art
Georgia O'Keeffe-inspired Artomat collection + a letter from a collector
Wednesday, September 06, 2017Special Edition Artwork for Georgia O'Keeffe Exhibit at Reynolda
This year a beautiful local art museum and estate, Reynolda in Winston-Salem, commemorates its centennial.
Photo courtesy of Reynolda House website
Image by Laura Gilpin (American, 1891–1979).
"Georgia O’Keeffe, 1953." Gelatin silver print
And this year, Reynolda celebrates by hosting the exhibit "Georgia O'Keeffe: Living Modern" now through November 19.
Art-o-mat has a very active machine at Reynolda. In anticipation of record crowds visiting this exquisite exhibit, many Artists in Cellophane have contributed special editions of work specifically to stock this machine.
At the beginning of August, I began working a batch of Little Inspirations to stock this machine. I was happy to deliver them to International Art-o-mat Headquarters today.
The special batch of 50 includes parts (either 1/2 or 1/4) of a flower plus an inspiring word in my original hand-lettering style.
Putting these 50 blocks back together to create this shot was like working a puzzle.
Here are some process shots below of how I went about creating this series.
Letter from Wendy, Art Collector
I recently received a lovely letter from an art collector and educator named Wendy.
She purchased a tiny piece of a Mondrian painting, like the ones below from my Mini Masterpiece series for Art-o-mat.
You can read her email below.
Thank you so much, Wendy, for letting me know that this Mondrian Mini Masterpiece met with such an excellent owner.
I enjoy being a part of the cultural phenomenon that is Art-o-mat.
Please spoil yourself this month by trying to find the closest Art-o-mat machine and if you are in my neck of the NC woods, go see the Georgia O'Keeffe exhibit at Reynolda.
Richard Nathaniel Arnold
Born Thursday, August 10, 2017
"Baby Nate"
The Last Time
From the moment you hold your baby in your arms,
You will never be the same.
You might long for the person you were before,
When you had freedom and time,
And nothing in particular to worry about.
You will know tiredness like you never knew it before,
And days will run into days that are exactly the same,
Full of feeding and burping,
Whining and fighting,
Naps, or lack of naps. It might seem like a never-ending cycle.
But don't forget...
There is a last time for everything.
There will come a time when you will feed your baby
for the very last time.
They will fall asleep on you after a long day
And it will be the last time you ever hold your sleeping child.
One day you will carry them on your hip,
then set them down,
And never pick them up that way again.
You will scrub their hair in the bath one night
And from that day on they will want to bathe alone.
They will hold your hand to cross the road,
Then never reach for it again.
They will creep into your room at midnight for cuddles,
And it will be the last night you ever wake for this.
One afternoon you will sing 'the wheels on the bus'
and do all the actions,
Then you'll never sing that song again.
They will kiss you goodbye at the school gate,
the next day they will ask to walk to the gate alone.
You will read a final bedtime story and wipe your
last dirty face.
They will one day run to you with arms raised,
for the very last time.
The thing is, you won't even know it's the last time
until there are no more times, and even then,
it will take you a while to realize.
So while you are living in these times,
remember there are only so many of them and
when they are gone,
you will yearn for just one more day of them
For one last time.
- Author unknown
Clarice had a blast in beautiful downtown Winston-Salem this summer.
I feel sure this mural was painted by artist Laura Lashley.
In July, she participated in an art camp at Art For Art's Sake.
This artist collective has helped make downtown more colorful and vibrant.
Clarice especially loved posing at a nearby mural. Does anyone know who painted this one? My guess is Laura Lashley, but please correct me in the comments below or via email if I am wrong: nicole (at) nicolettaarnolfini (dot) com. Thanks!
Clarice and Monique overlooking the beautiful park with a sculpture that
sprays water for fun times in the summer.
A mandatory side visit to Camino Bakery, an Art-o-mat host.
Monique and Clarice display their outstanding panels.
More fun places to check out in this awesome complex.
You can keep up-to-date with AFAS on their Facebook page.
There is always something really cool going on.
Today, we received Alex's new Enchroma glasses for the colorblind. Enchroma is a company that makes outdoor sunglasses for colorblind children and adults, as well as indoor glasses for adults.
We had adjusted our expectations prior to the delivery of the glasses. Steve and I realized that one possibility was no improvement at all. But we had hoped for at least some improvement. Enchroma offers a 100% money-back guarantee, so there was no reason not to try these sunglasses out for Alex.
What Alex saw
Results depend on the severity of colorblindness and the conditioning of the eyes over days of wearing the glasses. In the video below, you will see that six-year-old Alex, who is a little bit overwhelmed, can see oranges correctly. But he still was not able to distinguish purple from blue.
Clarice helps Alex put on his new glasses.
Click here for the video or click on the image above.
(Note: the video runs long and shows our real results.
Also, I'm very close to delivering a new baby,
which is why I am so very pregnant in the background.)
Alex also has trouble with pinks and greys. In the video, he will identify our pink poodle stuffed animal as pink. Two years ago, Clarice gave this dog (one of her old toys) to Alex and told him that the puppy would help him sleep through the night. Back then, Alex told me that this toy was grey, despite the fact that Clarice calls the dog "Pinky Pie." I hope the glasses continue to help Alex see various shades of color correctly, like pink and grey.
