Je suis arrivé!

I have arrived! Actually I arrived two days ago. BUT I AM HERE! I HAVE MADE IT TO HAMBIDGE! I received the news back in November that my application had been accepted for a fellowship to the Hambidge Center, and now I am finally here!  I don't think I need to say too much, I'll let the images explain why I (and the Subaru) are so, so, so, so happy here. I will say that things are different here. Cell phone service doesn't exist and internet is half an hour away from my studio.  I love, love, love it here. 

So there you have it...that's my studio/home for the next five weeks! It's all mine and it's incredible! My bedroom is up those stairs, but it's no where near as cool as the studio. These photos were taken right upon arrival, so the cleanliness and order of the place has dissolved quite a bit in the past forty-eight hours. The previous occupant left me a note with advice to "follow my passion", as well as a small drawing, a phone card, and a grocery discount card. I will post new photos of the space, as well as works in progress soon. I am really enjoying being alone. I wake up early and have the entire day to myself, with no outside distractions, and I work all day. I have been painting and haven't even touched my pastels. I'm working mostly on paper but have  a large amount of canvas I plan to work on.  I haven't left the mountains yet for town, but may have to do so soon...I need sandpaper and milk.   My fellow fellows (hah!) are quite a wonderful group as well. I am the youngest here, but have made friends with Chase, a sculptor who is only a few years older than me.  He has plans to attend the University of Colorado at Boulder this coming Fall. More on my new friends soon. 

Well, boo yea. I'm psyched. I love it here. Right now I am writing from the Rock House, literally made of rocks. The frogs are chirping and the stars are brilliant. This morning I went on a hike but it started to pour half way through, it rained all day until about five.  I saw a bird I didn't recognize, I watched a bird that nests outside my window, I thought about Obama, I listened to the radio, I ironed some canvas, I gessoed some paper, I ate some oatmeal and I painted all day.  

See you tomorrow, and thanks for listening!

The Last Leg - DC to Charlotte and then on to Georgia!

Hi Friends, 

I had a bit of a wrench thrown in to my blogging schedule and I'm a bit behind on updating you regarding my travels down to Georgia. So I will make this post quick in an attempt to update you, but also to get back on schedule!! On Monday April 5th, I arrived in Charlotte, North Carolina, a city I have never been to before! The six hour drive from DC was very nice, and I enjoyed stopping at each state's welcome center to get my free map (damnit!)  I also continued my French lessons and enjoyed a standard 70 MPH most of the way.  

The nice thing about Charlotte was that I had not one, but two friends awaiting my arrival!  I spent that night with my friend Laura who I met at the Vermont Studio Center. Laura and I really connected while at Vermont over a number of things and seeing her again was really wonderful. She has a beautiful home that is an old mill house and she has put in a lot of work to bring back the original hardwood floors and high ceilings. She also has a wonderful "junk yard eye" and has furnished her house with beautiful and charming furniture. She lives in the arts district of Charlotte and we decided to walk to a local pub for dinner (best portobello burger ever.) My other friend, Emily, is down in Charlotte on business. She works for an organ building company called C.B.Fisk and does quite a bit of traveling to help install organs in different locations. This time around the organ brought her to Charlotte where she was kind enough to give me a tour of this magnificent instrument (I even got to walk all around the inside!!!) Though I am sure she loves wherever she goes, I was very happy to hear that her next trip will be to Korea to be a voicer's assistant! 

After a wonderful 12 hour stay in this up and coming city, I was on to Georgia. I am happy to say this is the leg of the trip on which I successfully completed my road-trip homework. The images below complete the series of images documenting each state's welcome sign. Please note that after DC I no longer had a passenger to take these photos, so if the quality is not that great you can assume it's because I took it blindly from the driver's seat while barreling down the highway (don't worry mom, eyes on the road at all times.) 

That last one is my favorite for obvious reasons! About two hours after taking that photo I arrived at the Hambidge Center, which I will tell you ALL about in my next post. 

