Hi. I'm a painter, a writer and a mother of three teenage sons, one with a severe disability. This is a journal: riotously disorganized, full of art, food, children and everyday domestic events. Unless you are a friend or family member you may not be interested, but you are welcome to look. Artists who are parents may find some common ground here, as well as parents of children with special needs. For art only, see my site: nancybeamiller.blogspot.com
Wednesday, October 28
Autumn Leaves
Viewing Autumn Leaves
This bright treasure
scattered with a generous hand-
I bow and reach
Thursday, October 22
Mystery Dish
Calzone or Stromboli?
I made my first calzone a few days ago, or perhaps it was a stromboli? I'm pretty confused by the different definitions. I remember eating stromboli for the first time when I was 18, thanks to the Penn food services. I found it to be a delicious novelty of thin dough, sauce, cheese and pepperoni, rolled up like a jelly roll: yum yum!
Now at our local pizzeria, we often order what they call a calzone: something like a folded over pizza, crimped at the edges, filled with a variety of different options, but always including sauce.
However, the definition of calzone on Wikipedia says:
Although most strombolis are rolled, strombolis have also been known to be prepared like a calzone, where the only difference is that a stromboli has the sauce inside of the folded crust, where the calzone is served with dipping sauce on the side.
This concoction I made is folded, not rolled, but it does indeed have sauce (and other goodies) inside of it. Perhaps it is a new hybrid: Calzoli?
Friday, October 16
Friend Friday
Several friends of mine have been busy recently, and I thought I'd boast a little about their achievements. Above you see my friend Katie, also known as Dr. Katharine Beals, who just had a book come out two weeks ago. Since I've watched the whole book birthing process from idea to drafts to re-writes to actual published volume I feel like a proud auntie. The book is called Raising a Left-Brain Child in a Right-Brain World and is published by Shambhala books. Congratulations my friend!
Beth Randall is an old friend with whom I had lost touch till she showed up taking one of my classes at the Main Line Art Center a year or so ago. What a pleasure to renew our acquaintance, and to watch Beth's prodigious talent flowering. Not that I had much to do with it, but nonetheless I was very proud to attend the reception of her very first solo show a couple of weeks ago: the work looks great! If you live on the main line you really should stop in and take a look:
Oil Paintings by Beth Randall
Oct. 2 -- Nov. 1, 2009
Milkboy Coffee
824 West Lancaster Avenue
Bryn Mawr, PA
Blush Roses, Frances Galante, oil on linen, 12 x 19
My friend Frances Galante is having a one-person show too, in Old City Philadelphia. I unfortunately missed the opening reception but I went to see the show last week. The work has a beautiful clarity and freshness that speaks straight to the heart!
Recent Work
September 30 to November 1, 2009
Artists' House Gallery
57 North Second Street
Philadelphia, PA 19106
Thursday, October 15
BEAUTY
I took this shot last weekend at Beaver Farm. For anyone who doesn't know, I have been helping organize a plein air event to benefit my son Henry's wonderful special needs school: Camphill Special School. The main painting day in August was sort of amazing (so much so that mention of Plein Air at Beaver Farm has gotten into several national and regional magazines!) However, some artists wanted to come back to finish up a piece or two, and a couple of people could not make the big day for various reasons, so we held a make-up day this past weekend. The skies were astonishing!
When I shot this I was intending possibly to work from it later to make a painting, but now that I've seen it on the screen there is something so complete about it that I think whatever I saw and loved is already fully expressed. So no need for me to go further with it...which is what I guess I am usually doing when I make a painting: expressing something further about reality. But sometimes the reality is enough.
i thank You God for most this amazing
day: for the leaping greenly spirits of trees
and a blue true dream of sky; and for everything
which is natural which is infinite which is yes
(i who have died am alive again today,
and this is the sun's birthday; this is the birth
day of life and love and wings: and of the gay
great happening illimitably earth)
how should tasting touching hearing seeing
breathing any-lifted from the no
of all nothing-human merely being
doubt unimaginable You?
(now the ears of my ears awake and
now the eyes of my eyes are opened)
~e.e.cummings
Tuesday, October 13
Hospital Haze
Henry has been visiting lots of big white cold boring places that smell funny lately! He is so patient. After hanging out getting some tests in three hospitals in three weeks he ended up getting (walking) pneumonia! Fortunately, he is responding beautifully to the antibiotics and is well on the way to recovery. I love his look of calm resignation to fate...what a role model he is for his unresigned mama...
Sunday, October 4
Red and Green
Illumination-
the descending sun shining
through wet cloth
Note: our clothesline has seen a lot more use this year than ever before, and I bet other people are doing the same. Check out Clotheslines Across America for further inspiration.
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