my most prized

I am in the process of packing up my studio, Genna's studio, and our house. We've been 12 years at our studio and 8 years in our home and it is SHOCKING what a person can accumulate in that amount of time. I've been particularly freaked out about the gallery...each time I think I've got a handle on it, I open a closet or cabinet door and SURPRISE!

I'm not here to complain, though. I love nearly all of my things and they are well worth the time and hassle it takes to properly pack them and carry them across state lines. What I want to tell you about today is how much great stuff I have!

We've been living in the middle of a construction site for most of the 8 years we've been in our house. Half of it is now lovely (restored hardwood floors, crown molding, high ceilings, period details) and the other half would still look at home in a cracky trailer park (cheap fake wood paneling, ancient oatmeal colored carpet, sway-backed dropped ceilings). Because we never finished this project, I've never properly displayed much of our art collection, accumulated through purchases, gifts, and trades since I started college in 1992. Packing it up I've been seeing it with fresh eyes and falling in love all over again.

I'm going to show you one thing today...my very most prized possession...and then maybe a few more things from our collection later on. Here she is:



She is an untitled original watercolor on paper made by our good friend Keith Rasmussen in 1975, just a year after I was born. This piece hangs in our bedroom on the wall to my right as I lay looking out. It's like a master class in painting laying and studying it each morning.

When I met Keith, he was the director of the Chattahoochee Vallery Art Museum here in LaGrange. I was honored to have many opportunities to see him work over the 10 years or so that I knew him, and each time it was like absolute magic. I've seen him draw and paint and work on lithographic plates and never once saw him make a stray mark. He could look at his subject and render it seemingly effortlessly.

This particular composition is made up of a girl, two intricately detailed baskets, and a black bird (amongst other things). You know I have a thing about black birds, right? The bird brings an unexpected, allegorical flavor to the otherwise everyday scene.



You can see many more examples of Keith's work and read his story at www.keithrasmussen.com. Keith died of pancreatic cancer in 2006 but his lovely wife, my good friend Mary Ann Rasmussen, continues to represent him and his work. Take the time to check it out, I promise it will be well worth your time.

ps...Here it is in it's place!

signe's holiday wish list!

Genna and I are not exchanging gifts this year since we're buying each other a house (although I secretly ordered myself a gift of new china today...shhh!). We're also scaling back on gift giving with family.

We've always been crazy Christmas gift givers with a full-on orgy of presents on Christmas Eve and Santa bringing gifts for ALL, young and old, on Christmas morning. This year we've gone to 'kids only' and I unfortunately don't qualify at 36 (our 20 year old Nastiya made it just under the wire, lucky girl).

So, my December spending bonanza has been brutally curtailed and I'm suffering from a little shopping withdrawal. Looking for relief from the retail d.t.'s today I decided I'd do some online searching of my favorite artists and share with you what I would be asking for if I was asking.

ENJOY!


This is the 'birthday suit candy dish' by one of my new art idols Jenny Mendes. I found Jenny at the Kentuck festival in Tuscaloosa and bought her quirky, sweet, subversive little bowls for all of my studio co-op partners. She has scads of new pieces in her etsy store that have all my chakras spinning.



"Wallflower" (24" square) is my most recent fave by Kathrine Allen-Coleman. I love every piece from this series, but this one also hearkens back to my 70's childhood wardrobe. One of you should snap this up to save me from myself...if I run across it in person at one more festival I'm going to have to bring it home. Kathrine wrote about this particular piece on her blog.



"Midnight Gathering" by Kent Ambler. I have a thing about black birds, bare branches, and smoky teal, so this is ticking all the boxes.



"Bottles" from Greg Turco's 'Ruins' series. I have 3 or 4 of Greg's beautiful photos that I've never had room to hang. Maybe they'll finally make it out of storage in our new place.



Mmmmmmm. My friend Scott Coleman posts a beautifully rendered little cupcake painting every day. This one is from back in October but there are also lots of great holiday ones to choose from.



"Knack" in Greenville specializes in re-contextualized furniture and 'found goodness', but they had me at 'moose head made out of old newspapers'. I discovered Knack through my new friend Theresa at Art & Light gallery in Greenville. Theresa is an excellent gallerist and curator who always has a fantastic collection of artists and mid century mod furniture on display.

OK, my eyes are tired now. Maybe more wish list later. Anyone else want to share their holiday handmade gift dreams?

my new favorite things

Last month I met ceramic artist Jenny Mendes at the Kentuck Art Fest in Tuscaloosa. I had seen her work there the year before and had despared at having not purchased any of her lovely, strange, sensitive little bowls then. Jenny had probably 100 of these enchanting little guys on view at the show and then further confused me by bringing me behind her booth to sift through a box of probably 100 more.

Her intimately sized creations would make lovely holiday gifts! Check her out at www.jennymendes.com.

gallery opening, Knoxville

Our show with Bennett Galleries in Knoxville TN opens tomorrow night, Friday from 5-8pm. We'll be exhibiting our newest work alongside painter Charlotte Terrell.

Shown above is our "Side Yard Garden" (oil on canvas, 65" x 85")and a piece of Charlotte's I lifted from somehwere on the internet! Those of you super familiar with our work know that this is not a new piece for us, but it's definitely a favorite of mine. The image was taken form a beautiful photo of Genna's father Peter in Ukraine when he was a young man. When I saw Charlotte's work, I knew I wanted to show this piece alongside hers as it's a better fit for her more subtle pallette. (I promise everything else is new!)

