tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-925407907450237472024-03-14T01:54:23.726-04:00the birds and the bugsoccasional posts on the work behind the art.Mariahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05704927872495865933noreply@blogger.comBlogger118125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-92540790745023747.post-31117763864506799352015-04-16T11:26:00.003-04:002015-04-16T11:26:24.005-04:00Birds for springBirds have returned from winter migration and are singing in our trees once again! And I've been busy with birds in the studio as well. Here are a few images of prints I've been working on this year.<br />
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This first print, Ovenbirds, was accepted into two shows in Pennsylvania this year - <i>First Impressions</i>, opening this Friday at <a href="http://www.artistsimageresource.org/" target="_blank">Artists Image Resource</a>, and at the 2015 <i>Art of the State</i> exhibition at the <a href="http://www.jumpstreet.org/events/art-of-the-state/" target="_blank">State Museum of Pennsylvania</a> in Harrisburg.<br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-B9HwgbXF8M4/VS_RpvXAfyI/AAAAAAAACwg/Wgps2rWNvUc/s1600/Maria%2BMangano-Ovenbirds.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-B9HwgbXF8M4/VS_RpvXAfyI/AAAAAAAACwg/Wgps2rWNvUc/s1600/Maria%2BMangano-Ovenbirds.jpg" height="400" width="266" /></a></div>
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This print is an engraving, which means I carved lines into a copper plate using small chisel-like tools, instead of using acid (like in an etching) or another mechanical method (like in a drypoint or mezzotint). The clean, v-shaped gouge an engraving burin leaves in the copper gives me a wonderfully crisp and sharp line.</div>
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The text was added to the print using a method called chine collée, where I cut out small pieces of paper and ran them through the press with my larger tan paper, with glue on one side to make them stick. These shapes were clipped from an old zoology textbook. I've also been experimenting with a botany textbook, Audubon bird guide, and plain white paper. Lining up the little paper pieces on the copper plate so that they stick on exactly the right spot takes a steady hand - and no sneezing!</div>
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My other project of this spring has been my very first reductive woodcut. I haven't done many woodcuts before this one, and certainly none with more than one color, so it's been a challenge for me. Reductive woodcut is a process where a printmaker uses one block to create an image with many layers of printing by carving away more and more of the block with each layer printed. (Photos and a great explanation can be seen <a href="http://www.lisastudier.com/reduction.html" target="_blank">here</a> at this website by artist Lisa Studier.) Because of this process, each subsequent layer occupies a smaller and smaller part of the print - so you have to plan ahead if you want colors in lots of places! My image of a gyrfalcon is fairly simple:</div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-gKJYWu4WeRk/VS_S3jZHxzI/AAAAAAAACws/MGG6WHmM-yY/s1600/IMG_6856.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-gKJYWu4WeRk/VS_S3jZHxzI/AAAAAAAACws/MGG6WHmM-yY/s1600/IMG_6856.JPG" height="400" width="300" /></a></div>
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The print on the left shows the first layer, printed in semi-transparent white ink on brown handmade paper. After printing ALL of the prints I wanted to make in this edition, I carved away at the block and printed the next layer in light blue, which you can see in the print on the right. Here's a closer shot:</div>
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Printing more than one layer requires setting your print down in the exact same spot on your woodblock each time, so there are systems using jigs and hole punches that printmakers typically use to keep registration exact. Mine aren't all coming out perfectly, but I've enjoyed experimenting with the color relationships I can get with more than one layer on colored paper. I'll be adding a third layer soon!</div>
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<br />Mariahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05704927872495865933noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-92540790745023747.post-50952226557961600762015-01-29T16:08:00.005-05:002015-01-29T16:17:20.416-05:00New year, new artWe're not yet through the first month of 2015 and I've already had some exciting new projects come up! Here's a recap of where you can see my work in the coming months.<br />
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<i>Kinglets</i> at Manifest Gallery, Cincinnati, OH</h3>
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My new engraving, <i>Kinglets</i>, is part of the <i>Scientificous</i> exhibition at <a href="http://www.manifestgallery.org/" target="_blank">Manifest Gallery</a> in Cincinnati. <i>Scientificous</i> features the art of science and science in art, and will be on display until February 20. It's my first show in Ohio and I'm very excited to be a part of it.</div>
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February's artist for Start With Art: PGH</h3>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-LVVYC84U3qM/VMqe5Hov5oI/AAAAAAAACgQ/0IQdKmp855A/s1600/Kingfisher_Web.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-LVVYC84U3qM/VMqe5Hov5oI/AAAAAAAACgQ/0IQdKmp855A/s1600/Kingfisher_Web.jpg" height="266" width="400" /></a></div>
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Pittsburgh photographer Matt Conboy has launched a new and wonderful initiative this year, <a href="http://www.startwithartpgh.org/" target="_blank">Start With Art: PGH</a>. Every baby born at St. Clair Hospital, the Midwife Center, and UPMC Mercy in 2015 will go home with an original work of art. During the month of February, babies will receive my photograph of this sassy little blue-breasted kingfisher, who I photographed in 2013 at the Cincinnati Zoo. Read more about the project in this <a href="http://www.nextpittsburgh.com/kidsburgh/start-art-pgh-giving-original-art-area-newborns/" target="_blank">article</a> from NEXTPittsburgh.</div>
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My first solo exhibition</h3>
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In March, I'll be exhibiting at the <a href="http://www.lakegeorgearts.org/Maria%20Mangano.htm" target="_blank">Courthouse Gallery</a> in beautiful Lake George, NY. This is my first solo show, and will feature new prints, as well as the body of work I created in 2014 about fatal bird-window collisions. The opening is on Saturday, March 7th, and the exhibition runs until April 10th.</div>
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Online developments</h3>
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I've transitioned into using this blog as a space to show people what's behind my work, so most of my announcements about exhibitions and events are now on my <a href="http://www.maria-mangano.squarespace.com/events/" target="_blank">website</a> and in my monthly e-mail newsletter, which you can sign up for <a href="http://eepurl.com/ZiMs5" target="_blank">here</a>. Stay up to date with all that's going on!</div>
<br />Mariahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05704927872495865933noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-92540790745023747.post-60145762307060508012015-01-15T16:09:00.001-05:002015-01-15T16:09:12.469-05:00India, Part II: The HandmadeLast September, I traveled to India to visit my <a href="http://srollinson.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">in-laws</a> and had an extraordinary trip (see my <a href="http://avesmaria.blogspot.com/2014/11/observations-from-india-part-i.html" target="_blank">previous post</a> on the colors in India). In addition to the many overwhelming sights, sounds, and tastes I experienced, I had the opportunity to see a lot of wonderful artwork and appreciate the fine arts and crafts still made by hand in India.<br />
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Marble Inlay</h3>
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Marble inlay, or <i>parchin kari</i> in Southeast Asia, is the technique of using cut and fitted pieces of precious stone to create an image. The technique was developed by the ancient Romans, and made its way to Asia by the 16th century, where it found its most extravagant expression in Mughal monuments such as the Taj Mahal.<br />
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The photo above shows <i>parchin kari</i> from Agra Fort in Agra, across the Yamuna river from the Taj Mahal. The emperor Shah Jahan built this fort/palace to test out the inlay technique before building the Taj. The precious stones and materials featured include jasper, serpentine, porphyry, mother-of-pearl, and lapis lazuli. Stones were imported from as far away as Afghanistan and Europe.<br />
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Below, a gate of the Taj Mahal at sunrise; the light glints a little off of the highly reflective marble and mother-of-pearl.<br />
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Because the Taj Mahal is such a famous destination, the craft of marble inlay is still a bustling industry. There are shops all over India, although the best ones are in Agra, and the best of those are run by descendants of the original artisans who worked on the Taj Mahal. We were able to visit one of these workshops on our trip.</div>
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Below, the artisans are using hand-held, bow-driven grinders to shape tiny pieces of stone.</div>
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Samples of precious stone, including turquoise, agate, malachite, lapis lazuli, mother-of-pearl, and sandstone.</div>
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These are the tools used to carve out the marble substrate that the colored stones are laid into:</div>
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The colored pieces of stone are arranged on the marble to ensure a proper fit. The backs are grooved and keyed so they fit together and into the substrate snugly.<br />
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The finished designs are often elaborate and always wildly colorful. You can tell how skillful and precise the artisans are by how closely all the small, fine pieces fit together — there's hardly any cement or filler.<br />
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Contrast those professional examples with this small elephant I took home, probably done by a student. It's perfectly lovely, but you can see the shapes are a bit more crude — particularly the curved edges — and it has a fair amount of cement in spots where there are none above.</div>
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Miniature Painting</h3>
