Room to Move, Then Tetris

This is ninety Portraits.

I found the floor in my studio! For about two months the portraits have been carefully stacked front-to-front, back-to-back on the rug, accumulating mass and floor space as they were framed.

The portraits are all now in their boxes, numbered, labeled, except for one. Somehow this one did not seem to find it's correct box and I kept running across it as I methodically packed the others, ten to a box in consecutive order. It kept me company for the whole process. "What are you doing still out Dylan?", I finally asked it. Studio time is quiet.

Keep it simple right? So this one will have to find it's place later today as I finish that job up. Whew.

Onto PR, posters, postcards, mailing, lists, emails.

Most important though is laying out the space for the installation. It will be like playing Tetris with 185 portraits. How many on this wall, then the next. Spacing, grouping, breathing room. Then there will be less cause for panic when the boxes actually arrive in the Cantwell Room and the portraits take their assigned places on the walls.

Other News

The Adirondack Gives On Line Campaign went over the top two days a head of schedule. Big Thanks to all 36 backers and the many backers who also contributed off line. Face to Face could not be done without you all.
Just so you know, if you are still considering backing the project – and I hope you are if you have not already done so – tax deductible contributions can be made to Face to Face, care of Pendragon Theatre, 15 Brandybrook Avenue, Saranac Lake, NY 12983

Face to Face: Drawn to Saranac Lake
Opening November 12- December 7 
Reception November 12, 3-6pm
Saranac Lake Free Library
All Are Welcome!

Stayed tuned.
Artliveslong, Diane

Yellow Day

Yellow light til the end

The leaves in the 'Dacks have gone to yellow and gold, particularly in my yard. The light early this morning filled the rooms of the house with yellow even though it was still overcast. I took advantage of the day to tend to the garden - get it ready for winter which may or may not come soon.

It is a ritual I put off as long I can, then I go full blast clearing out vegetables, trimming perennials, chasing down persistent weeds.

The garden did well without me this season. Torn between the project - framing - and taking advantage of plein painting opportunities plus loads of family stuff, the garden was left on its own, took care of itself and looked like a 35 year-old garden – full and colorful.

Still blooming in October

Working out there today made me appreciate the earth, the sky, the stubbornness of weeds, the hope of a single standing hollyhock in the middle of October.

There are surprises along the way, especially since I have not worked in the garden as hard or deliberately as previous years. Todays surprise is the beer radish. It started as an experiment along with regular radishes. Then they were forgotten until today when I came upon this one. Hmm… I wonder how many beers this will take to eat?

It will take a couple of days to clean and prep the rest of the garden but I don't think I have that much time. Weather is coming. Geese are gone. The yellow light will falter as the leaves drift to the ground.

Today was a lovely day. Gotta bottle it.

A beginning, Thursday am at South Creek

What is in it for me?

Who?

There were one-hundred-eighty-five portraits made. That statement is just a crack in the door. Why? The question is begged and I have replied a few different things. But that is not relevant to what happened to me.

What happened to me was unexpected. 185 people, all in a specific time of their lives, sat, all willing and some eager to be part of Face to Face. Some were complete strangers whom I now can greet and say hi. Some were people I had a preconceived notion of who they were from some other time or event that was completely wrong. Those were folks I was surprised to find them wanting to do this thing, have their portrait made by me. I realized if I was going to sit opposite that person, I had to throw out what I knew with all my prejudices and get on with the portrait.

That was my life changer.

By finding a way of scrubbing out preconceived ideas I became more open. It took me until the fourth month of the project to stop talking about myself and the project and turn the questions back to the sitter. It was hard work not to second guess where anyone was coming from in conversation. About that time my head, heart started opening to the real human element of the project. It was a very public place sitting there in Compass Printing yet all kinds of subjects were discussed. People would sit for two hours and we would talk.

From this opening in my head I was allowed to see my sitter better. As the project progressed, so did the seeing of the person and my ability to capture not just a likeness but also that particular space in time. The days mindset of the individual began to emerge in the work.

When Face to Face is finally hung, that will be a high point in the project. Even as the maker of all these portraits I have not yet seen all of them at one time. The story of the faces looking back at me, the progress in my work and my head is going to show. But I have no idea what that will look like.

Seeing them all looking back, that is what is in it for me.

Stay tuned.

Artliveslong, Diane

Two Days to go.
https://adirondackgives.org/campaigns/face-face-drawn-saranac-lake-lets-get-framed/

Boring Deadline: Four Days Left for Online Campaign Face to Face: Let's Get It Framed

Full disclosure: I am asking for your help and it is not exciting. Art Math I call it.

I am full of numbers right now. Four (4) days left in the Adirondack Gives Campaign for Face to Face. One-hundred-eighty-five (185) portraits to frame. Eighty (80) are complete, glassed, taped, wired, identified, ready to be boxed up. Fifty-eight (58) are ready to put into the frame. That leaves forty-three (43) still to trim, clean glass, place the spacers that are 12 inches long each on the glass, seal up with tape on all four sides, then frame. 

And that ain't all. I need to order boxes the right size to hold no more than ten (10) with spacers and foam so it can be picked up by me when it is time to bring it to the Library in Novemeber to hang in the Cantwell Room.

This project is like a sharp shooters gallery: as soon as one target is knocked down, a new one pops up.

Wall of just a dozen

I have had a lot of help so far. Wayne Newman gave me all the glass. Jeanne Danforth has given me two days to help frame. Shawn Helperin will be helping frame next week.

The on-line campaign backers have contributed to part of the cost of framing.  NYSCA has contributed about 20% of the cost for the project this year. There have been contributions from folks just stopping in the studio in Gabriels and others have contributed through Pendragon Theatre, the fiscal sponsor for the project so they will also receive a tax deduction.

