ArtSpirit7

Mary Ciofalo at Sanchez Art Center

by

Mary Ciofalo artist

Mary Ciofalo holding her art pieces created using sumi ink. Photo by Mary Gow Pincus.


Ah, the world is opening up and we’re returning to in-person gatherings and that means ART OPENINGS!

With delight, I saw Mary Ciofalo recently at Open Studios at Sanchez Art Center, 1220 Linda Mar Blvd., in Pacifica. I first met Ciofalo in an artist’s portfolio course, taught by Nancy Elliott, at City College of San Francisco over a decade ago.

The last time I had been to Sanzhez Art Center prior to this was for a splendid show titled “All Over the Map,” featuring paintings by Hung Liu, in March of 2018. I plan to write more about Hung Liu in a future post. You can download a PDF describing the Liu’s show by clicking on “All Over the Map.”

The two pieces Ciofalo’s holding were created using sumi ink. I love the her roll-up-able scroll format which reminds me of the portability that Faith Ringgold so eloquently demonstrated with her work on quilts as I saw at her DeYoung Museum show, “American People” in 2022.

Lately I’ve been experimenting with painting watercolors on sheets of card stock with portability in mind. In other words, bravo to works that appeal not only to the eye but also to the beauty found through simplicity of transport and storage.

It was good to see Mary Ciofalo. For those in the San Francisco area, you can see her work at Open Studios in October at Hunter’s Point. I have no idea how portable those pieces will be 🙂

Observations

by

"Lamb", digital photo by Mary Gow Pincus
Listening to Mel Robbins’ Podcast I find myself working on this post to take action and get it done rather than to think about it too much. Robbins has a 5-4-3-2-1 technique – a way of “just do it” thinking that means get it going. Start counnting, 5-4-3-2-1, and then do it.

I’ve been working on what to write and how to make this an epic and fantastic blog post.

That put a lot of pressure on my getting something posted here.

Do you ever feel that way?

After being away from my blog for a while I’m back, posting something.

The photo above is one I took from my lap, of my legs crossed. You may be able to see my flannel pjs that have little lamb-looking squiggly lines. There’s an intersection with my light purple robe that brings a few folds. I then used the Paper Artist app to get this effect.

For more info on Mel Robbins’ Five Second Rule, to check out her book of the same title, click here.

Let go of observing and go ahead and make a baby step forward, even if it’s an awkward one.

Little bit forward, make adjustments, rinse and repeat.

There, I’ve broken the spell. Check back for that epic post : – )
-Mary

A Real Life Urban Hero

by


A few years ago I wrote an urban fantasy essay about being able to take our household plastic garbage to a central place – then a gizmo could restructure the plastics into everyday useable things. Could this happen in reality though?

There’s a lot more to melting down plastic that is best explained in an aritcle I found: “Why Can’t Plastics All Be Melted,” published by The Hour.com. There’s many issues involved and may include the issue that only plastics of the same type of resin should be melded together. . . but then I’m no expert!

Here is a modern day Unsung Hero I’ve come across, worth knowing about! She has figured out a way to make bricks from the plastics that usually go in the trash. She’s also was the winner of the Young Champions of the Earth Award in 2020 for Africa.

Don’t miss finding out about Nzambi Matee and her enterprise in 2 minutes and 26 seconds.

Urban fantasies can come true.

Create Mathi-Magical Shapes

by

Need to make shapes? This site has a whole bunch! Check out the polypad tool at https://mathigon.com !! Directly below is the shapes I then digitally manipulated in PhotoShop, and below that is the original collection of shapes.

Digital revision of the original image, by Mary Gow.

Digital manipulation of the original image below, both by Mary Gow Pincus.

geometric shape composition by Mary Gow Pincus

Shape composition using mathigon.com, polypad tool.