So my friends, the road trip has ended (for now) and I am writing to you from the wonderful world known as the Hambidge Center. My next post will be all about my arrival, but for now I will leave you with two more images...I came over a hill and something told me I was really, really close to Georgia. 

It was a water tower in the shape of a peach.  And there you have it...

Up next: My first two days at Hambidge! 

Miss a post? Read them here! 

And We're Off!

So Long Ma! So Long Pa! 

From Dim-Sum to DC.

My DC Weekend! 

Thanks for listening. 

My DC Weekend!

I love DC. Every time I visit I get a bit nostalgic and begin making plans to move back to my city of birth.  DC has so many amazing things to do all within a short walk or circulator ride.  My brother and I arrived in DC on Friday night making this the first time all three of us had been in the city together since my brother graduated from High School 13 years ago!!! Friday night we all crashed pretty early, which was a good thing since we wanted to get up early the next day.  We woke up and were out the door by 10:00 (after some home made cinnamon bread) and we were on the Mall for the Cherry Blossom Festival by 10:30. I hate feeling like a tourist, but this was pretty unavoidable as I took pictures of everything (including one that made it look like the Washington Monument was coming out of my brothers head...hah!)

Katharine and I being cliche. 

Katharine, Michael and I in front of a very dirty reflecting pool.

Performance on the Mall. 

Around two o'clock, we decided to head back to our old neighborhood and check out our house. The person who owned the house before us was an artist and he had painted the house a bright teal color with purple trim.  When we moved in and bought the house we nixed the purple but kept the teal. Our teal house has been a landmark for people on Capitol Hill for almost thirty years! Well, the time has come for us to re-paint the house and we have a difficult time letting go of the original color, but felt it no longer was working with the neighboring historic homes. It is a row-house, so it's color does affect the whole block. So we chose a somewhat toned down version of the teal and it looks wonderful! It was a little strange because when we got there the tenants were having a gathering in the back-yard but they had no idea who these people looking at the house were! 

This was taken from across the park in front of the house.  See the teal poking through? That's where I grew up! I was a really lucky as a kid, we only had two walk about five blocks to be at the capitol building, and the Smithsonian was about three metro stops away! This makes for a never boring weekend as a kid.  The rest of the weekend was full of amazing food and lots of very immature jokes.  I also was very happy to visit a dear friend of mine and participate in the wonderful Seder she hosted! I departed from my beloved DC at 9:30 Monday morning and began the drive to Charlotte, NC where two friends are currently living (one temporary, one permanent.)  I am actually writing to you from Charlotte, but that post will have to wait until this afternoon.  

Today is the day I arrive at Hambidge and I need to start getting ready! Finally! I will be in my cabin/studio in about four hours from now.  

Up Next : A Post on Charlotte and my first day at Hambidge! 

Thanks for listening! 

From Dim-Sum to DC.

So, being in the car with my brother for four and a half hours wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be. Michael was nice enough to sleep for most of the ride so I was alone with my thoughts and the beautiful scenic views that New Jersey, Delaware and Baltimore have to offer. 

::crickets::

We woke up early this morning so that I would be able to spend more time in the city before we left for DC.  We ended up back in Chinatown for a Dim-Sum breakfast.  The restaurant we had intended on going to was closed for repairs, but we found another amazing Dim-Sum up the street.  The food was wonderful, and I loved the ritualistic feeling of the way the meal was presented. 

Mandatory photo....and then we were off. 

Photo courtesy of Michael. That's me in front of the Statue of Liberty. What do you mean you can't see it? It's right there...in the middle...that little vertical line. There you go. See? That's me in front of the Statue of Liberty. 

I'm not sure why I'm smiling...Michael and I hopped out on the side of the Jersey Turnpike to take this gem. After this adventure I decided it was okay to take the photos from the car if it meant not being killed. 

We arrived in DC at my sister's Georgetown apartment around 5:30.  There is something really wonderful about DC in the early evening, the pace slows down a bit as people relax after their commute home.  I'm happy knowing I will be staying put in DC for a few days before the longest leg of the trip to Charlotte!

