Monthly Archives: June 2015

Be careful what you tell your kids

I like looking at real estate listings for old homes; my daughter Laura likes looking at real estate listings for really expensive homes. “I can’t visualize myself living in them,” I told her. “That’s good,” she countered. “You never get house envy. But when I look at older homes, all I see is wiring that […]

Painting with pals (Castine)

In its three short years, Castine Plein Air has shot to the top of my list of events, becoming one of my two favorite shows of the year. Castine is a beautiful town, well worth turning off Route 1 to explore. Its community welcomes artists, and is happy to give us access to their properties […]

Painting with pals (part 2)

After Olana, I’ll be at Ocean Park, ME, for their second annual paint out, July 15-17. The 19th century camp meeting movement gave birth to more than 350 permanent Chautauqua assemblies. These were named after the most famous assembly, located in Chautauqua, New York. Part religious revival, part adult summer camp, they proved enormously popular. […]

Painting with pals (part 1)

Part of the joy of painting outdoors is running into friends at plein air events. I’ll be at Olana Plein Air from July 9 to 11. The event itself is a new one for me, but I’ve painted at Frederic Edwin Church’s Moorish villa overlooking the Hudson many times. I’ve done Rye’s Painters on Location […]

Make your very own own toddler child

I’m always entertained when my artist friends cobble stuff together that normal people would just buy. Whether we’re confirmed Do-It-Yourselfers because we’re cheap, or because DIY is just an extension of the creative nature, I can’t say. But our default response always seems to be, “I can make it better than that!” Gail Kellogg Hope is […]

School’s done forever

Since I was only taking a small collection of dishes, two bedroom sets, the couch and my studio, I thought I’d over-purchased when I rented a 16’ truck for my move. By the time I realized the error of my ways, it was too late to upgrade. My workshop and finished inventory remain in my garage […]

Keep your eyes on the bouncing ball

I’ll confess that I’ve enjoyed reading about Rachel Dolezal’s fall from grace. It has all the elements of great farce: hubris, disguises, lies, imposters, and absurdity. Unfortunately it also undermines the true narrative of American race relations, which is not always kind. Wednesday’s ghastly shootings at Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, SC. makes it clear […]

Be careful what you wish for

We sailed every summer until my brother died at age 17, at which time my father, in his great grief, gave up his boat. After that it was catch-as-catch-can. What I mainly remember about sailing is the endless scraping and caulking every spring. I’d like a little sailboat but my husband isn’t keen. That’s really […]

Crazy for art

It’s disconcerting to realize your hometown has a penchant for producing psychopaths. Timothy McVeigh grew up just a few miles from my family’s farm. Ditto Joyce Carol Oates—who has created numerous fictional psychopaths—and recent Clinton Correctional Facility escapee Richard Matt. The last time New York had a prisoner on the lam—the hapless Ralph “Bucky” Phillips—ended disastrously, […]