Les Femmes Folles

Lori Wilson, poet

Thu, 13 Jun 2013 11:53:00 -0500

Lori Wilson is the author of the poetry collection, House Where a Woman (Autumn House Press, 2009). Her poems have appeared in Women’s Review of Books, Salamander, Kestrel, Cerise, 5 AM and elsewhere. A 2012 recipient of the Mid Atlantic Arts Foundation Creative Fellowship at the Virginia Center for Creative Arts, she teaches a poetry workshop in Fairmont, West Virginia, in affiliation with the Madwomen in the Attic at Carlow University. As she will be reading June 20, 7pm at the Monongalia Arts Center for Morgantown Poets (details below), she shares with LFF about how she got into writing while working as a computer programmer, feminism in her work and The Madwomen in the Attic Creative Writing Workshops at Carlow University in Pittsburgh and more…

Background/from WV?

I was born in Carrollton, Kentucky and grew up outside of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. After studying in Utah and Massachusetts, I lived in the San Francisco Bay area of California for seven years. I’ve lived in Morgantown since 1989 and consider it home.

How did you get into writing?

When I was in my early forties with four children at home, I went to work as a computer programmer in Pittsburgh. To avoid a daily commute from Morgantown, I rented an apartment in Pittsburgh where I stayed three nights each week. For the first time in fifteen years I had empty evenings to fill; looking for something to do, I came across a schedule of classes at the Pittsburgh Center for the Arts and, on a whim, signed up for a poetry workshop. That was the beginning. When, a year and a half later, I found a job in Morgantown, I continued my connection to Pittsburgh’s writing community and my own writing. Ten years later I went back to school to earn an MFA in Poetry.

Tell me about your work/inspirations/style.

As a reader and listener, I’m interested in poetry that shifts something in my emotional center. Sometimes it’s the resonance of a story or an observation within a poem that affects me; sometimes it’s the feel of the words in my mouth or their sound in my ear. In my own writing, I like it best when a poem surprises me. Sensory image and sound are important in my poems. Some writers I return to are Jean Valentine, Gerald Stern, Carl Phillips, Irene McKinney, Jane Mead, Anne Marie Macari and Jan Beatty.

Does feminism play a role in your work?

I think feminism plays a role, both in the content of my writing and in the fact of it. Though I’m not explicitly writing about feminist issues, I write through the lens of my particular experience as a woman. At the time I began writing I was also pulling away from a strong patriarchal religious tradition with prescribed roles for women. One of the themes in House Where a Women is the claiming of a place and a voice.

The Madwomen in the Attic Creative Writing Workshops at Carlow University in Pittsburgh—in particular, Jan Beatty, who directs the program—have been a source of encouragement to me. Without them, it wouldn’t have occurred to me to gather my poems in a collection and seek publication, nor to pursue an MFA. It’s a group that has helped many women take their own writing seriously in a genre still dominated by men, and I fully support their vision. This past spring, I taught an affiliated workshop at the West Virginia Folklife Center on the Fairmont State University campus.

Tell me about your reading at the MAC, any hints as to what you’ll read?

I’m finishing a manuscript for a second book, and I’ll be reading poems from that.
___

Hear Lori Wilson read Thursday, June 20, starting at 7pm for Morgantown Poets at the Monongalia Arts Center, 107 High Street in Morgantown. monartscenter.com

See her books at http://www.autumnhouse.org/catalog/house-where-a-woman-by-lori-wilson/.

Kristina Marie Darling & Carol Guess, poets

Wed, 12 Jun 2013 07:19:33 -0500

Poets Kristina Marie Darling and Carol Guess of X Marks the Dress: A Registry (Gold Wake Press, 2013) take the time to share with LFF about collaborating and being cultural critics; their styles and ways of seeing writing and much more…

Background/where are you from?

Kristina Marie Darling: Although I spent most of my life in Missouri, I’m currently working toward a Ph.D. in Poetics at S.U.N.Y.-Buffalo. I was drawn to Buffalo because of the vibrant literary culture and wonderful community of small press editors. After I moved to Buffalo, I was inspired by the wide range of literary styles, forms, and aesthetics that surrounded me. I wrote and published several collections of hybrid genre work, which include Melancholia (An Essay) (Ravenna Press, 2012), Petrarchan (BlazeVOX Books, 2013), and Palimpsest (Patasola Press, 2013).

I began collaborating with Carol during my second year in the Poetics Program. It’s been one of the most valuable artistic experiences I’ve had since moving to Buffalo. The collaboration certainly allowed me to pursue my interest in hybrid genre writing. But more importantly, I’ve learned a great deal from Carol about how to structure a larger manuscript. Carol has taught me the importance of building compelling narratives, with characters who are lively, engaging, and relatable. Until we worked together, I had been interested primarily in subverting narrative conventions. Writing with Carol has shown me that it’s crucial to master these narrative structures in addition to being able to critique them.

Carol Guess: Displacement is crucial to my sense of place. My family moved constantly when I was growing up, from state to state, often staying only a year in one place. I never had a sense of a geographical area as home; in adulthood, I’ve continued to move, often abruptly, sometimes living in two places at once, or having most of my possessions in boxes, in my car, in suitcases, etc. I can’t seem to settle down, whatever that means. I’m also a very squirmy person. So I’m not from anywhere, and I’m not going anywhere specific, either.

Through all of this, writing became a form of home for me. The page is a place, sometimes the most stable place I know. When I collaborate, I let someone into my home; and like a vampire, they invite me past the threshold. Writing with Kristina has given me a renewed sense of the possibilities of the page, both because she’s brilliant and because she uses pages and text in really unexpected ways. I love what she does with marginalia, the way footnotes form maps to nowhere. I’m also inspired by her generosity toward other writers, networking and sharing books and encouraging textual and visual artists to join her in taking risks.

How did you get into writing?

Kristina Marie Darling: I started writing when I was in high school. There was definitely a lot of teen angst in my poems at that time. I saw writing as a primarily introspective act, rather than as something interactive, or as something based in community. When I took my first workshop course in college, the world of literary journals was a revelation to me. I was drawn to the conversations that took place between writers, and the sense of community that emanated from these publications. During that one semester, I read every issue of Agni. At that point, I guess you could say I was hooked.

Carol Guess: Yes, I was also all about angst for a while! I’m an introvert, so writing is sometimes my primary form of communication with what I think of as the outside world (i.e. everybody but my dog). It’s my white flag, my X marks the spot, my You Are Here. It’s the lady sign on the bathroom door, saying Here Be A Lady. (Although whether I qualify as a lady is dubious.)

Tell me about your work/inspirations/style. Does feminism play a role in your work?

Kristina Marie Darling: Much of my work takes the form of footnotes, endnotes, and marginalia. I usually take these academic forms of writing and fill them with content that most would consider out of place in academic discourse: personal narratives, aestheticized language, the associations between images and sounds that drive poetry. I see this provocative relationship between form and content as my effort to make academic writing more inclusive, in effect democratizing the act of criticism. I’m interested in democratizing literary criticism because so much of scholarship operates on acts of exclusion. Only those who have access to received scholarly forms of discourse are perceived as “legitimate” scholars. I hope to show that poets, artists, and other creative individuals are capable of making necessary contributions to existing theoretical conversations.

Carol Guess: Great question, and great answer, Kristina. I’m a feminist, yes, and this definitely informs my writing. (Also my teaching, my reading, my relationships, and pretty much everything I do.) I’m less interested in forms of feminism that seek to divide men and women into discrete categories, and more interested in forms of feminism that see gender, sex, and sexuality as fluid categories that merit discussion, interrogation, and playful response. I identify as queer, as femme, as lesbian as much as female and feminist. Occasionally my identity as a queer comes into conflict with my identity as a feminist (e.g. around porn, around objectification) and those moments are really interesting to me.

