Komen Ribbon Completed

Front of Friends

Back of Friends

Here are the finished Ribbons without the base. The ribbon to be on display at the local Kohl's Department Store in Oak Creek in September and October, accept for a time where this sculpture and others will be along the route of the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure, September 25th. At the end of October there will be a national auction of the 17 sculptures, including my , Judith Reidy's 'Friends'.

I hope that my sculpture, Friends, will end up in a hospital or cancer care center to serve as an inspiration and encouragement to cancer patients and their families.

Judith's Progress with the Komen Cancer Ribbon Project

Back of "Friends"

Front of "Friends"

I have been working on the Kohl's Komen Cancer Ribbon project.. It is down the wire as the sculptures have been delivered late. I am still painting the upper half which suggests the trans-formative aspect of love and hope in healing for the cancer patient. The woman is flying....soaring....bodily psychologically, emotionally if not spiritually.

I hope to finish the piece in the next two days.

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

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

23/40 Painting of 40 Consecutive Days Painting a Day

Mama
6" x 7.5"
watercolor on paper with ink
$75

yeah mama

Painting 22 of the 40 Consecutive Painting a Day Challenge - Road Uphill at Malin Head 2

Road Uphill at Malin Head 2
16" x 20"
Pastel on Museum Board
$450

I have done several studies for this piece, some in painting a day. Today I complete the big one.

Painting 21/40 of the 40 Consecutive Day Painting a Day Challenge - Some Years Later

Some Years Later

6" x 7.5"
Watercolor on Paper
$50 print
Original not for Sale

Back several years ago, I took an advanced drawing and anatomy class with Stephan Samerjan (now retired) at UW- Milwaukee. I was inspired by the volume of work he demanded of us, the freedom he gave us to explore and the conversations and class critiques in a fresh way.

I had begun doing a series of line drawings of my mother catching her various moods with a few strokes. It was like writing poetry sketches, fluid yet sharp and clear catching a life of their own. I have talked about expanding that figurative series with color. But because I have always done landscape painting and even Plein Air landscape painting once the magic of the classes influence passed, I fell back into my old habits of doing landscape imagery. Yet the desire to return and expand the exploration of the figure remained with me. Now the last week's busyness forced me to do what I always wanted to do all along. Now I am making expressions with the figure.

This one is of my son now.

2009 Caleb's Graduation Insert

Click on the blurry image below to read the text.

This is one of the inserts created for the invitations.
This one I created with the note for parents. Caleb created some other inserts with other favorite verses for his friends and family.

Painting 11/40 of the 40 Consecutive Painting a Day Challenge - Fence Post

Fence Post
6 1/4" x 7 1/4"
Oil on panel
$75

View during sunrise near Mineral Point, Wisconsin

There is nothing I like better than the smell of the earth and the sounds of birds and the rustle of the wind in the early morning.
I can touch the earth as it is, unpackaged.

Road Trip to DC Journal Entry 1

Yesterday, Monday, we woke at 3am and left by 4:30 for a trip to DC. Traveling from Wisconsin, through Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio we arrived at Breezewood, Pennsylvania for the evening.

After a good nights sleep, I awoke without an alarm at about 5 am, dressed and stole away with the car and my camera to the surrounding countryside of hills, valleys and winding roads blanketed in patches of clouds.

MISTS of every sort surrounded me. From the ridge, I could see mists in the valleys below and in the mountains above.

I could drive with a clear view and in a moment find myself entering the gauzy air of sunlit fog until I could barely see though a thick blanket of cloud until again light glowed ahead as I traveled around a turn down the road and up a hill reintroduced to the sun.

Tree limbs criss-crossed my path caging me into a wooden web silent but for the brook below and the twitter of birds awaking the morning.

For someone fascinated with mists, I thought that while on this earth this was nearly like dying and going to heaven.

In a Moment

I initially wrote this poem last week and finished it today.

Though many of you have commented about the beautiful thoughts in my poems, which I appreciate, I do not want to give you an unbalanced picture.

Mothers are human... that is not paragons of virtue as some greeting cards would indicate.

In a Moment

In a moment
By discord, sweetness is broken
Words like arrows pierced
Defeated heart
Deflated
Weak knees
Sick feelings inside
Thwarted desire
to heal
to reach out
the broken.

there...
left

on the ledge
alone
No
fullness
just
skin and bone
bitter.

BUT
I forgot
...loved
I am.
...nevertheless