PATRICIA FRISCHER, the coordinator of the San Diego Visual Arts Network, writes these occasional notes. You are invited to comment on them and all comments will be read. SDVAN has the ability to choose which comments to publish and anonymous comments will not be posted nor will links to commercial or spam sites. We are grateful to you for taking the time to read this blog and invite you join this mailing list or that of www.sdvisualarts.net
Encinitas Friends of the Arts (EFA) presented an evening of dance from Indonesia, China, Spain, Ireland and America on Saturday May 11, at the Encinitas Community Center. I did not realize it at the time, but I was coming down with a stupid cold which came out later that night. Because of that I apologize for not being able to give a full report on this outstanding events. I saw the last act only in rehearsals as I had to leave early and my head was a bit muzzy and still is. But I so thoroughly enjoyed this very special evening that I have to crow. What would it have been like if I had been able to stay to the end and was on fine form? The stage was enormous, giving plenty of room for the performances and turning the humble community center into a happening place. I have included video of part of three of the performances because, after all this is dance. There also links so you can see more.But nothing replaces the experience of being there so close for what was really an intimate evening. This international event was brought to our town and we got to have a taste of these other cultures...no passport needed. I along with others feel very lucky to be living near Encinitas.
I have a few of my own paintings in a show Life Doesn't Frighten Me: Hope Inspired through Art at Fallbrook Library (124 S Mission Rd, Fallbrook, CA 92028) from March 10 - May 4, I am starting to show my own art again as I make time in my life for more of my own creations. Some of these works were created in England after our trip to India, for example the following two: Brave Hand and Power Digits. My work for this show is about the sense of safety that a child needs to grow up confident and how they turn to adults to supply that security,
Patricia Frischer
Patricia Frischer
Patricia Frischer
Patricia Frischer
Patricia Frischer
My dear friend Kira Carrillo Corser, Co-founder Compassionate ARTS in Action(kiracorser@gmail.com 510.684.4651) has been working with Fallbrook Library Arts to put this multi-media project together and includes much more than just an art exhibition with poetry, music and video performed at the opening.
Kira Corser's idea was to showcase how art might help reduce the huge suicide rate which continues to escalate in children and teens. How can that be achieved? The exhibition highlights how parents and our society as a whole needs to be involved to protect our children. They need to make sure children are not abused, that they are loved and educated. Children need to find their voices and be aided to define themselves. The Arts can play a large role in empowering them to do that and to heal from past horrors or even just subtle belittlings. Some of the artists in the show revealed their own frightening episodes and how the arts helped them to overcome fear. Others admitted they are still frightened and turn to art regularly to express themselves and find solace.
I hope you can visit this beautiful area of San Diego County during the run of the exhibition. You can read more and see a selection of images from this exhibition below.
Kira Carrillo Corser (Fallbrook), Patricia Frischer (Cardiff), Aldonia Bailey (Pasadena), Heather Bonds (Alameda), Helen Redman (San Diego), Renee Scott-Femenella (Sacramento), Brecia Kralovic-Logan (San Diego), Adeola D-aiyeloja (Redlands),Sergio V. Sanchez Mereno (La Hambra), Marilyn Huerta (San Marcos), Jennifer Colby (Monterey/Aromas) and Grace Adams (Oceanside).
Kira Carrillo Corser "We need more art programs that give a meaningful voice to life experiences so kids don't feel so alone. Art classes are often the place where youth can talk about issues and get understanding and help," said Kira Carrillo Corser. She has worked with schools, universities and community groups for 30 years. Kira worked as a photographer and journalist for KPBS TV and Radio in San Diego and then taught Social Justice art at CSU Monterey Bay and promoted meaningful art classes as Director of Arts in Education in Monterey County.
Helen Redman
Aldonia Bailey works at a shelter for homeless families, and she said the child often becomes the parent when the family is in crisis.
Heather Bonds
Marilyn Huerta
Jennifer Colby
Adeola D-aiyeloja
Sergio V. Sanchez Mereno
Renee Scott-Femenella
Grace Adams
Brecia Kralovic-Logan
The exhibition titled, " Life Doesn't Frighten Me: Hope Inspired Through Art, based on a poem by Maya Angelou. Teen suicide is soaring and Black and Brown youth teens currently have the highest rate of attempted suicide. We feel youth need a way to find more hope. Art can uniquely give voice to their feelings, validate experience and strengthen supports. This exhibit brings together stories, photography, paintings and fabric art from the perspectives of 12 artists who work to help kids and youth, plus collaborative artwork created with professional artists in this show and 40 students from Fallbrook High and CSUSM, Los Angeles and San Diego.
