Translations Gallery Ad

Good news today from Kate Merkel at Translations Gallery. They are using my work for gallery promotional materials. Kate wanted some high resolution photos for another ad. So now I am sorely aware that I must be more savvy about digital imagery and what all the numbers mean- 300 dpi, 3888 x 2592 pixels, 300 pixels per inch, 3.5 mp, etc. It is important to be prepared for these sudden requests. This was a great boost for my ego and very timely. I am done with my first teaching session for the summer and ready to go into full time art making. I'm thrilled that my natural toned piece shows up well along with Jane Dunnewold's surface treatment and Anne Bossert's bright blue sculpture.

View from the Train Window

So sorry I have no picture for this. On the way to Pittsburgh, the Amtrack train went through Milwaukee. Just as my son started fantasizing aloud about filming a zombie movie in this part of Milwaukee, I realized we were passing Marina Broere's studio building. We passed one more building and then saw an amazing site in the parking lot - a not thin man wearing sweatpants and a blue tutu pirouetting in the large empty parking lot. The train filled with sighs, giggles, and ahhs. Then the moment passed.

Millennium Park

While returning from my Aunt’s 90^th birthday party, we waited 6 hours between Amtrack trains in Chicago. We rode the elevator to the top of the Sears Tower, drank Jamba Juice and walked under Cloud Gate by British artist Anish Kapoor. I was excited to convince my 14 year old son to go to Millenium Park as Kapoor was featured in the last issue of Sculpture magazine. Not only did we get to catch some reflections in the polished seamless stainless steel surface, we were able to cool off in the chamber beneath the large bean-like form.

Early June

Sorry for so few entries lately. Right now I am preparing for my summer teaching schedule. This includes classes for the UW-Eau Claire Summer Institute and SmART Summer Art programs. In addition to a fun art course for primary grades, I have added a new course called Eco-art. I will do a version for upper elementary and one for high school kids. So I am busy preparing my supplies and fine tuning the activities. While I am excited about including some clay straw building along with rust and mud dyed cloth, the preparation is overwhelming at the moment. The immediacy is heightened because this weekend I travel to Pittsburgh for my Aunt Dora's 90th birthday celebration.

The weekend was consumed with a pizza party we offered for our church auction. We have a wonderful brick oven out at our "farm" that my husband built for me when I was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2005. I am fine now, by the way. It seems that building something that will outlast us was his way of coping with the news. This is a phenomenon I have witnessed in other couples. Now we get wood fired pizza and bread. How healthy! There is a wonderful mud and straw bird's nest full of new hatchlings inside the oven shed. I am anxious to see how big they grow this week.