Tell me about X Marks the Dress: A Registry; how it came about; why it is important to you.

Kristina Marie Darling: I’m very interested in interrogating the power structures inherent things that we take for granted. Academic writing is certainly one of these things, but marriage as an institution is just as important to me as an artistic subject. As a young woman growing up in Missouri, I was asked constantly when I would get married, why I wasn’t married, etc. Marriage was always something I took for granted. It wasn’t until I started taking women’s studies and history courses in college that I realized that marriage as an institution is burdened with history. Once Carol and I began writing, I was thrilled that she was just as determined to excavate the cultural rituals, historical movements, and social upheavals that have contributed to contemporary wedding culture. With that in mind, X Marks the Dress is important to me because it is intended to contribute, in its own way, to a more equitable society, but also a society that is more aware of the omnipresence of history, even in modernity.

Carol Guess: This was the perfect historical moment for me to embark on this collaboration with Kristina, because the United States (and even more specifically, Washington state, where I now live) is riddled with discourse about same-sex marriage. Every day there’s a new headline about what people want to call “gay marriage” (a problematic term; it’s same-sex marriage; it’s not “gay”). I wanted to think about marriage both as an outsider (someone unable to be legally married by mandate of the federal government) and a potential insider (someone who might, in her lifetime, someday be able to be legally married by The State). The things I’ve been legally/metaphorically denied, as a lesbian — the white dress, changing one’s name, the bouquet, the registry — are now things I may someday have access to. Is that good or bad? Good, because all consenting adults should be able to marry whoever they want to; bad, because marriage is a problematic institution for so many reasons, and most efforts to legalize same-sex marriage bury or deny the problematic elements of the ritual. Sometimes I worry I’ll turn into Bridezilla if it’s ever legal for me to do so, as if the act of putting on a white dress will melt my brain. Kristina and I tackled some really fun moments in our imaginary wedding. I had a great time writing this book with a fellow cultural critic.

Anything to add? Links, photo I can use?

Kristina Marie Darling: If you’re interested in learning more about the collection, I hope you’ll check out our other interviews at We are Homer and Heavy Feather Review. X Marks the Dress can also be purchased through Amazon and Gold Wake Press. (http://kristinamariedarling.com)

Carol Guess: I keep a blog here: www.carolguess.blogspot.com And I’d also suggest checking out Kristina’s new publishing venture, Noctuary Press. Thanks so much!

Kris Haas, artist

Tue, 11 Jun 2013 12:28:45 -0500

Painter Kris Haas shares with LFF about experiencing a traumatic brain injury, and her upcoming innovative year-long art project, “1 Year, 10,000 Pieces” where she will paint 10,000 paintings in one year. Though she’s actually done it before, this time, she will show the whole process on live-streaming video. Her goal with this project is to bring the artistic process to an interactive level; inspirational and accessible for anyone and everyone. Read on for more…

Where are you from?

I am from Portland Oregon.

How did you get into art?

I started creating art back in August 1992. It was at a important part of
my life, when I was living in Ashland Oregon and going through a divorce
and I was trying to figure out what I wanted to do with my life. I had
signed up for a life drawing class at Southern Oregon University and
remember sitting in my nook area, on my first day off in months, and as wondering what I am going to do today. I had some colored pencils that I
had purchased a while before but had not really used them and decided to try drawing something and since I didn’t think I could draw I traced a
finger nail file (it just happened to be sitting there) and colored it in
and thought it was pretty cool and different and I just started going from
there and let it evolve in to these pieces http://www.krishaas.com/gallery9_master.html Drawing/coloring became like therapy for me, through a difficult time.

Tell me about your work/style/inspirations.

In the first years of creating my colored pencil pieces it did feel more
like therapy but as I started to change as a person (from the results of
the divorce); my need to change my art grew and evolved in to oil
paintings.

What inspires me is the exploration of possibilities. When I started painting on canvas, back in 1998, it was a whole new exploration
and completely different from the colored pencil pieces. There would
definitely be different themes that would come up, take a look here: http://www.krishaas.com/ You will see that there is 9 different bodies of
work. There is a whole lot of other works that were miscellaneous that did not make it on the site including my works I have been doing on paper since November 8th, 2008. This latest works on paper started as a way to commemorate the passing of the sweetest creature I have ever encountered, that used to bring me flowers in his mouth. He was named after Jackson Pollock. On that day I had no idea that a year later I would have created 10,202 pieces of original art on paper. As I call it a something like a “creative miracle.” A little more info on that can be found in the project’s fund raiser’s story and in the updates located here: http://www.usaprojects.org/project/1_year_10_000_pieces_1_artist

Rising Diety (by Kris Haas)
Oil and wax on canvas
2002
60” x 36 “

Does feminism play a role in your work?

I am not completely sure how to answer “does feminism play a role in my
work.” What I feel like I am doing is crossing boundaries of the male
dominated art world. Yes there are many numerous women artist out there but the truth is, HIStorically it has been male dominated. I remember in 2004, I started noticing that a lot of people thought I was a guy, at least until they met me. They would see the name Kris Haas and the work and assumed I was a guy. Does that mean I am more aggressive, like a man might possibly be? I don’t know but I was in a traditionally mostly male dominated world of construction and I became a journeyman carpenter in 2000. I also did competitive body building for 12 years. I plan on doing a multi-disciplinary exhibit, some time after I complete the 1 YEAR project, called Crucifixion Of The Feminine in which the premise will be that it was not necessarily a man or the son of god that was crucified on a cross 2000 years ago but it was the feminine inherent in humanity that was crucified.

The reason this project is so important to me is that I believe what I went through the first time I did 10,000 pieces was so insightful and profound
as will as empowering to me as an artist that I am compelled to share this
with others. I came to be the type of artist I knew I could be and wanted
to be.

Links to Kris Haas’ work and project fund raiser:

http://www.krishaas.com/
http://www.usaprojects.org/project/1_year_10_000_pieces_1_artist https://www.etsy.com/shop/AbstractXpressionism

Kathryn Lejeune, filmmaker/producer

Mon, 10 Jun 2013 06:56:00 -0500

“Two Artists,” behind the scenes production photo from YEAR 33

LA based producer of Sueño Documentary Films Kathryn Lejeune’s latest project as Director and Co-Producer (with Janna Watkins) is YEAR 33, a feature length documentary that tells the story of an unlikely art revival as revealed through the eyes of three young Cambodian artists (see http://www.suenodocfilms.com/year33/ and the trailer at http://youtu.be/KSWtwOEygmQ). She generously shares with LFF about starting out with her dad’s camcorder at age 4 or 5, gravitating towards stories of strong women Doing Things, the power of art to build and heal communities and more…

Tell me about your background. How did you get into film-making?

I’ve been in LA for a little over 10 years now, I moved here right out of high school. Before LA, I lived many places up and around the west coast, in California, Oregon, and Washington. Moving so often was very difficult for me, but looking back I see that it helped to spur my awareness that the world held many different ways of doing and being.

When I was 4 or 5 years old, my dad borrowed a camcorder from a friend and we never gave it back! I was immediately intrigued by this enormous device and together with my little brother and my dad, made little short movies. Sometimes I would just walk around the house filming everything I saw. At the same time, I was writing stories and plays. This continued well into high school but it wasn’t until I was a junior in high school that I realized I should put that passion towards my career (up til then I wanted to be an archaeologist). On the side I also do a little drawing, painting, embroidery, song writing, and photography.

What inspires you?