There is no way we will send the glasses back. Any improvement in Alex's color spectrum is worth celebrating.
How Alex sees without the glasses
We believe that Alex is a moderate protan, which means that blues and yellows dominate his color field. They are also his favorite colors because they are the most vivid.
Moderate protananomly is also called red-green colorblindness because of struggles with shades of these colors. In Alex's case, he often sees reds as dull browns. He also often identifies shades of green as "light yellow" or "dark yellow."
Below is a normal color spectrum for those who can see colors well (on top). On the bottom is the color spectrum of someone with more severe red-green colorblindness deficiency. You can learn more from this website.
When you look at what should be the normal orange range for a protan, you can see why Alex said our tabby cat was green.
Here is Alex one year with ago, with Luigi, the stray orange tabby kitten who showed up at our house on July 4, 2016, and has never left.
Why children are hard to diagnose
Children listen attentively to their teachers and surrounding adults for "correct" answers, especially when they realize that their answers may not be accurate. Alex actually told our eye doctor that our cat was orange simply because he knew he was wrong about green. Here are some reasons your child may unintentionally make his colorblindness difficult to diagnose:
- His desire to please teachers and adults.
- His quick ability adapt by memorizing and making intelligent guesses about incorrect colors. (For instance, "dark yellow" could be a green item, so Alex may guess that something is green when it is not.)
- The desire to appear smart. This sounds trivial, but small children want their parents and teachers to be proud of them and this includes excelling in academics -- which includes learning colors in preschool and kindergarten.
- Not understanding that you see things differently from him/her.
How to find out if you are colorblind
If you suspect you or a loved one is colorblind, Enchroma offers a simple, online test that may help you determine the type of colorblindness you may have and the severity.
Alex is colorblind because I am a genetic carrier. My father is colorblind, and there is a 50% chance that our next son (due very soon!) will be colorblind, also.
Our invisible eyebrows are probably a genetic trait, also. :)
Women are much less likely to be colorblind than are men. Clarice, for instance, is not colorblind, but she could be (as I am) a genetic carrier.
Men of northern European descent tend to be colorblind more than the rest of the population. (You can read more about this here.) Later in life, the colorblind may take formal tests that preclude them from certain branches of military service or professions. For instance, the Air Force is mostly likely out of the picture for Alex's future.
Some famous folks with colorblindness include Paul Newman, Mark Zuckerberg,
former President Bill Clinton, and Prince William, Duke of Cambridge.
Colorblind people enjoy intricate patterns and solve puzzles by
finding interlocking shapes rather than by joining up similar colors.
I hope that Alex's eyes adjust further to his new sunglasses. For a long time, I have dreamed that he and I can enjoy together the orange, pinks, and purples of a gorgeous sunset.
Disclaimer
I wrote this article as a mom who for years searched for answers I could not find from our ophthalmologists and pediatricians. I am not a scientist, nor did Enchroma pay me to write this article. I have shared my research and experiences in the hopes that it will help those of you who are concerned about loved ones who may be colorblind.
If you have questions, please feel free to leave a comment or email me at nicole (at) nicolettaarnolfini (dot) com.
I was really excited recently to get some green sales report cards in the mail from Art-o-mat. (Surrounding the green cards are some recently painted Matisse seaweed blocks from my Mini Masterpiece series.)
I have updated my map below to show my recent sales venues.
You can click on this map to see more details.
New venues for recent sales
Here's a quick look below at some of the destinations my art has traveled.
Emerson Center, Bozeman, Montana
When I saw that I had sold several pieces at the arts nonprofit Emerson Center in Bozeman, Montana, I could not help but think of a song that my Dad always sang to my nieces and nephews with strawberry blonde hair.
My Dad would always ask the kids if they were "The Red-headed Stranger from Blue Rock, Montana."
This exasperated them no end.
Here's the ballad by Willie Nelson for your listening pleasure. I would love to visit Montana one day, so the Emerson Center is now on my bucket list.
Halsey Institute, Charleston, South Carolina
I absolutely love Charleston, SC, so now I have (yet) another reason to go visit this gorgeous seaside city: the Halsey Institute of Contemporary Art at the College of Charleston.
Art for Art's Sake, Winston-Salem, North Carolina
This gorgeous, new building is an outward symbol of artist commitment and civic pride in Winston-Salem, NC. Several Artists in Cellophane (Art-o-mat artists) actively work and teach here. My daughter, Clarice, is participating in an art camp there this week.You can learn more about this artist collaborative on the AFAS website.
Free Range Brewing, Charlotte, North Carolina
There's a new brewery in my hometown of Charlotte: Free Range Brewing is open for business in the historic NoDa (North Davidson) area. NoDa is such a cool, hip place. If you ever find yourself in Charlotte, just drive a little north of Uptown so you can experience this entertainment district.
Thank you to fellow artist, Chris V.
The last couple years, I have published several classes online and through that experience, I met many working, fellow artists. One of those was Chris, who has a fantastic new website and newsletter.
Chris specializes in modern jewelry design and graphic design (both digital and analog), and her keen eye comes from her experience in the fashion industry.
You can see Chris' Instagram account by clicking on the above image.
Often in my art adventures, I get to meet people who are using their creative energy to add to the world in a positive way. You can see through Chris' art and teaching, that she radiates this generosity.
