Judith Reidy Painting Live at ORO di Oliva during Westside Artwalk

Harwood Night
oil
9" x 7"
This was painted while out on the sidewalk looking south on Harwood Ave toward State Street on Friday night April 23, 2010, from dusk until about 8:30 pm.



Rainy Day at Bartollota's Corner
Oil
7" x 6.25"
It was a very rainy Saturday, so I painted this view of the corner of State and Harwood from the inside ORO looking through double glass, a window and my glasses. Am I painting the Plein Air if I look through double or single glass?

Sunrise
Acrylic
13 x 10
This painting was actually one of many paintings painted in Oconomowoc during the 2009 Plein Air season.

I actually had my studio paintings on display at ORO di Oliva, many of which you can see on my website with my video clip on my home page and on my studio gallery page

I chose not to work on my pastel painting in the special store, becasue pastels can be messy and dusty.

I will be having my latest pastel studio paintings shown at an exhibition
Judith Reidy and Darron Lillian
Uihlein-Peters Gallery
at Saint Johns on the Lake (View Map)
EXHIBITION: June 5 - July 17, 2010
RECEPTION: Saturday, June 5, 2010, 1-4 pm
1840 North Prospect Avenue, Milwaukee, WI.

I will also have my oil and acrylic paintings at
Charlene's Gallery 10,
Door County
(View Map)
Open 10 to 5 daily, May 8 - October 14
12625 Highway 42,
Gills Rock, Door County, Wisconsin 54210
Charlene's Gallery 10 Website
I will have a sizable number of pieces available for purchase
though out the season at Gallery 10.

Blues in the Studio

Gauze

Ireland Blue

Valley Mist
These are a few of samples of what I have being creating in the cave. Enjoy!
See you at the Westside Artwalk,
April 23 and 24
at
ORO di Oliva
Wauwatosa, WI

Response to Robert Genn's Newsletter Post Regarding Creativity and Fundamentalism

Robert,

I wish I had time to write a treatise in response to the article in your newsletter, Creativity and Fundamentalism. I currently am a creative artist who in the past graduated from UW- Milwaukee with a Bachelors of Fine Arts Degree. In my final years of college I "returned" to God. As I married shortly thereafter and started a family, I began homeschooling. It was one of the most creative activities of my life, hanging in trees reading poems, hunting out woodland flowers and drawing them, building forts and dressing up like Athenian heroes. What ever we read as a family, I found my four children pretending and extending. They named all our trees and gave them life stories. They built whatever was needed to make their world come alive.

Today they are grown, or still in college with advance degrees having traveled continents and lived in diverse places among diverse people. They are not all artists but they create artfully and see with fresh eyes in their pastimes. They write, they shoot photos, they use their hands and their minds in their life work. They are invaluable in their respective jobs because they are able to look at the world in different ways. They are not hindered by peer pressure and mob thought, yet they love and respect their fellowman because God has taught them to love their neighbor. They are not perfect by any stretch, but I am proud of their courage.

They are creative, yet responsible...and kind...yet not easily manipulated.

I don't believe in creative divergent thinking without boundaries. Ah, some will say, there is the rub of her fundamentalist religion that smashes REAL creative thinking.

My reply is: do we really want a society without boundaries? More accurately can we survive a world without boundaries? Do we want to define creative freedom as the place to think or imagine and physically build something...anything? I don't think so. Do we really want a place where slashing murder or verbal abuse are just another alternative or divergent pattern of thought turned into "creative" action? How far is too far?

Rigidity is character trait of any cultural group. The boundaries that define rigidity move, but are just as rigid and unyielding. Have culture group A or B define the boundaries of fundamentalism and the fundamentalist attitude regarding man as a creative being; the answers would demonstrate the simple cultural rigidity of both that limits their understanding.

A fundamentalist premise is God created the universe from nothing and we are created in God's image and likeness. Hence...conclusion, we are creative beings. That is our lineage.

A fundamentalist premise is God is moral being and we are created in God's image and likeness. Hence, conclusion, we are moral beings. That is our lineage.

As a fundamentalist, those are boundaries. I am created, I did not create myself from nothing. I am not God, but I am made in God's image. I am most certainly a creative and moral being.

I am not random chance happening. Get serious, imagine what would it really be like to live in a totally random world at the end this sentence?

Judith Reidy


Dawn in the Mist
by Judith Reidy

Judith Reidy's Website:www.judithreidy.com

Blog Art Thoughts with Judith Reidy
Blog Article: Time and Strength Slip Through our Fingers
Blog Article: Introducing From Dust to Dust

Judith Reidy Homes and Businesses

Judith Reidy & Fred Bell Painting - 78 Degrees at Whitnal Park 3-31-2010

Fred Bell and I were out painting today at Whitnall Park. It was terrific day to be out. We picked a spot just east of the Golf Club House on a hill overlooking an embankment covered with evergreens.

Spruces by Judith Reidy

Where is Fred Bell's painting?

