Graduation Exhibition!

The Annual Student Exhibition (ASE) of the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts (PAFA) has only two more days to run! Last day to see it is this Sunday June 1, 2014. For those who can't make it, here is what I have hanging in the show:

"Presence" oil on canvas 18 x 24 inches 

"Young Man" and "Young Woman" oil on canvas 48 x 30 inches each

"Cheer" digital image 52 x 36 inches

"Signifier" oil on canvas 36 x 24 inches

"Veiling" digital image 18 x 22 inches

"Head Dress" digital image 14 x 20

"Angel Caul" digital image 14 x 20

"Emerging" digital image 14 x 20

"Laptop" digital image 14 x 20

"Push" digital image 12 x 14

"Stamp" digital image 12 x 14 inches

"Witchy Anne" digital image 20 x 14 

"Henry King" digital image 20 x 16

You can see a gallery showing a few pieces by every artist in the show by clicking here. If you wish to make a purchase, you can call the museum at: 215-972-7600

MFA Graduation!

On May 9, 2014, I graduated from the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts with a Master of Fine Arts degree. 

photo: Alma Selimovic

Earlier that day I attended the awards ceremony where I was honored, delighted, and deeply touched to receive the MFA Faculty Award. The prize description reads:

The MFA Faculty Award is to be presented yearly to the student who, in the estimation of the MFA Faculty, has made a major contribution to the graduating class on the basis of the exceptionally high quality of his/ her work throughout the graduate career and who has exerted a positive influence over his/ her fellow students. First awarded in 2002.

A week earlier, when it was announced I was this year's recipient, I was completely taken by surprise, almost floored.  I had to brush away some sneaky ninja tears and take a few deep breaths. There were so many highly qualified students to choose from that I never even gave the possibility a thought! I am truly honored, and grateful for this encouraging vote of confidence from my faculty, whom I hold in the highest regard. I need to live up to it, going forward.

photo courtesy PAFA

Here's my entire MFA class, assembled on the grand stairway in the historic landmark building, one of the most beautiful buildings on earth. Nice place to be "from."

I'm embarrassed but delighted too. photo: Mike Manley

So, May 9th was also my birthday. When I got up to make a speech at some point in the graduation ceremonies, the Dean of the school, Jeff Carr, stopped me before I reached the podium and led everyone present in a rousing chorus of "Happy Birthday!" What a moment. I was intensely embarrassed but it was also pretty cool to have hundreds of people singing Happy Birthday to me...can't image anything like that will ever happen again! Bizarrely cool thing to happen. Thank you Jeff Carr! 

Nancy Bea Miller, David Brigham, Jane Golden, Al Gury
photo: Darian Downs

I love this quick shot taken by my mother-in-law showing me, PAFA president David Brigham, Commencement Speaker Jane Golden (oh my god she was such a great speaker!) and PAFA Painting Department Chair Al Gury, right after the ceremony ended. It kind of makes up for the fact that I don't have a photo of my receiving the diploma or posed afterwards with my diploma. Not only was the official PAFA commencement photographer shooting at a weird angle (up and from the side?) but in addition he caught a transition movement in my face where it looks like I am wincing, eyes closed and mouth a grimacing rictus. On my way to or from a happy smile but not there. So, no, not going use that one! And my family and I didn't think to take the usual post graduation diploma and big grin shot though, I guess, though I do remember some photos being taken somewhere by someone....but NBD!

Amanda Mason and Maisie Moseley, twice, and me at the reception.
photo: Rick Moseley

I in fact took lots of shots of the day, and night, recording the event through my own eyes (yay camera phones!) and I posted the best of them to Facebook. If you want to see happy people and acres of art just go to this link: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10203543328921337.1073741868.1158066233&type=1&l=8ecfb41c7b

So, now I am a Master of Fine Arts. I wish my Mom had lived to see it. She had the only other Master's Degree in our immediate family and she would have been so proud of me, following in her academic footsteps. Many thanks and love to all who helped me achieve this! And I promise to use my powers only for good. ;-)

Dawn Brushes Rose

♡Just a typical day at the sink in art school ♡

Delta Dawn, what's that flower you have on
Could it be a faded rose from days gone by?

