February 12, 2009

Going to school is truly a learning experience in many ways that I had not anticipated. My classes include information about Global Warming, photosynthesis, women's Utopias and loess. I have learned to log off the computer in the hall when done using it and to print off Enthemology's Power Points from the same computer, to save ink. There is no consistency in any of the food places. Each time you order something you will be surprised. I have learned that the crosswords in the Collegian get harder as the week progresses. I've watched the fish at the Salt Water tanks and found a few new ones that I hadn't noticed before. I've gotten to know the orange fish who is always rubbing his/her belly on the orange amoebas looking something like a cat rubbing its stomach on a rug. You can get free NY Times, Collegian and Centre Daily Times with a student id. And I have yet to meet an employee of Penn State that wasn't helpful and pleasant.

Peace Always

Sharon

February 9, 2009

Photos by Sharon Lee
Penn State Salt Water Tanks
University Park, PA

If you don't mind a couple more Penn State fishes,

Peace Always

Sharon

February 8, 2009

Distractions
2006
acrylic on canvas
24" x 36"

Housework

A reoccurring "to do" on my list whether I am painting, gardening or going to school

Housework, if it is done right, can kill you.
~John Skow

Peace Always

Sharon

February 7, 2009

Springtails
Order: Collembola
Minute wingless insects
simple metamorphous (ametabolous)

Sorry no art just a bunch of bugs

Peace Always

Sharon

February 6, 2009

Bogged down with scads of homework: papers, reading and quizzes but wanted to take a minute and share something with you all.Yesterday in my entomology class we watched Microcosmos. Fantastic movie great for kids, adults, stoners, drunks, teenagers, academics and redneck. Really..

Peace Always

Sharon

February 4, 2009

Hermit of Halfmoon Valley
2006
acrylic on canvas
18" x 24"


Mid winter which seems to last forever. Come February my thoughts quite naturally turn to warmer days.

Painted mid summer 2006.

Peace Always

Sharon

February 3, 2009

Today was a long day at school made more difficult by the fact that I couldn't fall asleep last night until 3ish (cramps and such). Have been thinking about adding a second major in the environment/organics /sustainable vein and training to be an organic certifier. I know it doesn't seem art like so where does that leave me as far as creating? So here's a rough plan.No art until spring break when I plan to take the book "Adventures of Sophie" with me to Tucson to finish (just have to tweak the art on the computer, everything else is laid out and ready to go. School until the end of April, 4 months of gardening, hiking and art and then back to school. Taking a full course load keeps the thinking side of the brain busy and the creative idle-it's good to swing the other way once in a while.

Whhhheeeeeeeee

Peace Always

Sharon

February 1, 2008

A fabulous winter day! 40 degrees, blue skis, snow packed wonderfully for x-country skiing.

What more can be said?

Peace Always

Sharon

January 30, 2009

Perhaps its a silly idea to expect the Obama's to cultivate a garden on the White House lawn. They are after all city people with much to do and I expect not too much for getting their hands full of mud and such but they do have a staff who could conceivably cultivate some of their foods on the White House lawn. Think of the fossil fuels saved by eliminating some of the constant mowing that goes on there. A campaign has been started and is building up momentum. If you think this is a good idea, follow the link and see what actions you can take to help encourage Barack and girls to take the plunge.

Peace Always

Sharon

january 27, 2009

Peach Bottom Reactor, central Pennsylvania

Three weeks into school and I am still learning the locations of the bathrooms, short cuts across campus and where to purchase decent vegan food at the HUB (Hetzel Union Building-the student social center of PSU). Oh yeah and I found out that THE proposed site for nuclear waste, of which is needed immediately, meets 1 out of 6 characteristics that were determined to be ideal for Nuclear long term waste storage. Did you know that the residue from Nuclear energy needs to be stored uninterrupted for a quarter of a million years?

Good job guys choosing a safe energy alternative.

Peace Always

Sharon

January 25, 2009

My daily blog is sometimes truly a challenge for me. For instance today what's to write of?-nothing creative was done. Had lunch at an Indian restaurant with a friend, read about Nuclear Energy in addition to Herland, a short story of a society of only women, did the two-day-old pile of dishes, laundry, drug in some firewood, spoke on the phone to my mother and made several cups of tea. So what's to write? Then I thought of a source of inspiration that I've mentioned before. Since I am still inspired I'll mention it again: Keith and the Girl.

