Virtual Art talk May 5th 7pm

 

Hey friends!

Mark your calendars and drop in next Thursday evening to a zoom gathering of my latest workshop, “Producing an Art Series with an Accountability Coach”,  participant’s culminating show. For six weeks this winter, through the sponsorship of Arts-Midhudson,  I worked as an accountability coach for artists seeking to develop a series of work. Every Tuesday evening we would check in with each other, give feedback and celebrate the progress. 

See link below to RSVP:

https://www.artsmidhudson.org/artist-talk

The artists who participated are from NY to NM. One artist had just moved and created a series of 30 collages constrained by the size of her cardboard boxes. Another created a series of expressive works intended for a large exhibition in New Jersey. Another artist used the six weeks to paint and mourn the recent loss of her siblings. A couple artists are new to the art world and allowed themselves to experiment, produce, and plan exposure. The collaborative support and wisdom of the group was so exciting. Two artists used the time to create illustrations following a specific screen play or children’s tale. They experimented and created in new media, combining the processes innovatively. Subjects range from Goddesses to grids. 

Drop in next Thursday to see what happened. 

I have been an artist long enough to grow two babies to young men! With all the distractions of motherhood and farm life, I have found the parameters of working in series to be the best way to show up for myself. It’s about discipline and curiosity. the most exciting thing is to look back at the end to the beginning. There are so many lessons to gather along the way! My next workshop is already full. We max out at 7-9, so everyone gets time to share and the attention they deserve. Perhaps this is something you or a friend of yours might be interested in participating in someday? Feel free to shoot me an email and i will put you on a waiting list.

Have a wonderful weekend.

Hope to see you at the show!

Tilly

To RSVP:

https://interland3.donorperfect.net/weblink/WebLink.aspx?id=291&name=E231621

Three reasons why “serious” artists need to make valentines too

 

1.     Materiality

Don’t worry about archival quality, Get over it. Grab a pair of scissors and go ephemeral. 

Use cheap and fun materials that you haven’t used since grade school, such as

glitter, doilies, stickers, crayons, and tape. You can spend a lot of money or none. It’s time to scour the junk drawers and baskets and find those cool wrappers you couldn’t throw out.

It’s a great time to recycle and use up saved detritus, like postcards, and ticket stubs.

 

2.     Message

It is all about generosity of spirit. Receiving and creating Valentines are meant to alleviate sorrows and burdened hearts. They aren’t about whether you are loved or not- they are playful exchanges of color and whimsy. Make one for the mailman! Give one to the cook at the restaurant! Share with strangers. (Though – I once gave one to an older gentleman who regularly sat in the last pew of my church. I was grateful for the way he always offered a smile when I needed it most. He pulled me aside the following week to nervously tell me that he was a confirmed bachelor!)

 

3.     Method

Play. Be silly. Cultivate a little garden of color in your own heart.

Lighten up. As the winter darkness weighs heavily on most of us, I believe the crafting of frilly pink cards can be a spring to the spirit. Let it all hang out. Creating these small tokens of color can be a meditation on all the connections we have to each other.

Don’t be so self-important. Create free art!

 

Visibly Shaken

Perhaps it is the triple threat of a new year, finding myself 60 years old and in a novel government job, that gets me peering hard into the calendar, the mirror and the myths. 

 

Self portrait, made of maps

The new year is a natural time to switch calendars and start new planners. January seems the month to revisit goals and make resolutions, and to reflect on how I have shown up, as well as who is new and who is missing. There are no kids in the house anymore. The covid years, and resulting lack of visitors, have me less defined by housework.

 

Self Portrait with Broom and Carmella's shoes

Being 60 adds a new cloak of invisibility to my wardrobe. Sometimes I am startled by my reflection, and I see how much I look like my mother. There is also a newfound sense of abandon. I care less about the social restraints of the patriarchy. I ache for a revitalized sisterhood, and I find myself greeting the moon, in all her cycles, as an old friend. My nurturing impulses, faced with an empty nest, have shifted my focus more deeply toward the community and wider environmental politics.

