Adaptation and interpretation. It’s an issue that visual artists only deal with occasionally. But this is a topic that looms large in musical performances and in theater. And what is given license at any given time to be adapted and “updated” is often not clear cut or logical. The keepers of our collective theatrical wisdom—from […]
- Art/Spiritual
- ...
Being Present
Patsy Rodenburg Patsy Rodenburg, acting coach extraordinare and author of a number of books including one of my favorites, The Second Circle, has a six minute video posted on YouTube. This short piece could be viewed daily, a quick reminder of how to constellate your day. Her message is simple: Show up. Be present. Be […]
Vogel 50×50
Richard Tuttle’s matrix of drawings on display at the Portland Museum; closer view The inimitable Vogels (of Herb and Dorothy fame and featured in earlier posts here and here) have initiated Vogel 50×50, a program that has placed 2500 pieces from their collection in individual museums in each of the 50 states. Fifty Works for […]
A Translucent Network of Minimal Surprises
The storm chez moi: One tree was lost on our street, and a downed branch in the Hall’s Pond Sanctuary _______ Years of solitude had taught him that, in one’s memory, all days tend to be the same, but that there is not a day, not even in jail or in the hospital, which does […]
Seguinland
Marin Island, Small Point Maine, by John Marin One of my first memories of moving to the East Coast from a childhood in California was discovering Maine. My first 10 years as an expatriated West Coaster were spent in Manhattan, but almost every summer I made the trek Down East on my way to a […]
- Art Making
- ...
Decision Fatigue, Studio Style
Something does happen in the body when you are truly out of digital reach. No cellphones, computers or televisions. And in that digital silence, life takes on a different texture. In the splendid isolation of the Maine coast, worries and concerns begin unpacking and gently floating off your bow. In the words of Yeats, peace […]
Taking a Break
Small Point, Maine What does it mean to be connected to a particular place on earth? I have felt a peculiar and personal pull at very specific locations all over the world, and I hold those landscapes as part of my distributed self. Small Point Maine is one of those constellated identities for me. My […]
Ripple Effect
The Peabody Essex Museum’s exhibit Ripple Effect, the Art of H2O is targeted for the children and families crowd and is installed in the Art & Nature Center. But this is a show I would recommend to anyone with an interest in Earth Art, Land Art, Eco-Art, Art in Nature, Environmental Art. Both visual and […]
Spirit and Body
One morning beginning to notice which thoughts pull the spirit out of the body, and which return it. How quietly the abandoned body keens, like a bonsai maple surrounded by her dropped leaves. Rain or objects call the forgotten back. The droplets’ placid girth and weight. The table’s lack of ambition. How strange it is […]
Effort-Filled Effortlessness
Petit Interieur a la table de Marbre Ronde Sebastian Smee of the Boston Globe has been doing a series all summer called Frame by Frame where he focuses his attention on one particular work of art. These pieces are brief but insightful, a serialized reminder that Boston is full of masterpieces hanging in permanent collections. […]