While You Were At Coachella: I Escaped to Bali With the People Who Write the Hits

May 11, 2016, 11:12 am

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While the California cool kids were partying at Coachella a few weeks ago, some of the masterminds behind your favorite pop songs were miles across the Pacific ocean, tucked deep into the Ubud jungle in a creative retreat that can only properly be described as a songwriting bootcamp for the best of the best. I'm talking about legends like Oak Felder and John Alagia, who respectively have produced tracks for Busta Rhymes and Dave Matthews, to sought after songwriters like Maegan Cottone, whose discography ranges from British girl group Little Mix to Britney Spears, to Australian superstar Guy Sebastian.



Before my experience documenting The Invitational Group's 2016 Bali Songwriting Invitational, I knew songwriting was a "job" and could imagine how records were made, but only in an abstract kind of way. In my pre-camp brain, I was probably one of those smartasses who snobbed Beyonce for having 15 writers on one of her "Lemonade" tracks, instead of acknowledging her brilliance.

Now, here's something most music fans don't know about: To keep the the top 10 thriving, it is common practice for writers, producers and performers to gather up and attend songwriting camps. If headlining Coachella is the end goal, these retreats are the beginning. A crucial component to the health & wealth of the music industry, they're typically hosted by organizations such as BMI with hopes of facilitating members-only networking opportunities. That, or a recording label will call on its roster to focus on creating material for one major project, such as Roc Nation's recent Rihanna songwriting camp for her latest album, ANTI.



But the buzz is generating about a series of camps that are breaking the mold. Industry veterans Peter Coquillard (Milk & Honey) and Mike Taylor (Universal Music Australia) founded The Invitational Group on a spontaneous whim after organizing an off-the-grid writing session whose successful outcome made them realize how important it is to create a safe space for artists and producers to collaborate free from label expectations.

What sets them apart is a remote, tropical environment -- the cozy Swarapadi Villa in the small town of Junjungan, a four-bedroom resort villa that doubles up as a state of the art recording studio - and its eclectic group of award-winning musical guests.



For example, Raja Kumari. A stunning L.A.-native of Indian descent who has been gifted with a powerful voice and stunning melodic agility, she has been in the biz as a top-liner (someone who writes the melody and the lyrics) for years, working closely with and writing hits for everyone from Fallout Boy to Meghan Trainor, and most recently, Gwen Stefani.

Every music exec in the United States has heard her sing on demos and although from a style and personality standpoint, she is so obviously born to be a performer, it is only recently that a clever A&R at Epic Records started backing her personal project, which is what led her to attend this year's Bali Songwriting Invitational as an artist.



With her unique point of view and loud mouth; an American woman who grew up in the Valley with privilege, but still feels like a minority, a badass intersectional feminist who wants to defy the status quo; you can't put her in a box and treat her like anyone else on the label. Now, plant her in a room with fellow Indian, producer Tushar Apte, Aussie topliner Erin Marshall and musical prodigy Tayla Parx and you get a phenomenal song that I guarantee will make its way onto her debut album & to the top of the charts.

Throughout the week and through intimate collaboration with the other camp's participants, Raja created some catchy, revolutionary pop anthems that tell her story in a way that every young American woman will be able understand.

That is where The Invitational Group excels -- it all comes down to the moment when, every morning, Peter stands on his chair and shouts out teams for the day, consistently suggesting unexpected matches that force everyone to step out of their comfort zone and do things differently.



Speaking of doing things differently, let's talk about Tayla Parx, a rare songbird from Texas I had the pleasure to encounter on this trip. You know that Hemingway quote; "All you have to do is write one true sentence. Write the truest sentence that you know." That's all she does all day, every day. Art in its purest form. Her eyes light up when an idea sparks, and she'll sneak out mid conversation with her iPhone to record a voice memo. It starts from there and ends up on Mariah Carey, J-Lo or Ariana Grande's records.

On one gloomy camp afternoon, Tayla walked up to Aussie producer M-Phazes' studio with an itch she needed to scratch. After finishing a song for Raja a few hours before, she had been scribbling thoughts about love. If it wasn't for M-Phazes swiftly picking the right guitar track, and Raja helping refine the melody, the song that I witnessed come to life in about thirty minutes would not be what it is. It stemmed from the heart of Tayla Parx, but really blossomed as the group of artists came together. We all had shivers as she laid down the vocals, sounding like a young Michael Jackson with a tone so buttery it oftentimes makes you want to cry, or fuck, or both.



Even as an outsider, this trip has created countless memories and friendships I will hold on to forever. Each morning, over black sticky rice pudding and ginseng coffee at breakfast, we discussed industry casualties such as how Brittney's breakthrough hit "baby one more time" was originally written for TLC -- can't you just totally hear T-Boz mumble "oh baby baby"? -- and how a dozen pop stars passed on "Umbrella" before it landed on Rihanna's lucky lap.

There was that open mic night at local music dive Laughing Buddha when Trey Campbell -- the trip's MVP, a highly coveted-top liner - blew everyone's minds with a tear-jerking rendition of Whitney's "I will always love you." There was our crazy dance-off / listening session at the closing party, when we really let loose and Maegan Cottone spilled some Bintang beer all over my hair, initiating my Russell Brand open robe-and-swimsuit look for the evening. I had gotten so close to everyone that I almost knew all of the songs by heart. I still find myself singing the melodies in the shower these days.



The demos created during Bali's 2016 Songwriting Invitational might not all end up being singles, and some of the songs created might not see the light of day until five-ten years from now -- who knows! But you know the saying; "The difference between a master and a beginner is that the master has failed more times than the beginner has even tried."

I can personally relate to this, the camp being my first experience as the main (and only) photographer on a project. On the last day of camp, L.A.-based producer Stuart Crichton looked at my selects and jokingly said "You should do this for a living!" while having absolutely no idea I do not actually do this for a living. Coming from such an experienced professional, whose legacy includes work with everyone from Depeche Mode to Selena Gomez, his comment cracked me up and made me realize the immense impact that this trip had on me from an artistic standpoint. Being around these phenomenal creatives who have dedicated their lives to the precise art of songwriting made me want to create and hone in on my talents as well. Be a better journalist, a better photographer, take more risks, do more things for the first time.

It truly does require non-stop work and serious commitment to stay on top of your grind and constantly reinvent yourself as an artist. We're humans and we tend to get lazy. Our minds wander, we want to take short cuts, do what's expected of us. And sometimes, all we need is someone like Peter to stand on a chair, call out our name and shake things up.

This post was originally published on Live FAST Magazine

Follow Vivianne Lapointe on Twitter twitter.com/livefastmag

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Adrien Brody and His Passion for Painting

May 11, 2016, 11:17 am

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Adrien Brody always loved fish. "I've been painting and drawing fish since I was very young," says the Oscar-winning actor and painter. "My mom found old pictures I did when I was around 6 or 7 of all these sharks and scuba diver looking back, a big ship, throwing a harpoon. There was already a message within what I saw."

As he grew up, his connection to fish and the environment evolved to something deeper. For example, look at his image of a mermaid with guns to her head. "She's an amphibious creature. It's referencing helplessness with a sense that our environment is completely at our mercy, the consumer's mercy," he explains. "There's a sadness for what is coming and already here, unfortunately, for our land and seas. We ingest countless amounts of paper goods, it ends up in waterways and we really don't acknowledge it."

Fittingly called "Hooked," Brody's latest exhibition at the contemporary and modern art fair, Art New York showed a number of his thought-provoking paintings. Last year, he exhibited his series, Hotdogs, Hamburgers and Handguns. Brody sat down with Parade to share his passion for painting. Read the full story here at Parade.com.



Art New York and Context New York showcases pieces from more than 150 galleries representing nearly 1,200 artists from 50 countries. Robert De Niro, Leonardo DiCaprio, Brett Ratner, Michael Strahan and others visited Brody's exhibit. While Brooke Shields, songwriter and artist Bernie Taupin and hockey Hall of Famer, Rod Gilbert stopped by to view works like "Irreconcilable Images," a solo exhibition from Shark Tank's Kevin O'Leary. Click on the Parade.com gallery to see photos and more pictures of Brody's art.

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'A Midsummer Night's Dream' Opens New Shakespeare's Globe Season

May 11, 2016, 11:37 am

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lead image for A Midsummer Night's Dream (2016) via Globe Theatre

A Midsummer Night's Dream, the first play in the new "Wonder Season" at The Globe, has opened in London. Shakespeare's lushest, loopiest play, set in an Athenian June at court and in the green wood, is essentially a long poem. The language ripples from the mouths of its characters, from kings and fairies and the "rude mechanicals," in lovely maypole streamers of twining celebration. In even a poor production, the words can get you through.

In the current production at the Globe, however, words have been changed - militantly, and for the worse. Textual purity is something not to cling to when staging Shakespeare - what's the "pure" version of Hamlet, after all? But if you're going to change the words, have a good reason, and show your audiences why you're doing it. Don't just make Athens become "Bankside," the men in the pairs of young lovers "Hoxton hipsters," and have a woman in an astronaut suit shout that everyone's "obsessed with text" just because you can. If you're going to do anything you want to say is fresh and new and creative, please be sure to let your actors, and audiences, know why you're doing what you do.

Emma Rice's first production as the new artistic director for the Globe is one I wanted to love. I was charmed by the set when I sat down - white moony spheres in the air above long green columns; musicians including a woman in a white sari with a sitar above the stage. The show is introduced by a woman; this change, which I thought might have been made for reasons of gender balance in a play with a heavily male cast of characters, is one I found promising. Things shifted back swiftly, though: Helena, friend and rival of Hermia (the girl both Lysander and Demetrius love) has become Helenus, with Hermia and Helenus both played by actors of Indian heritage (Anjana Vasan and Ankhur Bahl, both excellent). That Demetrius (Ncuti Gatwa) has been in love with a man shocks no one in; nor does it shock that his affections have now turned to a woman. I was thoroughly enjoying the play until Hermia and Helenus burst into a Bollywood bump and began belting out Beyonce's "Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)." Alas, this happens very early on. With a few bright exceptions, the rest of the evening was matter with less art.

The Athenian laborers who plan to stage "Pyramus and Thisbe" in honor of the wedding of Theseus and Hippolyta are now folks with everyday modern jobs (the joy of a joiner named Snug is gone). The fairies led by Oberon and Titania are dressed like eighteenth-century prostitutes with Klingon-esque face masks and nipple tassels. Oberon spends the play trailing about drunk; despite the director's decision to have him do this, Zubin Varla is seductive as the fairy king. Doubling in the role of Theseus, though, he's a petty Godfather without any particular command. Similarly, cabaret artist Meow Meow is spectacular as Titania - her perfect 1950s legs, no, gams, strutting and sometimes waving in the air; her luscious figure serving up enchantment enough to dazzle any human, be it one with or without an ass's head. Back in Athens, sorry, Bankside, Meow plays Hippolyta as the drunken one, in some sort of attempted parallel that doesn't work and that wastes her considerable talent. Bottle in hand, she shambles around looking for all the world like Verna Bloom as Mrs. Wormer at the Delta party in Animal House (1978).

There is much shouting of lines in this production, perhaps to show audiences that one needn't respect the text. In a terrible fault, Titania is made to rant one of the loveliest speeches in the play. The magic and tragedy of Act 2, scene 1 is lost utterly. Puck (Katy Owen) doesn't need to be so noisy, either. She is full of energy, small and swift, fondling her little puck-goat horns and bounding about on impeccably sports-trained legs in a child's light-up shoes. She could be brilliant, if she weren't given the direction to be yelling all the time. There were empty seats in my section as the second half of the evening began. The faults that had made people leave were neither in the text nor the performances, but in what the actors have been instructed to do.

When the rude mechanicals, looking sad about it, began to sing David Bowie's "Space Oddity," there were hisses from the audience. Like Shakespeare, Bowie is beloved in London, and will, like Will, remain so. But his song doesn't belong here; and it felt like a cheap use of a man still freshly and deeply mourned to engender applause.

The play-within-a-play of Pyramus and Thisbe is glorious. Alex Tregear, inexplicably a wall composed of cereal boxes, shone in her simple role of mortar and chink. Margaret Ann Bain was as elegant and moving as Flute, in the role of Thisbe, can sometimes be. And in an entirely wordless turn, Tibu Fortes as the eunuch with a harp (here, on roller skates, which delights) -- steals the show at the concluding wedding festivities. However, this production's ending raises more problems than Shakespeare ever did himself.