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Miniature painting is another thing that you can find all over India, although it seems to be the most plentiful and of the best quality in the north, where the Persian influence was stronger. The City Palace in Jaipur had several vendors, all clamoring for our attention at once, so I sat down at the closest table that looked like it had a lot of wildlife paintings. It turned out to be someone from the <a href="http://ramuramdev.com/" target="_blank">Ramdev</a> family, a clan of award-winning miniature painters.<br />
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Miniature painting in India is done by grinding solid pigments or minerals into a stone with water to produce a watercolor-like paint, which is applied to paper or cloth with an extremely fine brush using small strokes. Building up a painting this way takes forever and they're often very detailed. Here's one with a kingfisher, painted on old papers dating from the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Raj" target="_blank">Raj</a>:<br />
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Block printing</h3>
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No trip to India is complete without seeing some block printing! This old technique of building patterns using wooden stamps and natural dyes is still used to decorate all kinds of cloth goods, from clothing to housewares.<br />
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Here's what the carved wooden blocks look like — they're basically used as stamps. The stamp in the foreground provides the outline for the elephant design, and the stamp in the background fills in the colors on the saddle.<br />
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The design is printed in layers with fabric dye. Most shops use a combination of synthetic and natural colors.<br />
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The elephant design with two of its three colors:<br />
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All colors printed. This printer was experienced enough to eyeball the placement of each layer without any kind of guide or grid.<br />
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These aren't the final colors. Next step is to wash the printed fabric in chemicals that make the dye react:<br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-la7p4w5UxMI/VLgmHebBnBI/AAAAAAAACeM/80UqXvabkCM/s1600/IMG_8096.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-la7p4w5UxMI/VLgmHebBnBI/AAAAAAAACeM/80UqXvabkCM/s1600/IMG_8096.JPG" height="266" width="400" /></a></div>
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And voilà!<br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-NU32wG5xX84/VLgmqpdH8GI/AAAAAAAACeo/T7gRWOgcmh0/s1600/IMG_8098.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-NU32wG5xX84/VLgmqpdH8GI/AAAAAAAACeo/T7gRWOgcmh0/s1600/IMG_8098.JPG" height="266" width="400" /></a></div>
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An example of layered block-printed fabric below. Complicated designs can include stamping the fabric with a waxy resist instead of ink, then dyeing the whole piece and later washing off the resist to show an un-dyed portion, a little like batik techniques.<br />
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As a printmaker and artist who works with images of wildlife — usually on a small scale — I liked seeing all of these traditional arts still done by hand.Mariahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05704927872495865933noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-92540790745023747.post-10850544047121695322015-01-06T12:03:00.003-05:002015-01-06T12:03:58.544-05:00A peek into The Passenger PigeonI received an early Christmas present this year - a copy of <i>The Passenger Pigeon</i>, a book written to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the death of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martha_%28pigeon%29" target="_blank">Martha</a>, the last Passenger Pigeon. The author Errol Fuller actually contacted me after finding my work on this very blog, to ask permission to use my artwork in the book. Fuller, an artist, naturalist, and author, has written a few books in a similar vein about <a href="http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_1?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=errol+fuller" target="_blank">extinct animals</a>. Of course, with my enthusiasm for birds and conservation, I was excited to be involved.<br />
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There are already quite a few reviews of the book online (notably from <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/errol-fuller/the-year-of-the-passenger_b_5977558.html" target="_blank">Huffington Post</a> and <a href="http://www.ft.com/cms/s/2/459ed93e-26ed-11e4-a46a-00144feabdc0.html#slide0" target="_blank">Financial Times</a>, the latter of which includes many evocative preview photos), so I won't write too much here other than to summarize the book. <i>The Passenger Pigeon</i> is the story of a species that went from the most numerous bird in the world to completely extinct in a matter of a few hundred years, due entirely to hunting by humans. As such, it's also the story of our own short-sighted folly and the awakening of the conservation movement in America. The book is full of pictures, everything from artwork, historical documents, and most interestingly, many photos of passenger pigeons, which can be hard to come by even with Google around.<br />
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I've taken a few snapshots of the book to share. First, the cover, featuring an illustration by the godfather of bird art, John James Audubon:<br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-OZByHcD_MvI/VKnlxPzjpcI/AAAAAAAACYg/J0hpn5Grd94/s1600/IMG_6524.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-OZByHcD_MvI/VKnlxPzjpcI/AAAAAAAACYg/J0hpn5Grd94/s1600/IMG_6524.JPG" height="400" width="300" /></a></div>
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The contents page. Hello pigeon!</div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-9ceXeZwH5uM/VKnmmGVqllI/AAAAAAAACZg/-Aie4W0ijzs/s1600/IMG_6532.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-9ceXeZwH5uM/VKnmmGVqllI/AAAAAAAACZg/-Aie4W0ijzs/s1600/IMG_6532.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
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Here's where my work appears, in the section describing the pigeon's plunge towards extinction:<br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-cvcn3nNHkUM/VKnlxAkHHHI/AAAAAAAACYo/yw8dxY6yRyg/s1600/IMG_6525.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-cvcn3nNHkUM/VKnlxAkHHHI/AAAAAAAACYo/yw8dxY6yRyg/s1600/IMG_6525.JPG" height="400" width="300" /></a></div>
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There are illustrations of birds throughout, many of them historical:<br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-DwP1D_zNNTo/VKnmnYML05I/AAAAAAAACZo/5Z_YSopaYdA/s1600/IMG_6530.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-DwP1D_zNNTo/VKnmnYML05I/AAAAAAAACZo/5Z_YSopaYdA/s1600/IMG_6530.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
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And some work by contemporary artists as well. Here's an amazing piece by <a href="http://www.sara-angelucci.ca/" target="_blank">Sara Angelucci</a>, part of her <i>Aviary</i> series, which combines photos of birds and people in the style of <i>cartes de visites</i>. Do check out the rest of her site—it's full of fascinating artwork.<br />
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This was an unusual and meaningful project for me to be involved in; I'm really happy with how the book turned out. If you're interested in ordering a copy, <i>The Passenger Pigeon</i> is available on Princeton University Press's <a href="http://press.princeton.edu/titles/10337.html" target="_blank">website</a>, as well as through <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Passenger-Pigeon-Errol-Fuller/dp/0691162956/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1420563736&sr=1-1&keywords=the+passenger+pigeon" target="_blank">Amazon</a>.<br />
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<br />Mariahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05704927872495865933noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-92540790745023747.post-85883876730294955682014-11-13T13:10:00.000-05:002015-01-09T12:59:43.475-05:00Observations from India: Part II recently had the extraordinary opportunity to visit my in-laws, who live in the province of Gujarat, India. (My mother-in-law chronicles her very interesting day-to-day adventures on her own blogspot, <a href="http://srollinson.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Horn OK Please</a>.) I didn't know much about the visual culture of India, so I did some research before I went. <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Indian-Art-Vidya-Dehejia/dp/0714834963" target="_blank">This book</a> on Indian art, recommended to me by illustrator <a href="http://www.hartsockillustration.com/#470_homepage%252Bfrom%252BSB25.jpg#home" target="_blank">Marcia Hartsock</a>, was a pretty helpful survey of 5,000+ years of art history. There was a lot to take in, obviously. I'll be posting a few entries on my observations and experiences.<br />
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<h3>
Color</h3>
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Colors hold a deep spiritual and cultural significance in India, far beyond their decorative purposes. They are important in worship and as a part of day-to-day life as a way to signify the attributes of a god, channel a certain state of mind, or enhance the meaning of a ritual. The use of color in Indian art is partially what influenced my <a href="http://www.maria-mangano.squarespace.com/mixedmediainstallation/2014/8/6/das-lied-von-der-erde-i-iii" target="_blank">installation on bird window kills</a> from earlier this year. I made small "mandalas" from my drawings of birds, divided by color:<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-t8p8D8Q3RfE/VFvdUOkzEOI/AAAAAAAACSg/HNU4FluE-UU/s1600/RedforWeb.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-t8p8D8Q3RfE/VFvdUOkzEOI/AAAAAAAACSg/HNU4FluE-UU/s1600/RedforWeb.jpg" height="266" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Birds with red and orange plumage</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-4kYL5iBA2Xc/VFvdSv7DykI/AAAAAAAACSY/fML0WRdU_1A/s1600/KnowledgeDetailWeb.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-4kYL5iBA2Xc/VFvdSv7DykI/AAAAAAAACSY/fML0WRdU_1A/s1600/KnowledgeDetailWeb.jpg" height="266" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Birds with yellow and green plumage (and yes, there is red in there too)</td></tr>