I’m inspired by everything! It’s kind of a problem. I gather ideas from all over the world and history and how I imagine the future might look. Stereotypes and opposites and unexpected pairings. New takes on old. Old takes on new. Music, literature, nature, philosophy. I’m slowly starting to learn how to hone my curiosity into something that produces finished pieces, rather than starting random ideas with no central focus.

Does feminism play a role in your work?

Feminism is not at the forefront of my mind in art or in life. Instead, I feel it’s more of a subconscious thing where I gravitate towards stories of strong women Doing Things. Two of the three main characters in my documentary are very independent women with clear goals. They are artists from very different backgrounds, but have both found art a refuge and a source of strength in difficult times. That freedom of self expression I think is very important for anyone from anywhere, but is especially beneficial for women in developing countries.

“Three Generations,” still from YEAR 33

Tell me about YEAR 33 and why its important to you.

Right now I’m in post production on a feature length documentary, YEAR 33, which will be released later this year. This is my directorial debut and it is being produced by myself and my dear friend, Janna Watkins. YEAR 33 tells the story of an emerging art revival in Cambodia, as seen through the eyes of three young artists. I really believe in the power of art to heal and build communities and this is markedly evident in Cambodia. In the late 1970s a brutal communist regime called The Khmer Rouge took over the country with the goal of wiping out thousands of years of history and starting over at “year 0”. To accomplish this, they targeted artists and intellectuals for execution. Only 10% of artists survived. Now, 33 years later, artists are staging a comeback. It’s still in the early stages, but if this movement is supported it can grow into something lasting with the potential to reshape the country’s still volatile social and economic landscape.

____

Learn more about YEAR 33 and Sueño Documentary Films at http://www.suenodocfilms.com/year33/ ; see the trailer at http://youtu.be/KSWtwOEygmQ.

Hi, My name is Joy Marzec & I'm an independent filmmaker. I'm about to shoot a film in Phila with a female cinematographer, production manager, costume designer, gaffer, lighting designer...go women. I love your blog. Would you be interested in writing a piece about our project? You can check out our kickstarter campaign and it would be awesome to speak about the film. In the office we use the stat 5% film directors are female & 4% are cinematographers. Hope to hear from you, The Bhakti Boy

Sun, 09 Jun 2013 12:20:34 -0500

Hi! I’m not sure when you wrote this…but I’d love to feature one of your directors or cinematographers if they’re interested. cheers, sally

Keep up the good work. Cheers!

Sun, 09 Jun 2013 12:19:25 -0500

Thanks!!

Jaime Moore, photographer

Sun, 09 Jun 2013 11:47:09 -0500

“Emma as Coco Chanel”; photo by Jaime Moore

I saw Jaime Moore’s photo project, “Not Just a Girl,” with her daughter featured on Huffington Post last week (and about a dozen or more others worldwide) and fell in love with the idea of posing her young daughter like upstanding women in history. The Austin based photographer promptly responded to my query for LFF about how this project came about, the word “feminism” and more…

Background/from TX?
I am originally Canadian/American and have traveled all over both countries throughout my life.

How did you get into art/photography?
I have (officially) been a photographer for about 4 years now, but have always had a camera in my hands.
I am a fan of anything art, I am drawn to it but photography is my main love. For me there is just something about capturing a single moment in time, that then becomes yours forever that seems so powerful. Real moments from a real life that goes by too quickly, suddenly frozen forever in a single image that you can hold in your hands.

“Emma as Jane Goodall,” photo by Jaime Moore

Tell me about your work, style, inspirations.
My style is bright, soft and candid.
Oh Inspiration is everywhere…

Tell me about this project with your daughter and why its important to you.
Emma is so creative and independent. I had mentioned several times about needing to photograph her 5 year portraits and when I
proposed the idea of doing something completely new, she was so excited. We had so much fun picking out the costume pieces and through each woman’s portrait I would tell her about each incredible woman. Learning of Amelia Earhart seemed to be her favorite (although Jane Goodall was a close second), just the idea of her dressing like the first female pilot to fly across the Atlantic and Pacific Ocean thrilled her. I love her facial expression in the photograph, I took the shot as I was cheering “Emma you just flew a plane, by yourself, over the Ocean!”, in her eyes I see so much pride and confidence. I love seeing that come through an image and it means so much more seeing it in my daughter’s eyes.

Does feminism play a role in your work?
I wasn’t raised a “feminist”…it was a word I never heard mentioned growing up, instead I had a very strong mother and grandmother who lived their lives equal to men, there was never a question whether or not something couldn’t be done or allowed because they were women. They lived the life they wanted for themselves regardless of not being a man. The definition of a feminist is “a person who advocates equal rights for women”, there shouldn’t be a label for a woman wanting the same rights as a man.

A big thing for me (in choosing these 5 women) was that these incredible women overcame such obstacles and persevered to change their lives simply because they wanted to…. Amelia wanted to fly a plane, so she did. Not letting society’s “rules” direct their lives for them, they raised the bar and we should continue to.

“Emma as Amelia Erhart,” photo by Jaime Moore

Anything to add—new projects, etc?
Oh Yes, there are a few creative projects I am hoping to launch this year. Stay Tuned :)

____

www.JaimeMoorephotography.com
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/JaimeMoorephotography

Penelyn Peterson, artist

Tue, 28 May 2013 14:16:00 -0500

I saw West Virginia based artist Penelyn Peterson’s stellar drawings on Morgantown’s Appalachian Gallery website and learned that not only is she also a co-owner of Appalachian Gallery but she makes folk toys and puppets as well! Read on for more on her various work, inspiration, feminism and more…

drawing by Penelyn Peterson

Tell me about your background/from WV? How did you get into art?

I am originally from Illinois. I came to Morgantown in 2000 to visit a friend and decided to move here from Rockford, IL. I received a BFA in painting from Rockford College in 1996. I have always created art - at least, so long as I can remember I have. I remember scooting under the Christmas tree as a child with my crayons and coloring books….and coloring & drawing by the magical light of the tree….for hours.

I worked as the shop manager in the Rockford College Theatre Dept. for more than a decade. From there, I went on to work in other theatres in Rockford, Chicago, Madison & Milwaukee WI, and the Utah Shakespeare Festival…all in costuming, puppetry or special building. Some of those opportunities permitted me to create wearable art together with my two-dimensional pieces.

Tell me about your work/inspirations/style.

Among my influences are images from Mayan art and the Mexican tradition surrounding Day of the Dead. These are perhaps the strongest elements in my work, but ideas about origin myths and symbols of universalism are also evident, although more subtlety drawn than the former influences.

Does feminism play a role in your work?

I think feminism imagery underlies my work and thinking generally, but not in a direct or blatant fashion.

Tell me about your work in Appalachan Gallery and why its important to you.

My gallery shows the work of over 100 local artists. It has been a Morgantown tradition for over 25 years now, we have received awards recently for “Best Art Spot”, “Most Creative Retail Experience” and “Best Gallery” in recent years.

I recently started an Etsy Shop, where I also sell my puppets…..Some of them have been donated to various places, to help children’s groups. These (above) were donated to the Healing Hearts Center (grief & guidance councelling center) after the Sandy Hook Elementary tragedy, to help kids open up and talk about issues.

These two puppets (above; they are more than 3 feet tall) were just sent to a Moore, OK councelling center to help recent tornado victims.

We also donate at least two puppets a year to local CASA, and Grief Centers for fundraising.