At the interval, I read the program notes, and was struck hard by the way Rice reads a leading plot device in the play: Oberon's use of the juice of a flower, itself wounded by one of Cupid's arrows, to make someone fall in love against their will. Furious at Titania because she will not give up "a little changeling boy" (beautifully played in this production by a puppet in pink silk and a turban) Oberon decides to dab her sleeping eyelids with the crushed flower to force her to love the first creature she sees upon waking. "Wake when some vile thing is near," he says, and her passion fixes upon Bottom, "translated" by Puck with a magic spell that makes him half-human and half-donkey. Oberon instructs Puck to similarly juice a young lover in the woods who's being pursued by a rejected girl (here, guy) - and Puck gets the wrong man, to semi-comic confusion. Rice calls the juice "a 'date-rape drug'," and speaks of Titania's being put in "a horribly humiliating situation that is filled with great comedy and also great darkness."

Rice deployed Rohypnol in her 2007 production of Cymbeline, for Kneehigh Theatre, and it got attention then. If the flower's essence works as a "date-rape drug" in this production, then what of the human man who has a magic spell cast upon him that compels him to Titania's bower? And what of Demetrius, who is in love with Hermia throughout the whole play? Rice's production has him marry his ex-flame Helenus with jubilation and nary a qualm in the end. Yet what she terms the "date-rape drug" is still in his eyes. So it's date rape when a female character has this rough magic inflicted on her - but a brilliant contemporary move when a male character is charmed by the very same magic into loving and marrying another male character? What a troublesome proposition, and one that disturbs the joy you would otherwise take in Demetrius and Helenus dancing hand in hand. It seems that Rice hasn't bothered to fully think through the implications of her claim and its substance.

Shakespeare has survived centuries of attempted trammeling, from 18th and 19th-century productions of King Lear that (spoiler alert) let Cordelia and Lear live, to today's attention-seeking, only partly thought-out midsummer's eve. He always will. I do hope that the rest of the 2016 "Wonder Season" at the Globe wonders less how to pose and provoke, and more what can be done to build on and illuminate what we've already got. Trust Shakespeare; really, he knew what he was doing. It's more fun for everyone to play with him instead of against him.

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Tattooed Tokyo: A Combination of Factors...

May 11, 2016, 11:47 am

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Prince Gallery, Copenhagen, Denmark, photo courtesy of Prince Gallery

It was this past March, when the art fairs hit NYC in a big way. An artist whose career I have been following for some time, Bendel Hydes, wanted me to meet someone who had just opened a gallery in Copenhagen. This would be Eric Prince's second gallery - his first was in the early 2000s in the Medieval Village of Pezenas, France, a highly conceptual space that went totally against the pre-existing gallery model by never falling into any pre-set notions about time or schedule making the exhibitions very fluid, organic and surprising.


David Nilson, Into the Slumber (installation view), photo courtesy of Prince Gallery

There have only been a handful of exhibitions to date at the new Prince Gallery, though I can loosely describe the program there as process oriented, Socio-Conceptual, with tinges of the dream state and humor, albeit dark at times. Our studio visit went well as two slots had opened in the gallery's schedule: a brief two-week spot in the second half of May and one full slot in the month of August. It was later decided that I would take both openings, mounting exhibitions that featured the late Post Apocalyptic Tattoo series of Graffoos, specifically the Tattooed Tokyo eleven archival prints, a small selection culled from the over 1,000 India ink Heads, and a number of paintings in the Graffoo style.


D. Dominick Lombardi, Tattooed Tokyo #12 (2009), archival pigment print, edition of 15, 24 x 18 inches (61 x 45.75 cm)

Sure, March/April is late to be booking a show in May and August but that's the way it works sometimes. As an artist you always have to be ready and open to any possibility, especially a one-person show in Scandinavia.

The process of creating this exhibition has been fun in an edgy sort of way working with someone who has an eye for art and a mind for the non-conventional. The following Q & A with Eric Prince is my attempt to delve a little deeper into the gallery's mission and to shed light on the selection of art for Tattooed Tokyo: a Combination of Factors...


D. Dominick Lombardi, Tattooed Tokyo #10 (2009), archival pigment print, edition of 15, 30 x 20 inches (76.5 x 51 cm)

DDL: It would be great if you could express some of your thoughts and ambitions for your new gallery in Copenhagen, and perhaps, how you select your artists and what you hope to bring to the local dialog regarding Contemporary and Modern art.

EP: Yes, the concept behind Prince Gallery is to play with conventional thoughts and hierarchies within a space where we mix emerging artists with established artists. This may sound like nothing new, however being an artist myself, I have an eye and mindset for the other artists that seems to allow freedom and originality to be put into the exhibitions. For a commercial gallery this doesn't always equate into financial success for the bottom line, however we stay true and open to ideas.


Atlas (installation view), Drawings by Duarte Filipe & Luca Bjørnsten, photo courtesy of Prince Gallery

DDL: I like your thinking. If you were in New York, people would think you were operating more like a non-profit or museum than a commercial gallery. The works you've selected for my exhibition are based on very specific concerns about the environment, and more specifically, how the increase of disturbing environmental issues and chemical pollutants affect our health causing illness and even unnatural mutations. That's why, even though the prints, paintings, drawings and sculpture are somewhat softened by the aesthetics of what could be referred to as the "Lowbrow" aesthetics of graffiti or tattoo that there are very serious underlying issues about our future and well being in a world where profits are valued higher than the general health of all living things. I am assuming this is a much bigger concern in the U.S. with all of the "Big 6" pesticide and GMO corporations than it is in Denmark where you and 18 other EU members have officially said no to GMOs. Given all this, what do you think the response will be in Copenhagen to the representation of weirdly mutated heads?


D. Dominick Lombardi, Head #1,035 (2004), India ink on acid free paper, 14 x 14 inches (35.5 x 35.5 cm)

EP: Your works are incredibly relevant to the current topics facing every country and government throughout the world. Although I think Denmark is progressive on some of these topics you mention, I think we have only begun to really start thinking with much more innovation to come. Your work stands as a reminder and interesting take on what is, could be, and to come if things don't change. On an aesthetic note, they do have a beautiful quality of craft and intrigue that allows for a visceral current appeal that doesn't present itself in a fatalistic seriousness. Simply put, I think people will dig them first and think about what they are really saying after.


D. Dominick Lombardi, Tattooed Man #9 (1986 & 2007), oil and alkyd on previously painted canvas, 20 x 16 inches (51 x 41.75 cm)

DDL: I'm happy to hear you feel that way about the work. You can't get a message across until you get people's attention. It is also about the process, having made something that took time, thought, problem solving and tedious technique. I think that's why I rarely paint loosely or expressively, a trend that has only intensified over the past 20 plus years. Beginning with the Reverse Collage series I went for that hard edge, a desire and skill that carried right through the Post Apocalyptic Tattoos and Graffoos.


D. Dominick Lombardi, Reverse Collage #10 (1995). acrylic and transferred vintage newspaper ink and pages on Plexiglas, 30 x 28 inches (76.2 x 71 cm)

Even with the more recent Urchin series, which are primarily sculptures, the Shift Paintings and my current Cross Contamination series I have maintained that love of process, getting lost in the making of things. After all, the studio is the only place I have almost complete control of what happens. I believe that's why I feel I am able to 'connect' with the collective unconscious. I get so involved in what I am doing that my mind opens up and I can receive information I would not normally be exposed to. It sounds corny, I know. I've even had rare, out-of-body experiences in the studio from time to time, looking at myself from above for a fleeting moment. So yeah, I want people to stop and look at my work, and if you want that, for viewers to spend time with looking and thinking you have to give them something to look at, even if it's not in their aesthetic wheelhouse.


D. Dominick Lombardi, Urchin #24 (2010), sand and acrylic medium with objects, 28 x 30 x 20 inches (71 x 76.2 x 51 cm)


One other long-standing thread in my work is the challenge of combining the so-called low and high arts. I grew up with Mad magazine and Zap comix, and National Lampoon magazine so expressive drawing and off-beat humor will always color my work. It's a dangerous line to walk along, the edge that divides the low and the high, especially when you add humor. But I think you can reach more minds with the right combination of aesthetics to cut through the confusion of so much visual data hitting us from all angles, and I have a feeling you appreciate that understanding pop culture as much as I do.

EP: For sure, like most people in the arts and art business I travel to meet with new artists and view new exhibitions. I always find it interesting on how the different regions and countries I visit resonate in the art works. I find it interesting and completely natural to see, in the case of your work coming from New York, elements of pop and the pollutants of commercialism. The art world today seems to be blown completely open where "everything goes" all of the time. Therefore, I am bewildered at art snobbery and the highly speculative art market on how "Low" and "High" art is received. Anyhow, "Keep on trucking"


R. Crumb, Keep on Truckin', 1968

DDL: I love it. I had a "Keep on Truckin'..." poster in my room growing up. And sure, New York would be more influenced by popular culture than a sparsely populated rural area, but, almost everyone is 'connected' today and I suspect one would have had a much more focused scope of experience, interests and smarts growing up in a city in the mid-to-late 1950s and 60s than someone now would have growing up on a farm with their 'Googling Machine' ever-present in their pocket. It's like a poet I once knew, who was often heard saying, "All art is political", meaning, it just depends how you look at things - your agenda - how you process or filter information. That's what forms personal views and aesthetics.

I grew up in a blue-collar household. My father's side of the family loved telling funny stories - not jokes - but funny stories about each other. My father's father, who turned his entire front yard on a city street in Yonkers, NY, into a lush and bountiful garden constantly composted and grafted multiple fruit-bearing trees. My first job was working with my father and grandfather on Saturdays and summer days pulling rusty nails from salvaged wood and straightening them on flat rocks, then cutting off the rotten ends of the wood so the nails and wood could be used again. I can remember seeing my grandfather watching wrestling on his small black & white television. It was hysterical - he would constantly be jumping up off his seat mimicking the movements he saw - hoping his favorite wrestler, Bruno Sammartino, would win the match. Even then, we all knew it was fixed but no one cared. My father's mother loved to cook dinner for all of her children and their families every Sunday - she loved to laugh, hated violence and often displayed frustration wondering why people would refuse to put aside their differences and just get along. All those things had an affect on me consciously and subconsciously because that was my formative years, free of social media, and much less aware of global culture. The influence of localized popular culture, maximizing your land and resources, family gatherings and forming alliances with people who shared common goals are some of the reasons why I make the kind of art I do, and why I curate and write so much.

The Post Apocalyptic Tattoo and Graffoo series incorporate the repurposing of materials while focusing on an overwhelming concern for our suspicious food and water supply. The Urchin series is about the marginalized people and pets that are sent to the streets by economic downturns that have no effect on the wealthiest.


D. Dominick Lombardi, The Conjuror (2014), acrylic and oil on canvas, 30 x 36 inches (76.2 x 91.5 cm) (Shift Painting)

The Shift Paintings reveal an overwhelming conscious will to connect with the collective unconscious and the works of the Cross Contamination series return to the repurposing of materials and the manifestations of religion and spirituality.


D. Dominick Lombardi, Saint Peter the Martyr and Saint Christina the Astonishing Down By the Old Mill Stream (2015), oil on previously painted vintage Paint By Number (c1962), 16 x 20 inches (40.6 x 50.8 cm) (Cross Contamination Series)

My point is, we all have our unique path - we all have our beliefs and we all have goals. My general direction has and will always be to have some sort of meaningful content in my art delivered in a way that at least in the beginning, most can enter the 'dialogue'. Whether or not they inevitably like what they see or agree with me is not important as long as the connection is made and the awareness is passed along.

You must have some thoughts about where you'd like to be in five or ten years with the gallery. I know in the past you have exclusively shown Scandinavian artists, whereas I am the first artist showing at Prince Gallery from New York. Is this a trend to open the scope of you gallery's program?

EP: Yes, being from the USA and having ties in various cities and to artists there, I always have had plans to bring international art to Denmark. My only real plan is to find interesting solid art. I simply go with my instinct and hope my obvious interest and passion presents itself. I am honored to have you as our first artist from New York and look forward to a great exhibition.

The first of two exhibitions opens May 13, with a reception from 6-9pm. That first exhibition closes on May 28. The exhibition re-opens with a reception on August 5, from 6-9pm, and closes on the 31st. The gallery is located at Hauser Plads 16 A, 1127 Copenhagen K, Denmark. Gallery hours are Tuesday - Friday, noon - 4pm and Saturday from 11am - 4pm. For more information please call +45 42 61 78 50, email info@princegallery.dk or visit the gallery's website http://princegallerycph.com/.