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So, I had been anticipating seeing a lot of color. In India, people dress colorfully, and what would be considered a vivid or loud ensemble in the US is normal. Patterns abound, and solid colors are often embellished with metallic embroidery or tiny mirrors. More than one of our guides hypothesized that bright clothing is a kind of response to the dry, monochromatic, dusty browns of most of the Indian countryside. (The exception to that is the lush, colorful rainforests of Southern India - and of course there, it was much more common to see people in white or drab solid colors.) I loved how colorful everyone's clothes were.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-L9pUiRmaAKc/VFvG3Ko8_TI/AAAAAAAACO4/gU2zRAUsZg8/s1600/IMG_8563.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-L9pUiRmaAKc/VFvG3Ko8_TI/AAAAAAAACO4/gU2zRAUsZg8/s1600/IMG_8563.JPG" height="266" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Women transporting crops on their heads near Agra </td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-5Ij6HeBuVD0/VFvHUuvrimI/AAAAAAAACPo/i6UNgtX7OyU/s1600/IMG_7930.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-5Ij6HeBuVD0/VFvHUuvrimI/AAAAAAAACPo/i6UNgtX7OyU/s1600/IMG_7930.JPG" height="400" width="266" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Women at the Amber Fort, Japiur</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-LxeCinlMqcQ/VFvbzxTtmzI/AAAAAAAACSM/dVWrhmU_lsw/s1600/IMG_5583.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-LxeCinlMqcQ/VFvbzxTtmzI/AAAAAAAACSM/dVWrhmU_lsw/s1600/IMG_5583.JPG" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Me at the Taj Mahal, in brightly colored scarf and kurta (tunic) made in India. When in Rome...!</td></tr>
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It isn't just clothes. Everything is decorated, even vehicles, often by hand.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-96_uQBEMsxU/VFvHB5yi_8I/AAAAAAAACPA/qVj-bUsNot4/s1600/IMG_5527.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-96_uQBEMsxU/VFvHB5yi_8I/AAAAAAAACPA/qVj-bUsNot4/s1600/IMG_5527.JPG" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">City Palace, Jaipur</td></tr>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-m_ovWRG7MKw/VFvHKpp_vWI/AAAAAAAACPY/H_RRw2kACNc/s1600/IMG_6072.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-m_ovWRG7MKw/VFvHKpp_vWI/AAAAAAAACPY/H_RRw2kACNc/s1600/IMG_6072.JPG" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Meenakshi Amman Temple, Madurai - colored lights and walls</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-MPVLRCZ5zIA/VFvHOOVhQ9I/AAAAAAAACPg/i6VxjNSyoj0/s1600/IMG_9584.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-MPVLRCZ5zIA/VFvHOOVhQ9I/AAAAAAAACPg/i6VxjNSyoj0/s1600/IMG_9584.JPG" height="400" width="266" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Thirumalai Nayakar Palace, Madurai</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-clFRAMj2BJk/VFvIXRZAHPI/AAAAAAAACP0/P3jibByMagU/s1600/IMG_5539.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-clFRAMj2BJk/VFvIXRZAHPI/AAAAAAAACP0/P3jibByMagU/s1600/IMG_5539.JPG" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Painted trucks in Northern India</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-dXL5bii3OMw/VFvIX5e9k3I/AAAAAAAACP4/TD9TFkryVxI/s1600/IMG_5543.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-dXL5bii3OMw/VFvIX5e9k3I/AAAAAAAACP4/TD9TFkryVxI/s1600/IMG_5543.JPG" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Painted trucks in Northern India</td></tr>
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<h3>
India as a crossroads</h3>
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Somehow I had pictured India as existing somewhat separately from the influence of China or the Middle East, but the truth is that every place is on the road to somewhere, and the Indian subcontinent has been a trading route for Greeks, Jews, Persians, and others for millennia, all leaving their stamp on India's painting and architecture. This was really apparent at Fatehpur Sikri, a capital city built in the 1500s by the Mughal emperor Akbar the Great. His reign was characterized by cultural and religious pluralism: Akbar abolished taxes on non-Muslims, translated ancient Sanskrit texts into Arabic, and promoted cross-cultural relationships. His favorite wife and many of his ministers were Hindu. Religious leaders and scholars from around the world gathered at Fatehpur Sikri to mingle and debate peacefully. Akbar even attempted to promote his own pan-religion, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Din-e_Ilahi" target="_blank">Din-e Ilahi</a>.<br />
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The complex of Fatehpur Sikri sits on a high, lonely desert plateau. The capital was abandoned soon after it was built, and it still retains an eerie air of ghostliness.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-BgVfoaWcN-A/VFvN91zMxQI/AAAAAAAACQk/Wj4YUK0VDdY/s1600/IMG_5613.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-BgVfoaWcN-A/VFvN91zMxQI/AAAAAAAACQk/Wj4YUK0VDdY/s1600/IMG_5613.JPG" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Entering Fatehpur Sikri</td></tr>
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The buildings are a hodgepodge of architectural influences from Persia, Afghanistan, India, and Turkey, characteristic of early 16th century Mughal style. The ornamented, curved shapes in these architectural details are typical of Jain art, seen in Western India:<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-6wdDBziyOig/VFvMllA6KYI/AAAAAAAACQI/Fe_EBdCw8jQ/s1600/IMG_5611.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-6wdDBziyOig/VFvMllA6KYI/AAAAAAAACQI/Fe_EBdCw8jQ/s1600/IMG_5611.JPG" height="400" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The throne room</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Astrologer's Seat</td></tr>
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Some details reminded me of Western architecture, especially the coffered ceilings and rosettes so common in Roman and Italian Renaissance buildings:<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a6/Einblick_LH2_San_Lorenzo_Florenz.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a6/Einblick_LH2_San_Lorenzo_Florenz.jpg" height="640" width="379" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Italian Renaissance Basilica of San Lorenzo in Florence, Italy, from Wikipedia.</td></tr>
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Some buildings had Persian-style domes, and also the sloping, slightly flared eaves seen elsewhere in eastern Asia:<br />
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That was all in the lower courtyard of the monument. The upper portion contained a shrine to a Sufi saint and a still-active mosque. The painted floral designs, inlaid stones, and shapes of the domes were all reminiscent of Persian architecture.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Painted floral decorations entered India via Persian and other Mediterranean cultures.</td></tr>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-HK_IksnSIlk/VFvXiDzBTaI/AAAAAAAACSA/OGjwsrYgLsg/s1600/IMG_8369.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-HK_IksnSIlk/VFvXiDzBTaI/AAAAAAAACSA/OGjwsrYgLsg/s1600/IMG_8369.JPG" height="640" width="425" /></a></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Shrine to a Sufi saint. The pillars holding up the eaves are almost <a href="https://www.google.com/search?q=gaudi&es_sm=91&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ei=C-BbVPqND9GwyASr8oGgDQ&ved=0CAgQ_AUoAQ&biw=1272&bih=672" target="_blank">Gaudi</a>-esque.</td></tr>
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I couldn't help but feel a little déjà vu when we reached that upper courtyard. It reminded me somehow of Piazza San Marco, in Venice, also the onetime crossroads of the East and West. Perhaps it was all the spires and domes.... or maybe just all the pigeons.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Piazza San Marco in Venice, Italy</td></tr>
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I'll be writing another post on some of the traditional arts of India we were able to get a close look at: miniature painting, stone inlay, and more. In the meantime, all of my photos are up on my <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/35738838@N05/collections/72157648936260102/" target="_blank">Flickr</a> page. Please have a look!</div>
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Mariahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05704927872495865933noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-92540790745023747.post-68887079978927005282014-11-11T08:47:00.004-05:002014-11-11T08:47:45.904-05:00An Interview with Rose ClancyFellow artist <a href="http://www.roseclancy.com/" target="_blank">Rose Clancy</a> has been a friend and mentor to me for many years. This fall I got to sit down and talk to her about the inspiration and process behind her art.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-mnrQOclrMzw/VGISw0aziVI/AAAAAAAACUU/Sbgkx-hsw8A/s1600/Clancy_03.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="302" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-mnrQOclrMzw/VGISw0aziVI/AAAAAAAACUU/Sbgkx-hsw8A/s400/Clancy_03.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Rose Clancy, <i>Potatoes Have Eyes</i>. Image courtesy of Rose Clancy</td></tr>
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Head on over to the Pittsburgh Articulate site to <a href="http://pittsburgharticulate.com/2014/11/11/rose-clancy-interviewed-by-maria-mangano/" target="_blank">give my interview with Rose a read</a>!Mariahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05704927872495865933noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-92540790745023747.post-83448082714289474552014-08-06T12:28:00.000-04:002014-08-06T12:28:10.405-04:00A trip to the Roger Tory Peterson InstituteThis past June, when I drove up to Chautauqua to attend the opening for the 57th Annual Exhibition, I made a stop in Jamestown, New York to visit a place I'd never been to and only recently heard about - the <a href="http://rtpi.org/" target="_blank">Roger Tory Peterson Institute</a>, named for the famous wildlife illustrator and native son of Jamestown. The Institute is part gallery, part educational resource, part research institution, and all a meaningful tribute to Peterson's commitment to observing wildlife.<br />
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Despite my obvious and long-term interest in birds, I hadn't known about this place until it was featured on a local radio program, the <a href="http://www.alleghenyfront.org/story/roger-tory-petersons-artful-legacy" target="_blank">Allegheny Front</a>, during a special bird-centric episode.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-_nMN-s7XPvQ/U9lWE6r-5qI/AAAAAAAACFM/aNHf7pGYLi0/s1600/IMG_0875.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-_nMN-s7XPvQ/U9lWE6r-5qI/AAAAAAAACFM/aNHf7pGYLi0/s1600/IMG_0875.JPG" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Inside the lobby of the Institute, with silhouettes modeled after the endpages in Peterson's Guides.</td></tr>
