Unglued

For Now...

noreply@blogger.com (melissa lanitis gregory) — Sun, 13 Jul 2008 03:02:00 +0000

The healing continues; the new blog awaits...
In the meantime, I AM posting on the Underground Artists blog, here.

This is the blog for my art group, and features events that we're involved in, places to find our work, and news about other local Tahoe artists. Come visit me over there!

Feel Good

noreply@blogger.com (melissa lanitis gregory) — Wed, 23 Apr 2008 22:57:00 +0000

A month or so ago, as I'd just finished the SmARTIST Telesummit, I was preparing to re-do my website and revise my vision for a new blog. Then life threw me a curve ball, and I've spent the last month in a major and very cool healing process.

So, a new blog hasn't materialized yet; it's waiting for the new work that is going to come out of all this. I'm so grateful to have been stopped in my tracks. It's given me time to assess their direction.

In the meantime, I've been watching old Northern Exposure episodes on DVD, enjoying the rest, and expanding my interest in footwear. The new pink cowboy boots are to die for, but here's a pic of my old studio shoes, inspired by the Secret.

Live well...

Self-Fulfilling Prophecy?

noreply@blogger.com (melissa lanitis gregory) — Tue, 18 Mar 2008 15:20:00 +0000

It's time to stop writing this blog.

I started it just over a year ago, and with the "blogiversary" a couple of weeks back, I'd hoped to end this one by launching my NEW blog, which I'm working on still. In the meantime, however, I was diagnosed with this autoimmune anemia, have turned a pronounced shade of yellow, and been put on medication that makes me feel, well, "unglued".

As I'm not feeling well enough to work in the studio, and would rather not bore you all with my medical details, I am officially putting an end to this particular blog, as of this week. If you'd like to find the new blog, check back here in a couple of weeks. I'll leave a "stub post" with a link to the new url.

Or, you can add your name to my mailing list. Most of you are on my mailing list already, and will receive an email when the new blog is up and running, like me. I hope it's soon.

Thanks so much for reading this blog. I've loved writing it, and really appreciated having your support. I'll be back soon...

In the meantime, I'm working on the name for my new blog... something more upbeat this time?

health update

noreply@blogger.com (melissa lanitis gregory) — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 16:50:00 +0000

This "autoimmune hemolytic anemia" is really kicking my butt... I don't have the energy to work OR write. And I think the medication they gave me is adding to the wierdness.

I didn't realize it would be like this.

Nevada Home features my work this month

noreply@blogger.com (melissa lanitis gregory) — Fri, 14 Mar 2008 12:07:00 +0000

Note to self: Never watch "Macbeth" (even if it does feature James McAvoy) and start taking insomnia-inducing medication on the same day...
I've been awake since 2 am.

But I did want to let you know that by clicking here, you can see my work in Nevada Home magazine! (scroll down the page) This came as a surprise.

Another surprise that I received yesterday was that ClayNichols, the store that features the aforementioned work, is going out of business at the end of this month. Starting March 20th, they're having a sale, so if you'd like to catch some great deals on some beautiful home decor, head on over. See link in sidebar for store hours and Reno location.

I love you, Oprah, BUT...

noreply@blogger.com (melissa lanitis gregory) — Thu, 13 Mar 2008 17:53:00 +0000

A sick artist is not a happy artist. It's not like we get to miss "work", or get to take sick days... happy to sit on the couch and watch Oprah. To me, it feels more like a huge roadblock to getting back to our lives... our lives are our work, and to be deprived of that creates frustration, and probably a lot less healing. I plan to be in the studio every day, even if it's only for the hour or so that I can manage right now.

The work I was doing when, SURPRISE! I found out I was turning yellow was also going to be a surprise, but I'll tell you now:

I'm working on a short video... and here's a close-up of a the piece that I'm working on for it. Can you guess what it is?

No Passing Out in the Glue

noreply@blogger.com (melissa lanitis gregory) — Tue, 11 Mar 2008 22:01:00 +0000

The film fest is over, and now I've got to bring up that matter of the health issues I'm dealing with...
Or maybe you'd prefer a film about red blood cells?
Hmmm... probably not.

