Dear Tina,
We have had many phone conversations about this exact topic and I wondered if you had seen this video. I love how he shares what is possible and encourages curiosity, wonder, imagination and self-taught learning as this is where we both believe the real magic happens. It got me juiced up for sure and filled with possibility. I wanted to extend this conversation to our readers. What are your thoughts on this topic?
Laura
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Read about this new series HERE.
Tina Vision 1: Script
Dear Tina,
Your first Vision in our new series reminded me of my travels to Italy and all the architecture my eyes memorized. Everything was a feast for the visual, even the graffiti. The old buildings had such character with the layers and layers of paint. I thought of how layered and complex we are, each with our own unique story and history, much like these buildings. I started off using moulding paste to create a textured background, then built up my surface from there by adding saturated color, sanding and reapplying the paint to give it a worn, old look. It took me a few tries to get the text right. My handwriting isn’t as beautiful as old, italian script but it is unique to me and allowed me to play which is how I process, learn and grow as an artist.
I photographed an early version of my piece on top of a gorgeous aqua colored peeling door from Caroline Quartermaine‘s book Revealed, one of the all time favorite books in my collection. It is light, fresh, airy and romantic. Her use of vintage items paired with fresh, vibrant, saturated color is AMAZING! She has a unique way of styling so many of the things I love like flowers, vintage book pages, color and art, not to mention her use of script on textiles in lush gold and silver paint. Simply divine. Thought you might like this video on her and thoughts on creativity and studio practice.
Very inspiring….xoLaura
Laura’s ReVision 1: Script Series
Dear Laura,
Laura’s Vision 1 -Script
You know I am a big fan of maps so to see your Vision with the globe got me excited to sift through my collection of maps. Some I have acquired from others who were disposing of them (aka- dumpster dive), some have been given to me, while others I have purchased along the way. I initially thought I was going to draw a map of some sort, but then got very interested in the letter stencils I picked up at the art store. I was doing some research on Jasper John’s use of letters and stencils in his work so began playing with composition randomly. This was great and will continue this either in my own work or for our next Vision/ReVision. I think what I enjoyed about this was the layering of shapes of the letters and improvisation. I started with graphite pencil, tried a few color attempts (and lost), and experimented with a new transfer technique (also lost), so I settled on a little bit of color and a sewn on map element rather than a transfer. I also started on a rough drawing paper but learned I do not like this. I like it very smooth so I can blur and smudge my lines.
As we spoke on the phone earlier, this project is so fantastic because it offers us an opportunity to try something new. The result may not be what we hoped and planned for at the beginning, but the process always leads us to more ideas. What a gift to share with you!
Tina
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Hey there~
I am in what I call “studio disaster” creative mode getting ready for my display at the Mystic Arts Center. They will have 30 artisan’s showing their work until the end of December including my friend Dora’s BEAUTIFUL jewelry. I still need to finish inventorying everything. I am close but it takes longer than you think! While working I have been enjoying some TED talks. Do you know of them? There are SO many good ones! If you have any favorites please let me know as I am always looking for something with good content to inspire me while I work. I really enjoyed this one and wondered what you thought? I found him super entertaining, humorous and insightful. Please share your thoughts in the comments. It will make me feel connected to you and I always enjoy what you have to say.
Happy Day to you!
love, Laura
p.s. I will be at the Holiday Gala tomorrow night at the Mystic Arts Center. This is the opening reception with the artists in attendance (Friday November 16th, 6 to 8pm). The night of the Gala is also a fundraiser for the Mystic Art Center and includes gift wrapping, light fair and wine for $40, please see MAC’s website for details.
The rest of the show is FREE to attend from November 17th to December 29th and is open daily from 11 am to 5pm.
Friday, November 16th to December 29th 11:00am- 5:00pm
Artisan Gift Salon At the Mystic Art Center in Mystic, CT
www.mysticarts.org
Directions: http://mysticarts.org/visit/directions/
4 RepliesDear Laura,
Usually I would email you this thought, but decided to post it here thinking other people may be interested in this.I have been doing some research on artists I would like to share with my Drawing I students at the College of Charleston this semester and came across Mary Heilmann on the Art 21 website. She has many insightful comments throughout the video about her art practice but one struck a chord with me. She said that in graduate school she realized her work was about “communicating and having a conversation through the work”. This certainly sounds like our experience at Goddard College when we were there, right? This is also an essential piece of the work we do together. It is why we humbly started to send one another artwork through the mail six years ago.
Another point she made was about titling her artwork. This process is one I have been thinking greatly about lately. Mary said that her titles are “three word poems” that relate to what was going on in her life while creating the work. She keeps an active journal and pulled ideas from that often. This is a similar process I used recently with many of my latest sculptures. How do you title your works Laura? I know when I am viewing an art exhibition that I look to the titles for hints on the artist’s intentions.