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Roger Tory Peterson is probably best known for his Peterson bird guides, which were the first field guides developed for "non-experts." His system of identification which used lines to point out distinct field markings and the approachable, readable nature of the guides has made them favorites with bird lovers for half a century. The Institute houses some of his original drawings, and features a wonderful library of nature books and guides, a gallery, natural history displays, and lots of huge windows looking out into the woods for birdwatching whenever the urge strikes. (There are binoculars on every windowsill!) The story on Allegheny Front gives the Institute a thorough and wonderful review, so I won't repeat everything here, but wanted to share some photos I took and things I found particularly striking.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Bh2yiC3pdVc/U9lRmaIoQ_I/AAAAAAAACEs/XAj4Aa6l008/s1600/IMG_0858.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Bh2yiC3pdVc/U9lRmaIoQ_I/AAAAAAAACEs/XAj4Aa6l008/s1600/IMG_0858.JPG" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">One of Peterson's original paintings. </td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-66fCBaRf0Sw/U9lRknreMcI/AAAAAAAACEg/rTFzlmSg5L0/s1600/IMG_0856.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-66fCBaRf0Sw/U9lRknreMcI/AAAAAAAACEg/rTFzlmSg5L0/s1600/IMG_0856.JPG" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Original sketches from Peterson's notebooks.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-WVdEwmihcgI/U9lR8tB-vuI/AAAAAAAACE8/tOdJg9ai-Ng/s1600/IMG_0860.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-WVdEwmihcgI/U9lR8tB-vuI/AAAAAAAACE8/tOdJg9ai-Ng/s1600/IMG_0860.JPG" height="400" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A page of warblers in drawing form, and as seen in a Peterson Field Guide.</td></tr>
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As one of my friends pointed out, if you've been looking at these guides for most of your life, it's easy to forget that every bird is an individual painting, each one done by Roger Tory Peterson. In person they are very lovely to look at - all crisply rendered and done with great care. As a lover of scientific illustration, it reminded me that drawings that exist for the primary purpose of conveying information can still be a pleasure to look at, and worth considering as legitimate artwork. Illustrators wield a wonderful power, in addition to creating works that serve as testaments to the amazing reward of looking closely: they define truth in a very specific way, a particularly important consideration at a time when books or illustrations (or the internet) weren't available to most people. I've always found that fascinating, as a child of the information age.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-VLymibKMGK0/U9lYDlw3IRI/AAAAAAAACFg/PI2x7QvGJB4/s1600/foto+1.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-VLymibKMGK0/U9lYDlw3IRI/AAAAAAAACFg/PI2x7QvGJB4/s1600/foto+1.JPG" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A display about Passenger Pigeons.<br />
The last one, Martha, died at the Cincinnati Zoo almost 100 years ago.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-jId7fNJOF-4/U9lYDDHMWSI/AAAAAAAACFc/wcV9Y-IhIaI/s1600/foto+2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-jId7fNJOF-4/U9lYDDHMWSI/AAAAAAAACFc/wcV9Y-IhIaI/s1600/foto+2.JPG" height="320" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Drawing of a Northern Flicker</td></tr>
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I was excited to read that an encounter with a Northern Flicker was one of the things that inspired Peterson's lifelong fascination with birds. It's one of my favorite birds too, even though it's fairly common. Maybe it's something about their unusual, non-woodpecker-like plumage, or the <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-g5XLBq4R7g" target="_blank">striking yellow on the underside of their wings</a>, that attracts me so much.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-0PDpth3n7-E/U9lYJYIChNI/AAAAAAAACFs/AobZWX8AJ-c/s1600/foto+3.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-0PDpth3n7-E/U9lYJYIChNI/AAAAAAAACFs/AobZWX8AJ-c/s1600/foto+3.JPG" height="320" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">It was a beautiful day to walk the nature trails.</td></tr>
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I had never thought about the effort that went into producing these guides, or the legacy of wildlife appreciation and conservation that Peterson left behind, so I'm glad I got to visit the Institute to learn more about his work. And it turns out he's had a lasting impression on my work as well - I recently completed an installation for the <i>Cataloguing Pattern</i> show, made out of birds guides laser-cut into silhouettes. </div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-UCs6vse9HGU/U9la2NXhRQI/AAAAAAAACF4/GXHzKbafOXA/s1600/foto.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-UCs6vse9HGU/U9la2NXhRQI/AAAAAAAACF4/GXHzKbafOXA/s1600/foto.JPG" height="400" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Mandala</i>, 2014.</td></tr>
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I hadn't thought about this when gathering materials for the installation in May, but I'd chosen Peterson guides because of the clear illustrations and the existence of many previous editions I could choose from. So, when I set everything up in the gallery, it seemed fitting to display an intact Peterson guide nearby for comparison. In some small way, I hope to reference the legacy of close observation that he's left behind for us.</div>
Mariahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05704927872495865933noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-92540790745023747.post-15586878282955363572014-07-02T15:36:00.001-04:002014-07-02T15:36:54.638-04:00Saying goodbyeI got some great news today - <i>Aviary of the Mind</i>, the drawing currently on display as part of the 57th Annual Exhibition at the Chautauqua Institution, was sold. I'm thrilled, although saying farewell to this work will be bittersweet for me. Not just because most of my previous sales have been prints, or to friends in the area that I see regularly, but because the work itself is about goodbyes.<br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-kmBOlu_7FEs/U7Q6ZJz4EuI/AAAAAAAACCo/cvv-SMRAPZY/s1600/Mangano_Maria_Aviary.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-kmBOlu_7FEs/U7Q6ZJz4EuI/AAAAAAAACCo/cvv-SMRAPZY/s1600/Mangano_Maria_Aviary.jpg" height="286" width="400" /></a></div>
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I began work on this piece last fall, shortly after both of my grandmothers passed away within a month of each other. I was lucky enough to spend a lot of time around my grandparents growing up, and even though my grandmas' lives were full and long, their deaths were a profound loss for me. After my dad's mother, my Nanna, died, I inherited some of her art supplies, including a few mostly-blank sketchbooks with some tonal studies filling a few pages.<br />
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Later that summer I took a trip to Chicago and visited the amazing <a href="http://www.fieldmuseum.org/" target="_blank">Field Museum</a>, which is where I saw the case of warblers that's depicted in this drawing. I wasn't particularly interested in warblers at the time, but loved the aesthetic and composition of all the birds arranged in the display together. I was reminded of a model of memory I'd read about in a <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/1995/10/29/books/true-lies.html" target="_blank">book</a> - that one's mind is an aviary, and remembering is reaching into your aviary to pull out a bird. Sometimes you pull out a rock dove instead of a mourning dove.<br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-T3O-guYsvhQ/U7RFadcIjcI/AAAAAAAACC4/dXVUFtOJApc/s1600/Aviary+Detail+1.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-T3O-guYsvhQ/U7RFadcIjcI/AAAAAAAACC4/dXVUFtOJApc/s1600/Aviary+Detail+1.jpeg" height="276" width="400" /></a></div>
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Or, sometimes you pull out a mourning dove instead of a rock dove. I realized had found the visual portal to addressing my feelings about my grandmothers' deaths and my attempts to preserve the stories of their lives. I thought about the family history that my Nanna had written down so we would know about the family that came before us. I thought about the Alzheimer's that has obliterated the final years of grandparents on both sides of my family. I thought about David Eagleman's story from "SUM" (which I heard on this RadioLab <a href="http://www.radiolab.org/story/91680-after-life/" target="_blank">episode</a>) about true, final death being the last time someone on earth mentions your name or remembers who you are.<br />
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So I made an aviary, or at least a fixed, preserved snapshot of a taxidermized, preserved one. I collaged in bits of my Nanna's drawings and copies of her old photos, used her watercolors, followed the tips on color mixing I'd found tucked in with her palette of quinacridone reds.<br />
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I can't shake the feeling, though, that forgetting is inevitable, and the slow grinding of time will crush my own memories into dust. Some birds are unfinished, or faded, or completed based on a hunch since the photo is too grainy. Tags are blank. The photos depicted are copies of reprints (and how many times can I copy and xerox transfer and copy that before the image of my great great grandmother's face in the nest fades away?). After this exhibition is de-installed and this piece moves on to its new owner, I'm left with the photos and the memory of its creation. Maybe I can do it all over again - make an aviary of the memory of the aviary of the mind.Mariahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05704927872495865933noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-92540790745023747.post-18741497626029537522014-06-25T15:37:00.000-04:002014-07-02T12:48:25.095-04:00Cataloguing Pattern opens July 11 as part of Gallery CrawlPreparations are underway to install work for the next show in which I'll have my work - <i>Cataloguing Pattern</i>, at SPACE Gallery in downtown Pittsburgh, organized by <a href="http://klkovak.com/home.html">Kristen Letts Kovak</a>. It opens July 11th as part of a city-wide <a href="http://crawl.trustarts.org/event/space/">gallery crawl</a>, so if you're in the area, there will be a lot of excellent art and events to check out.<br />
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I'll be featuring some new mixed-media installations, as well as this drawing, <i>Sometimes these things just happen</i>:<br />
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<br />Mariahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05704927872495865933noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-92540790745023747.post-50874765031093354922014-06-09T09:20:00.002-04:002014-06-09T09:20:47.753-04:00Address Book Bestiary mentioned in Trib-Review articleThe Pittsburgh Tribune-Review ran a survey of this year's TRAF Juried Visual Art Exhibition, and my Address Book Bestiary was featured, along with the amazing work of my friend <a href="http://www.kblevins.com/">Kelly Blevins</a>. Check out the article to read about the piece in my own words:<br />
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<a href="http://triblive.com/aande/museums/6222919-74/dream-works-exhibit#axzz343Kcl3dO">Arts Festival's juried exhibit shows richness of works</a><br />
