Summer has come to the Hudson Valley and my hometown of Saugerties is celebrating the arts with a crazy amount of enthusiasm. Take a scenic drive to Saugerties, the “top ten coolest small towns in the U.S.,” according to Budget Travel Guide —  and see:

Sculptures on the sidewalks, paintings in the shop windows (Partition Street Wineshop is hosting one of my paintings — pictured below), a group show in the historic Dutch barn behind Kiersted House Historical Museum (my “Tudor” painting pictured below is included in the show), Saugerties Artists Tour (my studio is open to visitors August 11, 12), a kickoff to the Artists Tour at the magnificent Opus 40 Museum, plus, going into the fall, there’s “Saugerties is an Art Gallery” (a town-wide exhibition) and ShoutOut Saugerties in October… Yeah, Saugerties is very cool.

And I am deeply grateful for the honor of receiving a generous grant from the Barbara Deming Memorial Fund for my series “Silence of Nowhere.” The check arrived in July and the first thing I did was order 12 cans of spray varnish. Thank you, Barbara Deming (1917-1984) — a feminist, lesbian, poet, writer, and nonviolent activist in the civil rights, anti-war and women’s movements. In 1975, when she founded the Fund, she said, “In my life I’ve been helped as a writer to do my work. I think it’s fair that I try to help others.” (quoted from the Deming website)

I’ve been working a lot in ink, combined with acrylic and pastel — reworked old paintings, started lots of new ones — ……. and depicting a lot of men.