Creativity

Leaping rabbit... and other public art

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Sacto.rabbit
Lawrence Argent's Red Rabbit

Landing at the airport in Sacramento, California this week, I was surprised to be exiting my flight into a new-to-me terminal with lots of public art. I've just finished reading an extensive article about the new art pieces that have been installed. Lots of great photos and information compiled by David M. Roth, the editor and publisher of Squarecylinder, is available for perusing here. I'm looking forward to further exploration later this week when I fly out of Sacramento to return home!

Crazy-wonderful thankfulness (with turkeys)

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I'm thinking today of all I have to be grateful for and the list is long and crazy-wonderful, from great big things to fortuitous little details. There remain struggles and challenges but overall, wow, life is good.

High on my list is how thankful I am to be surrounded by a creative and supportive family of wonderful characters. Case in point: at Thanksgiving, the entire family looks forward to seeing the results of a turkey-themed watercolor tradition that my husband and stepdaughter have managed to keep alive through the years, and now, across the miles.

The turkey saga usually incorporates world or family events, particularly travel, and the potential subject matter is a much discussed topic. Last year the turkeys explored Costa Rica...

  2010 Thanksgiving WC

Thanksgiving watercolor: turkey zipline in Costa Rica. © 2010, Jim Leggitt and Gretchen Leggitt. 
The earlier series of 15 can be seen here. Or come by to see the watercolors festooned around the dining room! Can't wait to see what they'll come up with this year. An article from Jim's blog about the tradition and process is here: Thanksgiving Watercolors: A 15-year Family Tradition.

Hope you and yours will enjoy your Thanksgiving rituals and traditions, whatever they may be! 

Collage as ballet performance backdrop

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JaniceMcDonald.budding.balletsetIt was exciting to see my collage, "Budding," projected on the set during Patricia Renzetti's "Reflections" ballet, part of the recent "Eternal Dialogues" multimedia choreography and dance project.Reflections1 Reflections2 Reflections3 Reflections4 Reflections5 Reflections6 "Reflections" features three vignettes that begin in sequence and eventually occur simultaneously, conceptually examining the different stages of life through the mirrors in a dance studio and in the mirrors we use to view ourselves and others. At left is a series of photos that may give you a sense of how the piece evolves over time (click to enlarge).The choreography includes a young ballet student practicing at the barre, a man and woman rehearsing a pas de deux, and a tai chi master practicing his movements. Patricia described her piece as "representing three stages of life, modeled after the Tai Chi movements of passing on." It was lovely.The dancers, from Ballet Ariel, were: Drew Zhu, Amber Harris, Peter Strand, and Elvira Stewart.The meditative Arvo Part composition, "Speigel im Speigel," which literally means "mirror in the mirror," was beautifully performed by musicians on the stage, Kirsten Farnsworth and Steve Gravagne. The collage was projected just over their heads.The collage was a warm counterpoint to the cool stage lighting... it looks rather different in the photos than it did to my eye as a viewer... but these images indicate the scale and hopefully convey the effect. To see the original artwork, please refer to my earlier post, "Collage and choreography collaboration."What fun to have my bio in a printed program for a change, rather than on a little label on the wall at an exhibition. Loved seeing the collage imagery BIG!Thanks to Patricia for conceiving of this collaboration, those working behind the scenes with computer/projection magic to make this happen, and to Rachel D. Graham of RDG Photography for the photo record.