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The show will be up at the Cultural Trust Education Center, 805-807 Liberty Ave, every day from noon to 8pm until June 15th. If you're in the area it's a terrific way to see the zeitgeist of our region's artists.Mariahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05704927872495865933noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-92540790745023747.post-86236614758725797052014-05-31T13:09:00.001-04:002014-07-02T12:53:33.122-04:00Put a bird on itThis month I had the pleasure of traveling to <a href="http://www.carnegiemnh.org/powdermill/" target="_blank">Powdermill Nature Reserve</a> for an open house. We got a close look at bird banding and a specially-constructed flight tunnel to test out bird-safe window glass. (More photos <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/35738838@N05/sets/72157644332280410/" target="_blank">here</a>!) While talking to one of the staffers and explaining the prevalence of birds in my art, he joked, "Put a bird on it!" I think he instantly regretted the implication that he was trivializing my work by referencing a now-famous <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0XM3vWJmpfo&feature=kp">skit</a> from the TV show <i>Portlandia</i>, and apologized profusely. Honestly, I thought it was hilarious, and very true. People are compelled by birds (even if they don't actually want them in close proximity), and I use them in my art not just because I like them, but because people seem to connect with them and therefore take an interest in what my pieces are saying. Up until that point, I had never really thought about why people like birds so much, beyond their obvious beauty, so I went digging for the origins of humanity's love of the avian class.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-QmlS1cT6Umc/U4KIQHZIZ6I/AAAAAAAAB-Q/kLiHQV4QmiI/s1600/IMG_7054.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-QmlS1cT6Umc/U4KIQHZIZ6I/AAAAAAAAB-Q/kLiHQV4QmiI/s1600/IMG_7054.JPG" height="266" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A female Magnolia warbler at Powdermill's bird banding lab. Photo courtesy Maria Mangano</td></tr>
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It turns out that humans have been depicting birds in visual culture and using them as metaphors since we've been smearing paint on cold cave walls. Birds are symbols of <a href="http://www.catholiceducation.org/articles/religion/re0682.html">motherhood</a> and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_stork#Cultural_associations">fertility</a>. They are <a href="http://www.ambafrance-us.org/spip.php?article604">symbols</a> <a href="http://www.culturalindia.net/national-symbols/national-bird.html">of</a> <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coat_of_arms_of_Mexico">national</a> identity. Birds are metaphors for the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ba_(Egyptian_soul)#Ba">human</a> <a href="http://www.thisamericanlife.org/radio-archives/episode/369/poultry-slam-2008?act=2">soul</a>. In classical music their songs are <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zfP29uN33L8#t=609">famously</a> <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uhIdTirLolM#t=300">imitated</a> - or outright <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JsBoyPeyJYQ#t=916">inserted</a> - as a metaphor for hopeful existence in a complex and troubling universe. Most notably, birds appear in myth as go-betweens of the spiritual and the human world, or as gods themselves: <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horus">Horus</a> and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thoth">Thoth</a> in Ancient Egypt; <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quetzalcoatl">Quetzalcoatl</a> in Mesoamerica; <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Owl_of_Athena">Athena</a> in Ancient Greece; in omen-interpreting practices such as <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Augury">augury</a> and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haruspex">haruspex</a>, and in stories as <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Angel">messengers</a> of the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Valkyrie">gods</a>.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/04/Nazca_Lines,_Humming_Bird.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/04/Nazca_Lines,_Humming_Bird.JPG" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ancient Geoglyph (earth art) of a hummingbird created by the Nazca people of Peru, ca. 400 - 650 CE.</td></tr>
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Looking at the sum of visual culture, birds have been representing every stage and sphere of human life, from infancy to after death, since ancient times. They are probably the only type of animal that is found in every culture's art around the world. So ... we've been putting birds on things for a while and we still do it today. Why?</div>
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There are a few obvious reasons that come to mind - firstly, people find birds beautiful. Their colors, motions, voices, behaviors all enchant us. Also, birds exhibit behaviors that people find relatable - <a href="http://video.nationalgeographic.com/video/bowerbirds-courtship" target="_blank">courtship</a>, <a href="http://www.ustream.tv/decoraheagles" target="_blank">nesting</a>, and <a href="http://cams.allaboutbirds.org/channel/42/Barn_Owls/" target="_blank">raising young</a>, and moreover, some do these things in relative proximity to and comfort with people, compared to more secretive animals. Some birds are <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BGPGknpq3e0" target="_blank">smart</a>, social, and even seem to <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SzPiTwDE0bE#t=416" target="_blank">like</a> interacting with us. In a way we're also biologically attuned to noticing birds. Science is telling us more and more about how birds interpret their surroundings, but we know that they process the world primarily with the same senses people use - <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bird_vision">vision</a> and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hearing_range#Birds">hearing</a> (as opposed to animals with incredible senses of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shark#Smell">smell</a> and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Condylurini#Snout_comparison_to_visual_organ">touch</a>) - and because bird appearance and behavior are adapted to appeal to those senses, we notice them too. Notably, there is one attraction that is definitely aspirational - many birds fly, and that has probably interested even the earliest humans looking to transcend our earthbound existence.</div>
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Birds aren't the only type of animal in my work, although over the past few years they've become a greater and greater percentage of my subject matter. Now I tend to seek out bird resources in book stores, head straight for the bird hall at any natural history museum I visit, and derive a lot of inspiration from other artists, old and new, who use birds in their work.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/9f/Audubon-gyrfalcon.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/9f/Audubon-gyrfalcon.jpg" height="400" width="267" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">John James Audubon, Gyrfalcon engraving in <i>Birds of America</i>.</td></tr>
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One thing I love about birds is, like other natural objects, how much amazing detail is contained in their features when you take the time to look closely. Their bodies have an incredible level of physical complexity, and I find this particularly beautifully illustrated in the structure of <a href="http://www.birds.cornell.edu/AllAboutBirds/studying/feathers/feathers" target="_blank">feathers</a>, which have such an intense and fractal degree of intricacy. The scale between the tiniest barb of a vulture's flight feather and the grand, dreadful arc of its enormous wing is, to me, a powerful allegory of a microcosm that is somehow more cosmically truthful and animal-centric than the historical idea of the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Macrocosm_and_microcosm" target="_blank">human body</a> as a model of the universe.</div>
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The conceptual arc of my work has also shifted to include birds more and more. I like to explore the intersection of nature with human culture, especially in the form of museums and academia, but I try to look for it everywhere. Just like how birds are in every culture's art, I've realized that birds are usually the most common and universal link all people have to wildlife, even those living in very urban settings. People may not be able to identify the tree next to their window, but nearly everyone in the world can recognize and name a few human-friendly bird species. The permanency of that connection, even with the degree of removal most people have from nature, is a way for me to connect with others through my work. Many birds are also <a href="http://eol.org/info/465" target="_blank">indicator species</a> - the health of bird populations can tell us a lot about the general health of an ecological system - so when I make work about extinction or human-influenced changes on the natural world, birds are a useful symbol for those repercussions.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-mZemopZYSg8/U4jla8UuvLI/AAAAAAAAB-o/LGgGb7rcCl0/s1600/Winter+Wren+good+crop.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-mZemopZYSg8/U4jla8UuvLI/AAAAAAAAB-o/LGgGb7rcCl0/s1600/Winter+Wren+good+crop.jpg" height="320" width="273" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Maria Mangano, <i>Winter wren</i>. Drypoint and engraving.</td></tr>
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Ok, ok, Maria, you're saying. You like birds. But they're always dead. What's with the dead? Firstly, please allow me to call out anyone who has ever seen a dead bird and not wanted to take a better look at something they don't usually get to see up close. It's your chance to bridge a little of that people-nature gap. Of course you want to look! I reenact that connection every time I make work, hoping to generate a bit of the same pull on a viewer's soul.<br />
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It's not purely morbid fascination, though. Lately, as I've begun to make pieces that are more autobiographical and personal, and less commentary/reactive/purely observational, themes of mortality, memory, and frailty have become a larger <a href="http://avesmaria.blogspot.com/2013/10/warblers-from-field-museum.html">part</a> of my work. Perhaps because birds seem fragile or delicate and have traditionally served as messengers from or symbols of the supernatural, using them to explore death, tragedy, and the afterlife in a personal way has proved to be a powerful symbol. A less interesting but still important reason is that animals that aren't moving are much easier to draw - its stationary quality allows me to have a relationship with and investment in a subject that only close observation can give.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-O9lss2uoPho/U4oMZeTYrgI/AAAAAAAAB-8/pISq6zbcOFU/s1600/Sometimes+these+things+just+happen.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-O9lss2uoPho/U4oMZeTYrgI/AAAAAAAAB-8/pISq6zbcOFU/s1600/Sometimes+these+things+just+happen.jpg" height="400" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Maria Mangano, <i>Sometimes these things just happen</i>. Mixed media on paper.</td></tr>
