Studio Notes - June 2022

Oscar Hammerstein was right when he wrote “June Is Busting Out All Over.”  This spring has been extraordinary here in Maine and we remain relatively untouched by the hideous weather that seems to have been hitting most of the regions of the country.  We are grateful but certainly understand that we could be next.  Now who said, “Gather ye rosebuds while ye may”?

To see:  I would be remiss if I didn’t suggest you see The Sensuous Line at Cove Street Arts in Portland.  I curated it and the artists include Sondra Bogdonoff, Pat Campbell, Avy Claire, Judith Daniels, Lissa Hunter, Gene Koch, Scott Simons, Alice Spencer, Ellen Wieske, Jeff Woodbury.  If you can’t be at the gallery in person, please go to the website. And there will be a video posted by July 1 that captures the entire show.  Curator’s talk will be Thursday, July 21 from 6:30 to 7:30.
 

To do:  Go fly a kite. Take a hike.  Go jump in the lake.  Have you ever wondered why these expressions of dismissal are all outdoor activities that really are pretty swell things to do?  Must be because most come from the 1940s when being outdoors was to be shunned in preference for the newly improved interior spaces that came with the postwar boom in the US.  Now they sound pretty great.  I think I’ll take a hike.  You?

To read:  Kirby saw an article in The Hedgehog Review online (first published in Tablet) that he thought I would like.  He was right.  The article is The Great Debasement by Alice Gribbin.  She expresses beautifully what I have thought for a long time about the state of the arts in contemporary society.  And it isn’t pretty.

Coming up: 
Steady work for the foreseeable future which is always a good thing.  Two shows scheduled for next year (one with friend and fab artist, Carol Stein in San Diego) and the possibility of a book.  And then there is hip replacement surgery in December!

As we are all still trying to figure out how to navigate the waters of uncertainty in the world today, let’s hope that we are on the right tack.  May you have fair winds and following seas.

All best,

Lissa