, Blaas, Renoir, Millias, Duveneck, Cassat, Weir, Zorn, Mucha, Paul Gaugan, Henri Matisse, Picabia, Klimt, Hawkins, Magritte, Salvador Dali, Malevich, Merrild, Modigliani, Pablo Picasso

Is time on their side?

I like to think it is. Back in the day... before the internet we could be insulated enough to believe anything was possible. Now one has to go to a place without electricity to truly witness the world without a filter or advertisements.

My dad finally has internet access in his home. WOW! We knew he would love google. He loves the fact that he can google without the distraction of advertisements. (Lets hope he isn't infected by pop-up ads. He runs a pc.) Either way the internet will be good thing for him. Ultimately it is good thing... its the news that seems to be bad.
There are blessings everyday everywhere in the world but the newspaper, TV or the internet is the likely the last place we'll learn about them.

The dancing children above and the children of all my neighbors, relatives and blog friends represent all the promise I can imagine. When life's demands hit them in the face when they are twelve or thirteen I can only hope they'll be strong and face their challenges with honor and dignity. Its tough row to hoe at that age but it can be the most critical time in one's life. Perhaps we can invent some hologram role models for them? Who would they be like? Maybe a combination of Ghandi, Clinton and Paul Newman for the boys... I don't know who the girls role models should be... perhaps a combination of Barbara Jordan, Oprah and Kathryn Hepburn? Madonna? Your input would be appreciated!

bliss

M and L tied the knot a week ago. M is a remarkable woman and an equally remarkable friend. Mr. dd and I are so happy for them. We had a phenomenal time in at their wedding. It was part Godfather, Sopranos and Sex and the City. I guess M was most like Charlotte. A real romantic in search of an honorable man. She certainly dated more than her share of charming scoundrels. I've been there. Its fun while its fun and then its not. My sister is still in charming scoundrel mode though I fail to see the charms of her current scoundrel.

M and her maid of honor arranged all of the roses above and moved from the rehearsal dinner to the reception. She's my kind of princess. Ready to get her hands dirty doing whatever it takes to do the right thing for the right people so she can prioritize her resources. We admire her and love her and wish them both the greatest happiness.

Le Marigny

Mr dd and I wound up at an unintentional sideshow last night. Cafe Brazil featured a cabaret fundraiser to help an artist who lost everything during a fire. They had all the right stuff... colorful rags, youthful flesh and bone - all lit up with silly lights and bad sound. The performances weren't nearly as interesting as the crowd. Best of all I spotted Amzie... like I never left NOLA... it could have been '96, '86 or 1976. That's what I love about New Orleans... all its been through and some things will forever remain the same. Perhaps that's what Anne Rice loves, too. Maybe all the people I see over and over again have always been there and even Katrina couldn't blow them away. Anne, are you out there? That would be a story to tell but since you moved from NOLA before Katrina perhaps you aren't the best one to tell it.

I admit it. Anne Rice got to me. It was 2004 so it took ten years and a stay in Paris to get me to read "Interview with a Vampire." I didn't know it took place in New Orleans and Paris. It made me terribly homesick for NOLA and suspect of many people I saw in Pere La Chaise. They all looked like Vampires! Perhaps that's who we were watching at Cafe Brazil... the bohemian vampires?

the art of life

Mr dd and I dashed around NOLA today trying to see what we needed to see and still have time to dress, have a drink and meet some locals prior to le grand nuit. We walked across the Quarter to Canal, headed for the museums and galleries in the warehouse district. Enroute we encounted a woman who would pay us 70 bucks to spend two hours at a time share presentation - seventy bucks plus free admission to the musems we were headed for. It was tempting simply to see the inside of a condo/time share near Decatur and Canal... and it would pay for our parking.... BUT, we declined. I didn't want to miss out on most of the galleries this visit and one thing I've learned is that at some point either you make a choice or decide not to make a choice and that no one gets it all all the time. anyway....

I focused on galleries today since I know they'll all be closed tomorrow. Arthur Roger, et al. It was fun. Mr dd went to the Civil War Museum and loved it. My favorite show was at Bienvue Gallery. Raine Bedsole had a terrific series of mixed media paintings and sculpture.

rehearsal for life