___

Appalachian Gallery: http://www.wvcraft.com/

West Virginia Creature Shop Art Folk Toys & Puppets: http://www.etsy.com/shop/wvcreatureshop

Nancy Lasar, artist

Mon, 27 May 2013 13:37:00 -0500

“Ball & Kite”, Nancy Lasar, Woodcut, 2013, 22” x 30”

(Text via AIR Gallery Press Release): Brooklyn’s AIR Gallery is pleased to announce LINES OF LIGHT, a collection of recent work by artist Nancy Lasar (May 30-June 23, details below). LINES OF LIGHT represents a varied body of paintings and prints including acrylic on canvas, woodcut, trace-monotype with chine colle and iconic figure composites in “unique” prints. These works were completed concurrently over the past year and follow the installation of a 40 year retrospective of Lasar’s work entitled NANCY LASAR; A SURVEY 1972-2012 at the New Arts Gallery in CT. A bound catalog of that exhibition will be available at AIR Gallery during the LINES OF LIGHT exhibition.

John Davis writes in the introduction to his brochure for The LINES OF LIGHT, “Each of Lasar’s pieces is a portal to that which lays unforeseen. Each morphing image and wild line promise something more than initially meets the eye. Indeed, each work rewards closer scrutiny with new realizations and deeper insights into the world at-large. Lasar is challenging and enticing viewers to move beyond present realities – to see ‘anew’ and with greater understanding all that surrounds them. Each image is an invitation to enter these new realms.
“This latest collection of Lasar’s works demonstrates an evolution, a transmutation, a metamorphosis of style, but not of message. Her art compels us to take a second look, to gaze more intently at the world we inhabit… Her varied works make manifest the depth and richness of her own musings.” Lasar herself states, “We are tuning forks of emotion as we react to the world around us, vibrating at frequencies beyond logic, struggling to reflect, adjust and move forward in an increasingly complex world.”

A native of New England, Lasar has been a New York artist member of AIR Gallery since 2010. Her work has been widely exhibited throughout New England and New York and is included in the collections of Aetna Life and Casualty, the Pfizer Corp, The General Mills Corp, The Mattatuck Museum, the Center for Contemporary Printmaking and The Rutgers Print Archive.

Nancy Lasar is the recipient of two “Individual Artist Fellowships” from the Ct. Commission on the Arts and received a grant to study at the Vermont Studio Center in 1998. Her prints have been published and exhibited by Van Deb Editions and also selected for exhibition by the International Print Center New York in 2010, 2006 and 2005. Nancy Lasar is represented by Amy Simon Fine Art in Westport, CT as well as by AIR Gallery, Brooklyn.

She generously shares with LFF about her background and work and more….

Tell me about your background/how did you get into art? Does feminism play a role in your work?

I have lived in New England all of my life and in Connecticut for the past 40 years or so where I raised two children and now get to visit with my one grandson. If Feminism plays a role in my life/art it is in recognizing that women are still so under represented in galleries and the art world in general. I have never not been an artist even when juggling work, children and aging parents with Altzeimers.

I graduated from the RI School of Design with a BFA in painting. I attended graduate Schools at both Yale and Columbia. I married the right man who has enthusiastically encouraged and assisted me as I have him. I believe that the process of creating works of art enables me to make some kind of order out of my life and the world. It is my way of being and in that way simplifies things. I am so happy to be able to find time in the studio that I am not distracted by many other temptations!

Tell me about this exhibit at AIR and why its important to you. What else are you working on?

I have exhibited throughout the last 45 years extensively in New England. My work is in many collections and private homes and I sometimes work on commissions. This “Lines Of Light” exhibition at AIR Gallery is my first solo exhibition in New York. I am excited by the opportunity to reach a wider audience in a gallery dedicated to women in the arts.

I work in many media: printmaking, painting, drawing and mixed media. I have a beautiful Charles Brand etching press which was once owned by Robert Motherwell. I have two studios one for Printmaking and one for painting. I also Print with Master Printers Marjorie Van Dyke at VanDeb Editions, NY and Marina Ancona at 10 Grand Press in Brooklyn.

In 2014 I will have a solo exhibition at Amy Simon Fine ART in Westport, CT. I believe that the next decade, will be the best ever in my evolution as an artist. Doing what you love keeps you young!

The Litchfield County Times Magazine for June 2013 will have an article on me and the AIR Show. This comes out May 31, 2013

___

AIR Gallery is located at 111 Front Steet in Brooklyn; This exhibition will be on view from May 30 through June 23, 2013. The opening reception will be held on Thursday, May 30th, 2013 from 6-9PM. http://www.airgallery.org/

Nancy Lasar & West Wind Studio/Amy Simon Fine Art, IPCNY: http://www.nancylasar.com/

Barbara Roux, artist

Sat, 25 May 2013 14:13:00 -0500

Above is an image from Barbara Roux’s exhibition “Growing Evidence” opening at A.I.R. Gallery in NY next week. The j-peg is of a digital print that is printed large on foam core for the show and in her book. It is titled “The Leopard Changes His Spots” from 2012. Said the artist: “I often use a bird shaped leaf from the native Sassafras tree in my work along with other iconic images that I hold…I should tell you that I never manipulate a photo after it is taken on the computer. There is no editing.” Roux generously shares with LFF about working as a feminist and conservationist, her installation at AIR and new book and more…

Tell me about your background/how’d you get into art?
I am from New York State and I began painting and sculpting as an adolescent because my mom encouraged me to take classes in New York City. I never stopped making art.

Tell me about your work; does feminism play a role?

I have an M.F.A. in Combined Media art that has prepared me to do installations that includes traditional art forms like photography and drawing as well as narrative texts and floor and wall sculptures. My inspiration is wild habitats. I work directly with nature and am both a feminist and an active conservationist. My work has been selected for the Feminist Art Base of the Sackler Center for Feminist Art at the Brooklyn Museum. I create works that engage small habitat niches. I see my projects as a statement against the altering of a large area in wild landscapes that I feel some male artists making Earth Works in the 1960’s did.

Tell me about the show at AIR and why its important to you.

My show at A.I.R. Gallery “Growing Evidence” will track a forest/cove habitat altered by invasives and storm damage. It will be an installation in a variety of media which is typical of my work. I will have altered forest elements that will be coming out of the wall plus a floor piece of an oak tree core. There will be a number of my digital landscape based photographs and my narrative poem titled Startling Sandy about the storm we had in New York last Autumn. I will also present my new spiral bound artist’s book that compliments the show and is titled “Growing Evidence”. A.I.R. Gallery has always been important to me. As a graduate student I came there to see exhibitions by the most exciting women artists in the 1970’s some of whom where my professors at the City University of New York. Later I showed with famous artists from A.I.R. in other venues. In 1990 I was accepted as a member and still am. For years I created their newsletter which I called A.I.R. MAIL.

Are you really excited, stressed or anxious getting ready for your installation in a few days?

YES.

What’s next?

My work as an artist often grows out of my work as a conservationist which I am actively pursuing every day. I have work in university and museum collections so opportunities often come along.. Right now I have no immediate shows planned for the year and am going to focus on getting my book out.

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Barbara Roux’s “Growing Evidence” runs May 30-June 23 at AIR Gallery in Brooklyn. Details at airgallery.org.

View more of Barbara Roux’s work at barbararoux.com.

Lisa Lux, writer

Thu, 23 May 2013 14:04:43 -0500

Lisa Lux will be reading at the Petshop Book Exchange May 25 at the Petshop Gallery in Benson (details below). She shares with LFF about how feminism helped her value her own voice, how SP CE Studio has impacted her and her work, the writing community and more…

background/from NE?

I am from Nebraska. I was born in Lincoln but grew up mostly in Western Nebraska before moving back to Lincoln.

How’d you get into writing?

I was a big reader as a kid and was writing poems and stories for as long as I can remember, though mostly just for myself or a close friend. It is only recently that I have been involved in a larger writing community.

does feminism play a role in your work?