D. Dominick Lombardi, Head #942 (2004), India ink on acid free paper, 10 x 8 inches (25.4 x 20.3 cm)

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Campanile's Paramount Shift

May 11, 2016, 11:58 am

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After a 50 year career as a representational painter Dario Campanile has chosen a significant shift in his style. Let me reword that, he said to me in a recent conversation at his home on Maui that there was no choice, that this is something that he HAS to do in order to grow and evolve as an artist.


Dario Campanile with his painting for Paramount Pictures in 1986.

You have all seen Campanile's work, although you may not know it. One of his many achievements was to be chosen to paint the mountain scene for Paramount Picture's 75th anniversary in 1986 which was seen on every Paramount publication and film. In 2005 He was chosen to participate in The Missing Peace: Artists Consider the Dalai Lama. He traveled to India for a private visit with His Holiness the Dalai Lama in order to create his painting Missing Peace: Found. He is recognized as an ARC Associate Living Master. His accomplishments as a realist painter have been numerous and it has afforded him a comfortable lifestyle, but Campanile isn't satisfied and his work is moving in another direction.


Dario Campanile today with his new work.

Campanile agreed with me that representational, Post Contemporary painting and abstract painting are not the same thing, that different criteria need to be used when judging them but stated that this new work is very much a continuation of the old work and that the two are intertwined.


Let Me See You by Dario Campanile

Kralik: Did you find representational painting limiting?

Campanile: I find it more challenging to do abstract. There are so many elements that take place when painting abstractly, which I do not have when I do realism. The biggest one is that when I paint abstract, I am present. When I paint realism I can think about something else. I like having that direct connection straight from consciousness to my canvas. I keep it as pure as I can.


Detail of a new Dario Campanile painting.

Kralik: In the video on your website you talk about spontaneity and a direct line to consciousness as being important and different from your realist approach. How important are your classical skills to this new style?


Campanile: The experience I have over the years reflects in my abstract. I feel like I am ready now than ever before to paint abstract. The expression is different but it is all connected.

I understand when the teachers want to teach the techniques of oil paint first before you explore into wild things. I understand that abstract is more difficult than realism because you have less control and you base what you are doing completely on an instinct, a feeling, or a voice, a message that comes through you from somewhere, instead of the realism, which is academic and based on notes, information, it is a process of technique. You go step A through D and you end up with a realistic painting. It doesn't work like that with the abstract. Here you have to feel good, connected, inspired, otherwise it won't come.

Kralik: I admire that you are willing to pursue your passion after having such a great career as a realist with Lahaina Galleries. You have achieved so much. At the same time I am a bit saddened because I really love your representational work. I had hoped that you would move deeper into the representational direction. In some works you are combining these two styles. Is that something you want to continue to explore?


Watercross by Dario Campanile

Campanile: I am open. At first I went to the extreme and did completely non-representational but now I am experimenting and including some representational elements into the abstract work. I am investigating that.

This form of painting for me, I want you to understand this Brandon, this began for me in the early 80's. I was working in downtown LA surrounded by contemporary artists and so I painting abstract then. I could not sell them so by the late 80's I went back to realism because I could survive.

Now, in these past three or four years I am back. It is as if I have no choice really. Every artist has to go through an evolution. Like what Picasso did when he was young. Then he went to the blue period, the rose period, to cubism and that fascinates me so much. That an artist can shift, be so detached that he can master something but not just sit on it the rest of his life. Once he mastered it, he could leave it for new horizons. To me that is the highest you can get by being an artist. Never stop the search and find new ways to express, reinvent yourself.

A lot of people are disappointed. I had a market, but I said to myself that, if, by changing my style means less income, if it means letting go of a beautiful home, which I did, to paint what I want, then it is worth it I am 67 years old. I have to paint something I have passion for! In 20 yeast I may not be able to paint. This is the time to do what I want and that is what I am doing.


Follow Your Instincts by Dario Campanile.

Kralik: What is your favorite period of Picasso, just out of curiosity?

Campanile: I like the blue period, these pastellish colors, all the circus motifs and things, I love that. Cubism, a little less. I find Picasso more authentic in his blue period.

Kralik: The paintings that people generally like the best of Picasso's are the blue and the rose period. Those are the most human paintings he did and among his most valuable at auction.

Campanile: Yes, I know.

Kralik: It was interesting that Picasso was able to reinvent himself all those times, up to a certain point, but, what if he had gone deeper into the blue period? Would his paintings have become trite? Kitsch? As beautiful as they are would people have just moaned, "Ohhh noo, another circus painting" ?

Campanile: An interesting question. He knew that once you master it you have to leave it because that is the depth of art, when you are painting something you have done so well for so many years and you stay with that for a security blanket. I used to paint a lot of surrealism, was really into surrealism but now I could not paint that. You cannot fake it. I had a feeling for it before, this imagination I had and was able to translate it onto a canvas but now if I were to paint surrealism, I would be faking it. I am not the same guy. It is done, it is gone and this fascinates me.


The Calling by Dario Campanile.

The most fun for me is the process of doing it, the execution. I love realism, I have to say, but what I feel when I paint, the journey, painting abstract is such a high, an amazing experience, and I most enjoy the process of doing it over the result. I tap into the unconscious and that has affected me. Each painting goes through many stages, layers, and I keep working, on and on and on so under each painting are many others.

The work of Dario Campanile can be seen at Lahaina Galleries

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Seeking the Childhood Magic by Susanne Maude

May 11, 2016, 12:41 pm

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This article originally appeared on Grryo



I must have been around four or five when I sat on my parent's bed next to my little brother. My father closed the curtains, set up the projector and showed us a Christmas time film he had made. It was about us, about me and my brother; we danced and laughed, we decorated the lowest branches of our Christmas tree with blue and red glass balls.

I remember how strange it felt looking at myself on the white bedroom wall. That was me for sure swirling on the floor without any shame. She had my ridiculous haircut and brown pantyhose. And yet, how could it be me, when I was there, sitting on the bed, carefully watching?

That is my relationship with photography. I am seeking the childhood magic.



We have an innate need to surround ourselves with stories. We use stories, written and visual ones, to make sense of life, to better understand each other and ourselves. We use stories to connect.

I've always loved stories. I love listening to them, reading, and writing them, but I only started taking pictures after my first child was born. I shot to document, to remember the moments, how the light hit the green walls on our bedroom, how she smiled and waved her fingers towards the window when she woke up. The first steps, first everything. Those were the kind of pictures I wanted to have when I couldn't sleep and was afraid I wouldn't remember any of it.



Then we moved abroad, first to Poland, then to the States. I bought an iPhone. Little by little photography took over. The memory on my phone, constantly full. I wanted to document everything; the white walls, yellow school busses, the way everything felt like living in a collection of short stories. How new it all felt, exciting.

Soon documenting gave way to treasure hunting. I collected shadows, light, clouds, trees, houses, doors, people, streets, anything and everything. It was liberating, it felt like play. My best attempt at becoming Indiana Jones.



I'm still in that phase. I shoot everything that interests me, everything that resonates. I try to capture the red bird sitting next to my window, how the morning light falls on dead tulips at 6:27 AM when my girls are still sleeping, and I'm drinking coffee, writing.

I like street photography and I enjoy shooting portraits. I watch people and imagine what keeps them awake at 2:00 AM, what are they hiding, what songs they listen to when they feel alone. People have always interested me the most.



For me a frame is a separate moment in a story that has already begun. There's a character, a protagonist, someone that I can relate to. There are forces that resist each other: light and darkness, uniqueness and mundane, stillness and motion. There is the feeling that something is about to happen, a twist is approaching.

A frame leaves me with questions and expectations. It creates suspense and makes me ask what if, what then, what next. But it does not provide answers. It leaves the story unresolved.



I'm drawn to frames that feel strange and mysterious, cinematic frames that feel more like Lewis Carroll's Alice in Wonderland and less CNN. I love that feeling I sometimes get when shooting, the feeling that there's a secret I can't immediately figure out, everything does not instantly make sense. Life does not always make sense.



What ultimately makes the scene is an emotion. Beautiful settings give me aesthetic pleasure, good frames evoke feelings. If I don't feel anything while taking a picture, the picture won't be good.

Emotions are personal, subjective. The feelings I have when shooting differ from the viewers'. We interpret the pictures based on the stories, fears and needs we carry within ourselves. When we look at art, we look at ourselves.



The magic of photography is it celebrates the uniqueness of a given moment. Witnessing a special moment lingering in front of me, being able to capture that, knowing that it will never exist again. Magic. It is finding shadows that make me feel small. It is a sudden eye contact in the middle of a street when waiting for the light to turn, hearing the seagulls close by. It is seeing small stories. The flag on the wall, people gathering beneath it, speaking Russian, the way the man shakes his head and watches his shoes underneath the table. It is studying expressions on his face, learning his secrets.



Photography demands I be present. Ever watching the smallest details inside one big frame.

A good frame feels like a poem, like looking at someone's dreams.



The girl went to look for mermaids
She found green that felt heavy and tasted secrets
like a broken tea cup hidden in a closet with forget-me-nots crying for water and why
She stayed

I take pictures for the same reason I write. I do it to experience how it would feel to be someone else, to understand. To better live this life as me. To be more like a child again.



You can find me on Instagram as @masusanne.

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Classical Music on Vinyl - Like Sex For the First Time

May 11, 2016, 12:55 pm

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New classical vinyl pressed from pre-digital, analogue recordings may be fighting a losing battle. Sales are not spectacular - non-classical vinyl has caught on big in an entirely different, not just for audiophiles, hands-on way. But the thrill of hearing a new LP for the first time is still there. And they do link the major companies to a time when the recording art was at its best. Which is a good thing, because even though music on any medium is about sex, on vinyl it was always about sex for the first time.

If you fancy the experience, there’s still lots of vinyl from the good old days available at shops like Record Surplus in West LA and the internet. There are three possible issues with both used and mint LPs.

1. If they were well-maintained and played only once a day, an urban myth has it that vinyl can last for 99 years.

2. Major markets had their own mastering characteristics; US designed to sound good on highly-colored acoustic reflex speakers, UK on BBC 3/5A and Quad electrostatic models.

3. Pressing quality. English was the best, French (until the late 1970s) was the worst.

If you have the bread, brand new vinyl in the form of heavyweight 180g pressings by Europe’s finest plants of analogue and early digital recordings, can sound awesome and are priced accordingly. They are not immune to surface noise so buy from a reputable dealer. If you want to be zen about it, follow the advice of legendary Sonic Arts producer Leo Kulke who played new vinyls once “to knock off the edges” and then cleaned them on a professional vinyl cleaning machine.

To pay homage to the vinyl art, I listened at two-channel specialist Venice Audio on a Rega RP10 turntable fitted with an Apheta cartridge and Aria phono stage; a Naim Audio NAC 272 Streaming Preamp (streamer/DAC/ preamp) and NAP 250 DR power amp; and Harbeth Super HL5 Plus speakers.

Bartok Concerto for Orchestra - Solti - Decca 180gm Vinyl

When Georg Solti’s 1965 recordings of Bela Bartok’s Concerto for Orchestra and Dance Suite with the London Symphony Orchestra were released, they set standards in sound and performance that lasted for the rest of the decade. They were brilliant statements of Decca’s commitment to doing what Disney and Stokowski had done for classical music in Fantasia – without the color animation. It was just the musicians, Bartok and your loudspeakers, and the effect was explosive.

Nothing has been lost in the new pressing: Bartok himself is there when his music is played with this kind of intensity and the commanding sweep of Solti’s laying out of the two pieces is like an rainbow arc. The original release had a harsh brightness to it which not even the best systems could completely tame, and it’s also been preserved. The vinyl is handsomely presented, with the original artwork; the pressing was done by optimal GmbH, the new lacquers were mastered and cut from the original Decca analogue tapes at Abbey Road Studios by Sean Magee.

Throw in the original LP cover, which perfectly mirrors the lines and fervid drive of Solti’s performances, and Margaret Bent’s businesslike liner notes, and you’re back in the mid 1960s when the next disc on the turntable for me could have been the Beatles’ newest or the Boston Symphony new recording of Mahler’s Fifth Symphony.

Richard Strauss: Songs with Orchestra - Elisabeth Schwarzkopf and George Szell - Warner Classics/Parlophone 180gm Vinyl

This odd couple pairing of the ultimate German operatic queen with the disciplinarian conductor produced heady results in this treacherously flexible but gorgeous Romantic music. Headlined by Strauss’s Four Last Songs, it gave Schwarzkopf, just past her glorious prime, the extra room and emotional dimensions she needed to float and phrase the high notes with the sublime ease of her youth.

