A DAY AT THE SCHOOL IN OLHAO PORTUGAL.
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RESTORING DIGNITY….
Since finding this image some time ago, I have been haunted by it.
I took in every detail over and over again and tried to imagine the horror and despair that this mother and child and all the other mothers and children suffering thru war and violence have gone through.
This Mother and child were victims of a drug war in Mexico – a country like so many places in the world that has much beauty and at the same time darkness.
After much thought I decided to incorporate this mother and child into my ‘INTERCONNECTIONS’ series….the series I began in 1980.
I imagined them floating in gentle waters with a swan and hummingbird accompanying them…. surrounded by the sounds of the natural world….. clinging to one another for eternity….
It is my way of giving them back their dignity……….
A CREATURE OF HABIT – RHYTHMS AND ROUTINES…….
Those who follow my blog will know that I am a creature of habit – one that takes great pleasure with the daily rhythms and routines of my life…….
Since my 80th. birthday in January I have experienced a wonderful period away from my normal daily routines…. I am most grateful for all those who have contributed to the success and great joy of it all…….but now it’s a case of finding my way back to normal……which means warming up on all fronts.
This is easier said than done……. During this magical period I have allowed my mind to hang loose. – to go with the flow – to take a rest from the routine….but from years of experience I know it will take a while for me to get back to normal. – but I will…..:)
painting watercolour portraits in Brittany – 1995
Back to warming up……….
Since my last post it’s been a time of celebration….
I celebrated my 80th birthday on the 21st January and the celebrations have not stopped!
My daughter Christie arrived on Saturday 14th February which was the beginning of a wonderful time. I am so grateful that she could be with me – Thank you Christie…..
A very special evening was put on at the INSPIRED HUB – my favourite place. I had no idea what to expect or how many people would attend. As it turned out it was a wonderful success on all counts. Thanks to everyone who attended and those who purchased sketches…..There was a real buzz to the event. Proceeds from the sketches were donated to the HUBB….
I painted this large alla prima oil on canvas self portrait forty years ago in my West Chester, Pa. studio…..
At the same time a video of my life, put together by Christie was playing……I would play it here but don’t know how to do that:)
Enjoying a delicious meal at The Jolly Coopers in Hampton.…..no wonder we are smiling broadly:)
Back at the flat with just some of the goodies I received….many thanks to one and all.
Along with my birthday we celebrated the Chinese New Year of the Horse…. These beautiful horses were made by the Young People from the Hubb’s Tuesday group.
Christie returned to he States after a perfect week. As I like to say the Hummingbirds were with her. Flight was on time even with a major snow storm in the forecast…..Christie was scheduled to return to work and so when she arrived in Boston to a lot of snow…..even that was in her favour. Schools were shut for the next two days…and so Christie was able to enjoy a wonderfully relaxing and much deserved break……
And as Christie loves the snow….time to play in it….
A huge thanks to everyone who contributed to this special time.
I close with a gentle, peaceful image to counteract the madness that has begun ……..
BECOMING A WORKING ARTIST.
I love this little doodle which I believe illustrates beautifully how we begin our journey……We have plans….and then there is the reality.
One thing is for sure as artists we need to be committed – we need to have a desperate need to follow the creative process.
Mine began when I was three years old – in my Grandmother’s London house looking at my Aunt Peggy’s sketch book…..that was my beginning.
I have always been an animal lover and so……………
The strangest thing is that my animal paintings immediately took off! How unusual is that…..
I was almost immediately picked up by Newman Galleries. in Philadelphia……
Then I was given my first solo exhibition at the Chester County Arts Association…
Quite a few galleries picked my work up….including exhibitions at the Philadlephia and other Zoos.
A poster to raise funds for the tigers at Philadelphia Zoo….and much more
and so it goes…..My almost sixty year career began there……..and I never stopped….
Obviously teaching, painting large corporate murals etc. were all part of my journey and ways for me to make a living – which in turn gave me the freedom to paint what I want to paint………. Remember the first frame of this post.
Rapid watercolour sketch…..tiger with hummingbird…..
My daughter arrives from the States on Saturday and so my next post will be after her visit…talking about the highlights:)
MARRYING BILL REED.
After receiving the transfer to the Philadelphia office of White, Weld …..instead of returning to the UK with Paul Judge as was originally planned, – I met and married Bill Reed!
Timing has a great deal to do with how our lives pan out……however in this case so did love.…..Meeting and marrying Bill Reed was the one time in my life that I actually fell in love….and to this day I feel most fortunate to have experienced that…..many never do.