It does. I think I come from a long line of artists who would never have called themselves artists. Looking back on my college experience (a revelation I had recently while talking with Alisa) it never occurred to me to study art, but I think I was looking for a way to be an artist. I studied teaching, english, classics and finally gender studies. Feminism gave me a language for the things I had been feeling and then pushed me beyond that. It helped me value my own voice and learn how to listen to and value other voices. It helped me learn how to strive for equity in all of my relationships. It helped me practice and value truth and vulnerability. Women like Audre Lorde, bell hooks and Barbara DiBernard guided my thinking about teaching, learning and loving. I think I needed to do that work to grow into a place where I could make art publicly and trust people with it, and hopefully make things that are useful to them.

tell me about your work, style, inspiration. what will you be reading from next week?

I am just getting into doing readings. Usually the visual aspect of my writing has been important and I haven’t felt as though my work was best showcased through a poetry reading setup. However, the challenge of readings has given me an opportunity to try out some writing styles that are more oral in intent and at the same time I am getting more confident in claiming space for my art and asking people to think a little outside of what we are used to when we go to a poetry reading. Teal and Alisa and I have been collaborating to make a singular piece that will weave through all of our words and also involve the audience. I am pretty excited about it.

anything you want to add?

I do want to say that I am indebted to the people at Sp ce in Lincoln working diligently to value language and engage with it. They are paying the bills out of their own pockets for a place to engage anyone and everyone with poetry, making books (again, own pockets), holding readings and language events (my term) and - most beneficial for me, a weekly writing group where participants can get feedback on their writing, benefit from feedback given to others, practice being an engaged reader and giving useful feedback (this takes practice) and get to read and experience the writing and development of a group of people who are creating art because they love to do it. This has been revolutionary for me. Many of these same people have been involved in starting the Omaha writing group at Petshop and there is a lot of sistercitysupport- which has been great to see.

Hear Lisa read May 25, 7:30pm at the Petshop Gallery, 2725 N. 62nd St in Benson for the Petshop Book Exchange. Details here.

Alisa Heinzman, poet/editor

Tue, 21 May 2013 13:15:00 -0500

Alisa Heinzman, poet and co-editor of Octopus Books, will be reading at the Petshop Book Exchange May 25 at the Petshop Gallery in Benson (details below). She shares with LFF about her anti-inspirations, feminism, the friendly Omaha writing community and more…

background/from NE?

I was born and raised in Lincoln and went to college there. I lived out of state for a handful of years and am really happy to be back for now. I love Nebraska.

How’d you get into writing?

Writing’s something I’ve enjoyed for as long as I can remember. In the sixth grade I won poetry contest with a rhymed poem about a lighthouse. As a child of the Great Plains I think that at least proves I had an imagination. That’s probably around the time poems in particular started to interest me. I don’t know, though, I think most kids really like rhymes.

tell me about your work, style, inspirations. does feminism play a role in your work?

I write poems. They’d probably be described as prose-y. I am inspired by pretty much everything except for, like, doing my taxes, which is a horrible thing, or returning emails that I’ve inexplicably put off for too long, or scrubbing the shower. Being around people I love makes me feel inspired, being alone definitely does, talking and not talking, reading and not reading, looking out a window. Because I’m a woman, especially a woman who went to college, and have chosen to take a lot of the opportunities available to me because of feminism, I know it’s a part of who I am and is certainly a part of my writing. I’d be hard pressed to point to moments where I overtly discuss these things in poems, but it’s crazy to say that that means it’s not a part of them.

what will you be reading from next week? anything you want to add?

Thank you for asking—I’m so excited about this reading! I’ll be reading with my friends Teal Gardner and Lisa Lux. All three of us have been working on long poems that correspond in a lot of ways, so they had this great idea to create a combined long poem for this reading. So that’s what we’ll all read from, all at once. It’ll be an arranged and edited combination of our three long poems. We’ll ask the audience to read along with us some of the time. It’s going to be fun! Dylan Thaemert—who’s a good poet and organizes readings at Petshop—is organizing a book exchange for this weekend. There are a lot of reasons to come. Also we have a weekly writing group at Petshop, on Sundays at 5pm, open to anyone. We’re on facebook (Omaha Writer’s Group). That has nothing to do with the reading…just wanted to plug it.

___
Hear Alisa read May 25, 7:30pm at the Petshop Gallery, 2725 N. 62nd St in Benson for the Petshop Book Exchange. Details here.

Checkout Octopus Books at http://octopusbooks.net/.

Amber Keller, artist

Mon, 20 May 2013 07:56:28 -0500

Amber Keller is the director of RAW: Omaha, a multi-media arts event May 23 at Sokol (details below and here); she will also be exhibiting in Pandora’s Box 2 May 24 at Waiting Room Lounge (details below). She shares with LFF about her packing up her car with art supplies and landing in Austin, then to backpack thru Australia, being the first international RAW artist; getting involved in RAW events, her own art and feminism, and more…

Background / How’d you get into art?:

I grew up in small-town Nebraska, constantly escaping into my own little world of music and art because that seemed to be the only place that I fit in. Really, it was the only thing that I truly loved, but was always told I could never make it work as a career. I ended up receiving my degree in graphic design here in Omaha, landed a couple of jobs, and then realized that I wasn’t on the right path.

I packed my car with my art supplies and started traveling around the United States. After months of exploration and amazing experiences, I was brought to Austin, Texas, where I ended up living for two years, really trying to push myself creatively. I was lucky enough to showcase my art and jewelry in the very first RAW event in Austin.

Just last year I decided that I needed to finally step foot outside of the country. I bought a ticket to Australia, sold all of my possessions, and left again with only my backpack filled mostly with art supplies. I explored the Great Barrier reef, slept on the beach on an island, held a koala, fed a kangaroo, and participated in a showcase in Brisbane, becoming the first International RAW artist.

After three months of traveling solo, and almost four years of being away from Nebraska, I decided that I missed my friends and family and desired to move back home. One of my goals was to propel the art scene here further, knowing full well what we are capable of.

It just so happened to work that RAW was planting in Omaha and needed a permanent Director.

Tell me about your work/style:

I work in all sorts of mediums and a few different styles. I see creation and art in almost everything, so it’s hard for me to stick to one thing, but one style that was birthed in my sketchbook and has become pretty constant with me over the last year or so, is of these little monsters, or soul entities, if you will. They each tell of their own story, typically one that is vulnerable and honest.

Inspirations: Emotions, Dreams, Love, Psychology, Children, Music, Words, Earth

Does feminism play a role in your work?

You know, I specifically draw my monsters to be androgynous because I feel that almost anyone can connect with them and their emotions. I do have a tendency, though, to draw and paint portraits of women that I feel carry a powerful message in their expressions.

Tell me about your work in Pandora’s Box 2 and why its important to you.

I have multiple talented friends in this show and I’m incredibly proud to be showcasing alongside them. I’m thrilled that The Waiting Room is adding extra aspects alongside their music and for me to be able to set my artwork up there makes my heart happy.

Tell me about your work with RAW and why its important to you.

As RAW:Omaha Director, I’m aiming to expand the creative community, not only in Omaha, but to combine forces with Lincoln and surrounding areas. I want to bring the creative genres together to create cross exposure and inspire collaborations and I want to show the rest of the world what we’re made of! Nebraska has a plethora of talent, most of which has been untapped and RAW is the perfect opportunity to put ourselves on the creative map.

It’s about recognizing possibilities, capturing passion, and giving artists a conducive atmosphere that will help perpetuate a healthy self-confidence and a brighter outlook on their environment. This, in turn, produces more ideas, more productivity, and larger goals.