The recording venue was the Grunewaldkirche, Berlin; the producer was Schwarzkopf’s husband, the legendary Walter Legge. The sound was rich in the German way at the time, compromising accuracy a bit for atmosphere, perhaps with an ear cocked towards what they felt sure would be the future: multi-channel sound.

This vinyl re-issue is spectacularly audiophile in the four orchestral songs, casually throwing off moment after moment of instrumental splashes of texture and color while Schwarzkopf is singing her ecstatic musical heart out.

Mahler 5 - Leonard Bernstein and the Vienna Philharmonic - 2 DG 180gm Vinyl

With this limited-edition, heavyweight vinyl repressing of Leonard Bernstein’s live performance of Mahler’s Fifth Symphony with the Vienna Philharmonic in 1987, you can mainline the essential Mahler experience in just over an hour.

Everything is bigger than life, dynamic range is wider, textures are denser and more Technicolor, and in the pivotal first movement, the terrifying Funeral March with the trumpet of death playing what Tom Morgan’s excellent liner notes call “a repeated tattoo,” like a beast slouching from the Opera House in Frankfurt am Main, where the performance took place. It is immense.

The sound has tremendous size and visceral impact, the harshness of the sound overwhelmed by the compelling, episodic surges. The 2 LPs come shrink-wrapped in the double fold sleeve that was customary at the time, wth “Digital Recording” tipped in at the top right corner of the front cover. The LPs come with a voucher entitling the holder to download “the digital audio files of the full album for free.”

Mozart Requiem - the first performance - the Dunedin Consort - Linn 180gm Vinyl

Audiophile icon Linn Records' new recording of Mozart’s Requiem reimagines what Mozart’s most celebrated sacred work may have sounded like at its very first performance at St. Michael’s Church in Vienna in 1792. The expressive power that results from scrupulous, hi-def scholarly attention to detail gives the players total fluency with the musical narrative, with marvelous brass work including a trombone solo by Philip Dale that almost steals the show. The four soloists are ideally balanced, and since they also form part of the chorus, the vocal/choral flow is seamless.

The ironic thing is that this iconic Catholic Church mass receive one of its most sumptuous recordings in aesthetically incongruous (but acoustically resplendent) Greyfriar’s Kirk in Edinburgh, the very antithesis of an Austrian Baroque church or cathedral.

The pressing by Pallas is a big part of the story. While the sound on the corresponding CD or hi-def download are prime Linn, the vinyl is something else, with a presence that says analogue. On the CD you get three extra tracks, Mozart’s "Misericordias Domini, K. 222," which may have been performed at the same church during the last year of Mozart’s life, plus alternate readings of the opening Introit and the "Kyrie Eleison.") In addition to all the other goodies, conductor John Butt’s liner note is a model of absorbing, relevant information delivered as if it were a New Yorker story.

Haydn Symphony No. 101 - Scottish Chamber Orchestra conducted Robin Ticciati - Linn 45rpm Supercut, 180g Vinyl

If your turntable can run at 45 rpm, this superb, digitally-sourced vinyl is a rare opportunity to hear Haydn full out. With the 40 members of the Scottish Chamber Orchestra playing like the hand-picked virtuosos they are, the big explosions sound wonderful, especially with the volume turned way up. And in every measure, the instrumental detail is so precise and intense, and played so beautifully, that the overall effect is just the way Haydn must have heard them in his head, and the recording venue, Usher Hall in Edinburgh, sounds magnificent.

To fully enjoy this remarkable new release and its near analogue-quality sound, you will need the companion Linn CD which not only adds similarly-life enhancing, audiophile performances of Haydn’s Hornsignal and 70th symphonies plus extensive, absorbing, provocative liner notes by Richard Taruskin, John Humphries and Martin Ennis (the LP includes only the latter).

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Modesta Viktorious: The World's First "Bionic Pop Star" Keeps Scaling New Heights

May 11, 2016, 1:17 pm

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Never say "No, you can't" to Viktoria Modesta.
The world's first self-described "bionic pop star" will prove you wrong before you can even finish the admonition.
VM, as fans know her, combines elements the world has never thought of in a
single sentence, or in a single human being: eroticism; futurism; disability; and high and commercial art.
Modesta was born in Daugavpils, Latvia, in the former Soviet Union, where the doctor who delivered her harmed her leg so badly that she needed 15 surgeries (in Soviet-era hospitals, mind you), before she was 12.
She relocated from Latvia to London, but more accurately, from the dark to the light or from confinement to freedom.
By 15, she was already a striking beauty and a multi-talent, singing, dancing, and modeling.
She realized that her unreliable foot only hampered her career and ambition. When she decided to have the foot amputated, the procedure took a full five years to be approved.
Just two years after her British recording career began in 2010, Modesta drew international attention dancing to a Coldplay song at the conclusion of the London Paralympic Games.
Two years after that, she launched the "Born Risky" campaign on the UK's
Channel 4 to transform the way people think about disability.
The video attracted 6 million views on YouTube and 16 million more on Channel 4's Facebook page.
People, Forbes, and Elle promptly took note of her.
Her video, Prototype, the first thing you see on ViktoriaModesta.com,
is also on display at Boston's Museum of Fine Arts new show, #techstyle.
The girl who never finished high school is also a Directors Fellow at the MIT
Media Lab, a multidisciplinary, forward-thinking entity that explores the interplay
between technology and, well, everything else.
Not unlike what Modesta herself does.
VM's biggest challenge is that the world doesn't quite know how to pigeonhole her.
Yes, she technically qualifies as a disabled person, but she bridles at the use of the term "disabled."
Which makes sense, because she's far more "abled" in multiple areas - music,
dance, performance, DJ'ing, and modeling, to name five - than people with intact limbs.
"Most people," she tells HuffPost, "think about art and technology as separate
from each other, and completely separate from commercial culture. They use different languages but are all forms of expression.
"With music, fashion, technology or art, I'm unable to see the separation that people create between them. My main aim is to bring people from those fields to collaborate."
This month, Modesta will launch her new EP, Counterflow, at the Music Tech Festival event in Funkhouse Berlin, where she will perform and collaborate with some of world's leading visual, fashion and music tech artists.
Modesta says that she was recently asked to describe her ideal week.
"I said I'd be in a studio writing a track. Then I'd then be doing a photo shoot.
Next I'd be working with fashion designers, at the edge of fashion and technology, then maybe I'll do a lecture somewhere.
"I don't see why it shouldn't be allowed."
The last sentence really offers the key to who Viktoria Modesta is (Viktoria is her real first name; Modesta, her stage name, is the christening saint whose name she was given at birth).
She grew up in a Soviet system that had gruesomely disfigured her, where free thought was not allowed, and where freedom of movement was not an option for her.
It's easy to see that the words "not allowed," in Modesta's world, simply do not compute.
In the West, she has found freedom in every sense - physical, emotional, and
artistic. Anyone who tries to return her to any form of confinement, artistic or otherwise, is in for disappointment.
"Modeling agencies and media entities don't always know how to categorize
me," she admits. "My path is still unfolding, so it's not surprising that they also can't figure it out."

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Rise Up! 'Hamilton' and Teaching for Social Justice

May 11, 2016, 2:08 pm

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I am writing this now as my New York University undergrads are taking their Social Movements final. They are flipping through blue book pages to answer an essay question about the role of media and pop culture in social change. And, as usual, "Hamilton" is the soundtrack playing in my head.

In classrooms across the country, "Hamilton" has ignited a fascination with a period of U.S. history that was previously unlikely to interest - let alone energize - most students, inspiring conversations about the broad range of people who get to call this American founding narrative our own. There has been much well-deserved attention to the wonderful fact that the show has begun to open its doors to 20,000 New York City 11th graders, most from schools that serve low-income students, through a grant from the Rockefeller Foundation in partnership with the show's producers.

As the mom of a 6th grade #Hamilfan (and I modestly take full credit for her fandom!), I have experienced the educational inspiration of "Hamilton" firsthand. My daughter cannot wait to get to the American history year in her middle school Social Studies sequence, when she can learn more about the people who inhabit her iPhone. For their birthdays, she and her friends decorate their lockers with printed photos of Alexander Hamilton - the actual Hamilton! For my daughter and her theater friends, the actual Hamilton has become the locker decoration that Ralph Macchio and Michael Jackson were for their parents. Along with all of her wearable "Hamilton" fangirl gear, one of my daughter's prized possessions is an Alexander Hamilton - again, the actual Treasury Secretary! - bobblehead. She feels emotionally connected to Hamilton, his gang of friends and rivals, and their story of revolution and nation-building because of this incredible show. This is educationally invaluable.

As my spring semester ends, I particularly want to celebrate "Hamilton" for the ways I've used it to teach about social change and social justice with my NYU students. When I fell in love with "Hamilton" last summer, I quickly figured out how to bring it into my cultural theory class. I ended the fall semester class by playing "My Shot," and I talked with the students about what I think is one of the main social justice themes of the play, told through the rivalry and frenemyship between Aaron Burr and Alexander Hamilton: the pace and manner in which social change can and should happen and the personal and political consequences of these approaches to change. Here, "young, scrappy and hungry" Hamilton keeps bumping against cautious and opportunistic Burr's willingness to "wait for it." I hoped the students would connect with those soaring words: "Rise up! When you're living on your knees, you rise up. Tell your brother that he's gotta rise up. Tell your sister that she's gotta rise up."

This semester, it is "History Has Its Eyes on You" that I am playing on repeat. My Social Movements class started in January by reading radical historian Howard Zinn's words on the importance of finding hope in history, and we continued with a unit on the civil rights movement and Black Power. On the first day of class, I played "History Has Its Eyes on You," and we talked about why those who are interested in social change should be committed to learning from history and acting as if history matters. After a semester of studying racial justice, feminist, and LGBTQ movements, I ended the class by again playing this amazing song. It helped me articulate to students that I hoped they would find the thing they were passionate about and that they would go out into the world and act on that thing, act as if history is watching. As Christopher Jackson, playing George Washington, sings: "I know that we can win. I know that greatness lies in you. But remember from here on in, history has its eyes on you." Our class had just finished a unit on Black Lives Matter, in which we talked a lot about presidential politics, and I mentioned that every single person in this seminar of 20 NYU college students had the right to vote because our forbears had laid their lives on the line for it. Even something as simple as choosing to vote or to sit out the 2016 presidential election attracts the watchful and judging eyes of history.

And there is something else I want my students to take away, in this semester when we have lost Prince and have celebrated the 20th anniversary of the Broadway debut of "Rent": the reminder that art is, at its best, by and for the beautifully weird, by and for the outsiders, by and for those who push or completely defy boundaries; the reminder that those on the margins always - no matter what else - have their minds and their creations. They build communities around their words and their music and their art, and these communities need them, are transformed by them, and are inspired by them to make change. Prince embodied and exuberantly celebrated the complexities of gender and race. "Rent" revered "La Vie Boheme" and art's ability to turn a community of outsiders into "an us for once, instead of a them." And "Hamilton"? The show is not only about writing as a way to survive or escape (or for "deliverance" and "revolution," as Lin-Manuel Miranda sings in "Hurricane," one of my favorite songs). For me, Miranda's casting of actors of color in all of the show's leads is not just about opening up ownership of the American story. Given the casting and the modern idiom of hip hop, it is easy, as well, to read this as a story of modern revolution and both the love it cultivates and the cost it extracts.

#Ham4SocialChange is what my students are learning this year, for their couple of college credits. I'm so grateful for this show and all it has given me as a teacher.

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Why Are There So Few Women Directors?

May 11, 2016, 2:09 pm

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When the last person ranted at me there were so few women directing movies because they would rather stay home with their children, I thought I was going to scream. That has been the received wisdom for way too long and a new study commissioned by Directors UK puts that theory to bed nicely and tidily.

I was sick of pointing out the legions of women who dominate the hair and make up departments of film sets, or work as script supervisors or assistants to directors, many of them single mums struggling to do it all, and are often the first people to arrive and the last people to leave, long after the director swans in and out in a chauffeur driven car. The lack of women helming movies clearly has little to do with them wanting to stay at home. The reason there aren't more women directors has everything to do with gender bias, conscious or subconscious, and nothing to do with having kids.