Judith Reidy laughing at Fred.....



But where is Fred Bell?

Good Picture of Fred
Ah, there Fred is painting a spruce too. Two Freds?

Hidden under her hat, Judith is painting with her double.

Where is Fred's painting?

Looks done to me.

Check out Fred Bell's Facebook page to see the Painting close up.


It was a perfect day to paint outside.

Four more Paintings

Mind's Eye
pastel
16.5" x 10.5"

Veiled Bride
pastel
21.5" x 6.5"

On Eagles Wings
pastel
15" x 6"

Be Thou
pastel
24" x 7.5"

A Light in a Dark Place

I have been quite amazed at how fun un-distracted painting can be. I like to close my eyes and think of the first sensation that comes to my mind's eye. It is light, pure light. It glows and burns away the dross of life. This morning I had another reminder of new life when I stepped outside. In our part of the world, a robin's breast is the first sign of spring. There the Robin was.

Nigeria Alerts Me

But I have been thinking about Nigeria...the ongoing genocide. What do Nigerian mothers wake up to each day? Is there a sense of gloom that hangs over them, as they wonder if they will be the next target?
Because of that, I am thinking about figures again in my landscapes. Figures as living souls, how do they rest in a world shaped by dichotomies?

One Oil, Two Pastels Today and a Little Joke

Light's Rapture
oil
7" x 9"

Blue Mist
Pastel
9" x 12"



Blue Mist 1
Pastel
9" x 12"

These three paintings kept me dreaming during my weekend fever with the flu. I am happy to make them into a reality.

Ok, I have a joke.

An artist asked the gallery owner if there had been any interest in his paintings on display at that time.

"I have good news and bad news," the owner replied. "The good news is that a gentleman inquired about your work and wondered if it would appreciate in value after your death. When I told him it would, he bought all 15 of your paintings."

"That's wonderful," the artist exclaimed. "What's the bad news?"
"The guy was your doctor..."

Oh well.

Time and Strength Slip Through our Fingers.

Fallen for You

From Dust

Fallen Again

I began in the previous post...."As I have explored the effects of light burning away the mists, I have considered what it is in the imagery that has fascinated me..."

but that was not it.

Hearing those rattling cages, I gather my recent work in my “From dust to Dust” series has created quite a stirring reaction from many of you, . Good!

I have been stirred up and the work is a bi-product….but the motivation behind the work may not be what you may think. I am passionate about the stunning reality of the transformations and troubles of the unsettled dust of the past several months because…

“She held out her arms and pulled me toward her…. “

In mid- December a woman arrived to be a guest in my home for the holidays. She is an unbelievable delight..always an encouragement. For one she has always been the one who said I could do anything. She was my first art patron. Everyone has a mother, even artists.

At the time of her recent arrival, she seemed more unsteady on her feet than at her last visit. As the month past, her ability to walk declined rapidly, until now her walker is her constant companion.

Her falls began daily as she would attempt to rise or sit or turn, until I stood guard spotting for her at each step. When she collapsed in my arms, I then understood I could not support her with my strength nor was I capable of being her main and only guard.

I saw time and strength slip through our fingers.

It is out of this context and the ensuing struggle that my new series “From Dust to Dust” took shape. As I wrapped my arms around her frail body and bathed her back while she clawed herself through the day in and out of her bed or chair, I saw time and strength slip through our fingers.

I ask why. I hear reasons, but they are not fitting into our Madison Avenue view of life. They are not tidy. My religious conviction prepared me, but only the reality of being with her gave me understanding.

At night, I tucked her into her covers, she held out her arms and pulled me toward her to gently kiss me with her quivering lips, holding me so tightly for ever so long … then whispering, “Thank you, Judy;… I love you.”

Yes from dust we came yet, most assuredly to dust we will return. While “From Dust” may declare the glory of our bodies, “Fallen Again,” returns us to the troubles of living in a world gone awry.

My mother had to move to a place where she could be assisted with every task and where staff were prepared to carry her.

Introducing From Dust to Dust

Fallen for You

From Dust

Fallen Again

As I have explored the effects of light burning away the mists, I have considered what it is in the imagery that has fascinated me. Why was I so drawn to the light and the void of darkness burning away by the light. At the same time I began drawing the people around me. I especially enjoyed doing line drawings of my mother, catching her sighs and her groans and joys in the lines on her face and in her hands and arms. I felt the imagery of real people and the landscapes needed to be brought together as they are in life. I began seeing the human bodies rising out of the earth as new landscapes approached by light, yet oblivious to the light. I have more to consider and discover in this new direction.

I hope you will join me on this adventure.
See the new work at the Wisconsin Pastel Artists Exhibition "Falling for You" at the Art Bar.

Cave Dwelling

I have decided I like cave dwelling rather than the socially active life, spinning my wheels and going nowhere.

Reader Where?

Apparently the readers of this blog do not read books, except one person, who shared their book interests. I will share the titles with you tomorrow, because I will need to look them up and am too tired to do so now.