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It would be easy to just say that birds are my "spirit animal" and leave it at that, but their historical precedence as our connection to an existence beyond what we know, and their role in natural history as our constant subjects of study, from <a href="http://www.audubon.org/john-james-audubon" target="_blank">Audubon</a> to <a href="http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/evolution/library/01/6/l_016_02.html" target="_blank">Darwin's finches</a> to the current problem of <a href="http://flap.org/index.php" target="_blank">window-killed birds</a>, has positioned them at the center of everything my work is about. Until something else comes along that captures my attention and my imagination in the same way, I'll keep putting birds on things.</div>
Mariahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05704927872495865933noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-92540790745023747.post-67227459744754343862014-05-21T15:46:00.004-04:002014-05-21T15:47:28.816-04:00"Aviary of the Mind" to travel to Western New York StateI'm very excited to share that my mixed-media piece <i>Aviary of the Mind</i> was selected to be a part of the <a href="http://ciweb.org/vaci-exhibitions/eventdetail/396/-/57th-chautauqua-annual-exhibition-of-contemporary-art" target="_blank">57th Chautauqua Annual Exhibition of Contemporary Art</a>, curated by Jerry Saltz, senior art critic at New York Magazine.<br />
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The show will be at the Strohl Art Center inside the Chautauqua Institution, and the opening is Sunday, June 22 from 3pm to 5pm. Admission to the grounds is free on Sundays, so check it out if you are in Western New York.<br />
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I'm excited to go to the opening and see Chautauqua again - I attended the school of visual art as a student in 2008 and returned the following summer to work as the <a href="http://avesmaria.blogspot.com/search/label/Chautauqua">Print Technician</a>. The experience of re-centering my post-college life around my art and exposing myself to a wide range of disciplines to inform my work has influenced my practice ever since.Mariahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05704927872495865933noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-92540790745023747.post-20575659852459812132014-04-10T15:19:00.001-04:002014-04-10T15:19:40.528-04:00'Locusts' opens at Sweetwater Center for the Art's 'Wild Things' showLast Friday, <a href="http://www.sweetwaterartcenter.org/" target="_blank">Sweetwater Center for the Arts</a> held a reception for their 'Wild Things' exhibition. My piece <i>Locusts </i>was in the show. Here it is next to <a href="http://www.cynthia-shaffer.com/" target="_blank">Cynthia Shaffer</a>'s <i>Twister & Yahtzee</i>, made from the feathers of her pet pigeons.<br />
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Cynthia curated the exhibition and chose the location for my work - she wanted it crawling behind and up things like real insects!<br />
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The exhibition features work by a wonderful and varied crew of artists in many media, including my friends <a href="http://randiesnow.com/" target="_blank">Randie Snow</a> and <a href="http://fineartamerica.com/profiles/kyle-ethan-fischer.html" target="_blank">Kyle Ethan Fischer</a>. Some unexpected stars of the show were real-life wild things brought in by the <a href="http://nationalaviary.com/" target="_blank">National Aviary</a>, much to my surprise and delight! Here is an African Penguin:<br />
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And here's one of their Eurasian Eagle Owls, Gandalf. He was a little cranky so he got a nice chicken foot to munch on.<br />
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'Wild Things' will be up until June 21st, so check it out if you're in the area!</div>
<br />Mariahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05704927872495865933noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-92540790745023747.post-57912147088665590942014-03-26T16:22:00.001-04:002014-03-26T16:25:28.420-04:00"Battle for Bats" at the USFWS Environmental Film FestivalA friend alerted me to this short documentary about White Nose Syndrome, a fungal infection that is killing off a large part of the US bat population. It's currently screening at the <a href="http://www.dcenvironmentalfilmfest.org/">Environmental Film Festival</a> in Washington, DC:<br />
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<a href="http://vimeo.com/76705033">The Battle for Bats: Surviving White Nose Syndrome</a><br />
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From the film's vimeo page:<br />
"Battle For Bats: Surviving White Nose Syndrome was produced for the USDA Forest Service by Ravenswood Media. It shows how government and private agencies have come together to search for solutions to help our bat populations overcome WNS. The public can also play a role in the future of bats by providing habitat and surveying their populations. Bats are a critical component in a healthy forest ecosystem, plus they provide significant agricultural pest control and pollination. Their survival is essential for a sustainable natural environment."<br />
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A few years ago I created an installation about WNS, entitled <i><a href="http://avesmaria.blogspot.com/2011/09/environmental-aesthetics-opening.html">hibernaculum</a></i>. I've been following the progress of the disease since hearing about it in 2008 at the Chautauqua Institute. Glad to see people are still working to raise awareness of this environmental crisis!<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">hibernaculum at Fe Gallery, 2011</td></tr>
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<span style="background-color: white; line-height: 21px;"><br /></span>Mariahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05704927872495865933noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-92540790745023747.post-72514656286564949262014-03-19T21:22:00.003-04:002014-03-19T21:24:38.489-04:00Address Book Bestiary's public debutA few friends have asked me if I have plans to show my <a href="http://avesmaria.blogspot.com/2013/11/address-book-bestiary.html">Address Book Bestiary</a>, which I completed a few months ago:<br />
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I'm happy to report that it was accepted into the <a href="http://www.3riversartsfest.org/fest_event/juried-visual-art-exhibition-2/" target="_blank">Juried Visual Art Exhibition</a> at Pittsburgh's annual Three Rivers Arts Festival, so if you are in Pittsburgh, you have the chance to see it in person and play with the cool mechanical contraption on its side. The public opening is Friday June 7th from 5pm to 7pm at the Trust Education Arts Center, 505/508 Liberty Ave. Hope to see you there!</div>
<br />Mariahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05704927872495865933noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-92540790745023747.post-25726156137818125562014-03-17T10:15:00.000-04:002014-03-17T10:15:01.551-04:00mariamangano.com is liveI'm happy to announce that I have a new website:<br />
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<a href="http://www.mariamangano.com/" target="_blank">Maria Mangano</a><br />
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It will serve as my online portfolio, so if you want to look at a gallery of my finished work, read my resume, or show someone pictures of my pieces, it's perfect for that. I'll still be writing here about my thoughts and process, so keep checking back here for a "behind-the-scenes" look at what goes into my art.Mariahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05704927872495865933noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-92540790745023747.post-87551077615003973942014-03-10T17:49:00.001-04:002014-03-10T18:13:10.625-04:00New work for 2014 and upcoming exhibitionsI am very happy to share that I will be showing my <i>Locusts</i> installation next month for the opening of <i>Wild Things</i> at <a href="http://www.sweetwaterartcenter.org/" target="_blank">Sweetwater Center for the Arts</a> in Sewickley, PA. There will be an opening reception on Friday, April 4 at 6pm.<br />
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I'm also in an upcoming show this summer at S P A C E Gallery about the concept of pattern, curated by <a href="http://klkovak.com/home.html" target="_blank">Kristen Kovak</a>. I have been working with the theme of window-collision fatalities in birds that live in and migrate through cities and will be expanding on these concepts in this show. Below is a shot of some kinglets:<br />
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The idea of exploring window collisions actually started years ago, when I began finding birds that had died or been injured by flying into the glass entryway at my job. Like all dead birds, they seemed tragic and beautiful, and the deaths mysterious and senseless until I read more about why birds don't see glass and windows the same way people do. (If you are interested, <a href="http://flap.org/" target="_blank">FLAP</a>, or the Fatal Light Awareness Project, has a lot of good information.) I had amassed a "collection" of photos of these casualties and produced a large-scale drawing this year as a way of cataloguing their passings and exploring the analogies to misperceptions and tragedies in our own human lives.</div>
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The birds are painted with a combination of gouache, watercolor, ink, and graphite, and the finished drawing is roughly 30 by 40 inches.</div>
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<br />Mariahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05704927872495865933noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-92540790745023747.post-86021973387051308552014-02-05T11:16:00.001-05:002014-02-05T11:16:24.080-05:00Ripples of Martha in the art world2014 marks the 100th anniversary of the extinction of the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Passenger_pigeon" target="_blank">Passenger Pigeon</a>, a bird native to the U.S. whose enormous, sky-covering flocks were completely wiped out through a combination of overhunting and habitat loss. The last pigeon, Martha, died at the Cincinnati Zoo in 1914.<br />
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It seems that many conservationists, artists, and writers have been collaborating and working to mark this centennial with books, projects, and other initiatives to raise awareness of the enormity of this loss and the still-present danger of human-caused extinction. A few links to check out for those interested:<br />
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<a href="http://passengerpigeon.org/" target="_blank">Project Passenger Pigeon</a> - a resource for information, books, and artwork about the Passenger Pigeon<br />
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<a href="http://www.lostbirdproject.org/" target="_blank">The Lost Bird Project</a> - a film and book project about several species of extinct North American birds<br />
