Wow, another amazing year! And we have been the lucky ones to have survived the Pandemic and all the Uncertainty of these past years. To be a Creative Person! Time to reflect on new realities and focus on the possibilities and how to enjoy them!
January was a month filled with Spiritual pursuits: a New Moon Call, an Exhibit of 14 of my Original Paintings at Leo’s Italian Restaurant in Cornwall NY, a Livestream on the third Sunday of the month with a wonderful collaborative group of Improvising Musicians organized by flautist Cheryl Pyle and then hanging 3 of my Paintings at the Hudson St Café as part of the Cornwall Art Alliance exhibit!
February brought a wonderful and very special exhibit of “Self Portraits” at the Wallkill River School in which I showed my recent painting from a photo of a concert in Banff Canada that I sang with other faculty including Ken Werner, Joe Lovano, Dave Holland and Ari Hoenig – WOW! What a great time we had! And it was amazingly challenging to paint myself! Yikes!
March and April were incredible months this year, because I was asked to show a SOLO ART EXHIBIT of my works, which is a rare opportunity. It was sponsored by the Wallkill River School of Art and Exhibited in a lovely space in the UUCRT (Unitarian Universalist Church of Rock Tavern) a local church in the Hudson Valley! I have been studying, drawing and then painting Musicians and Dancers for the past 30 years and this was an opportunity to show many of them – 52 all in all! Since it was during the Pandemic, everyone had to wear a mask for the beginning of the exhibit -but since it was happening over a two-month period, I decided to have 3 different public Receptions so people could be spread out over the 3 Receptions. It was a thrill to have a chance to show so many of my Original Paintings and to share my passion for the music and musicians and dancers that have inspired me through the years and from across the globe!
April also gave me the chance to hang yet another Solo Art Show in Goshen, New York – and since my other Solo Exhibit was all Musicians & Dancer subject matter, I could choose more representational and abstract paintings to show. So that was a fun opportunity to share some of my more adventurous works!
During this same time frame, I was asked to be a participant in the Westbury Arts special exhibit of “Musicians Who Paint”. It was a moment of “my cup runneth over”!because this offer was right up my alley, as they say, to share my love of both Musical and Visual view of my life’s passions! There were 8 musician/artists so we each had 4 paintings with the added Live Performance during the month which was great! I was happy to play for my concert with 2 of my favorite Improvisers – Joe Lovano and Bruce Arnold! We played some of my Originals plus a few favorite classic tunes! It was worth the long trip down to Long Island and I met quite a few wonderful musician/artists during that month that I know I’ll be in touch with, sharing inspiration of the magical space that is Improvisation!
MAY is always a magical month because it’s not only my Birthday month, but also because it’s the month when the cavalcade of Spring Flowers begins to emerge in earnest! A special treat this year was that we bought tickets and attended the NYC Ballet Stravinsky Festival on my actual birthday, for my first visit to Lincoln Center in a few years, given the Pandemic! I took advantage of the warmer weather to be outside, going to some friends’ outdoor gigs, meet others for lunch as well as painting at the Bashakill Wildlife Wetlands area which is located between the Shawangunk Mountains and the Catskills, for the first time after hearing about its beauty for years! I went to visit my teacher and friend Janet Campbell who is a fabulous and inspiring watercolor artist who lives nearby!!!! It was a great day!
Then on May 29th I had the thrill to be part of a Tribute and Fundraiser for Ukraine that was curated by John Zorn at Roulette, a fantastic arts venue in Brooklyn. Joe Lovano put together a band of Bill Frisell, Andrew Cyrille and to my pleasure I was invited to be part of this Quartet- Wow!! Each group Zorn put together had a 15-minute slot in the program and it was pure magic!
June rolled in and it was glorious! I presented a concert as part of the OC Live! Music series in a small Newburgh NY city park with outdoor seating on the grass! It was a delightful evening concert and the blue light that was projected on the band as we played in front of a brick wall of The Roxy Theater with large photos of local personalities, reflected the beautiful full moon up above us!!!!
The only problem was that summer… was that inspite of great caution for the past 2 ½ years in not attending public gatherings… I contracted COVID 19 for the first time! So the next month of so I stayed home trying to rest and shake the effects of the virus. Fortunately it didn’t hit me too hard, and I had my beautiful gardens to enjoy after cultivating the parade of flowers for many years! I could just relax as I recouped my strength.
The Autumn is a blur now… and somehow I made it into 2024!