Artwork in Progress

All the houses in progress
Yet to be Names Work in Progress

Early in the winter of 2018, I set out to make 60 small houses to fit in a particular box.  I did not know what the end product would be like but I set a goal to finish them before April of this year and here they are.  Now they are not “complete, complete” yet, it is still a work in progress, meaning, the houses still have to be strung together and I have not yet decided whether that will be a more vertical format or a more horizontal format. And this is a poor photograph to top it all off.  (John if you are reading this, I will eventually get that camera!)  In any case, I had decided originally that the piece would be called suburban sprawl but the more I worked on it, the more they reminded me of the urban row homes I lived in most of my life so felt that the use of the word suburban seemed wrong.  I am still going to make a piece called suburban sprawl but it will be different from this.   I plan to complete this piece very soon and will post the final project then. You can read the original post related to this entry here. 

 

Over Development

Walking around my neighborhood last summer, I regularly noticed many strangely flattened shapes along the road.  Upon closer inspection, these shapes turned out to be toads that were run over by cars.  One day, while standing in one spot, I counted four toads that had been run over within a small radius of where I stood.

When I describe my “neighborhood”, it is important to know that I do not live along a highway or even a regular street but an apartment complex.  My apartment complex, and the surrounding four shopping centers and medical complex, were not here as little as ten years ago.  Behind my apartments are a creek and greenway where it is typical to see many birds, groundhogs, deer, raccoons, and (very recently) an otter.  Not very long ago, where I live was a very rural area that has turned into a massive suburban sprawl.

I found myself needing to record the demise of these creatures.  Art is not always a comfortable, beautiful subject. It is also meant to shake people up a bit.  Though I photographed many toads, I decided that less is more so I am presenting just two images in tribute to these fine creatures we have displaced.

toad 1
Victim 1
toad 1b
Victim 2

What is Home to Nikki Hansen

 

Accordion House 2

Accordion House 1
Nikki Hansen ~ Home

Nikki Hansen was born in Elmer, NJ (when dinosaurs roamed the earth, or at least before the tiny local hospital splurged on air conditioning).  She currently lives in Glassboro, NJ.

For me, “home” isn’t necessarily anchored in a single dwelling but is more the mental embodiment of comfort, beauty, joy, safety, memory, stimulation and entertainment that makes one feel fulfilled and in tune with one’s place in time and space.  A personal universe, in a nutshell, that is never left behind or lost because it travels with you in your head and can be accessed at all times and all surroundings.

In another universe there are an infinite number of rooms to contain all the beautiful, wonderful, curious, fascinating objects, creatures and emotional stimuli  that I find make life worth living but these few are a start.

When Nikki is not at home, she spends most of her non-working hours cruising the tri-state area (NJ, PA, and Delaware) playing & singing with various music groups including two fantastic bands– Just Roses and Smoke and Mirrors. She spent most of her working career as a props person for live theatre and firmly believe that books, music in particular, the Arts in general and beasties are what makes life worth living.

*A note about Nikki’s house.  In error, I sent Nikki three house cut outs and she employed all three. Being a props person for the theater, this made perfect sense to me that she designed a set!

What is Home to Diane Podolsky

House sm format
Diane Podolsky ~ Home

Diane was born in Philadelphia, PA and currently resides in North Carolina.

Home for me is a connection to my physical surroundings which not only encompasses visual stimuli but smells, sounds, etc. But since we are dealing with images for this project, I will talk about visual stimuli. My favorite story about how sensory stimuli live deep in our subconscious was when a student asked me what all those “funny cross things” were in my artwork. The student was not familiar with TV antennae. From riding the El (elevated train) on a daily basis with a rooftop view of the world, these shapes etched themselves deep in my subconscious and made regular appearances in my artwork along with street lights, hanging laundry, church steeples, fire escapes and row houses.  Then my landscape changed.  My new landscape is a strange mix of rural, suburban, and small towns. The air and the light in the sky are different.  My new landscape has left its mark on me enough to say it is familiar enough to feel somewhat comfortable and will be added to the images my subconscious has stock piled. So my house that I completed shows the landscape I have known most of my life faded out in the background and replaced by the new.

Diane is the curator of the Cookie Cutter House Project, has enjoyed a long and varied career in the visual arts, and currently works on a vegetable farm in North Carolina.  She plans to start printing again in the near future.

What is Home to Jane B. Miluski

Jane Milusky finished piece
Jane Miluski ~ Home

 

Jane B. Miluski was born in Philadelphia, PA and currently resides in Wallingford, PA

Home for me is a a big pot of soup and a fine fat cat.  I live in the same house that my family moved into in July, 1937 when I was nine months old. I have been fortunate to teach plein air workshops throughout the world but I always look forward to coming home to a big pot of soup and a fine fat cat. 

