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Helena's Big Adventure in Jersey City

 by on 1/8/2010 10:16:02 AM
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My trip to Jersey City was quite successful! The drive itself was not so bad - fortunately I timed in so that I would avoid rush hour both on the way in and the way out, and the highways were not too obnoxious. The weather was with me, too because the sun came out and no high winds were gusting about.

I arrived at the gallery around noon. Ryan, one of the two co-owners, was out front sweeping the sidewalks. The building itself had a lot of charm - large french doors with nice wide windows so one could look in on the inside. Inside, Ryan and his partner (a cousin) have created a very warm and inviting atmosphere with antique and vintage furniture and props. The front of the store will be for Ryan's partner to showcase fashion, and the room behind that will house the gallery. Ryan very gallantly took my coat and bags and we sat down for a chat.

I found it very serendipitous that the name of the gallery is Lenape - for the Lenape Indians - since my friend and Marietta is a clan mother in the Lenape tribe! It HAS to be auspicious. Ryan said he wanted the name to reflect the heritage of the area, and since the Lenape were the First People of that area, he wanted to honor that. I think that is very cool. I showed him a few original things I had brought, and we took a look at my website as well. The gallery is having a poetry reading on Saturday night, and wanted some artworks to reflect the theme of the show - human sexuality. Since so much of my work is around wombs and rebirth, it fit well, I think!

After our chat, Ryan took me on a tour of Jersey City - very thorough! I got to see the great, the good, and well, the ugly. But it was so interesting to see how much the city has changed in the wake of 9/11. There is definitely a re-surgence and revitalization going on. Parts of the city look just like Manhattan, which you can see from just across the Hudson - within spitting distance. I could see both the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island very clearly. I found it re-freshing that Ryan wasn't afraid to show me less picturesque sites as well as the more chi-chi type places. 

Ryan is dropping by my studio today to take a look at more of my artwork, so I am very excited! Things are looking good indeed!

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Adventures in Road Tripping

 by on 1/6/2010 6:46:14 AM
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Sean and I drove up to Lancaster yesterday for a visit to the Lancaster Brewing Company. Our big day off on Monday was a washout, so we were glad to have at least one more day off together before Sean had to go back to work. Sean has made a lot of visits to Lancaster with our next door neighbor, and he wanted me to see "That Fish Place" - its actual name - where he's often gone to get his aquarium supplies. The Brewing Company was really lovely, although a bit dicey as far as parking goes. I'm not a huge fan of beer, but as Sean is something of a connoisseur, I was game. I am not sure what the building was used for originally, but it is housed in what looks to be something historic (I couldn't read the small print on the menu explaining the history), and rustic. The tables in the restaurant are arranged so that you can look down into the brewing area, which was quite cool. I had a falafel sandwich, which was surprisingly good, and Sean had an Angus beef burger. We both had the Baltic Ale which we both liked! (A rare thing for us to like the same beer).

After lunch, we went to That Fish Place, which is an amazing place indeed! I was inspired by all of the beautiful fish and lizards, snakes, and toads! It is enormous - if you are an aquarium enthusiast, this is the place to check out. They had separate rooms for the fresh water fish and the salt water fish, every kind of aquatic plant imaginable, and a "petting tank" with small manta rays swimming about. They also had a separate room for the lizards and snakes. I confess I have always been fond of lizards and was tempted to bring one home, but decided against it as I don't think I have the time to give it the proper attention. In addition to all the fish and reptiles and amphibians, they also had an area for the humane society with cats and dogs and a small animals room for bunnies, ferrets, and the like. Definitely worth paying it a visit.

I came home from our trip and painted like crazy. I am meeting with a gallery owner in Jersey City today - should be interesting. It is a new gallery. The owner tells me that a lot of artists have been moving in to Jersey City and it it turning into what SoHo was in the 70s and 80s. I am not wild about driving in New Jersey, so please think happy safe driving and not getting lost thoughts for me!

Signing off for now, will report back tomorrow!

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My first official blog entry

 by on 1/3/2010 3:53:02 PM
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I feel very fortunate in that 2009 has been an excellent year for both myself and my husband Sean. In some ways, we have felt guilty because we have had such a very good year when many of our friends have had to struggle with issues such as unemployment and the failing economy. We pray that 2010 will be much better for EVERYONE!

We have had a very quiet New Year so far, spent this past weekend with close friends and will be doing some exploring over the next few days we have off. I don't really believe in making New Year's resolutions, but I do have some goals I wish to accomplish, one of which is to find gallery representation! I would ideally like to find a gallery in any one of these cities: Philadelphia, New York, Baltimore, or Washington, DC. I would be happy with a gallery farther away, but right now, this is where my life is, and it would be much easier. I am sure I will be chronicling my search here.

In addition to writing about my own artwork, I will also be sharing news and information about my students' artwork, my work as curator at Cheyney University and the upcoming events we will have there this year. We have some big things coming up, and I am excited about the future.

That's it for now. Sean is downstairs watching Jurassic Park and I can hear the roar of the dinosaurs.


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Blog Coming Very Soon!!

 by on 1/1/2010 10:30:30 AM
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Stay tuned - once I get more comfortable with working with this site's software, I will be blogging away!

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