wishes & dreams

'wishes & dreams' chunky book swap

a plug for my sis...

It may look like my sister Veronica is knocked out from her moving into her new house... but it's really a shot from the 'CSI Crime Scene Investigation' that is on tonight, April 27, Channel 2 at 9:00pm PST.
Many people don't know Veronica is my sister...check out her website when you get the chance.
www.veronica-cartwright.com

change is hard...

I'm kinda sad today...I've been helping my sister, Veronica, move to her new house all morning. Loading up her belongings in the big moving vans, sorting through the bits and pieces that didn't make it into boxes, helping to keep her calm amid the flurry of moving men.
13 years my sister has lived next door to me. I'm grateful for that. Some people don't even have their sisters in the same state as they are. But it's still hard that today...she's moving away.
She's not going far...but you still have to get in a car to drive there instead of going through the side gate we had put between our properties. We called ourselves Ethel and Lucy...and now things will be a different...and I'm just kinda bummed out that Ethel is moving to a new place she will call home.

Change is hard...

spring has sprung!

I had such Easter finery when I was young. The lace, the petticoat, the matching handbag and easter bonnet. I think I'm about 5 or 6 here, definetly looking forward to the Easter egg hunt that is sure to follow.
sigh...I really had the Easter spirit in those days.
Last week, I decided at the last minute, I would fly to Denver,Colorado, rent a car and drive to Fort Collins. It was actually raining when I arrived at the massive Denver airport, and I took the shuttle to the rental cars engulfed in snow flurries. After renting my red car, my brother (who used to live in Colorado) had told me to head for the mountains...only problem was, I couldn't see them...but I survived, and headed to Fort Collins only to find the sun coming out once I reached Longmont. The sun continued to stay out for the rest of my visit. I wanted to visit Fort Collins so I could take Celine Navarro's class that she was teaching at 'Timeless Creations'. I also wanted to meet my email pals Sarah Fishburn and Tiffini Electra X. Sarah and I have some projects we have been working on, and I really wanted to meet her in person. It was like we had known each other for years. It was fun to meet Tiffini also. She had created some of her fabulous bottlecap jewelry with my photographs for my exhibit, and she had done such a terrific job.
Here's me with Sarah, Tiffini and Celine


'Timeless Creations' is a terrific store. Christi has it stocked with tons of art supplies and the lastest in altered art...so I was in heaven. I had a great four days, playing with paint, exchanging tips and ideas and being warmly accepted into Sarah's wonderful family. While carving stamps into erasers in Sarah's kitchen, Celine was watching 'The Sound of Music' in the other room. She had never seen it before so I bought her the DVD, the one that has us speaking in French as well as English, so she could take it home to her family in France. We had a blast.
I have a list as long as my arm of things I need to get done. So amid deadlines for this and that...I am helping my sister Veronica move to a new home, and trying to find time to make some art. Veronica is on 'CSI' on the 28th of April...she plays a mother-in-law from hell. I can't wait to see it...hope you'll tune in too.
Wishing you all a happy Spring and Easter.

smart cat!

Kachina...my cat with attitude!

come and gone...

The Artist Reception for my exhibit 'Beyond The Pale' has come and gone. The gallery was bustling with lovers of photography, family and friends who came to offer support and check out my latest endeavor. The evening was a blast and very successful.

Here is writer extraordinaire James V. Hart, my daughter Becca, me, my son Jesse, my sister Veronica, Jim's wife and long time pal Judy (who had just flown in from New York with Jim), and hubby Steve.


A beautiful bouquet of red roses was delivered from Phil Erklen and the IMS Syndicate, my friends in Colorado. They are gorgeous.

...Musician, actor and old pal Bill Mumy dropped by and told me my other shows were like "Meet the Beatles", but this show was like "Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band"...what a compliment...!WOW

A big thanks to Vince and Mardjie, owners of A Studio Gallery and Franks Black & White Custom Lab (which is behind the gallery). They are terrific people to be associated with. A STUDIO GALLERY is excludively a black and white photography gallery. My art begins with black and white fiber prints of my images that I hand-paint and merge with altered art techniques and mixed media.

I loved making this art. It was a journey that was so fulfilling and has ignited a passion to keep spreading my wings...It is so freeing to have the show up and out there. If you can't come by in person and want to take a look, I have posted the exhibit on my website.
www.acartwrightstudio.com/beyondthepale.htm

looking beyond the pale...sigh

Today I feel like I am arriving at the end of my journey...that may sound a little dramatic...but when you have an exhibit, ask any artist, it takes a lot out of you.
It's not just the time, the work and the intensity of a deadline...it's an emotional journey too.
I feel like it's the last day of high school...or that last day of work on a movie set...it is exciting, sad, and it feels good to sigh...

