This summer I was lucky enough to attend my first artist residency. High on a hill above the ancient Valle Camonica in the town of Cividate Camuno in Lombardy, surrounded by the majestic embrace of the Italian Alps, stands RUC. This mystical place is an ancestral home where artists from all over the world come to work in and be inspired by nature and history.
Miami Art Week is one of the most attended art events in the world and this year I am headed there to show my work for the very first time! I'm proud to share that my work has been selected by PULSE Art Fair Director, Cristina Salmastrelli as part of The Next Generation exhibit - an initiative designed to showcase the artwork of emerging artists during Miami Art Week.
This month I'm all about that dark olive/hunter green with a touch of brassy peach and of course, lots of depth and texture. Lately I'm using a lot of these tones in my original paintings and in my wardrobe.
Going through a website revamp and redesign is A LOT of work. My previous website launched almost 7 years ago but internet years are like dog years and I was long overdue for a change. Here are four very important lessons I learned when I rebranded and redesigned my website.
I am participating in the annual RiverArts® Studio Tour in the lower Hudson Valley next weekend, Saturday, April 27th and Sunday, April 28th. My space, Studio 237B, is located in the newly renovated Hudson River Landing building at 145 Palisade Street in Dobbs Ferry, New York and I'll be showing my work alongside over 100 emerging and established artists working in all mediums.
Last summer, while on vacation with my family in Greece, I took a photo that has become the starting point for an entire new series of paintings, as well as the perfect self-portrait that I could find in nature. There is a story underneath the surface of every person. Outside you see one thing but inside...inside there could be something completely unexpected, charged, surprising, even. People are complicated. We are layered and nuanced.
The other day at dinner a friend asked me whether I ever imagined that my career would take the turn it has taken. I didn't even hesitate to answer the question. "No. I never imagined this." My path to becoming a working artist has not been straightforward and there have been many forks and twists on the road to where I am now. So it got me thinking about those forks and twists--everyone has a history and I really believe that I had to go through all the changes and turns in my life to get to this spot.
Every year I choose a word that becomes a mantra to take me through the next twelve months. I write that word down and try to manifest it. In 2017 I chose "purpose" as my word and each time I felt like I was struggling or facing some difficulty, or felt uninspired, or frankly deterred and depressed by the state of affairs in our world, I turned to my word, PURPOSE, to bring me light and remind me of what I am meant to do and why I am meant to do it. This time I took the lessons from last year to take me into 2018.