KATG is a podcast created 5 days a week by a couple in Queens, New York. It is funny, touching, annoying, shocking and totally entertaining. This couple pull their resources together and make a quality show. Their guests are entertaining, many whom are comics and musicians. I've been inspired by their drive, imagination, consistency, intelligence and creativity.

Peace Always

Sharon

January 24, 2009

Pulled In All Directions
1999
acrylic on Belgium linen
24" x 36"

Weird not being able to paint but going to school with heavy load of classes (I have recently learned exactly what that means), I barely have time to cook, bath, exercise and take care of necessities.

Drawings from Adventure of Sophie are done and ready to be picked up at photographer. Will post as soon as I collect enough $$$ to pick them up. Expecting to bring them with me in March during my spring break trip to Tuscan (gotta have a Spring Break if you go to classes in the winter. Anyway I did this painting a few years ago and thought I'd share it here.

Peace Always

Sharon

January 22, 2009

The Toothache
2002
acrylic on wood cutting board
24" x 18"


Sorry school all day / homework all night leaves little to say on this blog. Photo is of my daughter studying (we were having a study session last night together) Painting is called Toothache but expresses how over my head I feel/am back in school.

and of course.....some more Penn State Fishes.


Peace Always
Sharon

January 20, 2009

Salt Water Fishes at PSU
Impromtu Gathering in the Hall


Photos by Sharon Lee


Another day at University for me. Recommend all adults try a semester of school to meet face up and personal the next generation. Interesting bunch from noshing in class to having discussions about environmental economics and watching the inauguration in the hall of the Arts building thanks to a student who set up an impromptu screening on his laptop. Great stuff.

Peace Always

Sharon

January 19, 2009

Just Another Fact of Life
2005
acrylic on wood
20" x 22"

One of the fun things about being in school is projects. as a kid I always loved projects. While others would be dismayed I always like the challenge of a presentation. In my environmental science we need to write down all our possessions. Not an easy task. I have yet to tally the final room (root cellar) but I have found some interesting things from this project. First off I live in a relatively small house frugally. I have not moved in 22 years. Keep this in mind as you look over some of the numbers

books 293
bowls 21
plastic buckets 10
CD 425
chair 19
clothes hangers 67
clothespins 104
cooking utensils 27
curtains 63
drill bits 37
hair bands 21
kerchiefs 23
magazine 87
magnets 33
pants 44
shirts 133

lots more stuff for a total of 8281 things in my house

Gasp!

Peace Always

Sharon

January 18. 2009

Photos by Sharon Lee
Ken
Broken Pipe


Homage to Ken

Many years ago I was fortunate enough to have a neighbor willing to take the time out and teach me skills that are necessary to maintain a house without the continual expense of calling in the "experts" every time a repair or improvement is necessary. This was no easy task for either him or I as my "fixing" skills were non existent and I struggled often to understand the simplicities of structure and repair, many times accompanied by tears of frustration.This past week we had a severe cold snap and as a result I had frozen pipes.

Thanks to my friend and neighbor I calmly assessed the situation, defrosted the pipes and made necessary repairs with no more stress or anguish that going to the grocery store and picking up a few things for dinner. Clearly I was able to see the problem, knew what I needed to do to solve it and even knew the necessary language to describe the part I needed.

Many thanks to you Ken, my house maintenance guru. I restored water to my home and can now flush the commode and take a bath.

Peace Always

Sharon

January 17, 2009

The Dishes Hadn't Been Done
1998
acrylic on metal tray
15" diameter

I thought an extremely cold day like today could use the warmth of a painting.

Enjoy!

Peace Always

Sharon

January 16, 2009

Photo by Sharon Lee

Today i had an "ah ha" vegan moment. I was talking to a friend who told me that she was burning her ex-husband's clothes. I stopped her mid sentence and asked if any of the items were wool as I wanted to use the fabric from old wool sweaters and assemble a pattern of sorts to make a wool hat, sized specifically for my large head. Although I no longer purchase any animal products at the time I thought it fine to use these sweaters as they would be wasted in the fire. My feeling was by using the wool that was to be disposed of I would be "honoring" the sheep by wearing the sweater. After all they had already suffered for it that suffering should not go to waste. It then occurred to me that wearing the remnants of suffering did not honor the animal in any way in fact it was a constant reminder of the suffering that had occurred, was only about me and left the sheep's best interest out of the scenario completely.

