The aloes are blooming in my garden!

I am having so much fun with all of the metaphors related to heat.  I couldn't resist having my picture taken today in front of these impressive "torches" blooming in my garden.  I love the patterns on my friend Karin's scarf and how beautifully they go with my new hat.  Speaking of my hat, on Monday, I walked down to Safeway to get a salad and met a young woman who was making a video for a contest at the Academy Awards.  She invited me for an interview, asking me to pretend that I had won the Academy Awards for "Best Hat".  When the news reporter asked me to help her with her Project, I asked her if she would like to have a Singer.  I sang a few bars, filling Jackson Street near the Embarcadero, and I could be heard in the Safeway Store!  I won "Best Song", and sang for the camera!  Who knows, maybe the video will win the contest and I'll have my picture broadcast on TV.  You never know...  in LIFE, ANYTHING IS POSSIBLE!!!

NEW Art Studio in Marin MOCA!

Elise in front of her new studio at Marin MOCA

East facing window!

My storage area... new shelves coming!

I love red!  I rescued this canvas
from the trash and added the white horses!

Armed with a slew of canvases, my backpack chockful of oils and my paintbrush  -- I'm launching my career as a Painter and saying, "Au revoir" to incandescent pthalogreen oil paint on my carpet at home.  With an East facing window, I look forward to early morning light before I head over to Indian Valley Campus to paint with my Mentor Chester Arnold.  This semester, Chester is generously teaching us how to make ink out of the numerous oak galls laying on the grounds with an old rusty horseshoe.  Stay tuned for my newest direction in wearable arts with my hand-painted canvases turned into beautiful jackets and hats.   My newest Project is taking shape -- I'm going into my SELP course at Landmark Education, where I will learn how to enroll folks in my new Community Project.  Plus, I will be using the website,  www.kickstarter.com to create my own fundraiser program to generate the funds for my new career as a Motivational Singer, donning my own wearable art creations.  Look for my video, which I predict will go viral, after my Solo Show, "A Woman For All Seasons", at O'Hanlon Center For the Arts, on February 7, from 6-8 pm.   

Art Tag with NCWCA at ARC Studios & Gallery

I met with my NCWCA friends today at ARC Studios & Gallery, for the Art Tag, round-robin game based on the theme: Patterns, which was interpreted in numerous ways. As it turned out, my partner started the process with her three pieces, and then I took my turn. I showed my first piece called Convergence, a print I made using white ground on a zinc plate in my printmaking class at COM. 

Elise showing her print, Convergence, 2011

Next, I shared my first animated video, Elise in Quiltland, 2012, http://youtu.be/eA-oWD0p6cU which was influenced by the collaged paper piece of multiple colored squares I received from Miriam, my ArtTag partner and created on my iPad, using the app ArtStudio.  For this piece, I made several reiterations of the squares, similar to how I constructed my Animoto video, Into the Oblivion, 2010.  Both are viewable on YOU Tube, on my Channel, elisechevalgoesvideo, but were not so easily seen on my small laptop computer. 

Elise showing her video, Elise in Quiltland, 2011

For my final piece, I was inspired by the 2nd collaged paper piece, Healing the Bones, from my partner, which reminded me of a stage with a curtain and I considered it an invitation to do a performance piece called Carpe Diem.   To be in keeping with my improv work, I only opened the package this morning, then upon opening it, I saw a picture of an x-ray of a hand, with the words, "Carpus".  I related to the piece in numerous ways, including healing from my own repetitive strain injury, and my work as a Feldenkrais teacher.  When I researched "carpus" on Wikipedia, I came across the words Carpe Diem and learned that the poet, Horace, who penned the aphorism was born on December 8, 65 BC!  Given that my birthday, and my Mom's birthday is December 8, I though about how I could integrate all of this information into my performance.  I wanted to take my own quilt for ArtTag, but when I couldn't remember where I put it, Spirit guided me to take the quilt my Mom made for me before she died in 2008.

Elise showing the quilt, Fur Elise, made by her Mom, 2006

My Mom's machine-pieced kaleidoscope quilt, Fur Elise, she titled after my favorite song by Beethoven that she played on the piano when I was a kid, was the perfect expression of the theme called patterns.  To see more pictures from the girls participating in ArtTag, go to www.ncwca.org.

COV Performs in Cheshire Rock Opera at the Metro Opera House in Oakland

COV Choir, Joyce McBride Director, 2012

Therese and Elise, 2012

Elise Singing in COV Choir, 2012

New Friends, 2012



Therese and Elise, 2012

 

Georg, "Yo ho ho!!!", 2012

Last night, my new all-women’s choir, COV, performed at the Metro Opera House in Oakland.  All of us wore a costume related to Alice in Wonderland.  The sopranos were the “spades” and my choir director, Joyce McBride, let some of us come dressed as a special character.  My costume made out of satin for Halloween was perfect for the Red Queen.   I researched it and found that she wears blue eye shadow and a red heart on her lips.  So, when I was putting on makeup, I looked for some red lipstick, but I didn’t have any so I used Crimson nail polish instead.   Since I didn’t have red hair, I whipped up the hat, using one of my furry winter hats and leftover fabric scraps from making my dress.  My husband, dressed as a pirate in the costume I made for him, took these pictures of my new friends and me.  The lights gave them a strange glow!

Look for me in the Marin IJ, Lifestyles Section, on February 2, 2012!

When it rains, it pours! I've been discovered by Vicki Larson, Editor for Lifestyles at the Marin IJ newspaper. After our lively interview, Alan Dep, photographer, met me at O'Hanlon Center For the Arts in the Loft Gallery, and was amazed at the amount of work I've done in 9 months! He photographed my work and me, wearing my pink frock, "Diamonds Are A Girl's Best Friend", after one of my heroesses, Marilyn Monroe. I couldn't resist wearing my Grandmother's rhinestone earrings and necklace for the occassion.

Solo Show: "A Woman For All Seasons", February 7-29, 2012

My post card is finished! I learned a lot, creating it on Adobe photoshoppe, then saving it as a PDF file, for printing at WIGT Printing in Mill Valley. In addition to my wearable art made out of recycled and non-recycled plastics, I will be kicking off my improvisational singing debut, with story telling on pitch, about the destruction of the oceans with non-biodegradable plastics. This is my brainchild that I created 3 years ago, when I woke up depressed about the state of affairs in the world. In April, 2011, I decided to flesh out my ideas about sewing and heat-fusing plastics, and now that day has come, where I will share my work with the public. My friend, professional musician and Spiritual teacher, Robin Elliott, will be accompanying me with her Bleffert instruments, gongs, cymbals, tubes and triangles during the Opening Reception, February 7, 2012 in the Loft Gallery. My husband Georg will be creating a video and I will post it on YOU Tube for your viewing pleasure. There will be easy, free parking available, and plenty of red wine and refreshments for all.

AIM HIGH in Exhibitions Catalogue at Momentum SHOW in Los Angeles

My plastic dress, AIM HIGH, 2011, created with sewn and fused Target bags will be in the Exhibitions Catalogue for the Momentum Show, during the 40th Anniversary Conference and Gala, in LA, February 22-27.