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.

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).

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...

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.

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.

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.).

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.