Hoping to see some of you there. Genna and I are splitting our 'couple' so that he can travel to Jackson GA to set up for our Saturday show, so I'd love to see some friendly and familiar faces. I'll be meeting Genna in Jackson on Saturday where the show runs until 3 pm. Details on the Jackson show can be found on the website of the show promoters/artists Scott and Kathrine Allen-Coleman.

recent acquisitions

One of my favorite things about traveling the 'art fair circuit' is the opportunity to add to my own little art collection. I thought you might like to see who I brought home from our last outing. The pictures are not of exactly what I bought, just works by that artist.

In Atlanta I picked up a charming little watercolor of a woman mooning a penguin by Rhode Island funny man Greg Stones. Its title is 'penguin, woman, bum'. This one is 'penguin, sock monkey, death'...



In Birmingham I made two purchases and two trades. My buys were a little drawing/mono print piece by Mark Traughber (this is my actual piece)...



and a sculpture by Joan Rasmussen whose website is beautiful and won't let me steal her pictures.

My trades were a fantastic robot with a spy glass by Anthony Pack (who I couldn't find a website for). His business is called 'Urban Folk Art' if you'd like to google him.



and a large painting by my all time art crush Kathrine Allen-Coleman.



Check them out so they won't be mad at me for using their images here without their permission!

coming up for air

We're entering winter...usually the time when Genna and I both kick into coast mode, slow down our travel and rest after our fall season. Not so this year! Genna is still up to his eyeballs in pots 12-13 hours a day (540 down, about 90 to go) and I'm still going full steam in preparation for Telfair in Savannah, the Christmas commission season, and our solo show at 16 Patton.

Speaking of which, thank you to everyone who sent in submissions for our second installment of the "Inspiration Project". My fave image so far (above) was made from my friend and fellow artist Steve Frenkel's submission. I'm calling it 'Railmen'. It's a 20" x 30" oil on linen. Voting for everyone else's faves will begin in a few weeks. Here's one of Steve's fantastic acrylics that I'm proud to say is part of my budding collection:



It's a 12" square called "Hourloupe Dry Cycle". Steve and I met while we were both showing at Opus One Gallery in Atlanta. He is an incredibly talented and dedicated artist. Check out more of his work online at www.stevefrenkel.net.

I have so many more things I wanna tell everyone about...Nastiya's first commission, Genna's pot progress, my first festival experience without him (I hope it was also the last!)...but right now I have to get back to work. Cross your fingers for me.

the daily cupcake

Our good friends and fellow 'art couple' R. Scott Coleman and Kathrine Allen-Coleman have launched a new blog featuring a 'cupcake a day' by Scott. They are both incredible talents and great folks. See the blog at www.scottscupcakes.blogspot.com and both of their works at www.thespringgallery.com.

bearden/kahlo inspiration

Last Friday night was the opening reception of "Reaction", new works by the Visual Artists Alliance of LaGrange created in reaction to a work of art by a favorite artist.

Each artist's work (20 artists, 40 works in paint, glass, collage, clay) was accompanied by a small reproduction of the inspiration piece and a statement explaining their inspiration.

The show is taking place at the Cochran Gallery on Lafayette Square, downtown LaGrange. The gallery usually showcases the collection of local collectors Wes & Missy Cochran, who have a world class collection of graphics (focused heavily on Andy Warhol) and works by African-American artists. My favorite of their collection is a fantastic 1975 aquatint/photoetching by my American Idol, Romare Bearden, entitled The Family. Here it is:




The Cochrans graciously agreed to allow me to hang the Bearden next to my offering for the show, Alfresco, Family Table...



She is an oil on canvas, 55" x 72". I made her in collaboration with Genna. My thought process was that the juxstaposition of Genna's flowing style and my broad, crisp panes of color create a similar feeling to Bearden's collaged (or in this case, collage like) images.

Our featured work for the show was created by my VAAL co-director Cora Wooley Waterhouse. Her painting is Adaptation:



Inspired by this photographic portrait of Frida Kahlo by Nikolas Muray:



I loved what Cora had to say,

"Photographs of Mexican painter Frida Kahlo remind me of my own Hungarian grandmother, Anna Schreier. Both women were proud and exotic, brave and deeply independent. Last year for my birthday, my daughter gave me a book of fantastic photographic portraits of Kahlo taken by Nikolas Muray, one of her many lovers. I chose the cover photo as inspiration for my self portrait.

For my piece, I wear a heavily embroidered vest, homage to my Hungarian mother and grandmother. The necklace is a favorite of mine, found in pieces at the old LaGrange Antique Mall shortly after we arrived here. The azaleas and maple leaves for my hair are from my own beautiful springtime yard. There is no place that blooms more beautifully than Georgia in spring.
I painted myself on a camouflage fabric ground. The idea that a fabric can help a person blend into their environment adds a wink of irony to my Adaptation and gives a nod to the patterned wallpaper background of the original work."

Kudos, Cora! Check her out online at http://www.corawooleywaterhouse.com/.

If you're planning to be in the LaGrange area, you can see the show Wednesday-Saturday from 1-5pm at the Cochran Gallery, E. Lafayette Square until July 2nd.