 

Self portrait with (map) wings

As Town Clerk of North East NY, I find myself in a totally novel position. I’m not a teacher, or an artist, or an explorer. Instead, I am a historian, a record keeper, a resource, and member of a tight group of secretaries. The childhood spent playing with office supplies has come full circle. I can be in my glory with file cabinets, complex self-inking stamps, binders, clips, and pens. People come to my office with questions I research. Every day is as varied as the season, and the faces are the people who make up this beautiful area. It’s an incredible honor to be trusted and of service. As one of the many rolls I play, I am also, quite unexpectedly, Receiver of the Taxes. It is a challenge. I think of the Beatles song. I think of sheriff Nottingham and Robin Hood. Nobody likes the tax collector. Anger, frustration, and fear is vented towards a cartoon figurehead, who happens, right now to be me!

 

Disney's Sheriff Nottingham

In the vein of owning my own visage, I have returned to my Art History as Seen through the Family Tree passion project. The grand narrative of history is a backdrop to multiple family members who participated in major movements. Each generation had its blind spot and from their personal stories and my perspective, I reflect in painting on a history that is far from perfect and continually revealing. My goal this winter and spring is to find an agent or publisher. I will be posting the process on my Instagram (tilly strauss) account and sharing insights as I go along.

 

Thank you for reading.

Fast, breathless, and catching up on the art scene

 Seems like the Covid quarantine days are really behind us. There is so much to do, so much scheduled... that I spend much of my time walking back and forth to the large wall calendar in the kitchen and consulting the scribbles that fill in every nook and cranny of the grid!

Michael Gellatly and part of his 14 foot painting

Last night, after a virtual opening of an Art Queen exhibition I was in, called "Inner Power",  Michael and I braved the torrential rains and headed 45 minutes away to Torrington, Ct, the Five Points Art Gallery for an opening of his in the 2021 juried show. It was a delight, and as the evening went on it was quite a crowd. Everyone eager to share about their work and connect with others. 

We made it to the bar and, with a cup of red wine, turned to look at the works. The first thing that stopped me in my tracks was a complex wall painting of Carol Taylor-JKearney (IG @caroltaylorkearney ), a reverse painting on glass of her studio space. As we read the painting we were joined by her gregarious husband. Carol's paintings are on the backs of windows with lots of additions, such as screen silhouettes and ritual candles.

Carol Taylor- Kearney

I enjoyed the symbolic narrative combined with rich detailed painting. Her husband is involved as the art handler and supportive cheer leader.  Nearby we were enamored by a sewn painting called, "Seeds and Pods", by Geri Hahn.

Geri.g. Hahn and paparazzi

Both her  (@geri.g.hahn ) and her husband were fascinating. She is an artist who identifies with her synesthesia and as the evening wore on we shared with her reactions to other works of art. I loved it when she stood in front of Michael's painting and said it sounded like a David Burn and it made her mouth water (a much abbreviated version of our actual conversation). 

Don Bracken

There was a lot of loud art and some quiet works- like Donald Bracken's clay and acrylic , "New dawn, and Marianne Petit's pop-up anatomical flap book. (Ig @ mariannerpetit )

Marianne Petit

I also loved the works by Erika Larskaya, Deborah Buck, Michele Cook, and Kim Carlino. Congrats to Nayana LaFond for winning the grand prize with her painting addressing native americans and domestic violence. She will be having a solo show at Five Points in the future!

Michael and the curious in front of his work

Make Art this Summer with an Accountability Coach

Are you frustrated with not getting to the studio? Do you need help and a plan to make some art over this summer? Are you stuck? Are you currently in a hard place and need some light? Are you confused and trying to find a creative style? Do you have ideas but lack the discipline to show up for them?

Well- perhaps it is time to Show up for the Muse with me via Zoom!!! • Show up each week for 6 weeks • All Media artists are welcome! • Once a week Zoom to check in on your progress • Email support at any time • Exhibition at end of session at ArtsMidHudson

We can do this together! I have been teaching art to all age groups for the last 26 years and have learned that making art is possible for everyone if they just show up. The challenges in life cost all of us time and space, but I am living proof that an art practice can lift you, like a life raft, through turbulent times and it can enrich your participation in the good times. Just a few years ago my marriage was crumbling. I was sitting at the bedsides of two dear dying friends and my father-in-law was degenerating into Dementia. On top of it, my children were leaving home as adults. The feeling of loss and lack was almost unbearable. By a miracle, and through a daily gratitude list, I was able to see my way to the studio. Not expecting to be able to do much, I focused on one thing, the color orange! I painted with that color until the tube emptied. Have you ever looked at an apple (the same apple) for 30 days and tried to see it differently? It is a classic art lesson that forces you to go beyond the physicality of the subject. Certain parameters on your art can actually push you to see through to a liberating perspective. I learned so much about seeing the world when I tried to paint the greens of summer in Pyrole orange! Ever since, I have been showing up every day to paint my way to health and happiness. I have seen firsthand how a daily art practice can transform a life.