Peace Always

Sharon

July 15, 2009

Photo by Sharon Lee

I decided some months ago to go back to school, finish on a long discarded path to a degree and hopefully hone some of my skills with the goal of enhancing opportunities to make a living off of my artwork.

Today was a typical "bad day at school", starting with a sick kid, late for 1st class because I dropped her off not wanting her to walk in the 11 degree cold. Came into class with way more noise than I wanted to taking off vest, headphones, scarf, sweatshirt, gloves, backpack, trying to sit in the back of the room so as to lessen the disruption but was escorted by a very kind grad student to the absolute front of the 300 person class where there was a seat front and center, late for second class (on extreme ends of very large Penn State campus), next class I realized I was in the wrong class and had been for the first two days of class, cold soup for lunch (Yesterday I made miso soup with tofu, seaweed and kale expressly with the purpose of bring hot soup for lunch), unexpected book purchase ($125.00). Spent the day looking especially "who did it and ran" with my out of control hair and the help from a hood and scarf. Oh yeah battery was dead in my camera which I took especially to take more photos of the Salt Water tanks.

Oh well.

Peace Always

Sharon

January 13, 2009

Photo by Sharon Lee

First day at Penn State. Photo session with some salt water fishes and inspired during a women's Literature class for an idea for a title "Thought Experiments" Not sure what the painting will be.

Peace Always

Sharon

January 12, 2009

Photo of Halfmoon Bogart Jackson 1998-2008
Drawing of Jackson from Adventures of Sophie by Sharon Lee

This week I began the second book of the Adventures of Sophie" series, "A Walk in the Woods". This book is based on the daily forest walk of Sophie and Jackson, Sophie as a young pup and Jackson blind, and feeble, near the end of his time on earth.

I had a much harder time coming up with a character of Jackson-I think the problem was capturing some of his enthusiasm for life which was evident when you were in his presence. After a few conversations with people who have known and loved Jackson I was able to get an image on paper that I liked and expresses his true energy.

Peace Always

Sharon

January 11, 2009

Painting by Sharon Lee
Thought Bubbles
2008
acrylic on organic cotton and hemp
38" x 38"

Photos of Sophie in snow by Sharon Lee


For the past while I have been trying to add "motion" into my artwork whether be a painting or photography. My new SLR Digital camera allows for successive shooting and I have been able to capture motion-great for reference as well as interesting photos. Here are 2 I shot today in the snow with my dog, "Sophie".

Peace Always

Sharon

January 10, 2009

Photos by Sharon Lee
Snow in the Mountains of Central Pennsylvania
Sophie and Petting Hand

Tried to capture some of the beauty I was seeing in my backyard. Unfortunately the sheet of ice under the 8" of snow made for unexpected slippery footing, Camera and I both took a tumble though I feel neither of us are any worse for the wear.

Peace Always

Sharon

Jauary 9, 2009

Photo by Sharon Lee
Shadyside, Pittsburgh

Am acquaintance once was talking about art as having two subcategories before all others; "High" or "Low". I've always disagreed with this sort of pronouncement as I know the creativity behind the "low"art is done by the same caliber of artists as tackle the "high" arts-both groups are blessed with good and bad artists. Myself, the distinction is unclear. Having worked on a feature film, several commercials as well as paining as a "High" artist I use the same creativity skills to accomplish the task.

Peace Always

Sharon

January 8, 2009

Photo by Sharon Lee
Black Moshannon, central Pennsylvania
Ice fishing

“I like these cold, gray winter days. Days like these let you savor a bad mood.”

Bill Watterson quotes (American Author of the comic strip Calvin and Hobbes, b.1958)

January 7, 2009

Breaks from the easel offer opportunity to be creative in unique ways.

Cooking is one way; a bit of science, bit of art and food. A potentially inspiring source of creaivity. Today I attempted a vegan version of nacho cheese for an open faced tortilla, combined with lentil and black bean dal and salsa. Worked better than I expected-results will be repeated again.

