Let me know what books have made the most impact on you.

I am looking to read some new books in 2010. But I would like to get some fresh ideas about what to read.

That is where your suggestions entered below would be just wonderful!!

Leaves: Judith Reidy's Painting and Paul Anderson's Poem

Ten Poets, Ten Painters: One Vision

painting by artist, Judith Reidy

Leaves
by Poet, Paula Anderson

A slight breeze brushes the green leaves,
a reminder of summer’s crossing,
the green lobes of the oak leaf
polished and glistening liked waxed fruit
will crinkle from water loss like the rest of nature aging,
no tarted up polyurethane for you,
later gawkers at your colors, leaf peepers,
and you blind to adulation,
knowing no one can re-live what isn’t known.

But we know lost passion.
It remarks on wrinkles like withering
strawberries ripe and red,
losing taste and succulence,
not a single mouth wants you.

A season can be enough to rage the soul.
Memories tied to a face tattooed with mold
but those are hard to understand,
when words for you are the mist of warmth––
breath to push away the fate of winter.

Tonight is the Night for One Vision

Tonight, Saturday, October 17,
"Ten Poets, Ten Painters, One Vision"
Program
at the Raven Gallery
in Pewaukee at 7pm

I am disclosing more of the image of my painting now.
My painting "Leaves" will be completely revealed at the exhibition this evening.

Join us!

Judith Reidy in One Vision at the Raven Gallery

Our gathering should provide an enriching and interesting evening this Saturday, October 17, 2009, at the Raven Gallery: the spot light being the reading of the poems by the poets and the presentation of the accompanying paintings.

Hope to see you there.

Reflections with One Vision- Portraiture

I had some reflections on a wonderful discussion panel this past Friday evening at the Charles Allis Art Museum on which Graeme Reid, Michael Foster, Kattie Musloff and her dear 87 year model where members.

Though I have been a landscape painter most of my career as a painter, I have a fascination with figure work and portraiture for the very reasons they discussed that night.

Particularly, I was attracted to how Katie made her models part of her life. So often as painters we are loners who paint forms or respond to forms as if they were inanimate and we are the ones who give them life in our art. Perhaps, that is what Graeme was referring , when he asked about "objectivity" as a necessity for an artist.

I do at times appreciate when artists take a dis-interesting object and infuse it with life; i.e. paint something ugly beautifully. Nevertheless, while, I, as did the panel, recognize the need for an artist to have an objective technical understanding of the painting before him and in some measure an objective view of what painting is about in general, I often fail to be intrigued by the commonly clinical-like-view that is respected among my contemporary artists when discussing their work "objectively" or mechanically.

What appealed to me in Katie's work was the personal response and respect she maintains for and toward her models... who often become her friends. You may ask what does that have to do with painting or making great art.

In Katie's personal engagement with her models she is able sensitively to begin to connect with the humanity of her model/friends not through a mechanical process but through the her own body kinetically, perceptively and personally in drawing and painting responding to the humanity and life in her subjects before her.

I think that is what made Rembrandt great. Not only was his mind able to connect psychologically with the humanity or soul of his subject, his hand was able to kinetically capture not just the physical likeness but more significantly articulate/capture the soul or humanity before him. That is not objective, but subjective response at its best. His sensibilities matched by his skill, touch a chord that resonates over time and communicates only in the way great art does in truth. This phenomena is the attraction in making paintings and why painting and drawing will never die.

As for myself and my drawings of my mother, I found my line drawings to be very much a kinetic response to my feelings for her and about her. They go beyond a mere likeness. I felt a connection to her moods and her dilemma as an aging woman. I felt elegance and brokenness. I connected in my body with her in my physical response of making art.

What I like about my opportunity with the Lake Country Ten Artist Ten Poets One Vision Project is being able to share my painting “Leaves” based on my drawings of my mother in collaboration and response to my poet, Paula Anderson who has similar sensibilities in writing. In this project, I feel the joy and exhilaration of meaningful human connection as well as the pleasure of kinetic response in painting.