Some of each series can be seen on my website: www.tillystudio.com. Now I am passionate about helping others find their way through the challenging times, and even the best of times, by showing up for the Muse. Doing anything for 40 days, and there is historic proof that it will change you!

The details! Go from feeling cloudy to clarity As your accountability coach, I will inspire discipline to the creation of at least 6, and possibly up to 40, works of art! Sign up through www.ArtMidHudson.org , under summer workshops $100.00 per person AMH Members and $115.00 per person non-members This is a virtual class. Our weekly zoom sessions will be on Tuesdays, June 15, 22, 29, July 6, 13, 20; 7pm-8pm You will be guided each week through goal setting, series synthesis, time management, handling challenges, chronicling insights, and of course-celebrating successes! The class participants will be your new support group and I will be available for email support as well. We have a group exhibit opportunity at the MidHudson Arts Gallery in Poughkeepsie!! Expect bonus PDF resources and downloads as well as links to other artists and stories of working in a series. Are you ready to show up? Working in a series has many benefits. It is a tool to process an event, emotion, and even relationships. If you do anything for 40 days it will change your life! Sign up at www.artsmidhudson.org Questions: tillystudio@aol.com Let’s show up together!

Open Studio This Weekend

This weekend I will be in the studio with my family... four artists, (three generations), making art. People are welcome to drop by and visit. Since it will be a "working studio tour", we have scheduled demonstrations every hour. Do you wonder about the inspiration and tools of creating art? This is a unique experience to see art produced and reflect on styles and interests found across generations of a single family.

 Over two days, May 1 and 2, in one barn, working from 11- 5pm each day, we will be ready for visitors to witness the creative act, ask questions, and purchase work. This is open to all, free event. Caution required as it is a barn, with some innate hazards and the studios contain some radical ideas.

 

Michael, Julian and Tilly in front of HF Art Clinic

Really, as part of an eastern Dutchess county group of artists, we have gotten together to open our studios www.ArtmostNy.com. The studios are open from Pawling to Amenia. Check out their website!

At our studio barn on 55 Haight Road:

Julian Strauss, beloved veterinarian, well known for his small batch maple syrup products, now moves from the sawmill to his wood shop. Using the slash from his timber production, he will be creating maple and walnut spoons, forks and stools. A small gallery in the converted waiting room displays his kinetic sculptures and backwards running clocks. Recycling is his passion and evident in the materials he transforms into lamps and unique jewelry.

Tilly Strauss, moi, his daughter, will be in my skylit loft on the third floor. What comes through in the paintings when I focus my lens on the outside world, are visions both personal and universal. I will be launching a sale of my current series, “Conversations with Trees During Lockdown”. The small oval birch ply paintings are ready to hang and for sale.

Michael Gellatly, my partner in life, will be exhibiting and working in the transformed Kennel room. He is an artist and illustrator. He will be working on a series of smaller abstract landscapes. His larger paintings are mind-blowing in technique and vision. He is recipient of numerous fellowships, grants and residencies. Forthcoming he will have a 17-foot painting included in the Wassaic Project’s summer show.  His work has illustrated maps for George R. R. Martin’s Game of Thrones, books for Rita MaeBrown and the products of Home Farm Maple Syrup.

My niece Natalie Strauss

Natalie Strauss, the teenage granddaughter of Julian, and my dear niece, is a scholastic award-winning writer and painter. She currently specializes in depicting animals. Her intimate knowledge of them stems from weekends at the farm, summers working at the Millbrook Trevor Zoo and her own domesticated menagerie in Massachusetts. She will be painting in the operating room.

 

 Please visit our Home Farm Art Clinic, 55 Haight Road, just off route 22 north of Amenia. The Home Farm Art Clinic- part workspace, part show case and part clubhouse- is a rich environment of historic and artistic interest. Originally a barn for draft horses, the three floors also served up until recently as an animal vet clinic and library. Today it houses workshop studios and gallery space for family connections.

Open May 1 & 2 from 11am to 5pm both days. Light refreshments outside, please wear masks.

 email questions to tillystudio@aol.com

www.tillystudio.com