FDR War!

One summer evening, while guiding students through the Franklin D. Roosevelt Memorial in Washington, DC, I was struck by thhis quote chiseled into the wall of the monument, "I have seen way. . . . I hate war." In the light of the current Vietnamesque conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan, I knew I had to say these words again, with President Roosevelt.
This is what else he said on August 14, 1936 in Chautauqua, New York. "I have seen war. I have seen war on land and sea. I have seen blood running from the wounded. I have seen men coughing out their gassed lungs. I have seen the dead in the mud. I have seen cities destroyed. I have seen two hundred limping exhausted men come out of the line--the survivors of a regiment of one thousand that went forward forty-eight hours before. I have seen children starving. I have seen the agony of mothers and wives. I hate war."
Not a very pleasant thought but if we (that is the collective you and me "we") don't continually hold up the horrors of war and recognize that it is not really the opposite of peace; we will never not know war. I would like to erase it from our vocabulary.
Let's start changing the way we think.
Franklin Hates War.
Oil on canvas with cut paper collage.
16 x 20
March 2005
Price: $150

Albert Counts!

While living in Telluride, Colorado in the winter of 2004, I stumbled across this Albert Enstein quote while nestled deep in the community library just off Main Street. Al says, "Not everything that can be counted, counts. Not everything that counts can be counted." My favorite Aunt Elaine said of this quote, "That is one you have to think about. . . ."
Over the years, I've had ample time to collect numbers (the base of this painting) but also time to contemplate what really does count. I "saw" this painting in my mind's eye, one night while lying in bed thinking about the things that can be counted.
I've created this painting twice. The first one was my first painting ever sold (pictured)! The second one is hanging in my doctor's house. He did some amazing surgery on me last year and as an artist, it is really the only way that I really thank someone. May you find important things to count.
Albert Counts.
Oil on canvas with cut paper collage.
16 x 20
original in September 2004

Let's Eat Cake!

Oil on canvas with cut paper collage in found vintage frame.
36 x 20
November 2005
SOLD!
From an old Diesel Jean ad, this quote comes from a larger statement. . . "Freedom is the feeling you celebrate with the world. Let's make cakes not weapons. Let's visit the plastic surgeon and replace your arms with wings. This may cost a lot of money." I'm not sure how many pairs of jeans were sold with this ad, but at least it made the rest of us think.
Lately, I believe that America needs to invest in more pies, more cakes and more donuts and less tanks, less weapons of mass destruction and fewer bombs. And it seems like we need to send the plastic surgeons over to Iraq to do some arm repair. . . .
Culinary school starts in the morning.

Fred Sings!

I've been together (dating? married?) with Penn State since before I was born. . . .I am pretty sure that I was conceived while my father was a graduate assistant at the Mont Alto branch campus (although my parents still won't give up the real story). One of my earliest memories includes Joe Paterno. When I was wee high, my parents took me and my sister to the annual Blue-White game at Beaver Stadium. It was back in the day when after the game you could go on to the field (gasp!) and take pictures with The Lion and The Coach. I vividly remember the 1982 National Championship team riding down College Avenue on a snowy, cold January Saturday. As a daughter of a professor, me and my siblings really do bleed blue and white.
This piece (and others to follow it) grew out of my childhood memories and my appreciation for the institution that has taken care of my family for many, many years. Fred Lewis Pattee wrote great words in March 1901. The lyrics to the Penn State Alma Mater run through the middle of this piece. Alums and fans sing them proudly. It is an honor to remember them and sing them in my head. Can you hear it in your head, too?
This collage is oil paint on canvas (each canvas in this photo is 24 x 36) with numerous P, S, and Us affixed using glue. Since this first Fred Sings piece created in the autumn of 2005, I have recreated it several times. Most of the pieces have been auctioned off at charity events to raise money for good causes and are hanging in Penn State rooms around the country. One piece is available for viewing at The Fraser Street Deli on . . . hmm. . . . I'll let you figure out which street it is on but right here in State College, PA. Just make sure you come in the door to see it. It is hanging from the ceiling. Thanks to Josh for taking care of it.

Slave To Freedom.

Slave to Freedom
18 x 24
Oil on canvas with newspaper clippings and photos and cut paper collage
Summer 2007
On loan from the private collection of U.S. Representative Tim Ryan (D-OH).
During my almost seven years living in Pittsburgh, I became friends with an extraordinary man whom I watched become the youngest ever Ohio State Senator and later be elected to the United States Congress. CSPAN is much more exciting when you are watching your friends.
This piece (pictured at the top of my blog) grew out of the deep places of pain while I've watched lives be changed as we have been at war with Afghanistan, Iraq and ourselves. Articles from the Washington Post make up the base of the flag and the words, Slave to Freedom come from a song by my favorite band, Good Brother Earl (Pittsburgh, PA). My first chance encounter with Tim Ryan was leaning against the back wall of the Horseshoe Bar (Warren, OH) listening to the soulful voice of our mutual friend, Jeff Schmutz.
May we never forget.
May we always be a slave to freedom.