At the end of this short video it will ask you if you want to continue watching. If you do, click the button and it will redirect you to the website where the rest of the episode is on the PBS website.
I hope you all enjoy what Mary has to say here~ Tina
Watch the full episode. See more ART:21.
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I have been a long admirer of Elizabeth Gilbert and really appreciated her perspective on creative genius. How many of you have had this experience? Such a juicy topic for conversation! Hope to start one…Laura
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Artist, Robin Luciano Beaty: She is having an Open studio THIS weekend!
I have been in love with Robin Luciano Beaty’s work since I first saw it at the Three Graces Gallery in NH many years ago. I remember the day, I had just picked up the beautiful wedding band Brett had made for me from Kaya (It was the year I was getting married!!! Can you believe that was almost 5 years ago?!?!?) and popped into the gallery for a moment to to escape the torrential downpour in Portsmouth that day. I have always admired the gallery owners eye for unique artwork and handmade creations. Robin’s work was no different. Her paintings are wonderfully calming, layered, and rich with texture. She is an encaustic painter which is a media I have been wanting to explore more ever since I took a workshop many years ago with Tracy Spadafora and LOVED it! Thinking back, this was probably where I first began to fall in love with mixed media. I know I will explore encaustic painting more in the future but for now I can’t put down my paint! I will leave you with my latest painting called, “expansion”. I have been thinking a lot about growth and what I am learning today about friendship, love and art.
Happy day! love, laura
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Magical Marlene White in her studio
There is such MAGIC in visiting an artists’ studio, don’t you think? You get a rare little peek into their private, creative space and are given this amazing gift as they share their soulful environment with you. You never know how you will be moved and invigorated and I find that so intoxicating. Maybe you will learn what inspires them, a new technique or simply how they manage their time. I was lucky enough to get a taste of all of the above when I went to visit my friend Marlene’s studio in Oakland CA. I had the luxury of seeing her work for the first time in person and I must say I was a bit giddy! Marlene has a cozy little nook at the Hive where 30 other artists reside. My first impression was how great it would be to be surrounded by so many creative people! Just having people who understand this “artist life” and who can offer critical feedback, encouragement and support is SO essential in keeping the creative juices flowing.
One of Marlene's groovy paintings!
Going to grad school with Marlene was also a gift. I got to see first hand how video became part of her creative process. Many of the paintings she made during this time are HUGE! This little sheep is one of her newer pieces. I love how she left the wood showing through, as well as the groovy patterns. You may remember I have quite a thing for polka dots!
One of Marlene's sketchbooks
I got to peek into the many pages of wonder as Marlene shared her sketchbook with me.
I delighted in seeing where her creative ideas originated.
Marlene's "inspiration board"
Marlene is also very organized and I noticed how she used this chalkboard to record some of her ideas and creative goals. I keep a similar board in my studio with inspiring images and ideas. Seeing her “inspiration board” reminded me that I need to revisit my own which I had tucked away before my Open Studio. I am presently ablaze of new ideas from this trip!
Marlene's "scroll sketchbook"
I appreciate how Marlene will use materials she has on hand or that people at her studio leave in a common use area. This clever “sketchbook” was created using some inexpensive brown craft paper on a roll. I loved watching her unroll them down the hallway and seeing the mass of patterns, drawings and color.
detail of Marlene's artwork
Earrings or miniature paintings?
Marlene also makes miniature versions of her paintings into earrings. Aren’t they so fun and colorful? They look even better in person where you can appreciate the detail. She has been VERY busy since I left California preparing for her own Open Studio at the Hive. It is enthralling to see how the “beginnings” of some her paintings now finished. I am especially loving her book cover paintings and the backgrounds she created for them. You can see them on her groovy BLOG along with some of the new wood burning she is doing! I love LOVE Love my friend MARLENE WHITE!!! and cannot thank her enough for her kindness & generosity in sharing both her studio and herself with me! She is certainly an artist you will want to follow for constant inspiration! You never know what she will have brewing in her studio!
love ya dolly!
xoLaura
p.s. It would be lovely if you would say “hello” to Marlene and send her good energy for a successful Open Studio!