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<a href="http://foldtheflock.org/" target="_blank">Fold The Flock</a> - an origami-centered initiative to raise awareness about the Passenger Pigeon, tied into the Lost Bird Project<br />
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I've worked with Passenger Pigeons as a subject for a few of my pieces, and will actually be involved in a book being published later this year by artist, writer, and collector <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mijDFfLNRFU" target="_blank">Errol Fuller</a>. More on that later this year!<br />
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Here's a detail of my 2010 project, <a href="http://kapliczek.blogspot.com/" target="_blank"><i>kapliczek</i></a>, that features a shrine of Passenger Pigeons installed at the WWII War Memorial near my house.<br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-zDJomoLUU7k/UvJjWQX0OII/AAAAAAAABOU/mD5unA8rAVc/s1600/zagina%CC%A8c%CC%811.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-zDJomoLUU7k/UvJjWQX0OII/AAAAAAAABOU/mD5unA8rAVc/s1600/zagina%CC%A8c%CC%811.jpg" height="208" width="320" /></a></div>
<i>zaginąć (to disappear without a trace) </i><br />
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detail of <i>zaginąć (to disappear without a trace) </i></div>
<br />Mariahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05704927872495865933noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-92540790745023747.post-88242348470341398652014-01-03T15:02:00.000-05:002014-01-03T15:02:32.273-05:00Art Car Liftoff on New Year's EveMy Art Car project debuted on New Year's Eve at Pittsburgh's First Night Parade, and has come to a close! Here are some photos of the cars. (See my previous entries - <a href="http://avesmaria.blogspot.com/2013/09/art-cars-step-1.html" target="_blank">Part 1</a> and <a href="http://avesmaria.blogspot.com/2013/10/art-car-weekend.html" target="_blank">Part 2 </a>- for more information about how these are made and why I chose to make a car about cranes.)<br />
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Each year has a different theme for the parade. This year's was Special Delivery, and each car was introduced with its own banner to emphasize the theme.<br />
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First, I had to assemble my cranes, which were stashed in my trunk, and choose their positions on the top of the car. The secret to keeping the cranes upright in their "flight" position was impaling them on short rods of bamboo, which were stuck into braces that we taped to the roof of the car. The braces are in this photo sitting next to the rear tire - basically they're a T-shaped assembly of 2x4s with two holes for the rods to fit into. Two holes, rather than just one, kept the cranes from rotating on their stands (something I didn't think of - this is why it's helpful to have an engineer troubleshoot your designs!).</div>
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After the 2x4s had been attached, we put on the slipcover and poked holes in it so that the cranes could sit in their hidden weights.<br />
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My friend Kelly Blevins (also an artist - check out her work <a href="http://www.kblevins.com/" target="_blank">here</a>) lent me a hand with assembling the cranes and also marched in the parade alongside my car.<br />
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Here we are ready to go in front of my car! (I didn't get to march in the parade. I drove the car - very carefully - with the assistance of Kelly and my husband Dave, who spotted me and held those crane puppets.)</div>
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There were four other cars as well. Here's Jenn Bechack's deer on a vision quest:<br />
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Holy toast:<br />
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Don Orkoskey's Dr. Who car, complete with TARDIS:<br />
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And an alien spacecraft landing on Earth:</div>
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Lastly, here's a picture of the car in the parade, with me inside. </div>
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This was a very fun and unusual opportunity, and I have many people to thank for helping me get this idea off the ground (har) and into reality - Cheryl, the brains behind this operation; everyone who helped out on Art Car weekend, especially Jenn, Sarah, Rose, Karen, and the Pietrusza family; Tirzah, for the intense amount of planning and food-gathering that helped make this a really enjoyable and smooth experience; Kelly and Elena, for marching with me in the parade; and Dave, for his work constructing and assembling the cranes and their support system. Thank you all, and Happy New Year!</div>
<br />Mariahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05704927872495865933noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-92540790745023747.post-25502961559926063682013-11-18T22:41:00.003-05:002013-11-18T22:41:52.124-05:00Address Book BestiaryIt's finally finished and put back together. Took me almost a year!<br />
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Open. C is for Crake:</div>
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Specifically, the Laysan Crake, an extinct flightless bird that once inhabited the Hawaiian islands.<br />
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Irish Elk (not really an elk, but a prehistoric deer):<br />
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Tasmanian Tiger (also not really a tiger - an extinct aphex-predator marsupial):<br />
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Moa:<br />
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There are other animals in the project that aren't extinct, although I seem to have accidentally chosen ones for the sample images that are.Mariahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05704927872495865933noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-92540790745023747.post-15255152412276356492013-11-08T21:26:00.000-05:002013-11-08T21:26:32.193-05:00side projectsMy address book bestiary project continues, slowly. Every so often I'll have an evening where I can sit down and crank out a few small drawings. Here's a recent one - O for Olm, an endangered, blind salamander that only lives on the Dalmatian coast:<br />
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I've been thinking for a few months about what kind of text to pair with these illustrations, whether I want to label any of the animals, etc. I have always been drawn to words and writing as an artist, just as likely to write about my ideas as sketch them (I'm not sure how typical that is - artists are generally stereotyped as right-brained, intuitive individuals. I'm not, but I'm also not sure that binary is particularly helpful, descriptive, or meaningful for anyone!). Much - probably the majority - of my work is inspired by books, articles, and poetry that I read, although in this case, I started making a bestiary first and felt later that I should pair some kind of text with it, since bestiaries generally do have text to go with the illustrations. </div>
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I had thought I'd settled on using a famous William Blake poem, <a href="http://www.poetryfoundation.org/poem/172906" target="_blank">The Auguries of Innocence</a>, but I'm not so sure anymore. Parts of it are very lovely and evocative, but maybe a little heavy-handed. I currently feel as though parts of a favorite book of mine might suit these drawings better - <a href="http://books.google.com/books/about/Out_of_Eden.html?id=tXE9OWYrlWQC" target="_blank">Out of Eden: An Odyssey of Ecological Invasion</a>, by Alan Burdick (Syracuse, NY native, represent!!). I picked up this book at a yard sale years ago, and I fell right into the rabbit hole of long-form, serious ecological reporting that has since informed a lot of my work. (Predictably, <a href="http://www.davidquammen.com/" target="_blank">David Quammen</a> and <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/21/books/review/1493-uncovering-the-new-world-columbus-created-by-charles-c-mann-book-review.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0" target="_blank">Charles Mann</a> also take up burgeoning territory on my bookshelf.) It's been hugely influential in helping me understand a post-modern sense of the word "natural" in the context of a very globalized world. Some of the excerpts I've highlighted:</div>
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Once, in a museum, I saw the rings of a tree fossilized in a sheet of limestone: an entire lifetime fixed on the thinnest slice of a far longer, inanimate one. Perhaps the mind works the same way. The moments of the present come and go between blinks, one by one falling behind the eye, accumulating in the brain like chalk in the seabed. Only much later, in the tracing of deposited layers, does the experience of nature acquire a discernible shape: these are the sea shells I saw on the beach as a boy, this is the tree I climbed in, this is the bird I heard at the close of day. The stars were brighter then, there were fewer deer, it snowed more in the winter. How deep do the strata run? How much time does the mind contain? How long before the memories within are reshaped by the added weight of new sediment -- before the bottommost and oldest memories buckle, dissolve, and re-form, and one can no longer distinguish what really happened from the way one remembers it? That is perhaps the most vexing challenge posed by alien species: how to delineate natural history from the eye that perceives it. An inspector for the Hawaii Department of Agriculture ruefully put it to me this way: "Nature is defined by human memory, which is infinitely shorter than ecological memory." (from Chapter 6)<br />
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"The natural world is far more dynamic, far more changeable, and far more entangled with human history than popular beliefs about the 'balance of nature' have typically acknowledged," writes the environmental historian William Cronon. "The task is to find a human history that is <i>within</i> nature, rather than without it." (from Chapter 14)<br />
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So... Burdick is maybe not as accessible as Blake, but I think his philosophy of nature possesses the shades of complexity I explore in some of my work.<br />
<br />Mariahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05704927872495865933noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-92540790745023747.post-15104185534320821542013-10-14T12:09:00.004-04:002013-10-14T18:14:41.876-04:00Art Car WeekendThis past weekend, myself and four artists plus a huge team of volunteers convened on Cheryl Capezzuti's studio to turn our cars into enormous works of art!<br />
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The theme for this year's Art Cars is "Special Delivery." I'm making a car covered in a flock of cranes, a bird that has long been associated with good luck and the New Year around the world, especially in Japan. Cranes worldwide continue to struggle against habitat destruction, and U.S. populations of rare Whooping Cranes have slowly increased, but they are still very endangered. The cranes on my car are bringing good luck, but also a reminder of the fragility of these wonderful birds' futures.</div>
