June was when I last posted on my blog. I feel bad about that, because I’d intended on posting a blog a week once I started; however, the purpose for starting this blog was to find my way back to my passion for the visual arts and to sustain it this time.I’ve accomplished much of that goal this summer, and for that I have no apologies. I started out by being inspired by a quote I found by Georgia O’Keefe. From there, I read a book of her letters, Lovingly, Georgia, and then a book about her: How Georgia Became O’Keefe by Karen Karbo, and found them both inspirational. My friend, Glenn , and I went to all of the Art Walks this summer in downtown Toledo, Ohio. We attended Art in the Park in Plymouth, Michigan, and the huge Ann Arbor Street Fair which was a show that I’d helped prepare art for when I worked in the studio of F. B. Fogg, back when my dear friend, Ann Johnson owned it, but had never had the chance to attend. I also dragged Glenn (who at one point said he’d been “art-ed out!”) to the Cleveland Museum of Art where we saw a great exhibit, Youth and Beauty, to the University of Michigan Museum of Art in Ann Arbor, and then this past weekend we went to one of my favorite places of all time: The Art Institute of Chicago. I got to see Hopper’s Nighthawks, which is a favorite, and not always there since it goes out on loan. In college, during one of my drawing classes, the professor told me that my style reminded him of Hopper, and I’ve never forgotten that (no, that’s not why I’m attracted to his work, but it doesn’t hurt). In addition, I found that there’s an entire gallery devoted to Georgia O’Keefe and Alfred Stieglitz, and then there’s van Gogh, who I’ve loved since I first saw his work when I was in high school. I was also happy to see the special exhibit, Roy Lichtenstein: A Retrospective, before it closes on September 3rd. If all that weren’t enough, I’ve had a wonderful correspondence the past few weeks with Ann, who has been so inspirational to me since she was my art teacher in high school – and again, she’s given me so many words of wisdom and encouragement. Nevertheless, all of this art immersion wouldn’t have the same impact if I actually didn’t do art myself. And I’m happy to report that things are starting to happen – I’m actually starting to be productive in the visual arts again. I’ve taken part in the Toledo Museum of Art‘s Doodle! where they actually put my doodle up as one of the featured Doodles! of the week. Some of my art is on exhibit at Way Library in Perrysburg, Ohio, through September 20th – with some new pieces in it. And, here’s a couple of other drawings I’ve completed – so far:
The drawings are both done in soft pastel. I plan to utilize more pastels in my work, but I’m also anxious to get back to some oil painting. School starts for me next week, so I’m hoping to not only be more faithful to my blogging, but to keep up my productive trend with my visual art, and to continue, as always, with my poetry – as I keep up with all of my classes that I teach so that I can keep doing what I’m doing.
Lylanne Musselman 