Dispatches From Arts Letters & Numbers ~ Tuesday & Wednesday

My first night at Arts Letters & Numbers, we had partaken in a lively evening of discussion and tequila chez Robert and Diane.

Tuesday was a sunny if not windy day, and after an early breakfast al fresco, I made my way down to Burden Lake 3 for some lakeside en plein air painting.

The light was bright and warm and without a cloud in the sky, the blues were deep and vibrant. The water moved smoothly across the lake's surface, and one of the neighbors pointed out an eagle soaring above the tree line.

As I considered this idea I've had about muting out the landscape to create abstraction, I chose two different compositions to work with ~ a point blank horizontal horizon to abstract into color blocks, and a shoreline view, offering leaning birch as well as a rocky foreground, watery middle-ground and hilly tree-lined background.

I didn't love either of the paintings I created to be frank. They felt blah. But okay, only day one of painting. Maybe something would come of them.

Returning home in the afternoon, we prepared to depart for a community potluck dinner and weekly ping pong game at a neighbor's home. As in the evening before, we were welcomed warmly with interest in our art and friendly conversation. After squeaking out a doubles ping pong win (it has been a while since I've played), we headed home for bed.

Wednesday was an ultra productive painting day, as overnight I had somehow been inspired turn my insipid landscapes of the day before into a statement about the obscuration and obliteration of nature that seems to be gaining momentum with the country's leadership (and let's be honest, a lot of society too....very scary).

work in process

Setting to work abstracting the landscapes, I considered the larger scope of my recent work which seems to me to be all about transition ~ in the personal, societal and natural realms. More of that thread to pull and art to share...

Everyone's Like: Artist In Residency? What's That?

Right. Good question. I think there are lots of possible answers and variations. But what seems to be the common theme is that an Artist in Residency program is a place and space for an artist (of any genre) to focus on creative processes, inspiration and working without daily distraction.

There are varying constructs for an artist in residence: from a solo retreat that one organizes oneself, to a structure program of learning and critique, or something in between.

Arts Letters & Numbers falls on the organized spectrum in that there is an application process and a dedicated physical location for the pursuit of artistic ideas and work. Collaboration, sharing and critique are encouraged but not formalized.

What I particularly loved about my time there was the welcoming community, both within the residence and within the larger Averill Park, NY community. 

Upon arriving, I learned of certain weekly rituals: the Monday afternoon t-time (tequila time that is), the Tuesday evening ping pong and potluck, the Friday liver and onion brunch, and some fluid activities, such as visiting musicians putting on a concert, or a film screening night.

But within the week of being here, the calendar filled with programs hosted by the residents. Everyone contributes.

We were lucky to preview a theatre piece, set to premier in Estonia later this year. And to hear a piano performance by a composer working on a musical piece to be performed by the Sydney symphony this summer.

I learned how to transfer photos onto wood blocks (but perhaps also on to canvases) to create layered collaged pieces that can then be painted (the sky's really the limit after learning the technique). I'd also been promised a beer bread baking class and I promised a yoga and meditation session.

Crusty warm bread rolls that were delicious and so simple I may actually stand a chance of recreating them at home!

Learning how to take photographs and transfer them onto wood (or perhaps canvas!!!)

While there, I was able to pull out themes and threads from the paintings I created and put them out for critique and criticism.

And I'll be sad to miss, but excited to see photos, from a collaboration on nature by two residents who will be here after I've left.

So what is an artist in residency program, then? Simply a time and place away from life (it can be a day, a week, a once-a-week time) to research, reflect, create and collaborate. Looking forward to continuing the journey!

Arts Letters & Numbers Residency

This week I am living and working at Arts Letters & Numbers a multidisciplinary artist in residency program in Averill Park, NY, outside of Albany.

I took the train up from the city on Monday, rented a car and picked up two of my fellow residents: Ann from Estonia and Laerke from Denmark who are working on a theater piece that will open in Tallinn in September. We went to an AH-mazing food coop to pick up groceries for the week (in the extraordinary bulk goods section, they even had fill-your-own-jar of various maple syrups and honeys!!! I'm so jealous), before heading to The House on the Hill.

The old mill house has been repurposed into a retreat for artists from all disciplines, crossing over even into the world of math and science. There is an old mill on site that is being renovated into workshops, a darkroom and studios this summer.

Sunny living room and music salon.

Piano keys strung next to the staircase

Agnes' poetry workspace

My first day in the house, I met and began to know the other residents (read their impressive bios by clicking the link) ~ Ann and Laerke, Jess ( a photographer from Ohio), Allison (a video installation artist from Boston), Thomas and Agnes (cinematographer and poet from France), Dan (a composer from Australia), as well as Frida, an ALN fellow who runs the house logistics, and John, a community supporter.

We organized our stuff and got straight to the business of having a t party (that would be "t" as in tequila) and "a serious conversation" ~ a salon-style get-together at advisory board members Robert and Diane's home.

Robert with a tequila bottle in the tree house.

We gathered in their completely functional tree house with other local community advocates for snacks and a discussion of time, perspective, constructs, networks, technology and trees. While I refrained from the actual tequila part, I was fascinated by Robert's foray into topics well over my head (he's a retired physicist)....trying to translate some of the words into French for Thomas who was seated next to me.

They started their weekly Monday get-togethers to discuss the world's larger matters and to remove themselves from the quotidian stresses of high flying jobs. While friends have retired and departed the area, the ALN residents have backfilled to supply endless hours of new perspectives and conversation.

After the sun went down, Diane invited us into the main house for a dinner of soup, bread, cheese and wine and further conversation. I sat next to Robert and discussed the mindset of a collector (with which we both identify), the push and pull between virtual and actual reality and the ability of the virtual world to be a true and authentic reality (even though the feedback mechanism might be Twitter post "likes" instead of a reply letter), and building bridges between the natural cycles (circadian rhythms) and the manmade cycles of time (the clock) rather than trying to live fully in one realm or the other. Like I said....over my head.

Anyway, my plan this week (besides really pushing my philosophic brain cells) is to paint en plein air as much as the weather will permit, write and read for work and for pleasure, and work on fleshing out a series of paintings capturing the frustration and anger and resistance I'm witnessing in our culture at this time.

More from my time here to come I'm sure....