___

RAW Omaha Presents: Expressions at Sokol Auditorium, 2234 S. 13th St., May 23, starting at 7pm. Details at rawartists.org.

See Amber’s work May 24, starting 9pm, at Pandora’s Box 2: A Night of Arts & Music at the Waiting Room Lounge, 6212 Maple St. in Omaha. Details here.

Gina Morong, writer/performance artist

Fri, 17 May 2013 14:16:51 -0500

Gina Morong will be performing at Omaha’s Waiting Room’s Pandora’s Box 2 May 24 (details below). She shares with LFF about performing for the first time on a dare, her inspirations from Whitman to life’s mysteries and more…

Tell me about your background/from NE? How’d you get into writing/performing?

I am from Nebraska, born and raised. Oddly enough I was raised in a pretty conservative family and environment. I’ve been performing for a little over two years, I originally performed for the first time on a bit of a dare. I have a really good friend Mike Norwood that has been doing spoken word for a long time and he got tired of me enviously watching everyone else perform while I was too shy to even bother. Luckily I did because it lit a fire in me that I can barely put into words.

Tell me about your work/style/inspirations.

I’ve been writing since I can remember, I perform poetry but write everything from screenplays to short (or not so short) stories. I am very influenced by many of the naturalists, especially Walt Whitman. I find myself very inspired by the many different adventures life has to offer, I want to live in and appreciate it’s mysteries, not figure them out.

Does feminism play a role in your work?

I’m not sure if I directly reflect on feminism in my work, but I do think that as women sometimes we are our own worst enemies. I try to empower myself and others around me with a positive message in my words. I’m performing two pieces at Pandora’s box 2 at the waiting room May 24th with multitude of other amazing local artists and performers, come check it out!
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See Gina perform May 24, starting 9pm, at Pandora’s Box 2: A Night of Arts & Music at the Waiting Room Lounge, 6212 Maple St. in Omaha. Details here.

Meghan Stratman, artist

Thu, 16 May 2013 14:23:00 -0500

“It Just Makes Me Want to Set Myself on Fire” by Meghan Stratman

Artist Meghan Stratman is exhibiting at the Apollon Gallery (1801 Vinton St. in Omaha) May 17-June 29. She’ll be giving an art talk during the Grand Opening Preview tomorrow night, though its sold out, you can visit the show thereafter during open hours. She also has work on view yearround at Gallery 9 in Lincoln. She shares with LFF about growing up in an art-filled household, how stories influence her work and more….

Tell me about your background/from NE?

I’m originally from New Jersey, but my family moved to Lincoln when I was 7 so for all intents and purposes I’m from Nebraska.

How did you get in to art?

I grew up in an art-filled household so I think it was inevitable. Both of my parents work in theatre and are artistic people. I’ve always liked art and spent a long time trying to figure out what kind of art I actually wanted to do. I originally started college thinking I wanted to do computer animation, but eventually figured out that I like my art more tactile and hands on.

Tell me about your work/style/inspirations. Does feminism play a role in your work?

I work in paper collage and am inspired by my generally nerdy disposition. I love stories, so anything that has a good story is an influence for me. Books, music, movies, video games, etc. My style is also influenced by my graphic design background. I don’t know is feminism plays a role specifically, but almost all of my subjects are female.

“Subject 13” by Meghan Stratman

Where is your work on view?

I’ll be doing a Q&A at Apollon Omaha tomorrow (May 17) and they will be displaying my art through June 29. I have art on display year-round at Gallery 9 in Lincoln (www.gallerynine.com). I’m also participating in a number of pop-culture related shows this year in Los Angeles and Seattle.

You can see my work on my website: www.bunnypirates.com, my blog: bunnypirates.blogspot.com, and on Facebook and twitter (bunnypirates).

Jenny Marie, artist

Mon, 13 May 2013 10:48:53 -0500

Jenny Marie is one of the featured artists in RAW Omaha’s upcoming multi-media show, EXPRESSIONS (May 23 at Sokol, details below). She shares with LFF about loving Omaha, how daydreams and feminism play a role in her work and more…

Background/from NE?

My parents grew up and met in Nebraska. After they married, my father joined the Air Force. I was born in San Antonio, Texas and from there moved all around the world from one Air Force base to another. When it was time for my father to retire, he decided to move the family back to Nebraska in Papillion. I finished high school in Omaha. When I graduated at 17, I decided to join a missions organization that took me everywhere from New York to Vietnam and in between. I never wanted to move back to Omaha, but when my Grandma’s cancer returned for the last time I decided to come back to Nebraska and say goodbye. She told me on her death bed that I needed to focus more on family because you never know how long you have left with them. Her words stuck with me and I haven’t left Nebraska since. I have really learned that Omaha is an amazing place to work, live, and enjoy; and now I never want to leave!

How’d you get into art?

My mother was always painting and doing craft projects. She noticed that I loved joining her every time she would start a project and subsequently enrolled me in art classes since I was 10. In High School when I started becoming aware of my emotions and passions is when my art became a prescription for my loneliness. It was also one of the only things I could tell my father was really proud. He would always sneak my art out of the house and put it up in his office at the air base.

Tell me about your work, style, inspirations.

My two favorite mediums are colored pencil and oil pastel, colored pencil because of the control I can have and oil pastel because of the lack of control. I love bold works of art, especially in the style of surrealism. I constantly love to escape inside my head and day dream of fantastical scenarios, and my art work is just recreations of those dreams. So combine those ingredients: colored pencils, oil pastels, boldness, surrealism, and fantastical dreams; and you get my art. I only portray women because I personally think women are the most beautiful creatures on this planet. Women are the forefront of my surrealistic works of art.

Does feminism play a role in your work?

I was forced to paint landscape and still life for all my classes throughout grade school, high school, and even college. It was so boring! Women are the exact opposite of boring. You never know what women are going to think, feel, say, or do from one day to the next. I love daydreaming about women, whether real or imaginary, women I know or myself, in my mind overcoming odds. I try to portray their raw emotions, beauty, and overall their whole being in my creations. I am fascinated by women and we are honestly the only people I am passionate about creating.

Tell me about what you’ll be showing in RAW and why it’s important to you.

I will be showing several different works mostly of females, but one about my experience protesting at the NATO summit last year in Chicago. I am a libertarian on the verge of becoming an anarchist and I am very angry in our Country’s foreign policy, especially when it involves the use of drone warfare; so there will also be a piece about that issue.

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RAW Omaha Presents: Expressions at Sokol Auditorium, 2234 S. 13th St., May 23, starting at 7pm. Details at rawartists.org.

Jessica Lane, performance artist

Fri, 10 May 2013 11:04:00 -0500

Jessica Lane, aka The Good Lady Hussy Brazen of
Resplendent Jezebel Burlesque will be starring in FILTH live tomorrow, Saturday, May 11, 9pm at the Q in Lincoln (details here/below). She shares with LFF about getting into performance via Madonna, her view of burlesque, sexuality, feminism and more…

Background/where are you from/how’d you get into performing?

I was born in Chicago, but moved to Lincoln just a couple of years afterwards. As a young child I became obsessed with Madonna after an Italian aunt gave me a tape of all of her Immaculate Collection music videos. My brother and I would watch it on a regular basis and quickly memorized not only every lyric, but also the every dance move. We also idolized her wardrobe and makeup. Although I appreciate a full and eclectic spectrum of performers and artists, I would have to say that she was my very first inspiration in that regard.

