Anniversary and Announcement

Happy Valentine’s Day Everyone!

Today marks our one year anniversary of starting this blog and to celebrate- we are moving.  We will now be located at our newly designed blog:

www.lauratwotina.com

You can sign up for our RSS feed or email feed at this site to keep current about what we are up to.  We also have developed our first newsletter.  If you do not get it this week in your email box, let us know and we will happily add you to our list!

~Laura & Tina

Click on the picture for a direct link

ReVision 28/giveaway

Dear Friends,

The ReVision this week is also our giveaway.  Laura started this artwork by creating the paintings and sending them in the mail to Tina.  Tina decided on adding a collage/drawing element that reflected the name of our blog “Two”.  These two birds are a metaphor to our work together- coming from two different perspectives but hitting just the right note when together.

Each of these pieces will be adhered to a wood panel with final touches which will be ready to hang in your house.  Details on how to enter our giveaway will be posted on Sunday along with our newly designed blog!  See you then.

~Laura & Tina~

title coming soon...

title coming soon...

title coming soon...

Book Exchange

Dear Friends and Laura,

Today I wanted to highlight a project Laura and I have been working on for almost two years.   Below is how we have described this project on our newly designed blog (4 days until we reveal it!):

Laura and Tina take turns adding to the book page by page.  It is sent from Connecticut to South Carolina and back again.   After creating a new page, she leaves a small image or object on the next page for the other as inspiration.  This allows for the artists to add, elaborate, alter, and create together but at the same time leaving space for one’s own expressive ideas and aesthetics.   Words and notes are often tucked into the artwork as the two artists explore shared authorship and visual dialog.

Click on a picture to see a detailed photo of each book page.  I will be posting the newest page in a few days.  I needed to stew for a bit on my page to see if I wanted to add anything before I sent it to Laura.

I wonder what projects you might have that spans over a long period of time.  Will you share it with us?

Tina

Working Table

Working Table, Laura Gaffke

Laura’s Working Table Notes:

Hi Tina,

Yesterday you emailed me and mentioned how excited you were to have a “me” day in the studio to reconnect with your work. So often we as individuals wear so many hats the “me” gets lost. Today I reconnected with my own work by starting this meditative painting. I used the bottle as a way to contain my wandering thoughts. Although still a work in progress it helped center me. Cherrio dah-ling! xoLaura

Tina’s Working Table Notes:

I had the most amazing working table and I forgot my camera!  I will have to tell you about it and post a picture of the progress on our giveaway.  Today I moved forward in a lot of my many studio projects.  I have seven new boxes to dig into next time I am in my studio (I usually work on this many at the same time) and I have about eight small collages in the works.  I will share these ideas once they are developed a bit more.  You know what made a HUGE difference today?  I did not have my computer all day to distract me.  I accidentally forgot my power cord but I think it needs to forever stay at home now that I recognize how distracting that thing is!    Also- I have almost completed my page in our book exchange.  I am seriously on a roll.

On second thought, I was going to post a picture of the giveaway, but the photos are terrible under the lights in my house.  I will take it tomorrow in daylight.  Until then…..

Tina

Vision 28/giveaway

Dear Friends,
This week our Vision comes to you in the form of a gift (in the making). Yes, we want to give you this artwork! Of course there is a catch…there always is right? Laura has begun this work with the painting and Tina will complete it with collage/drawing. Tina received the paintings in the mail last week and is working on it right now in her studio. The following is a peek at the paintings before they become altered by Tina’s work.

On Friday, Tina will be posting the ‘ReVision’ of these paintings once she is finished with her part, along with details on how to enter. Stay tuned!
~Laura & Tina~

4"x6" acrylic paint

4"x6" acrylic paint

4"x6" acrylic paint

BEAR (Bay End Art Retreat)

BEAR Bay End Art Retreats

Hi Tina & friends!

I have mentioned in past posts having “goddess parties” with my friends in NH. They usually took place with the change of seasons and often had a theme. My fondest memories are of an eighties prom party where we all squeezed into our old prom dresses (elated mine still fit), a magical fairy party that started at my studio, creating the most fabulous fairy wings, and a summertime disco dance party on my deck, complete with tiaras, groovy music and delicious food and wine. I have only had one goddess party in Connecticut and although it was different, the same goddess energy and spirit spilled into our merry pink themed party, lovingly named the pink palooza goddess party! It took place on the most perfect spring day and was rich with silliness, creativity and friendship. We sat outside in our best pink duds, adorned with fluffy pink boas, sipping pretty pink drinks and savoring all the ways pink had inspired even the food. It was a most cherished day.