I hope you can join us this Saturday, October 17, at 7 pm at the Raven Gallery in Pewaukee, WI

Judith

My Motivation for Joining the One Vision Project

I am currently part of a collaborative poet/painter program that began this summer. We are having our first presentation this October 17, at 7 pm, at the Raven Gallery outside of Pewaukee on Capitol. I would like to invite you to the poetry reading and the viewing of the artwork.

View today's further uncovering of the piece.

I liked working with my poet, Paula Anderson. I found a poem that she wrote expressed emotionally what I had sensed in making a drawing a few years ago. As she expressed sensibilities in her poetry, I was happy to develop my complementary idea further in making a painting. I found this to be one of the most emotionally honest pieces about being an aging woman; I would like to do more collaboration.

However, the idea is not very pretty, and therefore not appealing to those, which is most of us, who are hesitant to face reality. As an artist who attempts to be honest, I identify with the dilemma of the woman, who is aging. I realized that Paula and I had a common thought on the subject so the project did not seem like illustration, but a natural shared response to life. I liked the common bond it forged between Paula and I.

I would like to meet with other poets and artists and do more of this sort of thing. I hope you can come, perhaps you would like to be part of the next event sharing in our expressed experiences. Perhaps you have a poem or a creative exploration to share in the future. Let us know. Please don't be shy. I would love to see you.

Judith Reidy

Artist Judith Reidy and Poet Paula Anderson in Lake Country Project in TEN ARTISTS TEN POETS ONE VISION

Each day a square hiding the image
will be removed until Judith Reidy's painting will be exposed.

click on the image below

See the painting in person at the event
as well as hear
Paul Anderson's inspiring poem read by the poet herself.

Judith Reidy and Paul Anderson
invite you
to

Join us
Saturday, October 17, at 7 PM
at the Raven Gallery
read
the detailed description in
Lake Country Living

Painting in process comments

Please post critique

Judith Reidy Paintings at Anderson Art Center League of Milwaukee Artist Exhibition - Reception August 9 1:30 to 4 pm

Judith Reidy's "Malin Head County Road"

Judith Reidy's "Farm Alone in the Mist"

You are invited

to the exhibition reception
at the Anderson Art Center in Kenosha, Wisconsin

The Anderson Art Center
will host a featured exhibit from August 9, through October 11, 2009

Reception: Sunday, August 9, 2009, 1:30 to 4 pm
with

• Judith Reidy and many other fine League of Milwaukee Artists in Main and East Galleries
• Nature 3-Way in the 4-D Gallery
• Wisconsin Watercolor in the Upper Galleries
• and other fine exhibits

The Anderson Art Center

is located at 121 66th Street, Kenosha, WI 53143

Come enjoy the exceptional art while taking in the the breath taking views and sounds of Lake Michigan directly east of the Anderson.

Do any of you have an item you just can't throw away? Well so do I. OR is it Junk and I am in denial?

Do any of you have an item you just can't throw away. Well so do I. I hold on to the memory of friendships with items we have shared together. One such item is our tea tray, which sadly broke this past Thursday while I was carrying in dinner dishes from the patio.This tray holds memories of service to friends and family served tea and special coffees and pie around the table. It holds memories of laughter and stories and heart break in summer, winter, fall .... I hope we can repair it. Most of all it was made by my husband some twenty plus years ago.I have other such memory with a recipe storage book that is falling to pieces. It was a wedding shower gift from one of my favorite aunts, Aunt Christine, whose middle name I have. As a young girl, I was impressed with her kindness and elegance. She taught me how to set a table. She taught me how to create things. She taught be that I could create beautiful things. Yet the recipe book cover itself is more sweet than I prefer, every time I use it I think of her.

40/40 of 40 Consecutive Painting a Day Painting Challenge - Swing So High

Swing So High
11" x 14"
Oil on Panel
$250

This was my quick paint submission for the Cedarburg Plein Air Event.
This is also the 40 Painting of the 40 day Painting a Day Challenge.
I will be going a a vacation from painting for a few days.