Burlesque has interested me for at least a decade now. I’ve always viewed it as a celebration of the human body and sexuality. Three years ago I started to seriously discuss forming a troupe with my friends Corey and Jessica. We wanted to be as creative as possible, advocate sex positivity and consent, deconstruct gender roles, and above everything have a kick ass time together. Over the last few years we’ve put on dozens of original shows at many downtown venues, music salon houses, and even Star City Pride with reprising and new members including women, men, queer, and trans people of all ages and body silhouettes. We most recently had a multi-leveled 1920s murder mystery burlesque at the Ferguson House and before that we held a variety show at a theater past capacity with more than a couple hundred people in attendance. Resplendent Jezebel Burlesque is an ever-evolving collective troupe including everything from classic tease to modern performance art.

Tell me about your creative work, inspirations, style.

I’m am inspired by everything from my self-love to the aesthetics the world offers me. I have always had a love for fine and performance art. I studied ceramics for a time and always surround myself with artistic and creative people from my concert pianist and organist grandfather to drag queens. Of course I get inspiration from famous (from pop to underground) icons, but there is nothing more thrilling than to watch a loved one express themselves. I’m inspired by anything from particular songs to fashion to an inside joke I have with a friend. Performances can evolve from anything. My favorites include a fop number to Vogue and large group number I came up with where I had everyone dress as a burlesque bird and lay me a glittery egg while the Flower Duet of the Lakmé opera was playing. It seems that my burlesque persona (The Good Lady Hussy Brazen) and performances always involve glamour, at least a little something bizarre, and a touch of humor to them. I feel powerful in red and have accumulated quite the collection of lingerie, vintage jewelry, fans, makeup, and wigs. My body is to do whatever I want with and burlesque is a major way of celebrating that for me.

Does feminism play a role in your work?

I believe that every person in this world is in charge of their own body and sexuality. Sexuality is not shameful. A naked woman is not shameful. As a woman I have the right to present myself however I wish to the world and as a human being I still respect others around me as I make my choices. I believe that having a body/sex positive group in a community is wonderful for it, especially the women of it. Many women I have spoken to after shows have shared with me how inspired the feel to love themselves, celebrate their bodies, and own their sexuality. My co-founder Jessica said “images of women and queers reveling in their own sexual nature are rare and radical and I proudly present that image each time I go onstage.” I am always proud of myself no matter what I look like or am wearing partly because of my burlesque experience. In the troupe we help and empower each other. We make decisions together and everyone has equal say. Every member in the troupe is heard and only wears and performs what is comfortable to them. I never compare myself to another performer. I will never be anyone but myself. My relationships with my female friends and fellow burlesque performers are always about supporting one another and building each other up with love and honesty. This is also how women should treat one another. This is how human beings should treat each other.

Tell me about this event and why its important to you.

Our next event Filth is this Saturday, May 11th. It will be at the Q (226 S 9th Street Lincoln, NE 68508) at 9:30pm, ages 19+. We have saved our most shocking, disgusting, offensive, messy, and vulgar concepts for this one. There are more than a dozen of those kinds of performances for only $5 this time. I have always been drawn to and fascinated by what is considered by most to be bizarre. I believe in waving your freak flag as high as you choose. Filth is what came of these ideas. Hopefully people will leave the venue not feeling so strange in their skin or at least have been entertained.

Keep up with Jessica & her troupe:
https://www.facebook.com/ResplendentJezebelBurlesque?ref=ts&fref=ts

Ciao!

Thu, 09 May 2013 14:28:00 -0500

The LFF…Ciao! Farewell show at Caesium Gallery last week was awesome. So awesome in fact, I’m almost starved for words. It seems when I’m riled up I have more obsessions going around in my head to get out on paper. This time, though, it was refreshingly settling.

photo by g thompson higgins (art, at left, by Linda Garcia-Perez)

Thirty-two artists contributed 1-4 lovely pieces of art for the pop-up show, some of them collaborations…all of them from someone whom I admire. Mike Scheef, co-owner of the gallery, offered me a few months ago the opportunity to host an LFF show there, and I quickly took him up on it before I leave (June 1 to West VA) to try to put into action some sort of good-bye, community friendly show. And it was really stellar!

(see if I can get most of the artists from left to right: Laurie Sewell, Evelyn Katz; Erin Blayney; Trilety Wade; Kristin Lubbert; Bart Vargas, Eddith Buis, Megan Loudon Sanders, Linda Garcia Perez; Laurie Sewell, Erin Blayney….scarves at far right by Ann Myers with imagery by me, Sally Deskins)

Wednesday night, friends old and new showed up, and I finally got the chance to actually talk (for real, not schmoozy or small talk) with some of them, which felt really sweet.

me (Sally Deskins, in tank top painted by myself & Ann Myers) with Bart Vargas (and the “Feminist” piece behind us by Vargas) and Larry Ferguson, who also had a piece (with me) in the show…photos at left by Trilety Wade and K. Lubbert. photo by Larry Ferguson.

Saturday afternoon it was open again, and I had a few readers—Bonnie O’Connell, Kelsey Reifert and Felicia Webster—read/perform (Felicia at the last minute!), to a warm tight audience, and it was a perfectly mellow “end” of my “LFF” time here.

me (left) chatting with Bryce Bridges and Kristin Pluhacek (whose beautiful drawing is at right) Other art in the image from left to right: Megan Loudon Sanders (mixed media far bottom left); Larry Ferguson (photo top left); Heather Peebles (painting back left); Lori Wegener (drawing middle); collaboration of myself, Rachel Mindrup and F. Higgins; Maureen Phalen; Kristin Pluhacek; bottom bottle by Molly Kiely; silk scarf by Ann Myers with imagery by me. photo by g thompson higgins.

Plenty of kind words, and new meetings were made, which is all I can hope for. A few awkward ones, too, but what’s an event without a little clumsiness? Keeps me on my toes. And, as I’m finally perhaps letting my hair a bit down, I’m moving on; for the next couple of weeks, my last ones here, I’ll try to spend it out, enjoying other’s events, art and experiencing Omaha at my most favorite, warm early summertime!

photo by g thompson higgins of art by me (top left, “Nebraska State Breastfish”) and g thompson higgins bottom left; Sarah Rowe and Ann Myers.

Sweet things going on now: Saturday, May 11, at RNG Gallery’s Museum of Alternative History (curated by Tim Guthrie; RNG is at 157 W. Broadway in Council Bluffs); I’m a writer in the show for the amazingly talented artist Megan Loudon Sanders; the opening craziness begins at 6pm…Monday, May 13, I’m hitting up Pageturners Lounge (5004 Dodge) for the first time to hear Jiha Lee and Doug Kabourek starting at 9pm…Thursday May 16 I’ll hit up Bemis for the opening/art talk with Jarrod Beck (6:30) then later to Verbal Gumbo at House of Loom! Do join!

Other gnarly happenings:

Christina Renfer Vogel at NAC Fred Simon Gallery thru June 7
Shea Wilkinson at Florence Mill ArtLoft opening May 12
all of the Benson arty wonderment
Modern Arts Midtown: Of Common Ground: new work by Larry Roots & Teresa Schmidt
Gallery 72’s hosting UNO’s Friends of Art event, May 11
Apollon opening night event, May 17
Museum of Alternative History art talk, May 18, RNG Gallery
Vinton Street Creativity Fest, May 18, 18th & Vinton

I’ll stop there…

I will continue LFF (you may have already noticed some features with PA/WV artists), and more so working on my own art—I’ve got a few shows in the works out there—see my new website sallydeskins.tumblr.com. Thanks for all your love and support! And haters too. Ying yang.

