Matt's at Artscene!

This weekend, Matt (my husband-to-be) has his very first solo art show!  Featuring 9 new pieces,  "Suburban Still-Life" opens Friday, October 1st at JR Kortman Gallery.

This weekend Matt and I took all the work over to Kortman's and helped gallery director Doc Slafkosky hang the show.  Matt's hard work over the last few months has paid off, as the art looks fabulous in the space.

Now, this is not your grandmother's art show. Some of the pieces are provocative and in your face but not vulgar or graphic. If you can handle "Victor", whom Matt is posing next to, you can handle the rest of the show.

The opening of this show corresponds with the city wide Fall Artscene event. There will be art on display and for purchase at 41 venues around town.  This is a totally free event!

As many of you know, Matt and I met at Artscene last year, when we were both exhibiting art at WallBlank Gallery. We're hoping to have as much fun this year as we did last!

All of the Artscene venues will be open on Friday, October 1st from 5-9 pm and on Saturday, October 2nd from 3-9 pm. If you can't make it out this weekend, "Suburban Still Life" will be on display during regular Kortman's store hours (M-Sat 10-6) until November 15th.

Kortman's is located in downtown Rockford at 107 N Main St, just across the street from Octane.

Hope to see you there!

What a Great Weekend!

The rain came just as I had finished setting up my tent at the Greenwich Village Art Fair.   I zipped myself into the tent and held on for dear life so that the tent and I wouldn't be picked up by the fierce wind. (OK, so maybe I'm exaggerating a bit, but the tent did move!) I feared that my bad art show karma, that made a mess of my last two outdoor events was again rearing its ugly head.  I was on the verge of a meltdown when the rain stopped, the winds died down and the sun tried to break through the clouds. Thank goodness! The weather behaved throughout the weekend, and the cloud cover actually kept things comfortable.

Aside from its blustery start, this show was nothing but fabulous. I made some good contacts, got great feedback from the fair goers,  and made some serious moola! I sold 12 original pieces, as well as a boatload of prints and card sets. I've never sold so much in a weekend. What a great feeling! It's so vindicating when others buy things that you've made. Thanks to all who came out to support me.

If you have ever considered doing the Greenwich Village show, I highly recommend it. It's very well organized, the staff is superb and they treat their artists very well.  I'll surely be back next year.

I'm now gearing up for my next gig, Frost and Friends on November 5th and 6th. More info will be forthcoming.

I'll leave you with some of the pieces I had to say goodbye to this weekend. I was a little sad to see them go, but know they are going to good homes and will be well loved.

Ta-Ta!

Greenwich Village

Today was a beautiful Indian Summer day, and I'm praying that this weather continues until the weekend.  I'll be spending all weekend outdoors at the Greenwich Village Art Fair, and I'd prefer not to have a repeat of my last outdoor art fair! 

The Greenwich Village Art Fair takes place on Saturday, September 18th and 19th on the grounds of the Rockford Art Museum. This is a really fun show! Besides 100 plus artists, there will be gourmet food vendors who always serve yummy samples, live music, a Sunday morning champagne and omelet brunch, and a wide variety of leaded and unleaded drinks.


You can find me at booth 35. I don't know exactly where that is yet, but there will be maps available at the fair entrance. I will have several brand originals, prints and card sets, much of which has yet to make an appearance on Etsy.

The fair runs from 10 am - 6 pm on Saturday and 10 am - 5 pm on Sunday.  Hope to see you there!

New Art from the New Studio

Happy Labor Day weekend friends. Doesn't Sunday feel so much more relaxing when you know you don't have to work on Monday?

I survived my first week of school pretty much unscathed.  It's nice to just teach Juniors and Seniors who are interested in what we are doing. I know I'm spoiled teaching at a Catholic school. The problems I deal with are minuscule in comparison to my public school counterparts. I even had a student bake me a cake in the shape of a paint palette and two others bake cupcakes for my birthday this week! 