Henry as Muse

Henry and Henry

Henry (and his brothers) have long been my primary muses. Peter and Henry attended their first gallery openings (a solo exhibition of mine at Germantown Academy) on their ONE MONTH BIRTHDAY! So they are all patient and experienced with their mother's need to draw paint and photograph them. PAFA held its open studio session in February this year and Henry came along to see himself hanging up on the wall. He seemed to calmly approve! ;-)

Photographer: Susan Michini

The drawing of Henry has attracted a lot of attention.  My friend Susan Michini who is a very fine photographer later took this photo of me with the Henry drawing which I'm including because I am in awe of her skills! 

End of Semester!

My newest obsession project!

The semester ended a week ago with my showing both paintings and also my newest project, a series of photos playfully exploring personality and identity. Its working title is Re/Present. So far I have done 27 sessions, all but one with just one person at a time, friends, family and fellow graduate students whom I think of as my collaborators.  I've made a blog of selected images over at Tumblr but a) I am waiting to get the okay from all my collaborators before going public and b) I am having some trouble with the Tumblr interface: I find it much more difficult to configure and control than Blogspot. ;-( So I may in fact scrap it and start all over again on Blogspot...but I'll keep you all posted either way.

Here I am inbetween two mediums: digital and canvas! Photo: Kathleen Hogan

A big crowd at my review!  Photo: Kathleen Hogan

It was a rough week leading up to the final review on Friday, with an art opening, several snow days, weather cancellations, and sudden family health emergencies in CT necessitating a lot of extra confabulating with siblings and parents and almost as soon as Friday's effort was over I immediately became sick. After the last review on that last day I had my coat on and was standing at the school entrance with a bunch of fellow students getting ready to go out and have a celebratory drink. I suddenly felt wham! an enormous clout of shaky exhaustion. I made an excuse and went straight home and was sick for this past entire week! A terrible bad cold, I guess but more like a mini-flu, fever, congestion, sore throat, aches, etc. worse than any cold I've ever had. Anyway, just starting to feel the recovery has started as of today, one week and one day later! Oh well...onwards and upwards!

illustration by Norman Rockwell

Henry and Art

Henry came home from his boarding school the previous Saturday for a full week of Thanksgiving vacation. We started his break off by going to the Astrid Bowlby exhibition and Gallery Talk at Gallery Joe last Saturday night:

It was a packed house

Examination

Reflection

Contemplation

Enjoyment!

Henry attended his first art opening on his ONE MONTH birthday, and it has just gone on from there, so it's an atmosphere he is comfortable with and also seems to naturally enjoy, at least for short periods of time.

The next day we visited my studio at PAFA:

We looked at my new piece (on the right) hanging in a small group show 

and we also visited the PAFA vending machines...very much appreciated in every way.

 These big boxes that light up, and hum, and show you lots of snacks and then you GET one of the snacks and you can eat it! It is like the most perfect kind of art really, when you think about it...

Not so sure about this one and what it wants from him? :-)

Henry is a catalyst for re-examining preconceived notions of the world, that's for sure. We took in a few more shows:

Hen responded positively to The Artist's Response to Tonalism show

Judging by the number of stims per square inch, I think his favorite was this small piece by Al Gury

And he was as good as gold in the other galleries as well. Another nice thing is that most museum/gallery goers seem to be generally sophisticated/broadminded and savvy people, we rarely get more than a brief glance and a friendly smile when Henry flaps his hands (stims) with excitement, or gives the occasional happy little skip (which can be a surprising move enacted by a six foot five inch young man.)  I guess it is pretty well understood that art-loving comes in all shapes and forms...

PAFA tries out POST (Philadelphia Open Studio Tours)

PAFA decided to try participating in POST (Philadelphia Open Studio Tours) this year. It was decided only the graduate degree students would participate this time, maybe we are the guinea pigs? I wouldn't say the traffic was heavy but there were a lot of interested strangers poking their heads in, and a few good friends came to hang out and make it more fun!

Queen Catherine: friends enjoyed trying out my prop box of head gear!

From Betty to Veronica in one second flat! So cute.

Cupcake Day!

Today was Cupcake Day for students at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts! Rainbow-tinted fun. Here is Cupcake Day: The Photoessay:

My own personalized cupcake (there was a toppings bar!)