Tag Archives: art
A hip flask and I’m on my way
It seems silly to complain about heavy rain in New York when the Maine coast is inundated. We got 3” of rain overnight, but that is nothing in comparison. Nobody here is bailing their mudroom out, as my friend Eileen was doing in Belfast yesterday. My house-sitter checked in to tell me that my house […]
Storm flags
Folding before a threat
Art is censored for many reasons, from politics to economics. Having been censored myself, my sympathies are with those artists who experience it. It takes months or years to create a body of work, and having it withdrawn from the public marketplace is the worst insult it can sustain. The British artist calling herself Mimsy […]
Renaissance men
The last few decades have led to a significant decline in visual arts and music being taught in public schools. That’s a pity, because historically the visual arts and music were considered an integral part of educating the well-rounded man. Many people have pointed that out, but anecdote cuts no ice in the Common Core […]
Everyone is having fun but me
Day off
I’m not in Rochester to paint but to sell a house. Still, when the opportunity presents itself, I can’t resist. Patricia McDermond is the current chair of New York Plein Air Painters (NYPAP). She got a message from a Rochester-based painter asking if there was a chapter in Rochester. That’s embarrassing, because it’s where I […]
Yes, it is who you know
The Clothesline Arts Festival in Rochester is nearly sixty years old and had 400 artists participating this year. I did it for many years, and my heart always goes out to my artist pals who are still doing the slog—setting up, charming customers, and then tearing down. The first one, in 1957, was held in […]
The obtuseness of the effective altruism movement
An op-ed piece in the Washington Post earlier this week suggested that the effective altruism movement could kill the arts. Effective altruism purports to apply rational decision-making to funding charities. In theory, anything that demonstrates a good bang for the buck could be effective altruism. In practice, effective altruism means alleviating world poverty, improving animal welfare, avoiding […]
The meaning of love
I have written before on how having children has historically been an impediment to women artists. Although we live in a world where child-rearing is less gender-specific than ever before, this is still true. Chrissy Spoor Pahucki is an exception, and someone I really admire. She takes her three kids in turns to plein air events with […]