gcb sketchbook

2009-10-08T18:11:00.000-07:00

Community Outreach

Here is an update of my outreach for the Art of Action project: I had two workshops at the Strafford Library during the summer, on July 9 and August 6 in the evening. I showed my work and invited the participants to undertake their own projects envisioning the future of Vermont.

Between them I had an Open Studio, inviting the community to see my project in progress. I provided some art supplies.

On August 31 I installed the results at the Strafford Post Office, which has an exhibition space. There were
six pieces of art, responding to the subject.

2009-06-09T08:30:00.000-07:00

Here is the progress of the three paintings showing high meadows, forests and farmland:I have added various birds and plants in the foreground and made the sky stormier. I will work to connect the compositions.

2009-05-12T18:47:00.000-07:00

Here is the beginning of "Village Center". It assumes a compact village, surrounded by fields, a small river running through that formerly powered a mill of some sort. So far, the buildings are traditional wood frame, no taller than three floors. There are fruit trees and animals grazing among the buildings. The sky is an ominous color, suggesting unstable weather. Meadowlark and Field Sparrow are the first birds to appear, although there will be some more familiar and common birds, such as Goldfinch.
New buildings will rise up among the existing ones. New crops and farm animals will be possible.

2009-04-25T05:32:00.000-07:00

Valley Farmland: Overgrown apple trees, stone wall, overgrown pastures have become forests. Barn owl...

Forest: Abandoned road,maybe a ruined dam, Whitetail Deer, Cooper's Hawk, Blackburnian Warbler

High Meadow: To remain open, these meadows can be used for pasture. Fencing can be solar- powered electric. Least Bittern in wetlands.

These three paintings are the beginnings of a triptych on the subject of the "Working Landscape". In these three kinds of New England landscape I find a distinctive beauty that I associate with Vermont : "High meadow", "Forest", and "Valley farmland". The views will be framed by native birds, other animals and plants, some endangered. I hope to hear from viewers, suggesting what species should be shown and what land use practices are appropriate for these places. I will be adding and updating images of these paintings as they develop.

Soon to come: "Village Center".

2009-03-20T15:16:00.000-07:00

On Tuesday I met with Northern Woodlands Magazine people. We discussed ways to interact as the paintings develop, linking up to their expertise in the working landscape, forestry management, and endangered, native and invasive species. Over the next week I will provide links to some of their sites. I also will schedule the actual dates for the workshops at the Strafford Library- the first one will probably be in July 9 at 7PM and the second will be early in August.

The Valley News article has been very helpful in publicizing the Art of Action project.

2009-02-03T09:04:00.000-08:00

Here is an image of a large painting (3'h x 6'l) that I have hanging in a show at the Cambridge Arts Council- I had the opportunity with this show to exhibit not only paintings but also the references that I drew from. In this case, I combined a favorite walk in Cambridge with a view of eastern Turkey; my Armenian grandparents came from that region. This is a fantasy- not based on one particular place but several, woven together.

I am posting this to show an example of my most current work. My work for the Vermont Arts Council will be Vermont based but will be constructed in a similar fashion- using references from existing and old Vermont with new buildings, infrastructure, plants and animals in a mostly harmonious future (signs of discord small and in the distance).

2009-01-10T08:18:00.000-08:00

This way the first week of classes, so I've been immersed in that down here in Cambridge and Andover, but this morning I am reading recent postings and reentering the Art of Action project. I heard a quote from Adam Smith's "Wealth of Nations" this week, referring to the current downturn in the economy as the inevitable result of the kind of commerce that our culture has become engaged with: Non-essential goods production as opposed to a more fundamental needs-based economy founded on, for instance, cultivation. Perhaps this has been taken out of context, but a return to agriculture and cultivation would restore and enrich the Vermont landscape. Its hard to farm in this climate, but there may be an increasing regional market for locally grown food, and with incentives it could become profitable again. I've heard that there's a very limited market for Vermont wool and that some sheep farms end up burning it...

