Goodbye Mary Travers

I was so saddened to learn today that Mary Travers of Peter, Paul and Mary died this week. She had been ill with leukemia but ended up succumbing to the deadly side effects of the treatment.

Peter, Paul and Mary were there throughout most of my life. They were on the mall in Washington singing out for racial equality in 1963. Their music reached people of all ages & beliefs; the child in each of us played in Honolee with Puff, the magic dragon. Mary's distinctive voice made the trio unique and her warmth, humor and commitment to what she believed was right came through in concerts and recordings.

I was lucky enough to see her in one of the last concerts the trio would ever play, in May in Wilkes-Barre, PA. She was in a wheelchair and on oxygen but undaunted as she sang throughout the concert. Her voice was a bit reedy at times and her discourse hindered some by her breathing challenge. Yet when she was singing, it was with strength and melody, letting us hear the Mary we all loved. At the intermission, the conversation was filled with concern for Mary. It was a dedicated audience filled with long time fans. Mary with partners, Peter Yarrow & Noel "Paul" Stokke were met with rousing response to their performance; it was truly a love fest.

Mary was so well loved and I was one who loved her. She will be missed.

Read Paul & Noel's tributes to her on their website: www.peterpaulandmary.com.

LAST DAY FOR SAN REMO SHOW

Tomorrow, Labor Day, I will be taking down my show, "The Women" at San Remo Restaurant on Cortelyou Rd. Here's your last chance to take a look. Or did you see it?

FINDING FRACTALS

In 1976, a mathematician named Benoit Mandelbrot invented an new kind of geometry called FRACTALS. Mandelbrot looked at things that appear to have endless complexity like mountains, trees, plants, veins and arteries, the clouds in the sky. He looked at them and realized that each form, when looked at from a distance, has the same structure when you zoom in and look at a small section. Each time you look at a smaller section, it will again have the same structure. Each form is endless repetition.

I watched a show on NOVA on PBS about this and have realized that art is even more related to mathematics than I thought. Artists have always emulated nature and without being conscious of creating fractals, have included this natural phenomenon in their artwork.

You can see the NOVA show and learn more yourself at: http://video.pbs.org/video/1050932219 or on my Facebook page.

Paradise By Another Name

As I sit in the palaba, a kind of gazebo roofed in sugar cane thatch, near the top of a mountain in Nicaragua, I can hear birds and monkeys, insects and frogs compete to have their voices heard in the night sky. Night falls early here in Central America, about 5:30 and the sun doesn't linger on the horizon--within moments of its descent, the colors disappear and darkness ensues.

We enjoy our last day here in San Juan del Sur tomorrow, celebrating my daughter's 17th birthday. We will have a handmade pinata and her host family as guests.

I haven't done much artwork on this trip, even though the intent was there, but I have taken many photos and breathed in the beauty of this land & its people. I have visited ancient places where Mother Nature continues to demonstrate her supremacy. I look forward to returning home & sharing the lessons I have absorded through my art.

Archway- Morocco

Crazy summer -- hot and cold, the rain seems to persist. I've been traveling - to Seattle, Victoria, Canada and Laguna Beach, Calif. and now I'm off to Nicaragua. There the rain visits daily and heat is constant, as temperature and humidity combine to make "real feel" temps as high as 112! Yikes! Not sure how I'll survive this one but it is bound to be an adventure.

The art adventure continues with this painting of Morocco "ARCHWAY - MOROCCO". Gazing through the Moorish gateway, we see a father and child make their way through the old city, the medina. I witnessed this scene but the color and creation are all my own. 24" high x 20 " wide. Acrylic on paper. $1050.