September September

Oh September2012. We are a busy one, aren't we?

I took last week off from the old day job to paint (and I acknowledge and appreciate how lucky I am to be able to do so, thank you office work for PTO). Here's how it went...

Tuesday we drove to NH (by way of Salem and the Peabody Essex Museum) to pick up plants from my dad and to have dinner with my mom and stepdad (and see their new in-progress home).



Wednesday - Friday were spent, as I've mentioned before, hunched over the dining room table painting.



Also, framing.



Saturday evening was the Dream Team show opening!
The Washington Street Art Center was the show-place for our happy little group exhibit. Megan Mary Creamer, Alex Feinstein, Lauren Leone and I have our work up through the end of the month.

Alex


Megan


Lauren


Me


This is the show I've been drawing all of the medicinal botanicals for. I picked three helpful plants and painted them full, painted/inked portraits of some details, displayed a specimen of the plant and, on tiny shelves (made by Megan!), had samples of the finished product. My dad preserved two of the plants for me and gave me samples of the finished medicines he makes from them (St. John's Wort oil and Boneset tincture). I harvested the Rose Hips myself and found some Rose Hip tea to show.



It was incredibly satisfying to hang the show and see my vision come together just as I had hoped. Usually what I have in mind for a body of work changes over time and the end result, although good, isn't exactly in-line with my original idea - BUT this time it looked in the real world just as I had seen it in my head. I am very happy with this little collection.
It was great planning and plotting with Lauren, Alex and Megan and I'm super honored they asked me to be a part of this show! (more photos here)

Sunday was an art-free day. Curtis and I did the Jimmy Fund Walk with Jen and Amy (and a few thousand other people). It's a long day of walking/strolling/trudging and it's so rewarding. We had perfect overcast breezy weather and we all made it through in good shape.

Monday I slept and watched tv with my feet up. The cats appreciated that and kept me good company. Tuesday, my last official day of vacation was punctuated with a delicious lunch out with Curtis at Trident on Newbury Street.



And that's the story of my Art-Cation. I have one more full weekend before Open Studios and should finish lots of new things before the big event. I've been planning a new display and my 2013 calendar is THIS CLOSE to being fully realized.
I'm so excited!

xo
Sarah

Everything! All at once!

Every single month I take a deep breath and think "at least THIS month won't be as crazy busy as LAST" and I did it once again at the beginning of September, I blinked and now the month is more than half past in a whirlwind of busy-ness.

This past weekend was no exception to the busy overload!
- Friday night Curtis and I went with Jen to dinner and to see the movie Contagion. Both were good.
- Saturday my folks came to town on the train. We picked them up at North Station, went out to brunch, did a little South End Open Studios, wandered, had tea/espresso, wandered some more and dropped them back at the train.
- Saturday night Jen spent the night since we had to be up at FOUR AM Sunday to head out to Hopkinton for the Boston Marathon Jimmy Fund Walk! (The walk was great. I'm exhausted but so happy we did the whole thing again this year. What an event! Friends and family and snacks and laughing and WALKING.)

Mid walk:


Post walk:


Do you mind if I use the rest of this post to make a big list or two? No? Thanks. You can read it if you want.

Upcoming ART Deadlines:
* Oct. 18th : WSAC/SHC art due
* Nov. 1st : Artworks! (New Bedford) art due
* First week in November : Craftland work due
* Dec. 4th : Bazaar Bizarre Boston 2011

Upcoming EVENTS:
* Wednesday - to Storm King! (more about that later!)
* Thursday - Storm King + Curtis's Birthday! + driving to North Adams
* Friday - Mass MoCA!
* Saturday & Sunday: JP Open Studios, Beantown Jazz Festival, MICE
* 9/26 - Elbow concert
* 10/1 - Tangled show opening

I know there's more stuff in there but if I don't remember it, I don't have to worry about it, right? These things don't WORRY me, really, it's just so much running all over, neglecting my chores and having fun. I'm very lucky. But I do need to find some time in there to pack orders and build up stock for upcoming fairs and the holiday etsy selling I'll hopefully be doing. PHEW.

Man, this post sure has a lot of words.
More pictures soon!
xo
Sarah

Sore ankles...

Yesterday Curtis and I walked 26.2 miles looking for a cure for cancer. . .

We participated in the 2010 Boston Marathon Jimmy Fund Walk. It runs the historic route of the Boston Marathon (from Hopkinton to Copley Square) and the money we raised from our generous donors goes to benefit the amazing work of the Boston-based Dana-Farber Cancer Institute's Jimmy Fund.


It was a beautiful (though exhausting) walk and we made it to the end with enough energy to stop by a birthday party on our way home!

The Marathon route is really lovely. We walked through a few different towns and all kinds of neighborhoods. Newton is MUCH bigger than I expected (and seems doubly so when you're hungry and with tired feet).




I have a new found respect for the amazing folks who RUN the marathon - walking was tough enough!

That was the one big event I had planned for the weekend. I spent Saturday catching up with my friend/neighbor Megan since she's been away in Australia for what seemed like EONS. She told me her tales from the other side of the world and I worked on new stationery designs for the holidays.

I'm going to attempt some making-of-new-silkscreens tonight. Wish me luck.
Ta-ta,
Sarah