The result of a year's work by Stephen Follows, and commissioned by Directors UK, the study shows that 50% of women leaving film courses are women but from thereon in opportunities for women diminish at every rung of the career ladder from 27% of short films being directed by women to 16% of low budget feature films to 13% of medium budget films to just 3% of films with a budget over £30m.

There are unique pressures on the hiring structure of a film production. It's a freelance industry, done on a project by project basis, unmonitored by any sort of HR policy. For an industry one thinks of as progressive and forward looking, it's surprisingly risk averse. The hiring pattern tends to be one of hiring people like the ones who have gone before and those people are overwhelmingly men.

For years I thought the reason I was finding it so hard to get a break into feature films (I was nearly 50 when I directed my first movie, despite having won a BAFTA and having multiple Emmy nominations for television work) was that perhaps I wasn't very good. But when I got to sit on a board with other women (the nature of the industry is so fractured that you often don't meet other directors) I started to see a pattern emerging - the problem wasn't unique to me - it was true for a lot of other women whose work I admired and respected. For anyone, male or female, to get to direct a feature film is really hard, but for the women on the board it just seemed so much harder.

Does it matter? Of course it does. Film is hugely influential and reflects our world back at us. Fewer films directed by women tends to mean fewer films with strong female leads. Women's role as those who bring life into the world might have an impact inasmuch as our films often deal more thoughtfully with violence and its consequences. Films directed by women have a different make up of extras too - more women seated round boardroom tables, more women having meaningful conversations rather than crying when things get hard, even films that are just more fun.

The Directors UK report, 'Cut Out Of The Picture', calls for 50% of films to be directed by women by 2020. Bring it on. Bring on more films like Mama Mia, like The Piano, like Zero Dark Thirty, like Lost in Translation. The female voice in cinema has been silenced for far too long. It has been there in the background with extraordinary producers like Kathleen Kennedy and Barbara Broccoli but let's foreground it and look forward to a set of stories with a voice in a new register coming through.

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Susanna's latest film, a screen adaptation of Le Carre's thriller Our Kind Of Traitor, is out in cinemas on Friday May 13th

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1 + 1 + 1 = Love

May 11, 2016, 2:56 pm

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Meet Patrick, Cooper, and Bridget, one of the most endearing families I've ever met. Cooper is Patrick's son from a previous relationship, but you'd never know it. When spending time with them, I'm always struck by the love they have for each other. The only thing that would tip one off that Bridget isn't Cooper's biological mom is that he calls her, "Babe," a term of endearment that he picked up from his father.

To create my portrait paintings I work from reference photos. For this watercolor, I ended up combining two group-shots. It can be tricky to get three people (especially when one is a child) to all look their best in one image. I asked Pat to take off his hat mid photo shoot because his face was in shadow. Removing it, left him with a clear case of hat-hair. I knew that I could change that in the artwork by working from a photograph of Pat with his hair gelled and combed. It comes in handy having a brain that fuses and alters images like Photoshop.




I felt like I'd won the lottery when I was commissioned to paint this piece. Getting paid to do what makes your heart sing is a gift. Plus, the fact that Pat and company are some of the nicest (not to mention beautiful) people around made it a dream job.

In September, this family by choice, will deepen their bond when Pat and Bridget are married. 1+1+1 = Love is Patrick's love letter, painted through me, to the two most important people in his life. I'm wishing them all the best as they set sail on their happily ever after.



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Text and images © Sue Shanahan. All rights reserved. www.sueshanahan.com

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Springing Into May 2016:Cultural & Charitable Catch-up

May 11, 2016, 2:59 pm

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Cultural & Charitable Catch-Up: "Springing Into May 2016"

© Jill Lynne, 2016

With much to catch-up on including....

T Bone Burnett headlined The Jazz Foundation of America's 25t Annual Loft Party (one of our most favorite NYC events) and the forever-energetic Keith Richards brings the house down at "A Great Night In Harlem" at the Apollo -- honoring Sonny Rollins.

For 26 years The Jazz Foundation of America has been assisting musicians -- in particular, the ill, the elderly and those in crisis.

The tireless Executive Director, Wendy Oxenhorn, whose dedication to helping to helping these misfortunate musical legends, who was recently awarded at the Kennedy Center for her contributions to the wonderful world of jazz.

For a sneak-peek tune in to https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=QiO_mhDriVE





The celebrated 15-time Grammy Award Winner T Bone Burnett, innovative artist, songwriter, concert and music producer, delighted Loft Party attendees.



Pictured here with renowned Dr. Frank Forte, recipient of The Medicine for Music Award -- for his dedication to healing musician-in-need through founding and directing Englewood Hospital's Dizzy Gillespie Cancer Center, Executive Director Wendy Oxenhorn.





Ever-energetic Keith Richards of Rolling Stone fame, at the 14th annual "A Great Night in Harlem" held at the Apollo



Wendy Heralds legendary jazz musicians as they celebrate their silver Birthdays, at 90 and 94

For additional info Contact
www.jazzfoundation.org




The unique JEWEL serenaded The Voss Foundation's Annual "Women Helping Women" Luncheon, supporting access to clean water, sanitation and hygiene, in Africa

This multi-faceted songstress, poet and activist JEWEL with her new book, "Never Broken".
She recounted her own poignant tale of poverty -- at one time homeless and living in a car -- as a reason for her empathetic support of clean water for all.



JEWEL's sweet sounds serenades Voss Foundation Attendees



JEWEL with her latest missive


The fashionable Philanthropist Jean Shafiroff, penned her first book, "SUCCESSFUL PHILANTHROPY, How To Make A Life by What You Give" -- an excellent primer for anyone interested in becoming involved in the "giving" community...

Shafiroff ,sits on the Board of and is supportive of many important charitable organizations -- The New York City Mission Society, the new York Women's Foundation, The French Heritage Society, the Jewish Board of Family & Children's Services, the Southampton Hospital Foundation...and many animal rescue organizations.

She is not only a check-writer but also works tirelessly to ensure the vitality of these important causes.



Philanthropist Jean Shafiroff with Georgina Blumberg -- who wrote the introduction to the Book detailing the founding of her own equine not-for-profit -- The Rider's Closet, providing clothing and equipment to those who cannot afford to outfit their equestrian passion.



This conveniently-sized, little red book, contains one of my all-time favorite inspiring quotes from George Bernard Shaw;

" I am of the belief that my life belongs to the community. And as long as I live, it is my privilege to do for it whatever I can. I want to be thoroughly used up when I die, for the harder I work, the more I live.
Life is no brief candle for me; it is a sort of splendid torch, which I have got hold of for a brief moment, and I want to make it burn as brightly as possible, before handing it on to future generations. "


Recently Celebrity Stylist to the Stars also penned a new book, "Change Your Clothes, Change Your Life", -- a witty introduction for gals just getting started on the road to becoming a Fashionista.



Pictured here in the charming West Village Boutique, DARLING, with Proprietor / Designer Raquelle


Peruvian-born, the effervescent Carmen d'Alessio -- unofficially titled the Queen of Studio 54 -- is lauded in a new documentary, "Carmen; Life is A Celebration" directed by Mauricio Branco.
With her natural talent for bringing people together, she has hosted many of the world's elite, introducing them to NYC and Peru.



Carmen, at the gala screening of her lively documentary, at the Instituto Cervantes, NYC



Designer Carolina Herrera, attends the gala screening



Attendees Brazilian Prima Ballerina Lucia Tristano with MacDella Cooper of the MCF Foundation



Poster for this "force-of-nature", Carmen d'Allessio


Filmmaker Thymaya Payne premiered his latest Black & White production, "Live Cargo", at the opening of the Tribeca Film Festival



Producer / Writer Thymaya Payne with Director Logan Sander and Filmmaker Justin Kelly at the Cocktail Party at Atrio Restaurant in the new Conrad's Hotel, Battery Park City.

A sultry film-noire, focused on love and loss, against a background of human trafficking, it stars Dree Hemmingway with Keith Stansfield.



Shot in the Bahamas, and infused with mystery, this still pictures Hemmingway and Stansfeild at a local bar.


Best-known for her productions of Irish Theater, Producer Georganne Heller recently showcased the "Loves of Picasso" at MOMA.

Written and Directed by Picasso-expert, Terry D'Alfonso, the film focuses on the myriad loves and romantic relationships of Pablo Diego Jose Francisco de Paula Juan Nepomuceno Maria de los Remeedios Ciprano de la Santisima Ruiz y Picasso, born on Milaga, Spain in 1881.

The artist was not only tireless in his production of visual art but also in his pursuit of women...and so goes this intriguing film...



Producer Georganne Heller at MOMA



Writer, Director, and Picasso aficionado, Terry D'Alfonso, at the screening, conducts a Q & A



We are gratefully returning to you dear Readers after an absence due to a Broken Patella... This experience resulted in many internal and external Paradigm Shifts -- as in "Lessons Learned From a Broken Knee; Spiritual and Pragmatic"...



Found Wisdom On The Streets of New York or as we refer to them, "The University of The Streets"


All Photographs (c) Jill Lynne 2016
Available for purchase through JillLynne1@mac.com
www.jilllynne.com

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If These Walls Could Only Talk

May 11, 2016, 9:19 pm

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Nearly 50 years have elapsed since Mart Crowley's groundbreaking play, The Boys in the Band, had its premiere at Theatre Four on April 14, 1968. The following year, when the Stonewall Riots erupted, the gay liberation movement began to gain momentum. One of the most significant side effects of that movement was the birth of the gay press.

Instead of looking to The New York Times to publish "All the news that's fit to print," the gay community veered off in a new direction. The new motto became "If you don't like the news you're reading, make your own!"





As Theatre Rhinoceros (which was founded during the spring of 1977) approaches its 40th anniversary, gay theatre finds itself in a curious position. While other minorities are protesting cultural appropriation, gay culture is becoming more mainstream than ever. While the number of female playwrights and roles being written for women is sorely criticized, LGBT playwrights are continually finding new opportunities to bring LGBT characters to the stage.

The Bay area's diversity has made it possible for Theatre Rhinoceros and the 35-year-old New Conservatory Theatre Center (founded in 1981 by Ed Decker) to survive the HIV/AIDS crisis. The Doollee.com website, which references 5,886 plays about gay theatre, notes that:

"A listing on this page does not mean that the playwright, producer or publisher are/were identified as gay, merely that the plays have a gay interest. This could be in the characterization, theme, or part or all of the subject matter. The plays shown are an attempt to replicate and expand on the Theatre section of www.shergoodforest.com, whose site has sadly closed. Doollee is indebted to initial information from this site but takes full responsibility for this listing, which will be moderated by Raymond Port. Click on a play title below for information on its author, its history, and a brief synopsis. Alternatively, click on a playwright's name for information on all the plays they have written that we currently list."

Founded in 2012, the Left Coast Theatre Company (which bills itself as "San Francisco's Home for Original LGBT Theatre") evolved from a writing group for gay men named GuyWriters Playwrights. In four short years, the company has:

• Produced 54 short plays with LGBT themes and content.


• Showcased the output of 28 LGBT playwrights.


• Worked with 24 LGBT directors.

This spring's collection of short plays takes its inspiration from Noel Coward's 1966 trilogy entitled Suite in Three Keys (which originally featured three short plays that took place in the same hotel suite in Switzerland). Neil Simon used a similar gimmick for 1968's Plaza Suite and 1976's California Suite.

In San Francisco, Here I Come! each play takes place in the living room of a San Francisco apartment where one wall is filled with the names of gay men who have lived there over the past seven decades. During that time, the wall has become such an iconic piece of art that the apartment lease now prevents any tenant from painting over it.




Poster art for San Francisco, Here I Come!


* * * * * * * * * *


Written by Chris Maltby and directed by Neil Higgins, Femme Fatale takes place in 1949. The play begins with the kind of music one might expect to hear in a noir film as two men enter, dressed in suits. One man is obviously helping the other (who might be too drunk to walk).




Frank (Heren Patel) and Cary (Ryan Engstrom) end up in Frank's
apartment in Femme Fatale (Photo by: Aaron Levy-Wolins)


Cary (Ryan Engstrom) is a slightly-built, mildly feminine guy whose lip has been bruised by a homophobic bully. Jeff (Heren Patel) is a new arrival in San Francisco who is still coming to terms with his sexuality. A native of Cuyahoga Falls, Jeff spent three years in jail after accidentally killing a man with a well-placed punch. While in the Navy, his ship docked in San Francisco for a meaningful weekend that gave him a taste of what he'd been missing in life. Upon being discharged, Jeff realized there was no way he could go back to Ohio and decided that San Francisco might be a better place to seek his future.