Up Next : Bea visits her childhood home, Eastern Market and the Cherry Blossom Festival! (ETA: Eh, doesn't matter) 

Related Posts: 

And We're Off! 

So Long Ma! So Long Pa! 

So Long Ma! So Long Pa!

Leaving Portsmouth RI. That sign I'm pointing to says "Georgia or Bust" and it's with me for the long haul  (courtesy of my co-workers.)

I left Portsmouth RI this morning with New York City as my destination.  I had to alter my original route a bit in order to avoid some extreme flooding along 95 South. It ended up being pretty nice, my detour brought me through Westerly, RI which holds a special place in my heart. My family spends a good chunk of our summer in a beach cottage there, a tradition dating back to the 1940's! The drive was pretty uneventful, my Michael Jackson tape made its first (but no where near its last) appearance, and I continued my French Lessons. Mon pere l'homme d'affair!! La boisson et bon!! L'apartment est comfortable!! 


Anyways, I have a goal on this trip to take a photo of every "Welcome!" sign as I enter each state.  Connecticut was easy since there was a drive off right after the sign (apparently I'm not the only tourist who has been through Connecticut.)

(see the Subaru? Isn't she a beaut!?)

Easy! The one in New York, however, was not quite as simple. Well, it was pretty simple, just intimidating pulling off to the side of a four lane highway. 

I did got a honk of encouragement from a eighteen wheeler though! I'm also taking these photos with my cellphone and sending them to an online project my friend has begun. I made it to NYC fine and found my way to my brother Michael's apartment. I'm pretty proud of my driving in the city, I even yelled at a couple of jay-walkers. After parking, the first order of business was to go and get some lunch: Pho! It was really Pho-king good! (Sorry, had to.) After that we walked all around Chinatown and into Little Italy.  The trees are blooming and the streets are crowded with people, a really wonderful time to walk around the city. 

On the way home we passed the New Museum (it was too nice outside to go in.) An installation on the side of the building pretty much sums up how I'm feeling about this trip right now:

Up next: Bea heads to her native D.C. (Wish me luck, I'll be driving with my brother for four and a half hours.) ETA 5:00

And we're off!

When I received the good news in December, I didn't think April would ever come, but here she is and today officially marks the beginning of my Hambidge Center Adventure. I'm glad you're along for the ride!

Last night was spent packing. Lots of packing. Clothing wasn't an issue, it was the pastels. Hundreds and hundreds of pastels. Spread all about my studio.  Everywhere. And I wanted to bring them all. About two hours was spent sorting through pastels and packaging them up into tidy little color coordinated packages. 

See all those pastels? Yea. So many pastels.  

After that task, gathering all of my papers, paints, brushes, tapes, lighting and folding tables was a breeze. It also was pretty breezy outside....and POURING. For those of you who live in the Northeast you know what Mama Nat has been up to lately...and it ain't pretty. Packing a car in this weather? Not fun.  On a positive note, everything fit into my trusty Subaru, with a little bit of room to spare! After a wonderful (wonderful, wonderful) "bon voyage" party thrown by my co-workers (thanks guys...seriously) I was on my way! 

The first leg of the trip has brought me to Rhode Island, the land of my parents. It was a short trip but a happy one, finally knowing I was on my way to my version of heaven.  I listened to music and began listening to my "Instant Immersion" French lessons. I took a lot of French in grade and high school, and would like to get a bit better at it. So, here I am folks, sitting on my parents couch blogging away and at the beginning of what is sure to be a great adventure. 

Up next: Bea goes to New York City! (ETA 1:00)

Thanks for listening. 

North Shore Art*Throb Article!

Dear Friends,

North Shore Art*Throb has published an article about my curatorial project This Collective Pull on their website. North Shore Art*Throb is a wonderful online publication that focuses on the arts and artists of the North Shore, a similar mission to This Collective Pull ! North Shore Art*Throb first learned of This Collective Pull, which I collaborate on with Julie O'Boyle, last June when they interviewed me in my studio. They are a great asset to the North Shore Arts community and I hope you will take a moment to visit their site. You can read the article about our project here.