The opening reception is March 15, from 6:00 to 8:00 pm, with a special performance by Fe Love, a Los Angeles award winning spoken word artist at 7:00 pm, a jazz poem by Aldonia Bailey from Pasadena, and a flute song by nationally known composer, author and Vista resident, Maria Kostelas. The 12 visual artists in this show are: Kira Carrillo Corser (Fallbrook), Patricia Frischer (Cardiff), Aldonia Bailey (Pasadena), Heather Bonds (Alameda), Helen Redman (San Diego), Renee Scott-Femenella (Sacramento), Brecia Kralovic-Logan (San Diego), Adeola D-aiyeloja (Redlands),Sergio V. Sanchez Mereno (La Hambra), Marilyn Huerta (San Marcos), Jennifer Colby (Monterey/Aromas) and Grace Adams (Oceanside).
Every child needs a Safe Harbor, a place they can feel hopeful, so some of the life Issues in this show include coping with Safety & Justice; Immigration; Climate Change, Refugees, Suicide and Illness, balanced with Love, Compassion and Peace. This collection of art, is brought to the library by Kira Carrillo Corser, a Fallbrook artist and co-founder of Compassionate ARTS in Action.Posts for Peace and Justiceand Compassionate ARTS in Action is a partnership of artists working with students, communities and nonprofits to paint "Visual Conversations" - artwork on 8-foot painted Posts. Posts will be on display at the library reception and some will continue to exhibit until May 4th. These posts were made by local Fallbrook High Migrant Ed students, along with posts made with CSU San Marcos students, Los Angeles and San Diego youth and teacher/artists.
A special event designed to help people build resilience will be on March 31st, when composer and author Maria Kostelas will perform her one person interactive Literary Concert, "The Gift of the Singing Stick: Through Healing Your Worst Tragedy You Can Discover Your Greatest Gift."
The work in this exhibition strives to promote hope, to encourage community support, and envision a better more compassionate future of peace and justice. Come see what they all have to say about overcoming life obstacles and building hope!
More background:
Since, kids cope better when they don't feel alone, when they have a group of friends or family where they feel heard. So the opening night reception will include painted collaborative Posts for Peace and Justicecreated with:
·Fallbrook High's Migrant Education Students, California State University San Marcos and local Fallbrook and San Diego and Los Angeles artists
·Refugee Students in El Cajon and San Diego
·Compassionate ARTS in Action's Posts with Black and Brown Youth from Los Angeles, Santa Monica and Pasadena
Auguste Rodin was in a relationship with Camille Claudel from 1882 to 1892 while this work was being created. Jane Alison curator writes, "While their professional and intimate relationship fuelled their inspiration for
a decade, Claudel ultimately sought her creative independence from Rodin.
She continued to pursue a new direction in her own work until 1905, but their
final break up and her precarious financial situation aggravated her mental
health. At her family’s request, she was incarcerated in 1913 and passed
away in 1943 after 30 years of solitary exile."
At the Barbican Art Center we met our artist friends Boyd and Evans to seeModern Couples: Art, Intimacy and the Avant-garde. But what we really ended up doing was reading about the couples included in this show as there was very little visual stimulus. The curator of this show Jane Alison somehow managed to take artist couples who were undoubtedly full of exotic erotic sexual deeds and extracted the driest possible images of their lives together. There is a famous movie from the 70's called No Sex Please, We're British and it appears that sex is often the subject of the show but seems to also be absent from the exhibition. Over 50 couples are explored in so many rooms that we all had crossed eyes and visual indigestion.
But when I was studying art history, I was taught little about the lives of the artists. This gathering of data made me concentrate on the relationships that existed while works of art were being created. The text is very educational but reading it in the comfort of your own home is a much improved way of getting this information. You can have practically the same experience I did just Download the Large Print Exhibition Guide.
There are a few exceptions. Tamara de Lempicka as part of the lesbian group encouraged by Virginia Woolf’s A Room of One’s Own is represented by the image below. Although we see the works of Frida Kohla, Barbara Hepworth and Georgia O'Keefe, most of the women in this display were less well known that their male counterpoints. So it was good to see them take equal stage space at the Barbican.
Tamara de Lempicka
Federico GarcÃa Lorca and Salvador Dalà are described thus, "The extent of their sexual relationship is unclear." But letters to Lorca from Dali include, "You are a Christian storm and you are in need of some of my paganism [...] I will go get you and give you some seaside medicine. It will be winter and we will light a fire. The poor beasts will be trembling with the cold. You will recall that you are an inventor of marvelous things and we will live together with a portrait machine..."