Here is a link to one of Marlene’s Magical video’s. There are SO many, you will want to see them all! I had a little trouble embedding it:
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Dear Friends,
We have had many conversations around holding our ideas secret for fear of someone taking our ideas as their own. For those who choose to participate in having an online presence (blog, website, facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, etc etc), this really cuts to the heart of why have an online presence at all. Why put one’s ideas out there if anyone can come along and just swipe it, publish it, and make a million bucks? Well, we here at Laura Two Tina, believe that it is very rare that someone would do this. We really do believe there are more good people than bad. This is a difficult mantra to maintain some days given how the media bombards us with negativity, but we are determined to keep our positive wits and attitude about us. Most importantly, we believe that our work is worthy of sharing with you all here. Going back to our original thought of protecting our collaborative ideas we have thought about copyrights, and then we found an even better answer with Creative Commons. We feel strongly that this is more in tune with the current digital culture and most importantly with our personal goals for collaboration.
Check out this video as an introduction. To quote from their website:
“Creative Commons has released “A Shared Culture,” a short video by renowned filmmaker Jesse Dylan. Known for helming a variety of films, music videos, and the Emmy Award-winning “Yes We Can” Barack Obama campaign video collaboration with rapper will.i.am, Dylan created “A Shared Culture” to help spread the word about the Creative Commons mission.”
In the video, some of the leading thinkers behind Creative Commons describe how the organization is helping “save the world from failed sharing” through free tools that enable creators to easily make their work available to the public for legal sharing and remix. Dylan puts the Creative Commons system into action by punctuating the interview footage with dozens of photos that have been offered to the public for use under CC licenses. Similarly, he used two CC-licensed instrumental pieces by Nine Inch Nails as the video’s soundtrack music. These tracks, “17 Ghosts II” and “21 Ghosts III,” come from the Nine Inch Nails album Ghosts I-IV, which was released earlier this year under a Creative Commons BY-NC-SA license. (See attribution details at this link)
SO, yes we do own all the ideas on this website under the standard copyright laws, but we are allowing some wiggle room for you to try out some of our ideas with your own flavor. Here is what our Creative Commons License indicates (check out our button on the right hand margin of this page):
We hope this clarifies for you who we are and what we hope to be for you. We hope that more people collaborate, share, and co-create and we see this bit of legalize as a way of allowing for that. Please let us know if anything on our blog inspires you to do a similar project of your own with another person and we would like to give you a dedicated blog post. We would really enjoy seeing how you may have folded our ideas into yours.
In collaboration,
Tina and Laura
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Here is our announcement to the Spring Open Studio! SO cute, right?!?!?
Hello dear friends!
Lately my life seems to be moving nowhere fast, yet at the same time I am getting a lot accomplished. I spent most of my studio day yesterday organizing, rearranging and taking the first ever inventory of my art supplies. In the back of my mind I kept thinking there were a million things I should be doing in preparation for the Open Studio and other pressing shows, yet it felt SO good and necessary as I work towards “clearing the clutter” from my life. This isn’t easy for me as I am known to hold onto things, but deep I know letting go of what is no longer useful allows room for new things to come into your life. I am far from being finished but felt good at what I accomplished. While working I reflected on the idea of abundance and living life as a thriving artist.
Making a go of this “art thing” is not always easy, especially when you are starting out, but just recognizing and appreciating what I have in this moment filled me gratitude. I have plenty of supplies, lots of ideas, deep, lasting friendships, the love of teaching, an AMAZINGLY generous and kind husband and a beautiful place to create. As I shuffled things around I felt an energy shift and decorating ideas and inspiration surfacing. I cannot wait to implement them and share them with you!
This made me think about ways to make our Open Studio studio fresh and alive and I can hardly stand the wait! One new, wonderful addition will be the bubbly voice of the FABULOUS Mary T. Sullivan friday night! She has an amazingly delightful voice that will surely bring spring into your heart. Hope to you can make it!
I will leave you with a little video from Mary and some links to our artists! Please feel free to share this with your friends! Enjoy!
Laura
*For some reason this link isn’t showing up but you can follow it HERE until I get it fixed. Sorry about that! Worth checking out!
Our Fabulous Resident & Guest artists
&
who will be blooming with their
FABULOUS
plants for sale!
Click to enlarge
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Can art change the WORLD?
How about your PERCEPTION?
I ABSOLUTELY loved this video from the TED talks and wanted to share it with you. This little french artist JR is SO inspiring! I would love to know if your perception of street art shifted after watching this. I especially love the work he did towards the end. Fascinating! Anyone interested in starting a local Inside Out project? What would YOU like to reveal to the world?
Happy day to YOU!
Laura
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This is one of the views from the Institute of Contemporary Art In Boston. Gorgeous isn't it?
Hello Sweet T & Friends!