I managed to get some artwork done this week.  Meet "Let it Be." This is the first piece I've created in my new studio space. Matt has turned his basement into a great art studio and we both have room to spread out without getting in each others way. We both spent the afternoon yesterday working away. Its nice to have someone to talk to while I work.

"Let it Be" measures 7.5" x 9.5" and was created on an eggplant cardstock. This is a new color for me. I like the way the white ink pops on this deep color. This piece was designed to fit in a  11 3/4" x 15 3/4" Ikea Ribba frame. "Let it Be" is available for sale unframed in my Etsy shop, or find it framed September 18th and 19th at the Greenwich Village Art Fair.

Loose Ends and Lost Friends

 

I ran a giveaway a few weeks back and failed to announce the winner.  (Sorry!) Danielle, the talented owner of Burlap Works, was the lucky recipient of the "Meant to Be" print. She creates beautiful bags and accessories fashioned from burlap coffee sacs. If you're a local, you can meet Danielle and see her beautiful bags at the City Market,  downtown on Friday evenings. She also offers her wares on Etsy.  I  am hoping to get one of her creations for my upcoming September birthday. (Hint, Hint Matt)

On a much more sober note, I lost one of my very dearest and oldest friends today. Lynn's one and a half year battle with breast cancer came to an end this morning. Just 2 weeks ago I had a great visit with Lynn, who was one of my college roommates. We made dinner, drank wine, and talked until the wee hours of the morning. I am so grateful for this time with her and so grateful for my friendship with this wonderful woman. She will be missed by so many.

New Year Resolutions

The end of August marks the beginning of the school year.  As a teacher, this is more of a "New Years" than January is. I've decided to make a few resolutions as I start the 2010-11 school year. I hope that posting them out for all to see on the blog will help me stick to them!

1. I've got a wedding dress to fit into. (Yep, already bought one!) I will try to workout at least 3 times a week. I am so good about going to the gym in the summer. I hope to keep it up during the hectic school year for once! 
2. I vow to continue buying all produce from local producers until the growing season is over.  Rockford's farmer's markets have become very strong. I love that every type of produce I'd want at this time of year is available from a local grower. 
3. I vow to continue cooking 3-4 nights a week. After a week away from any cooking, I forget how much I really like it and how good I feel doing it.  Tonight I took all of the leftovers from the fridge and invented a new dish. I parboiled some pasta, layered it with leftover grilled eggplant, onions,  garlic, and summer squash, added some diced tomato, basil and oregano from my garden, threw in some egg and cheese to bind it, and baked it in the oven. Yum!
4. Last, but not least, I vow to write one blog post a week. I have plenty to write about...No lethargy allowed!

I leave you with a newish piece I've created entitled " Try, Look, Show, Tell." 

Ta. Ta.

Italian Adventure Part Four: Roma

As I sit and write this post, I am listening to my "Italia Soundtrack". This eclectic collection of songs brings me right back to our room at Hotel Elide in Rome.

July in Rome is hot - desert hot. There was only so much walking and sightseeing I could do during the day without needing an air conditioned nap in our hotel room. (Matt, on the other hand could usually walk forever.) Our routine was to get up and go in the morning by 9 or 10 and then stay out until lunch time. Then, like all good Italians do, we'd head back to our room.

Our Italia soundtrack was formed during our daily afternoon siesta, watching the only station with some English broadcasting. Unlike the American version, MTV Italia broadcasts music videos 90 percent of the time. It was refreshing, for a time, until we noticed that their playlist was limited to the same 20 videos or so. Matt and I know know every word to "California Gurls" by Katy Perry and "Waka-Waka" by Shakira. ( I don't know if that's something I should be bragging about!) Besides the usual sugar pop, we were introduced to some new favorites like Stromae from France, the Baseballs from Germany, and the Drums from Brooklyn. (So strange that I had to go to Europe to hear the Drums!)