2009-01-02T17:58:00.000-08:00

In thinking about the future I have also thought about the past. Here is another aspect to my relationship to Vermont: The painter Winthrop Chandler is a forebear. He was an early American painter-self-taught- and I feel a kinship with his work. He painted the Crafts family that's in the Craftsbury Common Library. Mahitable Crafts was his sister.

Mostly he painted portraits, but there are a few landscapes-"The Battle of Bunker Hill" is in the collection of the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston.
This painting has a futuristic and/or apocalyptic quality which I admire.

2008-12-29T15:46:00.000-08:00

I've just returned from Strafford Vermont where I've been for over a week- no access to high speed internet, no cell phone service, little electricity (we're off the grid), limited heat (wood stove only). Its been a reminder of the challenges that many Vermonters face, some by choice, some not.
I've been stuck in a snowdrift and rescued by helpful neighbors, visited the store, the library, the post office- to be greeted by name everywhere. This has been a different reminder- of the sense of tight community and support, of being known, that isn't as true here in Cambridge.
This project has made me think differently about life in Vermont.

2008-12-19T14:37:00.000-08:00

I've been reading other people's blogs and finally I'm beginning to feel that we're all getting a handle on what we want to focus on. My interest is in the working landscape, and I'm beginning to develop painting ideas, using the mix of bird and plant details that I have typically in my paintings. I've been searching out the lists of endangered and native species from the available sources at VINS and VLT (as mentioned earlier). I am working on a series of landscapes, all idealized but with hints of trouble if you look carefully. Its exciting to feel as though this way of approaching a painting project-deliberately constructing the rationale for all the elements- can dovetail with what I do anyway.

The other thing that I've become aware of as I think about this project is the quality of my life in Strafford. I don't live there year-round, but I come up at all times of year. Our house if off the grid and on a small dead end dirt road, so after the drive up from Boston on the interstate the silence and peace is striking. I planted 20 apple trees then we built our house and now they all bear fruit; gradually I've enlarged the vegetable garden. My neighbors are all farmers on a small scale. But my husband and I are both painters and our primary purpose there is to paint when we aren't teaching (summers, in other words). I see this project as a wonderful way to connect to my community there- this project gives my work as a painter a visibility and purpose that lots of people understand.

I'm also continuing my search through art history for inspiration- here is one of my favorites-"Good Government" by Lorenzetti (Sienese 15th cent.).

2008-12-13T14:45:00.000-08:00

My most recent thoughts have been about the idea of the future- how can we anticipate what technologies will be developed for energy generation? For transportation? These developments will have a profound effect on the landscape, and over time there will be many different solutions.

I enjoyed reading the article in the New York Times (Dec. 3,2008)about the Vermont town of Starksboro and the efforts of the Middlebury College students to engage the residents. It is described as a place that is not remarkably picturesque, but that was the case for Strafford (where I am) 150 years ago...it was a mining town with a bedstead factory, a sawmill, a tannery, several stores, a creamery and many tenaments. Today it is very pretty, but without any vital industries, like the dairy farms in Starksboro. There used to be many farms- I remember them fondly from my childhood- but there are only two left. These pictures are mine(except for the buggy carrying the milk cans- they come from the Strafford Historical Society). I love seeing the cows grazing, but its a hard way to make a living. There have to be new incentives for farming.

2008-12-11T10:32:00.000-08:00

ART OF ACTION

The subject that I've chosen to focus on is "the working

landscape". The history of the landscape shapes the way that it looks now, so I've been thinking about the way that it got to be the way it is today and how its changed even in my lifetime. I've been looking at old photographs, and I read the excellent history of Vermont by Dr. Jan Albers on the Vermont Land Trust. Also, the speech by Darby Bradley has been helpful in defining the challenges that Vermont faces.
I am organizing my reference images into groups:

1. I've looked at many images of farming from the past.

2. I've also been thinking about the ways that imagery can be used to draw attention to conditions or to celebrate beauty. I've looked at paintings of rural life by Corot, Millet and Gainsborough (of course there are many other examples).

"Twilight" by Camille Corot
3. I'm also assembling images of plants and animals native to or invasive to this state. I have visited the Montshire Museum in Norwich and VINS in Woodstock .

Future postings will relate to these catagories and maybe some new ones.