Cary (Ryan Engstrom) embraces Jeff (Heren Patel) in a tender
moment from Femme Fatale (Photo by: Aaron Levy-Wolins)


Not much gets by Cary, who tries to get Jeff to open up about why he came to the rescue (and what he's really looking for). After the two men have gotten to know each other on a more intimate basis, someone starts pounding on Jeff's apartment door, demanding to be let in. Detective Murdock (Scott C. Free) barges in and immediately starts bullying Jeff, who protests his innocence. When Cary emerges from the bedroom, he is not the least bit surprised to see his archenemy causing trouble and demanding protection money. Again.

After a tense confrontation, Murdock leaves the apartment and Cary wises Jeff up to the realities of gay life in San Francisco. But Murdock's belligerence has pushed the usually powerless Cary over the edge and he leaves the apartment to smooth over the situation with the cop. When Cary returns, he has surprising news for Jeff. Murdock apparently ran into a tire iron (several times) and will no longer be bothering them. There's a new man of the house. A true femme fatale.

* * * * * * * * * *

Written by Terry Maloney Haley and directed by Sabrina De Mio, Stewart James focuses on two women who are working on a film being shot in San Francisco in 1958. Suzanne Vito portrays a middle-aged actress appearing in the film who is rehearsing a scene with a younger woman, who is the stunt double for Kim Novak. While Pauline (Courtney Russell) has filmed numerous takes simulating a jump from the Golden Gate Bridge, she has trouble memorizing her lines and is nervous about her future.




The actress (Suzanne Vito) tries to befriend Pauline
(Courtney Russell) in a scene from Stewart James
(Photo by: Aaron Levy-Wolins)


That's because Pauline is about to undergo a sex change operation to become Paul. While the older actress keeps trying to get Pauline to relax, the younger woman is on her guard. The actress finally admits that she knows Pauline's secret and wants to be her friend. To prove it, she's brought something from the costume department for Pauline to try on -- a man's suit -- which she's going to need after her surgery.

* * * * * * * * * *

Written and directed by Richard S. Sargent, Coffee at Compton's pays tribute to the infamous cafeteria in San Francisco's Tenderloin district where drag queens fought back against the cops in 1966 (three years before the more famous Stonewall Riots in Greenwich Village). Ryan Engstrom portrays Aleisha, a streetwise drag hooker who has moved in with Frank (Heren Patel), her hot and hunky boyfriend who is also a cop on the beat.

The couple begins to quarrel as Aleisha awaits the arrival of Mama (AJ Davenport), a tough dyke who has recently insisted on walking her girls to and from work in order to make sure they stay safe. Frank keeps asking Aleisha not to get involved with any of the trouble that's been happening at Compton's Cafeteria, especially since some of his buddies on the force have been conducting the raids.




Frank (Heren Patel) and Aleisha (Ryan Engstrom) argue in a
scene from Coffee at Compton's (Photo by: Aaron Levy-Wolins)


While Frank is clearly conflicted about where his loyalty should lie, Aleisha informs him that he's going to have to make a decision about who means more to him -- his lover or his buddies. When Frank starts to get in Mama's face, he gets more than he ever anticipated in return.




AJ Davenport, Heren Patel, and Ryan Engstrom in a scene
from Coffee at Compton's (Photo by: Aaron Levy-Wolins)


* * * * * * * * * *


Rita Long's hilarious Apples & Orgies takes a classic situation and puts a new spin on it. It's 1992 and Lou (AJ Davenport) is a butch lesbian who rents out her playspace to leather parties on a frequent basis. On this one occasion, she has mistakenly double booked two parties. One is run by Daddy (Chris Maltby), the other by a lesbian named Sam (Courtney Russell).

Daddy is first to arrive at the apartment, with his eager but slightly dimwitted Boy (Michael Conner) in tow. When Sam shows up, with her friend Nina (Sabrina De Mio) dragging in a series of playroom props (an inflatable wading pool for water sports, a giant stuffed toy for the plushies, and an oversized fake penguin that sports a large dildo), the two butches become extremely territorial about who has dibs on Lou's playspace.




Lou (AJ Davenport), Daddy (Chris Maltby), Boy (Michael Conner)
and Sam (Courtney Russell) in a scene from Apples & Orgies
(Photo by: Aaron Levy-Wolins)


As it turns out, both use their masculinity to compensate for feelings of inadequacy and emotional wounds incurred earlier in life. Under Maltby's comical direction, they find their way to an emotional space where gay men and lesbians can share the room, the play pool, and the plushie toys without ruining Lou's parquet floor. Rita Long (who scored a hit last year with Dawn of the Dead Zone) hits another one out of the park with Apples & Orgies -- a very funny and insightful script.

* * * * * * * * * *

Written by Rodney Rhoda Taylor and directed by Don Hardwick, PS I Love You strikes a much more somber tone. Set in the present, it finds Alex (Ryan Engstrom) still mourning Hank (Kai Brothers), his lover who was killed in an automobile accident. Alex's sister, Chris (Erica Andracchio), has driven to San Francisco to help him pack up the apartment and leave town. Clearly devoted to her brother, Chris wants him to move on with his life while living with his mother.




Chris (Erica Andracchio), Alex (Ryan Engstrom), and Hank
(Kai Brothers) in a scene from PS I Love You
(Photo by: Aaron Levy-Wolins)


Alex, however, has no desire to let go of Hank's memory. After sending Chris downstairs with another carton of belongings to put in their van, he finds one of Hank's old shirts and buries his nose in it, trying to smell a trace of his dead lover. Hank's ghost will have none of it, insisting that it's time for Alex to get on with his life and informing him that, despite his constant begging, Hank cannot follow him to Oregon. A frequent contributor to LCTC, Taylor's play is beautifully written and helps to remind audiences that not every gay man dies of AIDS.

* * * * * * * * * *

Directed by Michael Sally, Charles Zito's one-act play focuses on a relationship in a very different kind of jeopardy. Will (Dene Larson) is a middle-aged gay man who is about to marry Derek (Michael Conner). It's 2016 and, thanks to the United States Supreme Court's ruling in Obergefell v. Hodges, same-sex marriage is now the law of the land. Both men are very much in love and considering the prospects of raising a family.




Will (Dene Larson), Derek (Michael Conner), and Seth (Kai Brothers)
in a scene from The Best Men (Photo by: Aaron Levy-Wolins)


Things get testy when Will's best friend, Seth (Kai Brothers), arrives from the East Coast for a visit and is much too concerned with his own priorities to let Will break the happy news to him. When Will finally manages to get a word in edgewise, he explains that he wants Seth to be the best man at his wedding. Seth (who has always considered their friendship inviolable) is not the least bit amused when he meets Derek and discovers that the young man is in his mid-twenties. As Oscar Wilde once wrote: "Friendship is far more tragic than love. It lasts longer."




Mark (Paul Renolis) and Gregory (Aaron Tworek) in a
scene from The Best Men (Photo by: Aaron Levy-Wolins)


A running subplot in The Best Men involves Gregory (Aaron Tworek), a gay man who left Missouri in 1966 and became the first person to paint his name on the living room wall. Having arrived in San Francisco at the height of the hippie revolution, Gregory was eager to meet lots of gay men and, hopefully, find a partner. Although the names of several boyfriends ended up on the wall before he moved out in 1972, as Will and Seth continue to argue, the audience watches Gregory break up with Mark (Paul Renolis), one of men he dated who was not a perfect fit.

* * * * * * * * * *

The last play on the program takes place in the near future (2018) and probably got the best audience response. Written by James A. Martin and directed by Richard Ryan, Disruptified stars Richard S. Sargent as Zach, a software engineer and entrepreneur who is convinced that the mobile app he has developed is just what the world has been waiting for.

If Zach's business plan for Liquid Legends succeeds, there will be a huge market for people who want to interact with dead celebrities. Elizabeth Taylor performing cartwheels in your living room? Done!




Richard S. Sargent is the ambitious Zach in Disruptified
(Photo by: Aaron Levy-Wolins)


The only problem is that every time Zach tries to get his software to deliver the actual Colonel Sanders to fry some chicken in his kitchen, nothing happens. As Zach becomes increasingly frustrated, his attempt to practice his presentation speech for venture capitalists keeps falling to pieces. And one thing's for sure: As a Millennial, Zach lacks patience and prefers that things go his way.

Suddenly, a mysterious stranger (Stefin Collins) materializes in the room and introduces himself as San Francisco's infamous Emperor Norton, the first and only Emperor of the United States. Zach has no idea who the fuck Emperor Norton is and is in no mood to be quickly brought up to date (whether he likes it or not). As the two men argue about the value of Liquid Legends, Zach confesses that, when he was a teenager, his parents kicked him out of their home as soon as he told them that he was gay. He spent several years being homeless until a kindly woman took him in and helped him to finish high school.

After that, Zach won a scholarship and graduated from college. Even if the woman didn't live to see him graduate, he wouldn't be here today without her loving support. It doesn't take long for Emperor Norton to come up with a much smarter application for Zach's software.




Stefin Collins as Emperor Norton in Disruptified
(Photo by: Aaron Levy-Wolins)


Now that Zach is rich and wants to "give back," instead of trying to deliver dead celebrities using virtual reality technology, Emperor Norton suggests that there is a much larger international market for his app. Why not target his invention to people who would welcome a chance to talk with dead friends, lovers, and relatives? In fact, Zach's app might enable him to contact the woman who saved his sorry ass and thank her for everything she did for him!

San Francisco, Here I Come! offers proof positive that Left Coast Theatre Company's efforts are bearing stronger, funnier, and better written theatrical fruit with each production.


To read more of George Heymont go to My Cultural Landscape

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Pablo Atchugarry at Hollis Taggart Gallery

May 12, 2016, 10:01 am

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Pablo Atchugarry cuts through the beauty of marble and metal to make his exquisite masterpieces of sculpture. Born in Uruguay to parents who encouraged Atchugarry's unusual talent for art, he has spent a lifetime carving some of the most sensuous, elegant pieces of large scale (many feet tall, as large as Roman columns) to small foot high pieces from natures own materials. They are blend of the ethereal and the resilient; impressive in their very distinctive manifestation, never feeling dense, they have spiritual impact. On view now at the Hollis Taggart Gallery through June 11th in New York City, "Invocations of the Soul" will find you working hard to resist touching these sumptuous monolithic pieces of art, their smooth, fine surfaces are that compelling.

Talking with the artist I saw why. Though he does not speak much English, I heard him clearly through his warm smile and his expression of love for nature through his artwork, upon the emergence of form from huge slabs of marble. As Michelangelo said "I saw the angel in the marble and set him free." Atchugarry possesses a special calm humility, one that is not confounded by presumption, totally gracious, and ignorant of pride. He has earned his place at the table and we are fortunate to see his inescapable spiritual revelations through his creations. According to his son Piero, "He was never formerly taught and he comes by his gift like breathing." He dedicated himself to his work despite any financial set-backs as a young man, and somewhere in the 1990s he began to get the public recognition he undeniably earned.



The key word here is to "create" not to "invent" or "copy," as so many artists are in the habit to do in the current conceptual arena. As water will carve arcs and crevices into mountains, this artist seems to have the capacity of water and the indelible habit of sand blown in the wind to pumice exquisite Portugal and Carrara marble into physical form. Into the marble quarries Atchgarry goes to seek out pure whites, fleshy blushes and soft warm pinks, membraned with the veins of millions of years and cultivated by the elements.



I would be remiss if I didn't point out one of the loveliest sleek sculptures in the Hollis Taggart show. The only one of its kind...His 2016, 29 inch high, black marble piece is a dazzler. An accordion like sculpture 10 inches wide; masterfully hollowed and carved to perfection. Then there are the bronzes which are molded to flawlessness and painted in glossy reds, crisp navy blues, mellow yellows, and rich, bright greens...They feel reminiscent of 1920s modernism. They have the sharp edges and allure but none of the devices.




This past summer Atchuggary had an outstanding show in Rome. According to Artnet news, "Across the street from the Forum, visitors to Rome were treated to an unexpected sight, Pablo Atchugarry's "Eternal City, Eternal Marbles," was on view at Trajan's Market, a building complex dating back to the second-century." Considered to be the first shopping mall without brand name recognition. A sight I regret not seeing.



"Translucent marble next to the crumbling red brick (recalling the emperor Augustus's famous boast that he "had found a city of brick but left one of marble"), and the unexpected presence of contemporary art set against a backdrop of ancient ruins."