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Read about the first step - making the canvas slipcover - <a href="http://avesmaria.blogspot.com/2013/09/art-cars-step-1.html" target="_blank">here</a> in an earlier entry. This weekend, we began by wrapping my car in plastic to protect it from paint.<br />
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Once I got the slipcover back on, I sketched out the design - a siege of cranes (which is apparently the proper term for a flock of cranes) traveling through a night sky. I realize cranes don't fly at night, since they require a lot of thermal energy to soar while migrating - and they generally don't flap their wings much except for takeoff and landing - but I'm hoping my artistic license will be forgiven by parade attendees.<br />
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I had a squadron of individuals helping all weekend, doing everything from painting large blocks of color to refining detail work. One volunteer (whose name I unfortunately didn't learn) did all of the wonderful red crests on the crane heads.<br />
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Here's the slipcover in a near-complete state. I went back in a few times on Sunday and added some light definition to the cranes' bodies and wings. The bodies look a bit awkward since I drew them all higgeldy-piggeldy and freehanded (several kids said they liked my swans. Uh oh!). I've also got to paint more black on their faces, so they look a bit more like Whooping Cranes.<br />
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The back features an excerpt of a poem by Stephen Crane (author of "The Red Badge of Courage") entitled "I met a seer." I was thinking a lot about efforts in wildlife conservation and the challenges cranes still continue to face while googling "crane + poetry" and came across this poem. It seemed like an appropriate message to remind me of the pitfalls and imperfections in humanity's attempt to right its many ecological wrongs.<br />
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My friend Jenn valiantly spent an entire day cutting crane shapes out of coroplast (corrugated plastic) so we could assemble the 3-D components on Sunday:<br />
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Here are some complete and partially-assembled coroplast cranes by the car. I think I've got nine total. They're held together with a combination of white duct tape, zip ties, and snug part fitting.<br />
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The completed cranes will be mounted to the top of the car at varying heights. I've also set aside a few for the parade marchers who will be guiding my car to hold while they walk - there's me trying one out. A bamboo pole is enough to support the weight of the crane, and the bottoms of the wings are reinforced with sticks of willow that are just flexible enough to allow the wings some nice up-down movement.<br />
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Here are a few of the other artists' designs - a spacecraft that will feature waving aliens, and a toaster making some very special non-Jesus-face toast, with Hendrix and Elvis (flip side). There's also a giant blue mystic deer head car and a Dr. Who car featuring a TARDIS atop a time vortex.</div>
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I've still got to finish assembling and painting the faces on my coroplast cranes, but the majority of the work was finished in one very busy weekend! I'm eternally grateful for the many, many individuals who lent a hand, organized the weekend, and fed us. My thanks go out to Karen, Rose, Jenn, Barbara, Melinda and family, Tirzah, Sarah, Dave, Anna, Ryder, and Cheryl and everyone who helped out!</div>
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<br />Mariahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05704927872495865933noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-92540790745023747.post-3556560794046314952013-10-01T16:32:00.000-04:002013-10-01T16:41:23.167-04:00Warblers from the Field MuseumI've been working on this drawing for a month or so now. It's sort of about a lot of things - the model of the mind as an aviary (as discussed in Plato's <a href="http://www.iep.utm.edu/theatetu/" target="_blank">Theaetetus</a>, which I really don't know at all, but I read about this concept in a favorite book by Lawrence Weschler - <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Mr-Wilsons-Cabinet-Wonder-Technology/dp/0679764895" target="_blank">Mr. Wilson's Cabinet of Wonder</a>), memories of my grandmother, stillness, learning, death, etc. etc.<br />
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The birds are painted from a picture of a display case full of stuffed warblers at the Field Museum in Chicago. The little landscape drawings are from my grandmother's sketchbook. The xerox-transfer photos are of her and her family.<br />
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I had some little paper squares of text in this originally (they were standing in for the tags next to all the birds), but I ended up taking them out because it was a little too busy visually. I'm still working out how I'm going to finish this one off; I have a feeling that for everyone but me it just looks like a drawing of a bunch of sketchy warblers.Mariahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05704927872495865933noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-92540790745023747.post-46432119471183279662013-09-21T10:31:00.002-04:002013-10-14T18:14:21.414-04:00Art Cars: Step 1Today I went to <a href="http://studiocapezzuti.com/gb/" target="_blank">Cheryl's</a> house to start the process of making our Art Cars for the <a href="http://www.firstnightpgh.org/" target="_blank">First Night</a> parade. We got the preliminary step mostly done - fitting the slipcover for my car.<br />
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Step 1: Drape the muslin over the car<br />
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(Big thanks to my in-laws, who <a href="http://srollinson.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">moved to India</a> this year and sold me their car, with which I'm doing this project!)<br />
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Step 2: Pin the muslin to fit snugly<br />
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Step 3: Sew the seams in Cheryl's amazing studio full of puppets (sewing machine not pictured)</div>
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Step 4: Admire the items her wonderful daughters collected and shared with me (ladies after my own heart!)</div>
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I'm really excited about this project. My slipcover is going to be covered with both painted images of cranes and some three-dimensional birds made out of sheets of corrugated semi-transparent plastic. I'm shooting for something translucent, like vellum. Here's a picture of the sketches and a tiny model; the finished version will probably include some color.</div>
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Mariahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05704927872495865933noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-92540790745023747.post-49298194291645438902013-09-09T21:40:00.001-04:002013-09-09T21:40:17.828-04:00Upcoming Fall Events: Sounds Upstairs and Art Cars!I've got two events coming up this fall that I'd like to highlight!<br />
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This blog is mostly about my art, but you can probably tell from reading it that I have other creative pursuits to keep me busy and feed into my artistic practice. One of them is, and has always been, making music. Next month, I'll be playing in the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh's Sounds Upstairs music series. Here are the details:<br />
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When: Sunday, October 6th at 3:30 PM<br />
Where: Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh Main Branch (Oakland), International Poetry Room on the second floor<br />
Who: the South Side Sharps (myself, clarinet; David Rollinson, euphonium; Bruce Lazier, trombone), playing a free concert<br />
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And here is the Carnegie Library's <a href="http://www.carnegielibrary.org/events/details.cfm?event_id=91648" target="_blank">page</a> for the event. Dave (the engineer), Bruce (the actual musical professional in this group), and I (the artist) founded the Sharps last year after finding that we'd spent a lot of time playing together in the evenings preparing music for church. Our occasional music-making turned into a weekly ritual of shared dinner and rehearsal, and Dave came up with a punny name (it's a play on the neighborhood we live in - the South Side Slopes - and sharp [#] a common musical notation), so at that point we were ready to wreak havoc all over musical tradition.<br />
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We'll be playing a variety of classical music, with a concentration on music from the Renaissance and Early American hymns and folk tunes. We've also got a few pieces specially composed and arranged for us by Pittsburgh composer <a href="http://www.newworldrecords.org/album.cgi?rm=view&album_id=84646" target="_blank">David Mahler</a> and CMU alum <a href="http://nathan-hall.net/" target="_blank">Nathan Hall</a>. Best of all, the concert is free! If you're in Pittsburgh, I'd love for you to come, whether you're a musician or music lover or just wondering what the heck a euphonium is. Everyone is welcome.<br />
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There's more to come after that. Shortly after the concert, I'll be turning my car into a parade float for Pittsburgh's First Night parade, held on New Year's Eve! The Art Car project is the brainchild of Cheryl <a href="http://studiocapezzuti.com/gb/" target="_blank">Capezzuti</a>, a Pittsburgh artist who specializes in amazing, engaging, large-scale puppets, and a lot of other wonderful things. This year's theme is "Special Delivery," and it's sure to be as colorful and fun as in years past. It will come as no surprise that I'm thinking of a piece involving birds - specifically, cranes. Coincidentally, I heard <a href="http://www.npr.org/2013/09/08/219764625/answering-the-cranes-call-40-years-of-preserving-grace" target="_blank">this</a> story on NPR on Sunday about the 40th anniversary of the International Crane Foundation, and the birds' continued troubles with habitat destruction and declining population, so my idea feels even more suitable now.<br />
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I don't feel like I should write a whole post and not include an image, so I'll leave you with a photo of some red-headed cranes I shot at the Cincinnati Zoo this past spring:<br />
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<br />Mariahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05704927872495865933noreply@blogger.com0