As many of you know I have been in NH teaching at the Holderness School for their Artward Bound program. I just wanted to stop in and say hello and let you know how much I miss you! Things are moving quickly in NH and I am already on my second week of workshops and having an invigorating time getting to know the kids and catch up with friends. I was invited to go with the group to Boston on Saturday. We had a full afternoon and evening, first visiting the ICA and then to the theatre to see Burn the Floor~both fantastic! Here is a little snippet from the show~SO energetic and fun! Have any of you seen it?
p.s. I wanted to send out the most heartfelt thoughts and love to Japan in their time of crisis.
xoLaura
I saw this on Jen Gray’s blog and just LOVE LOVE LOVE it! I could watch it over and over and have…So beautiful!
Enjoy!
Laura
p.s. Don’t forget to leave a comment so we can enter you in our ART GIVEAWAY!
We will draw a name TOMORROW!
3 RepliesDear Tina & friends~
Grab a cup of coffee, sit back and give this a little thought. I just loved listening to her! Isn’t it always about connection? So grateful to have so many wonderful connections and friends in my life. Love your way…Laura
Happy Almost New Year!
Quotes and art are two of my favorite things and this video merges both beautifully. I was especially inspired to learn how Abraham Lincoln triumphed over so many obstacles. May inspiration & joy find you in the coming new year…xoLaura (& Tina too!)
Leave a replyhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jtnnOoxw9yo
A wild hello to you!
Okay, so you may not know this about me but I am a little bit country. Yep, it’s true! Although my parents took a liking to “the oldies” (which I still am known to rock out to) I found my early influence in country music while practically living at my best friends house growing up. Just a short walk across the street and I was transported to a mysterious, dreamy sound unlike anything I had ever heard before. I was mesmerized as Dolly Parton, Kenny Rogers and Patsy Kline’s unique voices serenading me from their record player. I am also a fan of Gwyneth Paltrow and delighted in her singing “Country Strong” at the Country Music Awards. Is there no end to her talent? It fascinates me how much effort they take to set the stage for these events and the collaborative effort that makes them seem effortless. I would love to know how many of you are “a little bit country”. If you are leave me comment below and share your favorite country singers with me~or any favorite musicians for that matter as I am ALWAYS looking for new music! Many thanks! Laura
Hello dear friends,
I saw this video on Boho girl’s blog and just LOVED it! It got me wondering if having time to yourself was important to you? Some of my favorite times are walking alone in the woods. It is where I clear my head and gain inspiration. What are your favorite ways to find quiet time for yourself? I would feel honored if you shared your thoughts in the comments. You never know how you might inspire someone with your answer. Happy Day! xoLaura
Leave a replyA little something on a Sunday evening….
Hello Tina & friends~
Here is a fun little video about ART that I saw on the fabulous Jen Gray’s blog.
Enjoy! Laura
3 RepliesGood old Joseph Campbell once said, “Follow your bliss and the universe will open doors where there were only walls.” This quote is a mantra I keep in the back of my mind as I continue to test this theory and follow my creative dream of being an artist. Since the day I decided to go back to school and earn my MFA I can honestly say doors have opened for me, just like Campbell mentioned. I found Goddard College and a progressive, self-directed model of education that aligned perfectly with who I aspired to be in the world. My graduate studies allowed me the focused time I needed to discover who I was as an artist and what at the core my work was about (NO easy feat, but I will save this is for another post). By staying true to my authentic voice and being open to new things I discovered a world of serendipitous happenings, one of them being the connections I made along the way.
Shortly after I graduated, I got my first SOLO show at Jonathan Edwards Winery through a friend who suggested me to the gallery manager and believed my work would be a good fit. This led me to my now good friend Steve Conn, a warm-hearted British native living in Stonington, CT. He also happened to be following his dream of becoming a videographer and wanted to create a video of my show-for FREE! Although I was terrified of being on video I challenged myself and did it anyway. You can see it HERE. Saying yes to this video has led to several others (which can be viewed HERE & HERE), good exposure, lots of giggles and a lasting friendship. His most recent video was at my open studio, “Spring Fling.” Although I am not fond of myself being “larger than life” on the green screen, I love how he captured the essence of the event through his thoughtful eye. I want to thank Steve from the bottom of my heart for all of the time he has generously offered in helping me follow my “bliss”. He is a delight to work with and we had TONS of laughs that’s for sure! I would HIGHLY recommend him to video your special event.
Here are few words from Steve describing his creative process:
“My work explores the relationship between movement and sound, my ability to observe and capture this and marry these elements together. Each project I make use of different concepts which leads me to focus on the angles, space, reflections, light and subject. I strive to create an overall environment that allows me to emphasize my artistic vision and share the moment to all, for today tomorrow and maybe forever. As this new door opens for me, my dreams will unfold.”
Thanks for always being so gracious!
~Laura~
p.s. To see more of Steve’s fabuloso videos visit his website: http://sconvideo.ning.com/
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