I warned you this is boring. 

But I am excited because I see this part of this project coming to head. The exhibit will be in November and everyone is invited to the opening.  My vision is seeing all those faces on the wall looking back at all the faces in the room. Shivers.

Only Four Days Left in the Online Campaign. You can help. It is a win-win situation. You do have a choice of art gifts from the studio to choose from. Go the site and check it out.  https://adirondackgives.org/campaigns/face-face-drawn-saranac-lake-lets-get-framed/

Did I say Thank You? 

 

Thank You for your interest and your support.


Thank You.


Thank You.
 

By the way, Who are these folks? and How come their background is all in the same color family?

Stay tuned.

Artliveslong, Diane

Breakneck Speed of Summer.

Late August and I can feel the fall sneaking into my motions. There is a coolness to the air that is not the same coolness that has been part of this summers recalcitrant appearance in the Adirondacks. No, this coolness had the little whisper that says, "It's time to get ready."

Misty Messages - August 2015

But I am not ready! August moved way too fast beginning with the Morristown Plein Air Festival where four pieces and a couple of mini studies were made, framed and hung in 3 days time. Then a large family celebration with visitors from 3000 miles away and as close as a mile away attending. Then yet another painting event last week- this time close to home - the Adirondack Plein Air Festival with five paintings made in four days.

No, not ready for fall - a grand girl entering college for the first time and the younger heading back to 3rd grade before Labor Day. Not ready at all.

Toys Awaiting Boys II - August 2015

There is Face to Face looming.
My goal this coming month is to continue the framing and get it done before the end of September. It has to happen. So many other jobs to do once they are completed.

I need help.
I need help with the on-line campaign that was set up almost two months ago to close with a bang in September.
Surely everyone can use a 2016 calendar? Or a print of a painting or an original. Yes I am thanking contributors with gifts.

Please do consider and act to support the campaign. Your help allows me focus on getting the framing of all 185 faces complete so we can view faces drawn to Saranac Lake in 2014 in style.

Go to: https://adirondackgives.org/campaigns/face-face-drawn-saranac-lake-lets-get-framed/   
To stay updated sign up up for the blog or better yet sign up for the Thumbprints of Diane Leifheit Newsletter on my website. Thank you.

Artliveslong, Diane

This post is dedicated to Henry Parness with much love.  

Henry 1925 - 2015

Eighty-seven Days to Go.

I've been framing the Face to Face project. 87 days to go till the exhibit opens in November, 62 pieces are safe under glass, 21 are complete in their frames and ready to hang.

Each piece takes a couple of hours to go from being in this pile …

to this pile …

to this pile.

A couple of friends who volunteered their framing skills will be helping with the last part of the framing. Most of the glass, which has been donated by Wayne Newman of Newman and Holmes, has been cut and is ready to install. 87 days to go. I have promised  myself I would get this part done by the end of September. That is really much shorter than 87 days isn't it?

Falls at Rossi

Here are a couple of pieces from the Morristown Plein Air festival. I really like painting in that neck of the woods along the St. Lawrence. The clouds are amazing and one can see to forever in the yellow sunshine.

Old Man's Island, St. Lawrence

Look for me painting Plein Air between August 19 - 22 in the Saranac Lake area, my stomping grounds, during the Adirondack Plein Air Fest. I will post my morning location on Facebook so maybe you can track me down. I may have afternoons figured out but not have access to electronic media. We'll see. There will be a show and sale of all the work made by over 50 participating artists at the  Harrietstown Town Hall Saturday August 22 from 10-4. Over 400 paintings of our territory here in the 'Dacks- surely there will be a favorite view for anyone who lives here - visitors too.

Please don't forget to check here if you would like to support Face to Face. I am giving away my 2016 calendar and paintings as gifts for donating.  
Thank you to everyone who is helping. 
It is Our Project!
https://adirondackgives.org/campaigns/face-face-drawn-saranac-lake-lets-get-framed/#backers

One of these folks has moved away since their portrait was made. Anyone know who?

Plein Air Painting or Face to Face?

This past weekend I spent 3 full days painting in Morristown New York for the Library Plein Air Festival.

Whats that you say? Aren't you supposed to be framing?!

Yes and No. I have to paint. I have to frame. The frame work is coming along. This past weekend was a leap forward for my work. No I did not sell nor win anything but I made 7 pieces - three small seen here and 4 larger which I will put up later. 

Day One: Painting in the Car in the Rain 6x11

All of them are gifts offered in the Adirondack Gives campaign for Face to Face: Let's Get It Framed. For $100 a backer will receive a small unframed pastel like one of these three. I have accumulated a couple of dozen of these sweet little paintings to offer as a gift for backing Face to Face in the campaign.  For $500 a backer receives a small framed plein air work. For $1000 a backer receives a barn painting. And o the barns in Morristown are extraordinary.

Day One; The sun came out! 6x11

Why would this be of interest?

If you have been reading about Face to Face for the last year and a half you will know there were 185 people who had a portrait made for this project. The work belongs to Saranac Lake and will reside in Saranac Lake on permanent loan. They are not being sold to the folks who sat for the project. They are staying together as the collection representing a slice of Saranac Lake in 2014, a piece of history.

Face to Face belongs to you.

I need your help to complete the project, to have the pieces ready to show in in November in the Library. Head to the site and read more about it.

Only 34 more days to go!

Day Two: Hidden red barn,at the river outlet. 7x8

As Cherrie Sayles said to me 2 years ago,
Let's get 'er done!












 Click here to become a backer. https://adirondackgives.org/campaigns/face-face-drawn-saranac-lake-lets-get-framed/

Ladies of February Face to Face