39/40 Consecutive Days Painting a Day Challenge - Heavy Cloud

Heavy Cloud
3.5" x 5"
Watercolor on Paper
$50

Tonight I delivered the work to Alyson Cook who curates the exhibits at Beans and Barley, a trendy Eastside eating place.

38/40 of 40 Consecutive Paintings a Day - Walkway

Walkway
11" x 14"
Oil on Canvas
on exhibition at the Cedarburg Cultural Center in the Cedarburg Plein Air Event
June 25-26 silent auction
June 27 open sale
exhibit through July 5
Starting bid $250
Retail if not sold in auction $375

This painting I finished in the morning at 2 AM so I am counting this painting for today. I painted at night on the corner of Columbia and Washington in Cedarburg at their Annual Plein Air Painting competition.

I will post more about the event tomorrow.

37/40 of 40 Consecutive Paintings a Day - Waterpump

Waterpump
11" x 14" unframed
oil
on exhibition at the Cedarburg Cultural Center in the Cedarburg Plein Air Event
June 25-26 silent auction
June 27 open sale
exhibt through July 5
Starting bid $250
Retail if not sold in auction $375

Back of reality building on Washington north of Village Hall

36/40 of 40 Consecutive Paintings a Day - Faded Roses

Faded Roses
10" x 14"
Watercolor on Paper
$75

Faded roses on my kitchen table.

35/40 of 40 Consecutive Painting a Day - Late View of the Mists

Late View of the Mists
11" x 15"
Watercolor on Paper
$100

From photo from trip to Ireland. I was at Malin Head looking over the bay.

34/40 Paintings a Day for 40 Consecutive Days- Birthday Girl II

Birthday Girl II
6" x 7.25"
Watercolor on Paper
$75

This has been a tough Father's day.
My darling, my heart.

"But Zion said, 'The Lord has forsaken me,
the Lord has forgotten me.'
' Can a mother forget the baby at her breast
and have no compassion on the child she has borne?
Though she may forget,
I will not forget you!
See, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands;
your walls are ever before me...'
Isaiah 49:14f

A Son, a Dad, and a Treasured Friend

This link is sent to you from http://thestory.org

You are receiving this mail because someone read a page at
The Story from American Public Media
and thought it might interest you.

It is sent by judithreidy@sbcglobal.net with the following comment:
"I heard this program this past Friday and thought it presented two stunning stories, one about a father's love for his children and the second the desire of a young man's love for his father. I found it very interesting how the young man grew up always longing for time with a busy father who left the family when he was seven. It was interesting how the father and he came together when the father retired.



Listen to the stories yourself."

A Son, a Dad, and a Treasured Friend

A father of eleven reunites with the man who helped him settle and gain citizenship in the States. Also, the restoration of an old building brings life back to a father-son relationship.

http://thestory.org/archive/the_story_799_Braceros_Diploma.mp3/mediafile_view

--
webmaster

33/40 of 40 consecutive Day Painting a Day - Birthday Girl

Birthday Girl
6" x 8"
Watercolor on Paper
$75

Once a little girl full of delight had a birthday party.

32/40 0f 40 Consecutive Days Painting - Lee Paulsen

Lee Paulsen
6" x 8"
watercolor on paper
$70

View in Bakery Bontom in Jefferson, WI

31/40 of 40 Consecutive Painting a Day - Treeline in Fall

Treeline in Fall
8" x 6"
Oil on Panel
$85.00
I painted this painting today, in the morning. It is a view of a creek near by. I was quite pleased with it. It was a odd morning with a mist of clouds hanging low in the sky, allowing a veil of soft difused light.

30/40 of 40 Consecutive Paintings a Day - King's Head

King's Head
3.75" x 5.25"
Watercolor on Paper
$60

This was taken from an old photo I had. Regal! Aslan!

29/40 of 40 Consecutive Paintings a Day - Kelly Lake Dock

Kelly Lake Dock
8" x 6"
Watercolor on Paper
$75

Today, I took my small inflatable boat onto to Kelly Lake, rowed across the lake and tied my boat to a raft and began this painting. I worked on it until the rain came down heavily.
Then I rowed to shore loaded the boat and went home.