"For more than 2,000 years, architects and artists have mined the marble quarries of Carrara, Italy. The stone has been used to create the Pantheon, the Duomo of Siena, and Michelangelo's David." According to Architectural Digest, noting that "he is using classical material and transforming it to modern form."

Coming up in July is his show in Belguim "Exclusive Sculptures" at the Boon gallery from Friday 8 July - Sunday 24 July at Knokke­-Zoute.

I suspect as Pablo Atchguarry gains transaction in the United States, you will see his work more often, but for now, go see this wonderful work while you can at Hollis Taggart on 26th street.

It is not worth missing.

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5 Ways Photography Helps Me Fight My Working Mom Guilt

May 12, 2016, 10:05 am

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I've been a mother for nearly 12 years, and I have been a working mom for all 12 of those years. While I have been fortunate enough to work with my children in tow, being a working mother comes with guilt. I have yet to meet a mother who works (or really any mother) who doesn't have some mom guilt. Guilt for missing time with your children, guilt about missed games, guilt for not spending enough quality time with your children. Guilt about less-than-stellar dinners, guilt for feeling exhausted at the end of the day and going through the motions. I really could go on for days filling you in on all the little things my guilt-ridden mama heart feels. The good news is, I've learned to fight that guilt through photography.

Here are 5 ways photography helps me fight my working mom guilt.

1. It shows me that despite the fact that I work, my kids are generally happy people. Do they have meltdowns or cry? Of course they do! But at the end of the day they are really pretty happy. Photographs remind me that my children laugh, and smile so big their cheeks look like they hurt, and their eyes are shut. So far, I don't seem to have squelched their joy.



2. It reminds me exactly why I work. I would need to work regardless of whether or not I had children, but the reason I work the way I do is to provide for our children in ways that would otherwise be impossible. Trips to the zoo or vacation at the beach, hockey teams, and birthday parties -- even things as mundane as putting food on the table or dressing the kids. When I look back at images from the days gone by, there will always be something reminding me why we work as hard as we do, and why it's totally worth it in the long run.



3. It proves that my children are completely capable of forming wonderful, loving relationships with all different kinds of people, despite their "absent" mother. OK, truth be told, I am not an absentee mother. That doesn't mean there aren't times that I feel like I am, even if I am physically there. I can't even begin to count the times one of my children has told me a story while I was in the middle of working, only to have me absently nod my head and pretend to listen as I continue to focus on work. It happens more than I care to admit, but that's the nature of the beast. I work while my kids are home, and sometimes, I need to focus on something pressing, and that means nodding in agreement even if I'm not really listening. They know it, and I know it. But oh, the guilt. When I look at pictures of my children interacting with their friends, siblings, grandparents, daddy, and me, I know that they are no worse for it.



4. It freezes important moments, and reminds me that I do indeed spend quality time with my children. We can be insanely hard on ourselves. Photography is a visual reminder of things we don't tend to give ourselves credit for. I have a habit of telling myself that I don't spend any real time with my children. I guess if I haven't spent the entire day fulfilling a preschool curriculum with my children, or picnicking at the playground, I convince myself I haven't spent any quality time with them. Looking back through images of that day or any other day helps me to silence those thoughts!



5. It forces me to stop what I am doing, and actually be in the moment. So often I am busy focusing on other things and I miss being in the moment we are in. Multitasking is my middle name. That means I am always juggling a million balls. The minute I pull out my camera or my phone to capture a moment, all of my focus goes to that moment. It also usually redirects me beyond the moment of the picture-taking. While I may have stopped what I was doing initially to take the picture, once the picture is taken it's rare that I immediately return to multitasking.



The next time you're feeling guilty about your parenting abilities, take out that camera. It never fails to put things into perspective.

More from lorrin sell | photographer of wild things:

7 tips for taking better pictures of your kids with your smartphone

capturing the details of childhood

6 reasons to learn to shoot in manual mode

you can see bits and pieces of lorrin's day-to-day life with our kids on instagram.

if you're looking for inspiration to take pictures of your own kiddos, get your free ebook here.

follow lorrin sell | photographer of wild things on facebook.

follow lorrin sell | photographer of wild things on twitter.

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Reimagined Kaleidoscopes: The Art and Fashion of Michelle Gagliano and Kari Bare

May 12, 2016, 12:38 pm

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Michelle Gagliano and Kari Bare have collaborated on bringing Gagliano's art to the fashion world--Bare transforms the art onto fabric and makes clothes from them. At 3:00 pm, on May 15th, at Victory Hall in Scottsville, Virginia, they will present a fashion show called Reimagined Kaleidoscopes, highlighting these new collaborations.


Fabric collaborations by Michelle Gagliano and Kari Bare Couture


How did the idea of converting Michelle's art to fabric reveal itself?

Kari: Michelle came to me with a Wall Street Journal article that mentioned art on fabric and said "I've always wanted to do this with my work!" I don't think she expected me to say, "Ok, let's do it!" We immediately started playing with designs and planning our collaboration.

Michelle: I have been approached in the past by collectors about doing this, but the timing was never right. I think seeing articles in the WSJ made me realize that it is perfectly respectable for an artist to showcase their work across mediums.

Besides art on t-shirts, is turning art into clothing a common practice?

Kari: I've seen it on shoes and accessories frequently, but in a much different style. Michelle and I really focus on the pieces being handmade and showcasing the fabric and fit, while larger scale companies seem to slap the art on a pre-made piece of clothing and move along. It is important to us that the painting and the clothing design fit together seamlessly.

Michelle: What I appreciate about Kari's designs is how she fits the clothes to the designs. She is able to work from all the intricacies of the painting and she transposes it beautifully into fabric. This customization is gaining in popularity.

How would you compare what you do to other creative processes...like cooking? I'm a big fan of David Chang--he likes to push the boundaries of fine dining--and it seems to me like you like to push the boundaries of fashion and art. Please comment...

Kari: I think cooking is a great analogy for my work because I use technical details and measurement constantly while trusting my intuition to tweak designs. Sizing and pattern construction are very important but I use them as I would a recipe- a mere guideline for what I am creating.

Michelle: I am relentless in experimenting in the studio, with many mistakes to prove it. It helps move past facing a blank canvas day after day. I really enjoy the collaborative process in the studio, working with another creative helps to push those boundaries as well. (Dante- Ron Smith! That was awesome!)

Who inspires you--in the art world, in the fashion world, in general?

Kari: I look to designers who broke ground in some way, especially for women. Elsa Schiaparelli created the first women's structured jacket or "blazer" at a time when women's rights were nonexistent. Creating custom suits for women allowed us to be taken more seriously as business professionals and has truly changed the world's view of women.

Michelle: I am continually inspired by El Anatsui's tapestry-like transformation of found objects and trash into beauty, and such a calm elegance to the work, mesmerizing. My children constantly inspire me. They are creatives as well, and we constantly bounce ideas off each other.

Are you familiar with Billy Reid? I think he would dig what you do and find some interesting connection.

Kari: I am not familiar but can't wait to do some research. I am always looking for new designers of influence.

Michelle: I just know his designs, they really convey that he is true to self, has a strong aesthetic, has great clarity and vision. Of course, I would love to have a conversation with him!

Are there people in the fashion and art worlds who are noticing what you are doing?

Both: We have received very positive feedback with minimal advertising. Both of us have received additional sales because of this collaboration and are looking forward to our next projects!

When you are not creating art and fashion, what do you like to do?

Kari: I play softball two times a week which really helps me get the personal interactions that I miss when I am behind a sewing machine all day. I also love being around children, which has led me to teach sewing lessons.

Michelle: I like to be inspired by taking long walks, it helps me filter the day. I have a vineyard, and I enjoy learning about all that is involved in the process of turning grapes into wine. Plus, I love the peace of museums, the chaos of live music, and the visual immersion of movies.

How does your life translate into your art? And how does your art translate into your life?

Kari: My art is a representation of what I strive for my life to be: simple, high quality, and empowering.

Michelle: My life has always circled around art, painting, drawing, sculpting, and it is simply how I make a living, so it literally does sustain me. I was in an artist residency a few years ago, and I met this elegant and amazing painter, poet, and musician, who lost all her family in the Second World War, was raised in an orphanage, had seen and experienced so many devastating things in her life, yet lived this positive creative life. She simply said, "Life is Poetry. Life is Art. Just look for it." Wow, that stuck with me.

How do you transfer the art to the fabric? Let's get technical for a minute...

Both: It begins with collaborating to decide what style and colors are inspiring to us. After Michelle completes a painting, we take high resolution photographs of the work. Kari then tiles, mirrors, and stretches the image to translate it into a design that is sent to a fabric manufacturing company.

What can people expect from the fashion show on May 15th?

Both: The show will resemble a pop-up art gallery. We wanted to showcase each of our work individually while still presenting our collaboration. The set up is not like a typical "fashion show" at all and we think that guests will really be excited by the unique presentation.

If you had only one sentence to tell a budding artist...like "The most important thing to remember about being an artist is..." or "Create art because..." or "If you want to be an artist, you have to..." what would you say?

Kari: If you want to be an artist, you have to take calculated risks. I think most artists will agree that this path is not easy but every challenge is worth it to express yourself. Also, if you want to be an artist, you have to market and sell your product. Take some business classes, it is the single most overlooked part of a successful arts career.

Michelle: I think it is important to define what being a successful artist means to you, and to follow that path.


Dress by Kari Bare Couture, featuring art by Michelle Gagliano

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"A Place Called Venice" Celebrates the Vibrant Creative Spirit of Venice!

May 12, 2016, 12:38 pm

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Venice Beach is home to a plethora of artists and creative people. Noted artists such as Ray Bradbury, Judy Baca, Philomene Long, Manazar Gamboa and Eva Cockcroft have all been part of the legendary art community by the sea. Numerous art groups have also arisen from the local community. One such group attracting notoriety is Venice ARTBLOCK, created in 2013. Endorsed by cultural and civic organizations, ARTBLOCK is a grantee of the Arts Activation Fund, created by Mayor Eric Garcetti. The artist run organization encourages Venice artists to open their studios and participate in the free event presented twice a year. An inclusive event, it spotlights artists of all disciplines who contribute to the quality and character of Venice.


Flyer photo by Meryl Lebowitz, Venice 6 AM, 20" x 16" oil on canvas, 2016

Longtime resident and founding member Francisco Letelier has curated a group show entitled "A Place Called Venice." The new realism exhibition showcases the work of artists who depict Venice in their work. The selected works accentuate the importance of recognizing Venice as a place of historic cultural landmarks. Letelier said he organized the exhibit with the hopes of capturing the elusive spirit of Venice through realist works. "A Place Called Venice" includes works by: Ruth Chase Boudreaux, Marybeth Fama, Jason Hill and Meryl Lebowitz. According to Letelier, "The grouping of artists recaptures the sense of place and creativity that have been a guiding principle in Venice since founder Abbott Kinney first imagined it."

Ruth Chase Boudreaux is an artist, born, raised and educated in Venice. "ArtBlock is a crucial part of keeping the spirit of Venice alive," said Chase Boudreaux, who is participating in the event for the first time. "Without events like this, the Venice community that we know and love would disappear."


Ruth Chase Boudreaux, Not Just Me Anymore, acrylic on canvas, 3 x 3', 2016, Inspired by the life of Fernando Manzanilla

Her West of Lincoln painting series, awarded a grant from The Carl Jacobs Foundation pays tribute to a population of people who shaped the history of an untamed community, while preserving their historic significance. "The West of Lincoln Project began after painting a self-portrait, then realizing the challenges of my own childhood provided me with a brave and resilient spirit. Now, I am on a mission to tell the history of Venice through it's people." http://www.ruthchase.com/

Marybeth Fama creates intimate paintings of everyday life. Imbuing a magical quality to the commonplace, the artist has recorded iconic places and people for decades. With faultless craft, Fama captures scenes that are often overlooked, pushing viewers to recognize timeless characteristics of Venice life.


Mary Fama, Boys under the pier, 24" x 12" oil on stretched linen 2015

"For 32 years Venice has been my home and it has grown and evolved. I feel compelled to create images that are emblematic of the ways I have known before they all change or disappear; from my deep attachment to this neighborhood named Venice. " https://www.flickr.com/photos/marybethfama/

Jason Hill offers hand-painted photographic prints of the Venice Art Walls that capture the vivid, saturated color of the iconic public art walls in a unique style that is both timeless and reminiscent of Venice's early days of surf and skate culture.