We were married in the garden of The Beehive – in Chester County. The minister from Bryn Mawr Presbyterian Church presided over the ceremony.
My Father and Mother along with Bill’s parents…..and many other family members and friends came together for the celebration.
After the wedding, Bill and I had all sorts of romantic ideas for the Beehive…even a restaurant….- I laugh out loud at the very thought only because neither of us were equipped to do such a thing.:).
The 1973 oil embargo, initiated by OAPEC in October of that year, in response to Western support for Israel in the Yom Kippur War, halted oil exports to the US, quadrupling prices from under 3 dollars to nearly 12 dollars per barrel by January 1974, This first oil shock caused severe fuel shortages and huge price hikes at the pump….something very new for most Americans.
The Beehive was not an easy house to navigate (especially to heat) and so we decided to do the ‘sensible’ thing (how unusual) and move one mile down the road to a more manageable house.
In March of 1975 Christie Reed was born…….Jarrod was nine years older than Christie. Here we are together in the garden behind Talleyrand Road.
I just found this picture…of me with Jarrod and Christie …..behind the Tallyerand Road house.
It is at this time that I picked up the paint brushes again.…in fact I had my first solo exhibition at the Chester County Arts Association in December of 1977.
The exhibition at Chester County Arts Association December 1977.
Here we are togetherclearly enjoying sunshine on long Lake Maine…..escaping the humidity and heat of Chester County,
My Next post will be up before my daughter Christie arrives from Cambridge, Massachusetts on Valentines Day…….
PAUL JUDGE……
spontaneous watercolour of Paul
When Paul Judge and I met at a skating party in the Pocono Mountains…we immediately clicked. I was twenty four and Paul twenty one. We were both only children born in London from similar backgrounds.
At that time I was still working for Sandy Lewis on the block stock trading desk in New York and Paul was studying at the Wharton Business School on a Thouron Scholarship.
For a while we visited one another in Philadelphia and New York….until we decided that we would marry when Paul graduated from Wharton. This also worked with Jarrod’s schooling in England, and my plan to resume work as an artist.
We enjoyed some good times at Wharton….with its many international students and fun evenings at Smokey Joe’s and La Terrasse………….. To make life more convenient before the move back to the UK, I was able to transfer to the Philadelphia White, Weld office…………where I sat next to a man called Bill Reed…….!
In the meantime Paul was doing very well at Wharton….and had already been offered a position with Cadbury Schweppes……….becoming Deputy Finance Director at 28 years old.
Jarrod during this time.
This is where I smile broadly to myself.
Paul was appointed Knight Bachelor in 1996 for public and political service and was key benefactor of the Judge Business School at the the University of Cambridge.
Sadly Paul died in 2017…..However we kept in touch over the years. I was with him shortly before his death.
On the subject of MONEY
As long as my needs are met and I am able to follow the creative process…. – money has never been of great importance to me -something that many have not understood…Paul Included……..
I am a great fan of Joseph Campbell...who encouraged individuals to pursue their deepest passions and authentic interests to find meaning, joy, and purpose in life.
This is when we encounter ‘hidden hands’ or the unseen energy which I talk about a great deal, leading to a life that feels authentic. Not about constant pleasure, but about deep fulfillment.
My first ‘selfie’ taken on my 80th birthday this past week.
My next post is all about ‘none of us being creative enough to know how things will actually work out……….’
Meeting Bill Reed.
WORKING ON WALL STREET –
Not to belabour it, but my first marriage did not work which left me aged 22 a single mother. The next time I saw Jarrod’s biological father was when Jarrod was 27 years old!
Given that I needed a full time job – dear Mimi Kolff, came to the rescue.
Mimi found out through her good friend David Weld, one of the partners at White, Weld & Co. that there was an opening for a Gal Friday at White Weld……and there it was the beginning of a new chapter of my life.
I remember the day of my interview at White Weld, 20 Broad Street. I was twenty-two years old.
I left the elevator/lift at the White Weld trading floor and walked into a totally new experience. I was ushered into a glass cubicle where I met Sandy Lewis who was twenty-seven at the time. He asked me if I could make coffee, answer phones etc. and then he popped the question….‘DID I KNOW WHAT A WASP WAS?” I said a flying insect that could sting you…..
Sandy said ‘If I didn’t know that a WASP was a White Anglo Saxon Protestant….the job was mine……. I had entered an alternative dimension…………
A very old photograph of me on the ‘block stock trading desk’. the department that Sandy set up at White, Weld.