We spent seven days in Rome. This post would be a mile long if I wrote about all of the food, sights and art we took in, so I'll just hit some of the highlights.

• Hotel Elide: I would recommend this place to anyone. Its right in the heart of things, on via Firenze between Via Nationale and via del Quirnale, with a metro stop just 3 minutes away. The rooms are updated and clean, the staff is fun and helpful. The only thing that was less than stellar was the breakfast. You're better off heading right across the street to the Snack Bar (also a Rick Steve's pick) for an espresso and brioche.

• Baroque art in churches: The Catholic churches that seem to be on every corner, are truly best place to see Baroque art, and its free! Bernini's Ecstasy of St. Teresa (above), Caravaggio's Conversion of St. Paul, The Calling of St. Matthew, and several other of his works line the walls of these churches. It seems ridiculous, but the lighting on these works is better than in Rome's showplace museum, The Borghese Gallery. In the Caravaggio room at the Borghese, you can't stand in one place and view the whole Madonna dei Palafrenieri at once. That's just bad! The churches are also great places to duck out of the heat for a bit too.

• Borghese Park: Just 2 metro stops away, we spent quite a bit of time walking around this park, once the private property and home of the Borghese family. It's lush and shady, with miles of paved paths for walking or biking. When you get hot or tired, there are plenty of little carts and even a full blown cafe to grab a Pepsi or a Peroni. (You can buy alcohol anywhere in Italy, even from the street vendor.) Matt and I liked to go to the park to escape the hustle and bustle of the city.

• Fifa Fan Fest: While walking around Borghese park, we came across the Fifa Fan Fest cite. Rome was one of 6 international cities to host the event. Every World Cup match was shown on a huge screen and was free and open to the public. We decided to head down one afternoon to watch a match. As we walked through the park towards the cite, we worried that we may have gotten the time wrong. The park was dead silent! We approached the fan fest grounds and found thousands of people sitting silently, enthralled in the game. It was so different than any other sporting event I've watched in my life. The spectators were so into the game that there was little time for talking or drinking. We sat down on the ground at the top of the hill with hundreds of others and watched. It was sweltering hot, but a great experience.

• The Roman Forum: We got lucky and visited the Forum on an overcast day, so Matt and I could really enjoy and explore this fantastic cite. The Forum was the heart of ancient Rome, both politically and socially. We walked along original Roman streets paved with huge stones that had also been walked on by the likes of Julius Caesar and Augustus. Rick Steves, our travel guru, gave us a guided tour via his podcast, that Matt had downloaded onto is Iphone. I just don't know how to explain how amazing it was to walk amidst these beautiful and iconic architectural marvels, made almost 2000 years ago.

• In the foreground here you see an ancient Roman arch, and in the background a baroque era church. You find vignettes like this all over Rome, where old and new collides and even exists on top of one another. For instance, the ancient ruins of the Baths of Diocletian, dedicated in 306, were converted by Michelangelo into the Renaissance Church of Santa Maria degli Angeli. The bath's ancient walls are integrated into and are preserved by this church. I didn't take any pictures inside of the church, but did take the shot below of the exterior.

• Al Bric: Now, did you really think I could write an entire blog post about Rome and not mention the food? On our last night in Rome, we decided to splurge and headed to the Michelin rated Osteria Enoteca al Bric. (Yet again, Rick Steves did not disappoint.) To start, we drank wine from Montalcino (a stop on our Tuscan tour) and ate mussels baked in their shell with bread crumbs and Roquefort. Matt and I both had delectable fresh pastas with seafood, and we finished the meal with espresso and homemade vanilla ice cream flavored with acacia honey. Divine dining!
  

I leave you with a picture of me in front of my boss' house. (St. Peter's at the Vatican. Catholic school teacher humor Ha.) Our 2 weeks in Italy were truly magical and Matt and I can't wait to go back again.