More Benches

Benches

When I went to Portugal in 2006, I took a picture of a bench, a specific bench that I remembered from my youth when I lived there. The bench (see above) is in Cascais, close to the beach and the walking streets lined with shops, restaurants, and bars. I spent hours and hours hanging out with my friends in that area and love going back to visit.
During the rest of my trip, I noticed the abundance of benches and sitting areas in public spaces. Enjoying the outside and spending quiet time just sitting and observing your surroundings is definitely part of the culture. I began to document the variety of benches I noticed in the area. When I returned the following year in 2007, I decided to do a more formal study of the subject. Here are some of the photos I took. I also threw in a couple of the bench at my grandma's garden in California. I'm not sure how I will use these images in my artwork yet but there's something about them and what they symbolize that I am drawn to.

ArtFutura 2008

Just got word that I have three works accepted into ArtFutura 2008,juried by James Rondeau of the Art Institute. It is a benefit hosted by the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago so they can have an art therapist on staff, a good cause indeed! I am eager to begin to show my work at new venues and to new audiences. Works will be on display from March 25th- April 3rd, 2008, in the Chicago Rooms of the Chicago Cultural Center located downtown at 78 E. Washington. I will be showing three photograms, a fairly new series I made from drawings on vellum. Above are details of the three works, California, Iraq and Illinois.

Active Archive

Ok, here we go! post #1. I'm hoping to use this space to collect images from my studio, my work, my travels, etc., an active archive if you will.

Here are some old pages from a sketchbook (not much of a drawer as you can see!) and some new pages from a demo book I made for a course I'm teaching at Marwen.