Well, it seems that I'm experiencing an auto-immune hemeolytic anemia (shh... everyone will want one). This means I'm very anemic and very tired... and jaundiced. (see creepy photo of my jaundiced eyeball.)

It's my intention to keep working and to keep blogging throughout the process of healing. I know that when I don't show up in the studio regularly, I feel like something is missing in my life. Creating grounds me. And I need to feel grounded now. I'll do short sessions, and I'll stop when I feel dizzy. No sense passing out in the glue.

Yet More Art on Film

noreply@blogger.com (melissa lanitis gregory) — Mon, 10 Mar 2008 15:37:00 +0000

I had planned to move on by now, but I'm still working out some health issues, and have been a bit distracted lately. So, if you can stand to watch yet another film clip, the one below is good for a laugh.

Art Film Fest, day 4

noreply@blogger.com (melissa lanitis gregory) — Fri, 07 Mar 2008 17:22:00 +0000

I wanted to find something really cool for you to watch for this final day of the Film Fest...

Art Film Fest, day 3

noreply@blogger.com (melissa lanitis gregory) — Thu, 06 Mar 2008 16:56:00 +0000

After you watch this clip, run right out and rent "Rivers and Tides", the full-length documentary about Andy Goldsworthy's work.

Art Film Fest, day 2

noreply@blogger.com (melissa lanitis gregory) — Wed, 05 Mar 2008 16:43:00 +0000

A friend of mine in Europe sent us still photos of Julian Beever's amazing sidewalk art a while back. Here's some video of him working on a piece for the Transformers movie.

Art on Film

noreply@blogger.com (melissa lanitis gregory) — Tue, 04 Mar 2008 15:42:00 +0000

We're having a Film Fest at my house this week, since I'm still dealing with some health issues and am very tired. I decided to have a Film Fest on the blog this week too. Here's your first one:

Happy Blogiversary

noreply@blogger.com (melissa lanitis gregory) — Mon, 03 Mar 2008 16:38:00 +0000

Is this a word? I don't know, but I saw it on somebody else's blog. And it is. It's my One Year Blogiversary of "Unglued". (Technically, it was March 2nd.)

I have to thank my artist friend Kristen, who, last March, unwittingly set into motion a chain of events that led me to blog obsessively by uttering these words (or something similar): "I'm going to try blogging four times this week".

To a normal person, this meant: she was going to try blogging four times that week. But to moi, that meant, "I must also try blogging four times this week. I must blog alot. I must blog more than her."

And I did. I blogged alot, and I learned alot. As a result, "Unglued" has undergone many changes. And here we are, a year later, and I've got something new in the works... I wanted to be able to unveil it today, but I haven't been feeling well. So, more details soon!

Proud to be a New Yorker

noreply@blogger.com (melissa lanitis gregory) — Sat, 01 Mar 2008 19:27:00 +0000

Here's something you don't see every day:

http://www.maniacworld.com/frozen-in-grand-central-station.html

Even though I've been gone for 20 years, I'm proud to be from New York. Where else does it get this weird?

me, sick.

noreply@blogger.com (melissa lanitis gregory) — Thu, 28 Feb 2008 20:32:00 +0000

Not feeling well today...

Here is a photo of me, taken this morning.

Family Heirlooms

noreply@blogger.com (melissa lanitis gregory) — Wed, 27 Feb 2008 15:58:00 +0000

I know it's not big news, but here's another post about one of the brushes I use. Say you're excited?

My mother was an artist too; painter, sculptor and sometime potter. I inherited her brushes: all high-quality; some unusable; most, antiques! This brush stole my heart, if you can say that about a brush. I wanted you to see all the years of paint that are built up on the handle. It's beautiful.

I don't use it as much these days; I tend to use flat, wide brushes. And it seems about time to retire it. Maybe I'll have a little ceremony for it, along with the "Harvey Berin" pencil (from one of my mother's fashion illustration jobs in the 1940's)...

these are my family heirlooms.