I enjoyed reading about Emilie Flöge and Gustav Klimt who had a relationship between 1892–1918. Flöge was a fashion designer in Vienna and " for a short time at least they were also
romantically involved." It was easy to imagine the dresses she designed on his models. "They were also fervent advocators of
the Secession’s promotion of the Gesamtkunstwerk or ‘total
work of art’ that championed an integration of art and
design in every aspect of life." We saw many artist teams, which were activist.
Images in this blog are not always the images in the show since no photography was allowed. I have used illustrations available online
We really enjoyed the New Brewery Arts Galleryin Cirencester (pronounced like Siren Cester)where there was a lovely exhibition of hand painted signs Sign UP...evidently there are still 300 sign painters still working in the UK and the art is being revived. The team of Colin and Louise Hawkins were also on site at this craft center, blowing and etching glass.
This is lettered on a skateboard!
I could not resist posting what looks like a rubbing...I am a sucker for all things Darwin.
See the detail below as this is back painted and embellished on glass.. You would swear it was raised letters, but it is completely flat. So glad someone is still doing this technique.
Lunch at Made by Bob also in Cirencester was chic and trendy. Bob
Parkinson is a former head chef at Bibendum one of our favorite restaurants in
London. Located in the newly refurbished Corn Hall, we especially like the fish
soup. Corn Hall also host the Friday antique fair and I bought some useful used
leather gloves lined in fur which later fell apart! But I replaced them with good warm gloves that can be worn while using a cell phone. When the weather is cold, this is very useful indeed. I know, not much use in southern CA but I am not done traveling yet.
Fish soup with garlic sauce and Parmesan topped crouton.
Beet salad with creamy goat cheese was a little funky.
Darwin at this time was still waiting for his fish and chips but eventually had haddock and chips twice and with a full English breakfast once to complete his must have food in the UK.
We went
to The Organics Farm Shop recommended
by my friend Peter Logan. His instructions were perfect, including the cones
warning of the bump which we navigated smoothly! We bought some lovely things
including an England Walnut Tart which we are planning to share on Monday with
friends from Scotland coming to stay overnight. I was tempted by the textiles but having just come
from India decided to give it a miss.. Much colder today so glad to be back
home in Purton with a cup of ginger tea.
We had a wonderful Indian meal at the local last night The Maharajah...very mild but wonderful flavor...a mussala
chicken and kurma lamb.I have seen
these spelled all sorts of ways like massala and korma, I think, but of course
every restaurant has its own recipes. These were an intense red for the chicken
and yellow ochre color for the lamb and just delicious. We had okra and naan
bread with it and we have leftovers as well. I know we are pathetic, but we
really enjoyed this version and the chance to eat Indian-type food that we were
unable to eat in India. I know I should be showing photos to you of the roaring fire and the cozy bar at The Wild Duck Inn, part of the Lucky Onion group, and the abundant plates of food. This includes Cornish mussels in a cider and bacon sauce, roast pork with crackling, roast potatoes, carrot and parsnip, cauliflower cheese and Yorkshire pudding (with no room for pudding dessert) but instead I am including these moss covered rocks and toad stool seat because they photographed better than the rest and were more symbolic of the lovely drive through the country side we took to get to this eatery.
It is time to go home…I know this as I can’t possibly eat
another meal at a gastropub. We had lamb
burgers and confit of duck and a pheasant burger (KFP instead of KFC) pheasant pieces bound together in a nice
sauce and then breaded and deep fried and served on a bun with lettuce and
tomato. I made the wise decision to only eat half but only so the table could have sticky toffee pudding. AND we stopped at an Aldi and
they have wonderful fresh pastry so we have chocolate croissants, fig and
walnut loaf, cheese buns and white chocolate chip cookies as friends were
coming for tea and breakfast. Needless to say there were leftovers.
Most of our errands were done in Royal Wooten Basset. I tell you this as I just like saying Royal Wooten Basset....sounds like a place in a P.G. Wodehouse novel where Bertie Wooster would live. Lots of small towns are suffering with empty shops, but in the UK these are all given over to charity resale emporiums. Royal Wooten Basset has 5 of them on the high street which is a lot considering there are only about 30 shops in this hamlet. Recycling is an ongoing way of life here through these efforts.
Back to CA
for us and only salads, where the richest thing we should eat is the occasional
avocado.
Lovely little cow sculpture in the garden of the The Bell. It was actually snowing when I took this image which appears to be in the fog.
If any of you are interested in Brexit, we did get an earful from our friends...so much so that one man banned us from talking about it at a lunch party! A general consensus is not possible except that everyone agrees it is a mess. Equal time was given to Trump...nuff said.
One more day in London...watch this space for the last blog from our travels once we return home.