What is Home to Amy Danford

danford1
Amy Danford ~ Home

Amy Danford was born in Cleveland, Ohio and currently resides in Havertown, Pennsylvania

When I think of the word “home”, I am unable to pinpoint one location or thing. Home has been the Midwest, New York City, New Jersey, and now Pennsylvania.  However, home doesn’t necessarily mean a brick and mortar building to me.  It’s both physical and emotional – the world I live in, the cities I’ve lived, my body, community, and so much more.  Home has sometimes meant living amongst millions of people or living quietly and on my own.  At times, it has felt chaotic, confusing or unknown.  Mostly, home has helped me understand my place in this world, where I explore and feel inspired, and where I rest my head at night.  Home is being at peace, which leaves me feeling whole.    

 About Amy: I took my first art class at the Toledo Museum of Art in 1980.  I was five years old and remember thinking what a wonderful, safe place the museum was.  I think I knew then I would someday work in museums.  For the past 18 years, I have worked as an art therapist and museum educator in New York City, Cincinnati and now Philadelphia…dabbling in my own art whenever possible.  I’m inspired every day by my students, my husband and two boys (ages 11 and 7), and the world around me.

What is Home to Jessica Eldredge

jessica house sm format
Jessica Eldredge ~ Home

Jessica Eldredge was born in Connecticut and lives in Pennsylvania.

My home to me is a kaleidoscope-full of color and light and all the things I find beautiful. All sorts of little pieces of my life come together there and bring me joy. 

Learn about Jessica by visiting her website:  www.jessicaeldredge.com

What is Home to Tracy Brunner

brunner house collage small format
Tracy Brunner ~ Home

Tracy was born in New Jersey and currently lives in New Hampshire

For me, home is an interesting concept. I have moved a lot since I left for college at 19 or 20 years old, and I travel as much as I can. Most of my travels involve sleeping in a tent with my husband or friends, so my piece shows two of the last permanent structures I have or currently live in, but the rest are places I have laid my head around the country and world. These places all have special meaning to me, and I take a little bit of each of them “home” with me, either in the form of pictures or souvenirs that remind me of the places I’ve been. I feel grounded in my current space, and enjoy coming inside after a walk in the woods, but I will always consider home wherever my loved ones are, where my head hits the
pillow, and where my pets are.

About Tracy:  I am a biologist, so I love to spend time in the outdoors and take
photographs of wildlife and nature to share with family and friends. I also recently became a beekeeper, and can be found watching the bees come and go from their hives as they pollinate my garden and make delicious honey. My husband and I also love to travel, and are out exploring near and far as much as we can.  See Tracy’s Blog Here

What is Home to Marlene D’Orazio Adler

marlene small format
Marlene D’Orazio Adler ~ Comforts of Home: Tea

 

Marlene was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and now resides in Glenside, Pennsylvania.

Comforts of Home: Tea is about what a home is, as connected to drinking tea.

There are many things that make up a home and collecting beautiful objects that remind us of special times with family and friends is especially important to me. For this work, I drew upon the various teapots that I have collected over the years.

 It is nice to share your home with family and friends and this is often expressed in the simplest ways through sharing a cup of tea. Tea provides meaningful time to sit with family and friends to catch up on life. The time it takes to prepare tea provides me with the opportunity to unwind when I am feeling tired or a bit under the weather. Drinking a hot cup of tea to relax in the comfort of home is one of the distinct pleasures of life.

Written on the teabag in my work are the Hebrew letters that form the word for life (chai). I chose to add this detail because tea is a big part of my life.

About Marlene:  I am an art educator and have taught art in public schools and presently teach art in a private school. I hold a Bachelor of Fine Arts from the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts and a Master’s degree in Art Education from the University of the Arts.

What is Home to Cynthia Back

cindy back small format
Cynthia Back ~ Home

Cynthia lives in Lansdowne, Pennsylvania, just outside Philadelphia and was born in St. Louis, Missouri.

Home to me is an open door, warm and inviting. Home is sunny and colorful. It is defined by the gardens, animals, and humans that live in and around the actual structure called home. Home is the memory of places lived and future places imagined.

About Cynthia:  Cynthia Back has exhibited widely both in the U.S. and internationally. She is the recipient of numerous awards and honors including grants from the Ludwig Vogelstein Foundation, Puffin Foundation, Pollock-Krasner Foundation; residencies and fellowships to The Artists Centre Dale, Norway; The Women’s Studio Workshop, Blue Mountain Center, Acadia National Park; The Ballinglen Arts Foundation Ltd., Ireland, Fundacion Valparaiso, Spain, Helene Wurlitzer Foundation, The Cill Rialaig Project, Ireland, and The MacDowell Colony. Her work is included in numerous private and corporate collections, including The Library of Congress, the New York Public Library, the Newark Public Library, the Free Library of Philadelphia, The New-York Historical Society, Pfizer, Inc., and The Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center.Cynthia Back earned a BFA at Minneapolis College of Art and Design and a post-graduate certificate at St. Martin’s School of Art in London, England.  Cynthia’s website can be seen here.