Birthdays

noreply@blogger.com (melissa lanitis gregory) — Tue, 26 Feb 2008 14:32:00 +0000

Birthdays are weird...

or maybe they're just weird when you get older. Not that I'm getting so old, but let's just say I'm teetering dangerously close to...no, I can't even say it.

But my problem is that I always want to do the Exactly Right Thing on my birthday, and that puts alot of pressure on me. So you'd think I'd be in the studio. But I wanted to take a day off. So I chose to head out to the mountain and ski; just a few runs. And it's beautiful out there; absolutely gorgeous. But what I realized yesterday, after 36 years of skiing (and still a timid intermediate) is that it's not My Thing. Not anymore. I'm giving up trying to be a Cool Skier Chick. I am choosing not to invest the time it would take to improve my skiing, because I'd rather invest it in becoming a better artist.

For awhile after I realized that, I was mad at myself for going out there, but then I realized:

I did the Exactly Right Thing for my birthday. And I feel so much lighter.

The Creativity Habit

noreply@blogger.com (melissa lanitis gregory) — Mon, 25 Feb 2008 16:06:00 +0000

I'm just at the beginning of choreographer Twyla Tharp's book, "The Creativity Habit" and already I'm realizing how much I need it. Especially the lying in bed at 6:00 and wondering if I REALLY need to go to the gym...she swears that if I do this all the time, it will become ritualistic and I won't question it so much. To which I say, "ha ha".

But the other thing, the studio time:
I really am finding that going into the studio at set times is the only way to get in there. The act of creativity brings up a lot of whiny self doubt. (It can get ugly). So to just GO and BE. Much easier.

Some days are better than others...
and today's my birthday, so I'm going to do whatever I want.

Cave Art

noreply@blogger.com (melissa lanitis gregory) — Fri, 22 Feb 2008 17:23:00 +0000

It's snowing, AGAIN. My studio is regaining it's snow-cave status (ice coming off the roof is meeting snow stacked up underneath) and that sort of dampens my enthusiasm to be out there.
If I didn't have the Underground Artists meeting in there this morning, I think I'd just stay in the house and bake banana bread instead.

Full Circle

noreply@blogger.com (melissa lanitis gregory) — Thu, 21 Feb 2008 19:44:00 +0000

"Phoenix", 2008

7" x 15" x 12"

Yesterday's post included a small photo of this papier mache/mixed media piece that I started well over a year ago. It was part of a series called "Mystical Receptacles". The forms were organic and undulating and somewhat pod-like, and I liked the idea of them, because they were sort of purposeless.

They were difficult to make, though. The papier mache layering went on for HOURS (not my favorite part of the process.) Some of them went through several incarnations, too, as I figured out what worked and more often, what didn't. With this piece, there was alot of "didn't". But I couldn't toss it. It still held promise, and besides, I liked the hanger-wire legs. Every so often, I'd do something different with it; just enough to keep me interested.

Yesterday I finished it, using recycled foil candy wrappers around the inner edge. The bright colors are reminiscent of my aunt and uncle's groovy living room rug, circa 1967. I'm almost inspired to do another! Or maybe not...

Inspiration & Relevance

noreply@blogger.com (melissa lanitis gregory) — Wed, 20 Feb 2008 15:27:00 +0000

This post revolves around two things:

inspiration, and relevance.

Last night I dreampt about Madonna. I dream about her occasionally. It's odd when you consider that I don't like her songs much, but I find her strength and drive fascinating. When I woke up, I had some of those half-formed ideas that sometimes turn into art pieces. I ran out to the studio to turn the heat on, and do some thumbnails for a new series. Are these connected? I don't know, but I may want to figure that out... I'm working on revising my artist's statement, using Alsyon Stanfield's new book about promotion: "I'd Rather Be in the Studio". In it, she uses a series of questions designed to help artists get clear about the inspiration behind the work. How am I going to incorporate dreams of Madonna into an artist statement? Should be interesting.

