I love this guy. Alex Ross writes about music for The New Yorker. He is so reliably brilliant, and my musician sister Rebecca and I both turn to his articles first when the magazine arrives at our respective homes. Then we call and talk about the nuance he captured or yet another poignant insight. His […]
Wisdom
Transgressive Women
I have been thinking a lot about transgressive women. There are so many ways to be transgressive, and I have my personal stylistic favorites. Much of my thinking has been triggered by reading a friend’s new book, Well Behaved Women Seldom Make History, by Laurel Ulrich. She has highlighted the lives of three women who […]
Antidote to Overload
I am heartened by the attention being garnered by Timothy Ferriss’ new book, The 4-Hour Workweek. As the texture of all of our lives has been complexified by information overload, Ferriss has been one of the first credible voices to say, Whoa. From the New York Times: Mr. Ferriss has seen his book quickly become […]
Wisdom, and Lots of Silence
Creativity comes from trust. Trust your instincts. And never hope more than you work. –Rita Mae Brown These days I’m filling life with a lot more silence than is usual for me. Just a single thought or insight seems food enough for a day in the studio. And each morning begins by breaking everything apart […]
Nature, Seeing, Thinking
A few koan-like insights on art, nature, seeing and thinking: Art is not what we see; it is in the spaces between. –Marcel Duchamp . . Everything we see hides another thing, we always want to see what is hidden by what we see. Only thought can resemble. It resembles by being what it sees, […]
The Rounded Head
Francis Picabia in his studio If you want to have clean ideas, change them as often as you change your shirts. Our heads are round so that our thinking can change directions. –Francis Picabia Picabia (1879-1953) had a life that included a number of shirt changes. He lived in Paris at a point in time […]
Who Do You Serve?
Alice Notley, poet I don’t know much of the poetry of Alice Notley, but the Sunday New York Times review of her latest volume, In the Pines, piqued my curiosity. Here are a few paragraphs from Joel Brouwer’s lively review: Over the course of Alice Notley’s long and prolific career — she’s written more than […]
The Compound Eye
Elizabeth Bishop. I’ve written about her and her poetry many times before on this blog. But her effect on my interior landscape is like frost heaves, pushing up vertically through the thickest pavement and foundation stone. It is not just her final poetic product that captivates me, but also the way in which she went […]
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Curious Acts and Taking Leave
Curators extraordinaire Kate Fleming and Nancy Hoffmeier came to my studio this week to choose work for my next show*. Kate shared a comment with me that she heard from another artist: “Over the years I’ve watched people coming to my shows, and it seems to me that a person has to have strong self […]
A Crowd of Sorrows
The Guesthouse This being human is a guesthouse. Every morning a new arrival. A joy, a depression, a meanness, some momentary awareness comes as an unexpected visitor. Welcome and entertain them all! Even if they’re a crowd of sorrows, who violently sweep your house empty of its furniture, still, treat each guest honorably. He may […]