whenever i am home (yes my parents still live in the house that I grew up in) i try to go through some memorabilia aka. crap. i swore I tossed this shadow box of sneakers i made from my sons collection as he grew. well it somehow ended up back in the basement. i suggest to mom to just bring it to savers. well, i get a call the other day about how she got ahold of david bieber after watching a tv program on david bieber archives. she tells me this museum collection is massive as they place the shadowbox in the room of shoes, we’re talking ceiling to floor filled. it really sounds quite impressive this collection which is rented out or sold to interested parties. rooms of tv, record, poster collections. david bieber collections has now adorned the rebuild of the verb hotel in fenway. if you haven’t stopped by this hotel you should! pretty cool stuff. oh and thanks mom!! my new agent ;)
** “don’t mistake my kindness for weakness” - Riri
if you gossip about others, share confidential conversations, judge other peoples life choices, compare your kids to others, use religion to convince yourself you're a good person, use social media to share only your good side, use money to manipulate: maybe don’t? one thing I can say rings true @ half a century old is:
continuetobe. kind. + clear out the bs
thx to my loves. who support me
my best friends who take the time. + always learning from each other. everyone’s struggles are real + grateful to those who understand the life of an artist. a life most don’t understand.
forever. the jaded optimist.xo
“when someone shows you who they are. believe them the first time” M.Angelou
stumbling upon an ad in a local magazine*, i reach out to an interior designer, sara of tailored home, who was from boston as well and relocated to the pnw. she was happy to join me in one of my first creative ventures in the pnw, + we quickly scheduled a road trip to the seattle design center.
An industrial area not too different from the Boston Design Center minus the bustling waterfront, the Seattle Design Center was a bit smaller than expected albeit just as filled with enticing showrooms. The inviting lobby is adorned with a large Hunt Slonum from his Blue Diamond Rhapsody, 2021 series.
The symmetry of the space + showrooms makes it easy to walk through. Well-known showroom Baker hones a grey glass modern pedestal that I covet. We spend much time in Resource Furniture, an innovative way to customize any space with a futuristic appeal.
After a satisfying lunch in their open + quiet courtyard, I contemplate how I see my work in this area. We discuss design and how my modern work remains ahead of its time + unique. It’s just the beginning of my life as an artist here in the PNW. So much to see so little time…
having lived in mukilteo for over a year and a half now, home improvement projects took over taking my soul with them (a first-world problem i know). interviewing artists fills the void for about six months. as the winter looms, i take pup down to the local beaches every chance I get. this winter from november to april seemed as if they were the longest rainiest months of my life. it has been dark + lonely in this city by the mountains. everything shuts down, even the people. as i struggle to stay focused on my next creative venture i go through my images. our long-awaited trip to israel in December seemed to give me hope. whether traveling locally or to a new place across the globe, i believe it gives renewal + a sense of belonging in this world. traveling is a luxury. traveling is the unknown. snowboarding in the mountains, joining the garden club, and a recent trip back home to the house I grew up in (and was a front runner for the movie american hustle) brush strokes of creativity into my mind that was once a blank canvas. a photograph there a vision of a very specific color here, i am excited as i have been searching for this image of simple texture for some time now. now to execute the vision. that’s the fun part…linger in this moment of possibility..to be continued…
painting in a new place, studio, and lighting is always a challenge but a challenge is also a good problem. my new mentor at Impact, whose sole purpose is to assist women in all stages of their business, suggested I read The Mountain is You. available in audio, it was filled with constructive advice on how to get over your own personal mountain. anyways, I am all for supporting women in business + was thrilled to hear from suzi h. at alchemy station art, where deep knowledge + creativity intersect.
so, back to painting. In this new sun-drenched studio space, I start my playlist + go through my checklist. although this list starts way before any tangible products are strategically placed, my mental list forms all the details. communication is key, down to the amount of texture + placement of color. I really do like it when they know exactly where the client wants what as much as I enjoy total creative freedom. freedom is what I am struggling with now. a new fresh idea, it’s all in the details. and I am getting close. You have just to jump in + try even if it might be an utter failure. that’s just it. that’s art: being okay to fail, to learn + then grow.