Some time was spent creating a faux fur coat lined with cotton printed with "hippie-style" mushrooms and flowers for a miniature Pinscher friend.

Finally for the photo of the month group I belong to on Flickr I took out my new camera and shot some pictures of ice. Nothing remarkable just me getting used to my camera.

Peace Always

Sharon

January 6, 2009

Jackson and Meagan
Photo by Rick Brandt

We are truly enveloped in the winter season with heavy clouds looming overhead all day spewing a delightful mix of ice pellets, snow and the kind of rain that freezes on contact. With this particular array of precipitation comes cold temperatures making my studio just on the under side of comfortable.

With this in mind i decided to head to a warmer space and write a second book in the Adventures of Sophie Series entitled, "A Walk in the Woods". The story line involves Sophie and her brother, Jackson who is based on a recently deceased canine who was blind, energetic and an over-the-top loving Vizsla. The background of the story is a walk in the woods with more writing and non-fictional info on the flora and fauna of the central Pennsylvania woods.

Peace Always

January 5, 2009

Car Ride
2005
acrylic on canvas
36" x 36"

Today was the making of a painting.

If the Ups delivery person had looked in the window of my daughter's apartment, they would have seen nothing more than a black and white dog sitting guard and two women folded around each other wrapped in faux cashmere blankets, sitting in front of a lap top surrounded by 1/2 empty Chinese take-out cartons.

Today my daughter and I traveled the world researching a fantasy trip we plan to take a place that feels unique to where we live. First we open a page for the currency calculator and starting with "a" any country with a good exchange rate was further researched. Our next screening was if there was a traveler's advisory that country was 86th (sorry countries). Next was food. I am a vegan and my daughter is getting very close and can't eat gluten so we have to go somewhere that has some options. Kazakhstan was removed because of their diet of strictly meat, bread, dairy and fish. I was willing to go to a veiled country my daughter not so much and the wars in Africa make her nervous and we discarded the options to visit the entire continent. Maybe some other trip. I said no to the Bahamas because of their negative attitude towards gays as well as another country-forgot where. They had a penalty of life in prison for homosexual activity.

Most likely it will be a small vignette, part of a larger story, larger painting...but maybe not.

Peace Always
Sharon

January 4, 2008

Through a series of events starting with the uncovering of an 8 mm tape from 1979, I have rediscovered an album from 1982. The album was "Utopia" an honest attempt by Todd Rundgren to market a band that was brilliant musically. listening back this week the masses missed this altogether. The band consisted of Kasim Sultan, Roger Powell, Willie Wilcox and Todd Rundgren. The songs were all potential pop hits but none never panned out more than short little blips on the music hit screen.

What I love most about music and I realized it while listening to this album was how I remember the lyrics even to songs that seemed unfamiliar.

Love music.

Love this album. Dig into the past and have fun and give this album a listen

B.T.W. the uncovered 8 mm can be seen on You Tube. The artist is .
db7247 is a professional cinematographer and has been for the past 25+ years. The videos on Youtube of Utopia, were taken standing on chairs after waiting 9 hours in the sun and rain in the summer of New York City .
1979 Central Park and 1989 Dr, Pepper, New York City


Peace Always

Sharon

January 2, 2009

Photo by Rick Brandt


I'm at a standstill with my book, "Adventures of Sophie". The type has been edited and laid out (I used Pages). Not such an easy task for a luddite but I managed to muddle my way through with the help of the tutorials. The original art is being photograph and will then be processes into TIFF files which I will take, clean up and layout besides the type. All in all things seem, thus far, to go smoothly. That's leaves me with no art projects and time to think of the ridiculous. Such as Black Ice.

Why is Black Ice so terrifying?

My mother calls regularly to ask if I have seen any, my neighbor heard a newscaster talking about it with the same alarm as finding Anthrax in the Postal System. It kills, it maims.

Black Ice...fear it!

Peace Always

Sharon

January 1, 2009

7 Rays
2006
acrylic on canvas
38" x 30"


Kwanzaa Day 7

Imani
(Faith)
To believe with all our heart in our people, our parents, our teachers, our leaders and the righteousness and victory of our struggle.

Peace Always
Happy New Year 2009

Sharon