If any of you who are wondering why my show is called 'Beyond the Pale'...It's an expression that was used in my family when I was a child. (Remember my family is from England and we have lots of quirky sayings that have been passed on...)
It seemed a perfect name for an exhibit that would be stepping outside the comfort zone of how people view photography. I was exploring a variety of techniques in the presentation of these photographs that would be shown in a gallery where we exclusively exhibit black and white photography (and my handpainted photography in the past.) I needed to maintain the perimeters of the gallery...(no digital, no color photographs and all black and white photographs that are hand trayed on archival paper.)
I would keep the integrity of what we displayed at the galley by handpainting my black and white photographs with oils... but then I went on to explore layers of acrylic and watercolor paint and fabric, print and ephemera, mosaic, inks and collage, all merging together and embracing my images.

For those of you who are curious...here is an explanation of what 'beyond the pale' means.

Pale is a historic term for a pointed stake driven into the ground to form part of a fence. This meaning has been around in English since the fourteenth century. By 1400 it had taken on various figurative senses, such as a defense, a safeguard, a barrier, an enclosure, or a limit beyond which it was not permissible to go. With this usage, the word pale has nothing to do with the adjective for something light in color except that both come from Latin roots. The one referring to color is from the Latin verb pallere, to be pale, whilst our one is from palus, a stake.
In particular, it was used to describe various defended enclosures of territory inside other countries. The expression beyond the pale, meant outside the bounds of acceptable behavior. The idea behind it was that civilization stopped at the boundary of the pale and beyond lay those who were not under civilized control and whose behavior therefore was not that of gentlemen. The paling fence is significant as the term pale became to mean the area enclosed by such a fence and later, the figurative meaning of 'the area that is enclosed and safe'. So, to be 'beyond the pale' was to be outside the area accepted as 'home'.

And so...as I add the last touches and prepare the canvases and wood boxes for their unveiling I can't help but feel a sigh of relief. I'll be posting the exhibit on my website after it opens and I will let you know when that is up.

whiter shades of pale

I just finished my 'white' chunky book page I made for a swap and here it is. It kind of looks like I've felt all week...a shade of pale.
I've been under the weather for the past week. I don't get sick very often, but I'm afraid this bug got me. It's been chilly here in LA and I've had my slippers on all week. Drinking enough tea that I'm surprised I haven't floated away. I've still been making art...but it's been slow going...just haven't felt the spark...however, today I turned a corner and I feel human again...

Surfing around and checking out my friends blogs is a good thing to do when you are feeling uninspired and out of sorts. I was thrilled to see Celine Navarro used one of my nest transparencies from the 'Cottage Garden Collection' in a piece of her artwork on the home page of her website. The three collections of Angela Cartwright artist papers, vellums and transparencies are available from Stampington & Company if you want to check them out... http://stampington.com/html/somerset_artistpapers_ac.html


Here's a piece I love that Sarah Fishburn made called 'Real Life' using several of the transparencies from the 'Casa Vista Collection.'

In 'Transparent Art' several artists used my transparencies in their art throughout the book. Did you know that's my photograph that Nina Bagley used in her art hanging on the cover of the book? Nina gave me this treasure and I hung it in a small window in my home that I pass everyday. I have really enjoyed discovering the many uses of transparencies and using them in my art...and it's a thrill to see my photography being used in other peoples art too.

Here's a piece I just finished with my angel transparency from the Stone Portals 3 sheet. I need an angel on my shoulder to catch up on everything now that I've lost the week...
Instead I have an angel at my feet...

Color wets my Palette

It was a colorful weekend. I took a break to attend a color theory class with Kelly Kilmer on Saturday at Zinnia's. When preparing for a show it's essential to me to take time to just absorb and Kelly's class was the perfect vehicle for that.

Color evokes emotions...
RED: passion,love,courage,respect,honor,bravery,lust,joy
ORANGE: wonder, fascination,ambition,energy,stimulation
YELLOW: friendship,love,joy,intellect,enlightenment
BLUE: sorrow,hope,faith,spirituality
GREEN: balance,healing,harmony,reconciliation
PURPLE: enchantment,nobility,leadership,power,authority
GOLD: healing
SILVER: intuition
WHITE: purity,clarity,sincerity,hope,health,enlightenment,perfection
BLACK:darkness,guilt,depression,fear,resentment
PINK: unconditional love, need of/loss of something
GRAY: void,uncertainty
BROWN: practical,earthy,nature



I'm feeling very sienna brown today, a touch of orange and white mixed with my brown...

We played with paint, got our fingernails dirty (and our clothes) and I felt refreshed and inspired. Thanks Kelly for a good time...check out her blog if you get the chance http://kellykilmer.blogspot.com/ . I swear she is one of the hardest working teachers I know. And Zinnia is a very cool store...cheers Tamara!http://www.zinnia.biz/
Isn't color one of wonders of the world?

prescence: The state or fact of being present

There's a plethora of things swirling around me in my world right now. Looming in the near future is my new exhibit 'Beyond The Pale'. It's a collection of handpainted photography merged with altered art. I am working day and night, March 26th is a blink away.
My hands are filled with paint...as are my clothes...I never understand how I usually have it all over my face as well. And my poor cuticles.
I was thinking today...It should be mandatory that every one should own an IPOD. How it helps me to be present. When my favorite music hits my eardrums... I get swept up and the world melts away. It is totally different than hearing music from somewhere in the room...this music that is inside my head, makes me feel so much more centered and focused on what I'm doing. If you haven't tried it, you might like it. It truly offers me a helpful hand when I create art.
OK...Sting and my break is over now...