Jason Hill, Venice Art Walls, 20"x20", acrylic on metallic photo print, 2015

Widely recognized for his graphic design and illustration, Hill is the creator of Venice Stories, fumetti comics based on Venice Beach history, featuring interviews with local personalities published in the Argonaut newspaper. http://jasonhilldesign.com

Meryl Lebowitz demonstrates her perfected mastery through paintings of Venice streets, neighborhoods and vernacular architecture, inviting viewers to celebrate, remember and imagine a place called Venice. Her subjects are familiar, but their appeal is universal. Originally from Vermont, but now based in Venice, her award winning work can be found in collections throughout the United States.


Meryl Lebowitz Venice Stroll, 20" x12" oil on canvas, 2016

"This is my first year in the Art Block," said Lebowitz. "Since we first came here 5 years ago, I have been studying this place...its streets, its foliage, its people, its light. What a unique, multi faceted, layered, ever changing environment! My work has always been about a moment in time, and it's apparent, in a place that's changing so quickly, I will never run out of painting possibilities." http://meryllebowitz.com

Celebrate "A Place Called Venice" along with the collaborative spirit of Venice Art Week. The exhibition will be open for viewing at three Venice events starting with the Venice ARTBLOCK (free event) on Sunday May 15th from 11:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. Then the public has a second chance to see it during the Venice Art Crawl, a free event on May 19 from 6:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m., and the exhibition will also be a part of the Venice Art Walk ($50 studio tour) on May 22 from noon to 6:00 p.m. http://www.veniceartblock.com http://www.veniceartcrawl.com/
http://theveniceartwalk.org

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MassArt's Thought Provoking Fashion

May 12, 2016, 12:49 pm

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Massachusetts College of Art (MassArt) is back in full effect for its 109th student fashion show, "Circuit", to be held on Saturday, May 14th at the Power Station, 540 Harrison Avenue, Boston. Once again, I was privy to the Senior Review prior to the actual show. This is the last of several critique intervals the seniors must endure. During their four year journey, MassArt students study illustration, pattern drafting, computer creation, draping, women's and men's wear, tailoring, made-to-measure, bridal, fashion history and more. They begin working on the inspiration for their senior collections right away. By sophomore year they have created three garments, seven by junior year and ten by the end of senior year. Five are shown at the fashion show.

This year's Senior Review was run by faculty members (Chair and Professor Sondra Grace, Professors Jayne Avery, John Distefano, Renee Harding, James Mason and Jennifer Varekamp) who were mostly complimentary. The criticism that was offered tended to suggest (not demand) a different lineup, inquire about "shoe messaging" or to move a purse or gloves from one model to another. There is less Michael Kors type take-down of designers and more Tim Gunn style nurturing. No one was reduced to tears although one model's legs did give way because of the amount of time she spent standing in high heels. When this occurred the show did not just go on; concern was palpable as faculty members stopped the review and assisted the young woman until she felt better. Kindler, gentler fashion show prep happens at MassArt.

Professor James Mason, is at the curatorial helm of the show but neither he nor the other dedicated professors require students to adhere to any particular theme. Although the show is titled "Circuit," partly because it takes place at a venue called "The Power Station" and the show is also billed as "connecting clothes with a purpose," each designer developed his/her own separate theme. Ironically, though, I noticed several variations on similar ideas as the 17 senior designers discussed sources of inspiration with the faculty panel and via written statements. Some of the ideas expressed: transition, personal loss, being lost, sadness, illness, despair, transformation, healing, melancholy, strength, confinement, misunderstanding, silence, starkness, gender blending, and survival. Such mature and vivid ideas seem to be a reflection and fusion of what students have experienced and/or observed. Each designer did what artists are known for; they took the experience, no matter how painful, disturbing or eye opening and translated it to their designs. It was a thrill to see how some of these rich and complicated themes found their way into the garments.

While nothing left me underwhelmed and each designer has at least one standout piece (notably Maddy Valero's adorable powder blue parka with fur hoodie, Liz St. Germain's black "flight suite" with spangly blue piping, Kaori Shishido's knotted gray sweater and unconventional hems, Chris Gillespie's ferocious harnesses and brilliant color palette, Becca Bastarache's deep caring and humanistic clothing expressions, Melissa Tilley's Edwardian inspired lime and beige garden party sheath, Sabrina Levin's brown leather boldly zipped jacket/car coat, Sierra Chew-Chin's fitted pants with open seaming and her transparent layers and Zelda Flisiuk's knockout fuchsia cape coat) there are several compelling designs I'd like to fill my own closet with.

Fashion is communication in one way or another and the following narratives spoke volumes to me:

Emily Carini's "Leaving Eden" collection focuses on a "new narrative on the origin of mankind," this time one that is genderless. I am impressed with the strong fabric textures, detailed workmanship, the color palette of forest green, gray and mauve and as well as the disparate hem lengths, fresh silhouettes and her variation on color blocking.


Crystal Chanthavong's "The First Circle" is an ode of sorts to burn victims, focusing on "transformation through treatment and healing" via colors and fabric manipulation. She uses varied silhouettes, spider webbing of transparent fabric, puckered textures, fire-hued zippers and grommets and even a muzzle to represent "being constrained after a trauma."


Johnny King's complex inspiration for his "Despair Factor" collection dictated my interest in the clothes. He describes being drawn to a "psychological place" where "mental illness mixes with creativity" and "ways of hiding while being exposed." These ideas translate into rich gray and black protective wear utilizing waxed fabrics, unique cuts, subtle detailing and formal mixed with casual. He also includes hand-made jewelry pieces.


Channy Guak's "East Parallel" examines "retro futurism" or past to future and combines aviator pilots, 1930s cockpit attire with clever silhouettes, Asian and utilitarian influences, new pant shapes, great pockets, closures and apron-like draping. The intriguing color palette of black, blue and gray includes the sudden burst of a rust toned jacket.


Influenced by a chair design, Naomi Fyhr's "Melancholia" focuses on "being guarded and trapped within oneself while trying to find internal balance." The back of each gown has intricate laser cut leather-strapping details that resemble tattoo designs. One in particular shows the chair caning influence in an unusual way. The other fabrics are also manipulated with chiffon smocking and sculpting.


Emily Lee's "From Void: the Beginning" collection, inspired by "the amnion - an inner sanctuary that the womb encompasses" in which she tries to "capture the texture" of a "prenatal environment" is a delightfully intricate confection of draping, hand-marbled fabric, distressed chiffon and dyed boucle, melted organza, intriguing shapes and lengths in pale blues, pinks and mauves. (I'd lose the marbleized stockings that bear too close a resemblance to varicose veins.)



Lastly, Roshan Akbari's stunning "Winter's Soul" collection celebrates "the beauty and silence" of "fresh snow" and the "diamond shapes of frost" with modern yet intricate work that calls up images of brocade textures and uses something akin to petticoat hooping in the skirts of her long gowns. With a palette of blue, white and silver, using ruching, faux fur and sequenced fabric, her collection simply dazzles. All images by Jennifer Varekamp>


This year's show promises a bounty of thoughtfully inspired, professionally executed, handsomely modeled, often surprising, frequently innovative and always exciting concepts. The pre-show party (the proceeds of which provide full tuition to a deserving student) is already sold out so don't miss the show itself and definitely don't miss the opportunity to donate to such a proven and worthy design program.

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US Premiere of Manning Drama

May 12, 2016, 1:27 pm

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(photo:KoryAversa)

Private Chelsea Manning is a transgender woman serving a 35 year sentence at Leavenworth Prison for making public 250,000 classified military documents to WikiLeaks in 2010 when she was then army tech specialist Bradley Manning serving in the Iraq War. In the eyes of the military, she is a condemned traitor, but for others who champion whistle blowers, including Sweden's 2014 nominating Nobel Peace Prize Committee, she is a hero.

The Radicalisation of Bradley Manning, a bold 2013 play by Welsh playwright Tim Price is in its US premiere by Inis Nua Theater Company in Philadelphia. Inis director Tom Reing orchestrating a visually compelling production at the Drake Theater and directing a uniformly fine ensemble cast. Price's visceral, sometimes surreal theatrical account of the key events leading up to Manning's imprisonment, is more impressive as an incisive character study to investigate what made Manning a born rebel with a cause.

Price intriguingly depicts the psychological journey of Manning, without coming to any quick answers and this device proves powerfully eloquent with this cast, all playing multiple roles, including each portraying Manning at different times. The cast -- Trevor Fayle, David Glover, Campbell O'Hare, David Pica, Isa St. Clair and Johnny Smith -- each bringing out different aspects of Manning's character. There is a lot of stage business and physical demands as the actors play soldiers, officers, lovers, family members and a formidable theatrical boot camp. David Glover, for instance, is a nail-hard drill sergeant and minutes later equally believable a scene later as Manning going through a humiliating interrogation.

It opens with Bradley being dressed and undressed, literally and figuratively, by her platoon mates while they hurl a torrent of accusations and slurs about Manning exposed the realities of atrocities and raw war footage; data that was data is cited by some as being a catalyst for anti-American sentiments in the Mideast.

The play bounces back and forth in time, jarringly at times, to the year Manning spent in a Welsh high school. Johnny Smith conveys so much of Manning's inner turmoil in these scenes and Isa St. Clair is great as the outwardly sympathetic Welsh schoolteacher who nonetheless tries to force Manning to rat out other students for their classroom antics.

In her early 20s, Manning is now stateside trying to get into MIT, while working dead-end jobs. She begs her disdainful father to pay her tuition and her father orders her to join the army to get a free education. Manning signs up and is targeted as the weakest link in boot camp and is continually singled out for rough treatment as a perceived gay soldier under the military's DADT policies. She even joins protests of Prop 8 in California where she meets a grad student and they fall in love.

Manning was targeted and harassed under the military's draconian DADT policies, except when her expertise in the field was needed. She was forced to pretend her boyfriend in the states was a woman to her officers and comrades. Trevor Fayle and David Pica has instant chemistry in Price's economic scenes that establish their relationship and how its emotional reality inspires Manning's convictions.

But the pressures of military life and her delayed career plans continue to weigh on her. She starts rebelling in the military and protest being bullied by fellow soldiers and has a reputation for being difficult and acting out inappropriately, including charges of striking a female officer.

Expected to be dishonorably discharged, her programming skills are deemed too valuable as the wars in the Iraq spirals out of control. She works in intelligence gathering and has clearance in the repository of raw Intel, electronic and video of massive atrocities and questionable missions and cover-ups. Manning turns whistle-blower and releases thousands of pages of documents on the internet, is incarcerated, put on suicide watch and, in Price's narrative, subject to psychological torture by the military.

Some of Price's jarring narrative structure, especially the high school scenes border on redundant. Meanwhile, Reing's physical theater elements, with fight direction by Glover, are consistently inventive. A droning scene of mental torture that keeps hitting the same blunt note is contrasted with an inspired breakout dance denouement to GaGa's LGBTQ anthem "Born This Way."

Gritty set designs by Meghan Jones in tandem with precision video projections by Janelle Kaufmann, sound by Zack McKenna and lighting design by Shon Causer -- all well orchestrated elements -- the disturbing sights and sounds of war, admirably, more thought -- provoking than a device facilitating flashy effects or glorified violence..

Playing through May 15 at The Drake Theater, Philadelphia | http://INISNUATHEATRE.ORG

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Emerging L.A.

May 12, 2016, 2:05 pm

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Los Angeles, city of fallen angels,

And resurrected ones,

The fiber of a city: finding unity in disunity,

A bridge for Latinos from the South,

Mountaineers from the North,

Hollywood’s theatricals,

Anonymous businessmen in new shiny towers,

A downtown without a soul,

Museums and music halls on the fringes,

But now the glue, 

The emergent Art District,

Beauty is its lodestar,

Out of isolation, out of the blight, 

It’s all a state of mind,

Each photograph tells the story,

Razor barbed wire gleaning against the moonlit sky,

Red dinosaur-like excavating hoe against a dull gray skyline,

The girl who walks by with her hair fluttering,

Past signs proclaiming the virtues of integrity,

She too is the face of the new L.A.,

Along with the tattooed woman with long fingernails, 

Memorialized in the graffiti of a burning city,

A ball of red creativity hangs down, framing the shadows of a new generation,

The cars of old hold their vitality,

Frida, symbol of the indomitable, looks on in new incarnations,

Signs of reemergence abound,

Beauty is the bond, the common touch,

The sprigs of Spring against new red awnings,

The Daily Dose Café plies its noveau fare, 

It’s owner, Syrian; its developer Israeli,

Hallelujah sings the new LA, slowly and resoundingly 

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