In The Galleries

I had a wonderful time as the Artist in Residence du Jour of the Worcester Art Museum. yesterday. I had hoped the museum would have done some advertising about the event, though truthfully, the weather was so gorgeous there were very few visitors to the museum all day. Next time, I'll arrange for a rainy day. A big thank you to friends and a family who braved a trip to the wilds of Central Massachusetts. I really appreciated your support.

Since I only had the one day and was expected to have a finished or nearly finished piece at the end of the day, I had planned on using Tim Rollins and K.O.S. The Scarlet Letter VI as my inspiration. Instead of doing an illuminated initial, I wanted to do some sort of an altered book sculpture. I put out a call to family and friends to see if anyone had an old copy of Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter and came up with nothing. At the last minute, I was searching for a used copy and found a 1970 copy of a Penguin Classic. Big deal, right? Except the cover was a portrait painting of Mrs. Elizabeth Freake and her daughter, Baby Mary. The portrait just happens to hang in the American Gallery of, you guessed it, the Worcester Art Museum. Was that fate or what?

I have to say I really liked having the museum all to myself. Sitting and sketching was very relaxing. I can see the advantage of having a studio outside of one's home. No distractions to take your mind off your work. No one asking about lost items, and no guilt about ignoring the siren call of dirty dishes in the sink.

 First stop was to the 20th. c. gallery where I played with the letter A

Then I paid a visit to the Freakes. 

And then on the balcony of The Renaissance Court, I sketched a really cool, bas relief coat of arms with a dragon for a crest. 

Next stop, the studio, but I'll bore tell you about the rest of the process on Thursday.