S.O.S. In Review

My lack of posting has mainly to do with the fact that I've been super busy. Work has been uglier that usual, the weather has been beckoning me to play outside and Jere moved into my apartment last weekend. The last one was actually went pretty smoothly. He is a man of few things, unlike yours truly. Well, on both fronts. I am not a man. I own many things.

We browsed around during the Somerville Open Studios yesterday. I was unable to participate this year due to the fact that I attempted to register 2 whole days late. I noticed that several of my Somerville artist friends did not participate and I am sure that this was the reason. It's always pretty cool to check out new stuff, especially when (a) there are free snacks and beverages and (b) it's practically right at your doorstep. Our main concentration yesterday was the Vernon Street Studios on, uh, Vernon Street. It's a converted factory and it houses what seemed like a couple of hundred artists. Unlike the New Haven Open Studios, which we've been to a couple of times, I didn't see any, I repeat, ANY monoprints. Thank heavens. There was an impressive amount of encaustic, though. I am always fascinated by the dimension, glassiness, and vibrancy of encaustic. I think, however, that there are rules when it comes to developing a piece using this medium.

1. First and foremost, some kind of old letter, preferably with a postmark of sorts, must be used as part of the composition.
2. If you don't have an old letter handy, try using an old map.
3. If you have neither of these things, then go with a piece of craft paper with illegible, cryptic notations that mean something to only you.
4. Collage style is the way to go when using encaustic.

There was an artist who, I guess, got tired of explaining the method to her visitors (she actually told someone this when they asked her about her work) so she typed everthing up and handed it out. God forbid you waste your precious voice on people kind and curious enough to come see your work! Okay, okay, I understand that repetition, particularly when going over the four points listed above, can be tiresome. But do you have to literally tell people that you are tired of explaining it?

The Sox should have won last night's game. If Cora were in it from the get go, we wouldn't have lost. Always use Cora. That's my new rule. I did enjoy the classic Tavarez finger pointing, though. He was so emphatic about the infielders turning a double play, he squatted and twisted up his arms, like the scarecrow in The Wizard of Oz. It was amusing. Oh, and he did pitch a hell of a good game. Too bad he was matched with Santana.