This secluded lake is a hidden gem in Hales Corners... my little Eden where I can go to decompress.

Oliver is Rescued - what is done for love of cat!!!!

Oliver is Rescued
At first I felt it was a lost cause,
but due to your supportive, non-judgmental comments,
I kept hoping the cat could be returned to us.
I made and distributed fliers, scouted the neighborhood
and after all else failed
prayed.
Thank you for your suggestions,
and support and
most of all thank you for encouraging me to pray!!!!!
You reminded me that, "Every good and perfect gift is from above coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights who does not change like shifting shadows..." James 1:17f
You , your good advice, and your kindness is a another gift in my life.

28/40 of 40 Consecutive Paintings a Day - Mountain of Mist

Mountains of Mist
3.75" x 5.25"
Watercolor on Paper
$50

From photo and memory of Malin Head of Inishowen in Donegal, Ireland.

Appeal to Find our Lost Cat - Oliver

Help up find
Lost Cat, Oliver,
That we love

Indoor Cats can get very scared when they are lost outside, CATATONIC scared.
They try to hide in bushes or in some secluded site. They are often so afraid that they won’t come near even their owners. They can scratch or bite out of fear. Oliver, our cat, normally is very loving and gently persistent, but has a skittish nature in strange new environments...like being outside or with strangers. Normally he hides when strangers visit. He has been friendly with a few.
If you see him,
please call us at 414-529-1624
We live at
5715 South 115th Street
Hales Corners, WI

27/40 of 40 Consecutive Day Painting a Day - Boy

A Boy
6" x 8"
Watercolor on Paper
$75

Comments on My Painting a Day for 40 Consecutive Days Experience

I am going to talk to all of you a little about this painting a day for 40 consecutive days. It has been a good experience to have the goal to do a painting a day and to order my day so that it is a priority to be done. I don't have the pressure of trying to make each painting a great painting, but I do have the challenge of painting and posting. I have learned to more efficiently post images. I suspect that making so many paintings has its own reward in making me "think visually all the time." It can only help but move me along the path of being a better artist. The pattern of making art, thinking art as natural as breathing in an out can only deepen my strength as a painter over time.

I have also begun doing something that I had only dreamt of doing since my advanced drawing class in 2006, making figurative sketches, working on subtle character studies. In the painting a day project I have worked from life on several occasions while in other occasions from photos. I truly like working from life when I can have a long conversation with the person I am drawing. That is ideal, but not always possible. I don't really want to go to a live modeling class situation, because I am more interested in the personality of the person than in their individual body parts. That does not mean I do not believe in the importance of working from a live model in a
life drawing setting. However, I don't want a clinical look of the person. I am going for their mood, their persona. The academic live model in a shared "studio" or "class" situation tends to lend itself to the creation of manikins rather than people with heart and soul, angst or delight...on to the full gamut of human emotion.

In this 40 Day project, sometimes my imagery seems somewhat inconsistent taken as a whole. Part of that is simply getting the painting done, even when I am emotionally tired. I pick a no brainer image, where the form and shape is really the idea for the painting rather than the "character" studies that are more demanding.

Balancing the immersion into the mind set of making art with the business of selling art is a real struggle for me as it is for many artists. It is mental toughness I still must work to possess and release at will.

If you have any thoughts, I would apprecitate your comments.

Painting 26/40 of 40 Consecutive Painting a Day Challenge - Smiling Girl

Smiling Girl
8" x 6"
Watercolor on Paper
$75

I had a great time going through our old family photos when I was preparing the life display poster for my son's high school graduation. Here he is held by his sister in a garden at the Milwaukee domes.

Painting 25/40 of the 40 Consecutive day Painting a Day Challenge - Acker Streen NE, Capitol Hill

602 1/2 Acker Street NE, Capitol Hill
14" x 10"
Watercolor on Paper
$150

This was taken from a drawing and a dim memory of a dusk in Washington D. C. I love the dark evening and the feeling of being alone on the street.