For your enjoyment; a few images and experts from LFF…Ciao!…

Kelsey Reifert’s new sweet chapbook of poetry she read from; excerpt:

“The ice gets thicker in layers—my time with the girl gets shorter every day. I lost her somewhere between me and the sky and the ice.”

screenprint by Mike Scheef on record album cover using imagery from one of my (Sally Deskins) body prints. So love! He has about 10 others still available…

one of Bonnie O’Connell’s lovely pages of printed poetry…

collaboration with JJ Carroll; if you look close enough, you can see some of my (Sally Deskins) body print…love this “chick” piece… :)

Felicia Webster of the Wordsmiths & Verbal Gumbo, performed her popular piece, “Rebound”

closer view of collaboration (left) by Rachel Mindrup, F.Higgins & myself; next to Maureen Phalen’s painting, above Denise Brady’s handprinted book and Ann Myer’s scarfs with imagery by me.

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Sally Deskins is a mother, wife, artist, writer, art model and general art & enthusiast living in Omaha until June when she moves to West Virginia. She founded LFF; preview and purchase LFF books at blurb.com. See her art at sallydeskins.tumblr.com. Contact her at sallydeskins@yahoo.com.

Shea Wilkinson, artist

Wed, 08 May 2013 13:16:26 -0500

Artist Shea Wilkinson just finished her spring Fellowship with the Union for Contemporary Art, and is having a solo show at the Florence Mill ArtLoft opening May 12 (details below). She shares with LFF about how she got into free motion quilting, her favorite thing to listen to while quilting, how her fellowship impacted her work and more….

Background/from NE? How did you get into art?

I’m from Nebraska, and I’ve lived in Omaha off and on for the last ten years. I grew up in a small town, and since there wasn’t much to do, I was an avid sewer. I made quilts, clothes and costumes, and soft-sculpture dolls that I sold at the local craft boutique. In 2010, after moving to Mexico to teach English, I found myself in a similar environment with not much to do, so I again delved into sewing. For many reasons, I found myself learning how to free motion quilt, and I was quickly hooked. What began as a sketchbook for simple quilting designs evolved into a book of drawings, which have then become quilts.

“Mind Manifesting III”

Tell me about your work/style/inspirations.

I basically draw with the sewing machine. It’s as if someone were holding a pencil stationary in one hand and moving the paper around underneath it, just with a needle and fabric. I primarily use black for a background, so that the colored threads are fully represented. I’m inspired by the strange and unusual, whether normal or paranormal. If I were to elaborate beyond this, I wouldn’t even know where to begin. I’d like to point people to a podcast I often listen to when working, called Mysteries Abound, by Paul Rex. It’s amazing, soothing, and so informative.

Tell me about your show at Florence MIll Artloft and why its important to you.

The show is at the Florence Mill Artloft at 9102 N. 30th Street and opens May 12, from 1:30-4:30. The gallery is open Wednesday through Sunday, 1-5, and the Mill hosts cultural events and Farmer’s Markets. Linda Meigs owns the Mill and she was the first person in Omaha that I showed my work to for an informal critique. She gave me encouragement and a few ideas to get started. Two years later, I’ve improved my work ten-fold with the help of many people, and now I get to present it to her again, this time in her own space. I’m honored for the chance to stage my first solo exhibition there. “The Serpent in the Story” is a series of quilts inspired by serpents, and the attributes given to them in ancient stories from around the world.

Tell me about your residency with the Union for Contemporary Art this spring.

The Union residency was amazing! Again, I just don’t know where to begin, there’s too much to write about. From the mentoring, to the community service, to the multitudes of new and diverse people I’ve met, I wouldn’t have enough time. I encourage everyone to check out the vision and work of the Union for Contemporary Art at www.u-ca.org.
I am continuing to work with the Golden Threads Quilting Club, which meets at the Washington Branch Library on Tuesdays from 5-7. We instruct anybody on how to make a quilt, and provide machines and materials. The first quilt goes to a senior citizen and the second belongs to the quilter. I have a lot of friends there and they are progressing very well. The helped me tremendously with my community quilt by contributing beautiful and unique blocks. I also received blocks in the mail from Omahans all over the city. The quilt is now in the finishing stages to be presented at various venues, tba.

Does feminism play a role in your work?

The imagery that I choose is pretty androgynous, I think, but my medium is historically one for women, and most of the people that I work with in textiles are women. Quilting always strikes up a conversation like wildfire among female quilters. It’s a pretty funny phenomenon, but that’s what makes quilting as an art form so fun. Even men relate to it, as most people have gotten a quilt sometime in their lives from a grandma or an aunt, passed matrilineally.

Keep up with Shea at sheawilkinson.com/.

Maggie Mills, artist

Tue, 07 May 2013 08:35:00 -0500

“Propeller” by Maggie Mills

Maggie Mills is exhibiting at Pittsburgh Center for the Arts thru August 18 (Rites of Passage; details here) and The Schuylkill Center in Philadelphia (details here). She shares with LFF about her inspirations from her work in nonprofit to nature and industry; the role of feminism in her work, and more…

Background/from PA?
I have lived in and around Philadelphia for my entire life. There are a lot of opportunities to see and exhibit work here, ranging from established galleries, performance spaces, and university affiliated spaces to co-op galleries and pop ups. The energy here is great.

Tell me about your work, inspirations, etc.

I work for an outsider art non- profit, which is both emotionally rewarding and serves as a constant source of inspiration for me as an artist. I instruct and promote a group of artists that deal with mental health and intellectual challenges and deliver some of the most genuinely inspired and beautiful work that I have ever seen. I find that it grounds me and reminds me of what is important in life and in art.

My work deals primarily with issues relating to contemporary spaces. I am interested in how nature and industry coexist, at times infringe on one another’s spaces, and how the boundaries between them at times dissolve. I am also interested in how the fragmentation of time and space due to technology affects our perceptions of these spaces. I depict children moving through these spaces because they have inherited them and navigate them with little guidance- a sort of Lord of the Flies scenario. A large part of the impetus for the representation of children in my work is maternal anxiety, nostalgia for moments that pass too quickly, and the innocence that children possess in their exploration of the environment. I am fascinated with the rituals and rites of passage of childhood and creating a “wild west” environment in which they can occur. The narratives in each of my paintings are a compression of subtexts. There is a subtext that may be a more literal depiction of an event in which I am struck by the anxiety, comedy, or poignancy of an event, but there are also broader environmental and social themes in my work.

“Skinny City” by Maggie Mills

The scenarios in my paintings contain elements of the literal world, but trade literal spaces for fantastic spaces. I love the idea of representing space not as moving back into the canvas through variations in value, hue, and linear perspective, but like stacking thin pieces of paper out toward the viewer. Each element exists on its own spatial plane and relates to other elements on their own planes- kind of like the old view-masters where separate cells stack up to create the final image. I use color, distance between objects, the scale of objects, the texture of the paint, and the level of rendering to create space.

Does feminism play a role in your work?

I suppose that feminism plays a fairly obvious role in my work. The dynamics in the world around me which seem to be most important to re-create in painting are pretty solidly grounded in maternal, protective feelings. I am first and foremost a mother. Taking the longer and more winding path to sustaining my artistic practice has proved to provide me with a more well-informed and grounded practice. The lessons learned from working towards a sustainable practice while being a good role model for my child have been invaluable.

Tell me about your current exhibits and why they are important to you.

I have current exhibitions at both the Pittsburgh Center for the Arts and the Schuylkill Center for Environmental Education in Philadelphia. At the Schuylkill Center, I am showing a body work that depicts children moving through expansive, natural spaces that are marked with beneficial, but entirely adult man-made elements. I was intrigued by how the children that I photographed there re-appropriated these adult man-made objects in their play. At the Pittsburgh Center for the Arts, I am showing a body of work that references rites of passage of childhood. I am exhibiting there alongside two incredibly talented and informed female artists: Kay Healy and Allison Kaufman.

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Keep up with Maggie at maggiemillsart.com.