More art/Less smoke

you probably don't know this but november is national lung cancer awareness month. most people don't & that's a problem. i happen to know a little about this as my husband died from lung cancer. so do on average 400 people a day in the U.S.  women are twice as likely to die from lung cancer as from breast cancer. smoking is a primary cause but the number of people diagnosed with lung cancer who have never smoked is also on the rise. if you smoke-please try to quit. or if someone you care about smokes, encourage & help them to stop. it is the single best thing that you can do for your health- so you'll have more time to create more art.

MAD

i was recently in nyc to receive an award from Lilly Oncology on Canvas. i was honored to be chosen and the prize money went to the charity of my choice. to see all the artwork and narratives by cancer caregivers, supporters and survivors was very moving. the exhibition will tour the u.s for the next two years and there will be a book available. thank you Lilly.

while in nyc i visited MAD-the Museum of Arts and Design in Columbus Circle. Mad is the recreation of the former American Craft Museum that was across from MOMA. the museum has a fantastic exhibition on display (besides the perm. collection) called Second Lives. it includes 3-D work by contemporary artists using a wide range of materials not commonly associated with art-plastic spoons, combs, old records, paper bags, etc. that have been  made into the most unique creations. try to see it-worth the $15.00 admission. before i concentrated on painting i was a craft artist. over time the term craft  seems to have acquired a somewhat negative connotation- the directors of MAD did not use it because of this, craft being "handi-craft", a hobby, cute stuff. i'm not sure how this happened. any thoughts?

Painting Pain

The studio is almost done and i have been doing a lot of painting (not the kind i prefer to do) so that at least for a short time everything is white on white but it is killing my hands. those of you with carpal tunnel know the feeling. my workshops will be starting on oct. 4-the listing is on the silvermine guild web site. information is also now available for the third annual encaustic conference to be held the first week of june in beverly ma and there are benefits to signing up early. and keep an eye out for the prospectus for the R&F juried show which will be exhibited in 2009 at the castle gallery in new rochelle, ny.

Light

 i am learning so much about all the different aspects of light but for sure, the light in my studio is now so much better. many of my artist friends are telling me that my work should now be getting bigger and better-at least the better is always a goal. the crew who has been working here is just great and has made the process much more sane. somehow there are still so many more decisions to be made than one would think possible.

Making Progress

things are moving along. i even taught a private workshop in my garage studio! thank you kari for being adventurous, interesting, fun and creative. 

Progress report

well here's what my studio now looks like. what a mess. and here's my new working space in my garage. it is taking me a while to get adjusted but i am very fortunate to have a studio of my own and one at home. artists like to see other studios-if you have any shots send them along. 

Summer Projects

Besides the usual fun  summer activities i am cleaning out my studio so renovation can start this monday. what a project! how do we artists accumulate so many tools, materials, and maybes? i've had some maybes for ten years. you know- maybe i will use this for...... the project is estimated to take a month but hopefully it won't be that long. meanwhile i am going to work in my garage on some large paintings and when possible use the sun to fuse them. and throw out some of those maybes.

my other project has just been completed-my website is finally up! special thanks to miggs, roger, jennifer, tertuliano and gail. if you'd like to see more of my work and a look at my "before" studio just go to my site-www.nashhyon.com