No Words

I read once that the ancient Egyptians had fifty words for sand & the Eskimos had a hundred words for snow. I wish I had a thousand words for love, but all that comes to mind is the way you move against me while you sleep & there are no words for that.
Brian Andreas

Games Of The Board

How about that Shaun White! It was awesome to watch him nab his gold medal in snowboarding. The thing that struck me was... these guys are having Fun. That was refreshing to see.
Which made me recall a photo I took of my daughter Becca when she was 3 years old. She loved to dress up...I loved to take pictures...and it was Olympic time 1984. Girls just wanna have fun...and so we did...

a day in the life...

I had jury duty this week and I took the Metro down to Civic Center. It made it so easy to get off the train and walk to courthouse. I'm sorry to say I had never riden the LA Metro before...never really had a reason to. It was fast, clean and efficent.(That's me in the train window on my way downtown)



There is cool art all around you. It's filled with painted tiles and artsy walls.


After I was excused from the case they had assigned me to, I took the train home again. It was nice not to hassle with parking garages and rush hour traffic on the freeway.It's something to look into if you visit Los Angeles and want to see the sites. It's a great way for LA residents to cut down on stress if the trains are going where you need to be. Give it a try sometime.

Snapshots

I watched 'Born Into Brothels' last night. It won the Academy Award for best documentary last year, but I just got around to seeing it. It was engaging and inspiring. It reminded me of how effective photography is in our world. How it can change ones thinking and reminds us to see...

I am sharing with you here one of my favorite passages. I cannot read this without getting goose bumps. I guess it appeals to my passion for photography.

If you observe an ordinary object or body very closely, it is transformed into something scared. The camera can reveal secrets the naked eye or mind cannot capture; everything disappears except for the thing that is the focus of the picture. The photograph is an exercise in observation, and the result is always a stroke of luck.
The camera is a simple apparatus, even the most inept person can use it; the challenge lies in creating with it that combination of truth and beauty called art. That quest is above all spiritual. I seek truth and beauty in the transparency of an autumn leaf, in the perfect form of a seashell on the beach, in the curve of a woman’s back, in the texture of an ancient tree trunk, but also in more elusive forms of reality.
Sometimes, working with an image in my darkroom, the soul of a person appears, the emotion of an event or vital essence of some object; at that moment, gratitude explodes in my heart and I cry. I can’t help it.

‘Portrait in Sepia’ Isabel Allende

Wall Games

One of the things I enjoy playing is the game of Mah Jongg. When our kids were still in grade school I started playing this game every month with three dear friends. The four of us have mixed the tiles, wished for jokers, pot lucked dinners, shared our thoughts, laughed, cried and discovered ourselves over the tiles for the past 10 years. This month we are celebrating our 10th Anniversary of playing Mah Jongg and playing the game of life.

Art Parts

Where did January go? Didn't I just take down my Christmas tree? I have several deadlines that I have been buckling down to tackle.
I'm getting the next show ready at A STUDIO GALLERY which is called "LARGE SHOW of small images" Every photo is beautifully matted and framed 8x10, no photo is larger than 5x6...perfect for those small places.... It's going to be really a great group show...deadline is January 31st if you want one of your photos in the exhibit. Go to the website if you want info: http://www.astudiogallery.com or just come to the show...February 19th - March 24th.

There's a big project I've been working on with 14 talented artists that I'm very excited about...sorry I can't say any more about it at this time...but let's hope it can be posted soon...

I was notified that an article I wrote 'Stamping into Photographs" is going to be printed in the March/April Somerset Studios magazine. Hope you'll keep a lookout for that.

Every minute I can I'm working on my upcoming exhibit 'Beyond the Pale' opening March 26th at A Studio Gallery...I have lot's to do so I better get back to the art room...

The Days of our Lives

...Like the sands through the hourglass... so go the days of our lives...ok, so I could not help myself. I just had to post that my son Jesse has a recurring role as Officer Hammond on "Days Of Our Lives." He is playing a rookie cop trying to solve the hit and run accident that has killed Zack Brady... It's fun watching Jesse on tv and he is having a blast filming it. In case you want to tune in...NBC - 1:00pm pst.

Chicago...my kinda town

In December my daughter Becca and I headed to Chicago for a special dinner at the beautiful Lovells of Lake Forest Restaurant in Illinois. You'll see some familiar faces in this shot, Ruth Buzzi, June Lockhart, Jon Provost, Tony Dow, Paul Peterson, Dawn Wells, Ken Osmond, Jerry Mathers, Joyce DeWitt, Larry Thomas, Kathy Garver, Russell Johnson and Charlotte Martin...Becca enjoyed hanging out with Nate Torrence the Capital One guy and the fellows from 'The Christmas Story' Scott Schwartz, RD Robb, Ian Petrella and Zach Ward. Fortunately Becca and I were able to take a few days to enjoy Chicago in the snow, shopping Michigan Avenue and enjoying the sites.