And relevance: This photo of my shoes seems irrelevant, but the fact is, I love the way the light comes through that sliding glass door, and shines through the screen that's leaning there. Noticing things like this, I photograph them. That's relevant to the creative process, just as relevant as the ideas that flew out of my head and into the sketchbook this morning; ideas for pieces that spring from my love of this place I live, and from the losses of last summer's Angora fire.

Alternative Gallery Spaces

noreply@blogger.com (melissa lanitis gregory) — Tue, 19 Feb 2008 15:01:00 +0000

As a born-and-raised New York girl, I loved this post on Alyson B. Stanfield's ArtBizBlog. (I just clicked on the link on her site that goes to the actual New York Times article, but as it's "yesterday's news", you have to register to read the whole thing. Read an excerpt at Alyson's blog).

It concerns a rather brave art gallery in chi-chi Chelsea. Here in Tahoe, we also suffer from a dearth of gallery space, and my friends and I are always trying to think of possible alternatives. If anyone has any great alternative gallery stories or suggestions, send it along!

Art That Goes "Boing"

noreply@blogger.com (melissa lanitis gregory) — Mon, 18 Feb 2008 15:40:00 +0000

Or, more specifically, Art That Goes "Boing" in Public.

The finished Underground Artists anniversary helmets, complete with a "boingy" bead at the top, were delivered to our "between-the-meetings" art meeting. This is a more informal get-together that we recently started doing, because meeting every two weeks is just TOO LONG a time to go without connecting with each other in person. Instead of getting together in my art studio, we meet at a local coffee house for a caffeine/sugar/support fix. Instead of focusing on art issues, we talk about "whatever". It helps.

Anyhoo, I brought the art helmets to Friday's group, and lucky for me, Kristen (aka "Sc ary") and Barbara (aka "Muddy") immediately put them on and wore them the entire time. (This is why I love these women.)

Reactions from other people in the cafe varied: I went up to the counter for something (okay, it was a cookie) and the young and humorless counter person pretended I was NOT wearing anything unusual. (Actually, I'm sure she sees alot of odd things in her job; maybe she's just jaded.) But other people looked over at us and smiled. One nice older gentleman came over and started talking to us, but by that time, I was ready to go and had on my Elmer Fudd hat (excellent for snowblowing!) and I think he commented on that first; but he did ask about the helmets. I loved that he was curious and open enough to start a conversation.

The intention was not to attract attention; the meeting was just the best way to deliver the art. But once we were there, and it became clear that we were going to WEAR them, it became an interesting experiment in people's reactions to my art.

What would your reaction have been?

Celebrating a Year of Underground Art

noreply@blogger.com (melissa lanitis gregory) — Fri, 15 Feb 2008 17:29:00 +0000

Okay, well, it was more like last week, BUT, the Underground Artists have been meeting for a year now, and as the founder, I felt like it was reason to celebrate. The group has been the most amazing experience, and it was important, I felt, to mark this anniversay, with, say, wearing a bowl on one's head.

Or, an Art Helmet.

These are the surprise I mentioned; I couldn't post photos here this week because Kristen would be reading. I made three of these; one for each of us. They're my unique brand of recycled paper/papier mache/mixed media art. On the backs, they're personalized. I'm actually running out the door right now, but here are pics!

This art group has been a huge gift for all of us. For anyone aspiring to move towards greater creativity, I highly recommend getting together with other like-minded creative people. It's been an amazing experience, and we can't wait to see what this year will look like...

Mutant Cantaloupe

noreply@blogger.com (melissa lanitis gregory) — Thu, 14 Feb 2008 14:50:00 +0000

For all you know, I might be creating mutant fruit in my art studio... (note to self: file "mutant fruit" idea for future use.)

You don't get to see the whole thing until Friday...

so here's a cropped shot of one of the new art pieces. I'm using a different paper for the texture this time, and I like it.

It reminds me of cantaloupe.