Over many years, Sandy and his wife Barbara (a superb photographer) and I have stayed friends. In recent years my daughter Christie and I have enjoyed several memorable visits to the Lewis Family Farm – in Essex County New York …………..
I have enjoyed sketching there and painted both Sandy and Barbara….. This spontaneous watercolour catches the intensity of Sandy’s eyes.
Timing in life is fascinating – When I first met Sandy he was starting a new ‘block stock trading department’. At the same time Sandy’s father, Cy Lewis was Managing Partner for Bear Stearns & Co.
The new trading desk at White Weld was being built when I arrived for my ‘gal friday’ interview…….It was quickly picked up that I was a fast thinker and so it was suggested that I take my registered representative exam to become a broker ………which I did and passed with flying colours.
Christie took this photograph of me, Sandy and Barbara on one of our recent visits to the farm.
During the time I worked at White Weld New York, I watched the Twin Towers being built and so much more. On weekends Jarrod and I would often go to the Poconos where we stayed with a good friend.. On one such weekend we met Paul Judge who was on a Thouron Scholarship at the Wharton Business School ..……The plan was to move back to the UK with Paul………….but remember that ‘none of us is every creative enough to know how things will actually work out..!
Next time….Paul Judge and moving to the Philadelphia White,Weld office……..
DRIVING TO NEW YORK IN JANUARY 1967
After one year of living in Florida we began the trip back to New York…..only this time we had dear little Jarrod….who at 3 months old was a quite a novelty in Florida. – At that time there were very a few young people with babies……..Florida was made up mostly 0f retirees (snow birds) from the north escaping winter – and summers in my opinion which were brutally hot and humid!
One such retiree suggested that we contact his son and wife on Staten Island…..who he felt could help us find work and housing.
And so after a very long journey in our second hand Chevy Impala we arrived on Staten Island at the prescribed address to be welcomed warmly. The hospitality shown to us by many Americans at that time was astounding….
Our hosts Caron and Dennis introduced us to Mimi Kollf who had a cottage for rent at Harbor View Place…on Staten Island. Number 3 Harbor View Place was to be home for a while.
Mimi Kollf in her garden at Habor View Place. Her Father had developed much of Staten Island and one of the Staten. Island ferries was named after him. (Cornelious Kollf)
The Verrazano Bridge connecting Brooklyn to Staten Island had only recently been opened….and so the Island still had some country/rural areas on it. Harbor View Place was lovely.
In front of Mimi’s house next door to the cottage we rented.
Through Mimi I met Marie Mulligan and family. Marie became not just a friend but a wonderful babysitter for Jarrod when I began working on Wall Street. We continued to be friends until her death a few years ago.
One of Jarrod’ birthday parties with Marie and the Mulligan children….
Funny how life is because only a year before we had arrived in New York Harbor on the United States liner….We came under the Verrazano Bridge and would have passed right by Harbor View on our way to docking on Manhattan. At that time, Jarrod was just a seed in my belly:)
On my next post I will talk about how I came to work on a trading desk on Wall Street.
FIRST IMPRESSIONS OF THE USA – JANUARY 1966
I might as well have landed on the moon. Everything was totally alien to me. From the brightly coloured cars and billboards to people whose accents I couldn’t understand, and so much noise. – policemen with guns……!
Unbeknownst to me at the time I was pregnant…which I put down to the five days of sea sickness. When we stopped in Virginia I asked the lady behind the counter for some orange squash – we both looked blankly at one another………..she pointed to some dark coloured liquid which I accepted because there was nothing else..only to find that it was sickly sweet…..apparently grape juice!
I quickly learned that the US was big….no quaint villages with pubs….just endless roads. The bus ride to Miami took about 28 hours.
Probably the thing that struck me the most was the segregation which was very obvious. As a white English couple we were warmly received but I was aware that black people were treated very differently.
My husband’s uncle picked us up at the Miami bus station….and then the long drive to Key West and my first experience of a Howard Johnsons with its zillions of flavours of ice cream! 🙂 .
I remember the first thing upon arrival at the cousin’s home was a colour TV and the Johnny Carson show ….all knew to me.
Of course this was years before digital cameras….and so I have very few pictures from this time….I chose this hummingbird watercolour to illustrate the further south we drove colours changed from winter to endless summer.
I was to learn that in the United States one could experience all four seasons at any given time of the year along with the amazing geography of the place.
Jarrod was born on 10th September 1966 at the brand new Holy Cross Hospital in Ft. Lauderdale.
My next post will be about moving to New York….
y very poor.
My Life as an Artist (2) 