You can imagine how serendipitous it was for me to get a phone call from Patricia Hurley asking me to teach at BEAR (Bay End Art Retreats-Persephone Rising), a creative retreat for women she was putting together. She has created a whimsical, fun place where your spirit will surely be renewed complete with a wonderful line up of workshops revolving around the theme, Nature, Art and the Goddess (what could be more up my alley?!?).  It reminded me of my magical time at SQUAM, but has a different intimacy in that the space is limited to 12 participants (so sign up early) and has the theme relating to the goddess. I will be teaching two exciting new workshops created with love especially for this retreat, The Fearless Goddess and The Intuitive Goddess Both will inspire you long after BEAR. I am SO looking forward to a weekend of creative play and meeting new fabulous friends. Would love to see you there! Cheery Smiles & love, Laura

A few goddess pics:

Harvest Goddess Party

Pink Palooza goddess partygoddess party

ReVision 27

ReVision 27, Laura Gaffke

Hello my magnificent friend!

After reading your Vision for the week I let my mind wander to what simple things bring me JOY. One of the simplest indulgences I do for myself is buying fresh flowers. Even when I was dirt poor, living alone and trying to support myself on my meager teachers salary I managed to scrape up enough money to buy flowers (even if they were from the grocery store). These tulips, however fleeting make me smile and appreciate the hope of spring in the air and the ritual of renewal. Sending JOY your way…xoLaura

Tina's Revision 27

Dear Laura,

This post is a mix of our Vision/ReVision, Working Table, and the announcement of our new blog design.  This morning, while trying to sneak in a little creative time before I went to teach, I began the work on our new collaborative project.  As the work was spread out on my table I thought of your Vision for this week with the layers of papers.  These papers in the photo, being part of our ‘give away’ when we launch the blog next week, marks a new series of collaborative works for us.  I have been thinking about all your color and composition and have decided to incorporate some sort of bird imagery (two birds of course).  When I have completed them, I will post the results along with the directions for our give-away if people out there want to participate.  It will be FREE art for those that do.  That is the best deal out there right now for a beginner or experienced art collector!

~Tina~

Support of the arts

Dear Tina & lovely friends~

After reading Tina’s post yesterday about supporting the arts I thought I would share some exciting news of support in the arts within the town of Westerly, RI where I have my studio. I am fortunate to be a part of  a wonderful community of artists through the Artists’ Cooperative Gallery of Westerly. Our gallery just moved to a newly renovated, nostalgic space almost four times the size of where we were!!!

(notes from ACGOW’s website)

The gallery has been transformed from the former Montgomery Ward Building adjacent to the historic United Theatre.  Both buildings are owned by The Westerly Land Trust as part of its urban revitalization program. There are plans to further revive the downtown and its historic buildings by focusing developmental growth in this already urbanized area. “These efforts to create a more vibrant town center will, in effect, allow preservation of outlying natural areas currently under development pressure,” said Kelly Presley, Executive Director of the Westerly Land Trust. She added, “After moving our WLT office downtown, I became better acquainted with ACGOW when they used WLT’s Industrial Trust building as gallery space for their past two annual auctions and during monthly art stroll nights. Through these events, we have developed a wonderful partnership that has now led to this fabulous opportunity. WLT is so very pleased to have this group of talented artists move in and bring life to a currently vacant space on Canal Street.

The Artists Cooperative Gallery of Westerly has displayed art at the same location at 12 High Street for almost two decades. The move will combine excitement with nostalgic shock for many of the Gallery’s friends and supporters and also its members. Mary Anne Sherman, the galleries president said her thoughts on signing the new lease included both. “We’re going to be able to do so much more; include more artists, have larger and more varied exhibits and more workshops. ACGOW is really a unique organization and I’m so proud to see it grow and to be part of the revitalization of that part of downtown. It’s a little bittersweet leaving our home of over 19 years but hopefully it just means that now there’s another space available for more art galleries to come into town.”

This month we have two featured artists, Sadie Davidson DeVore and Joshua Prescott as well as student artists from Stonington High School to kick off the opening of our new gallery. If you are in the area, you won’t want to miss the show at 7 Canal Street, Westerly, RI.

It is my dream to further the discussion Tina started and collectively look for ways to show support of the arts so more galleries continue to thrive. Please leave any suggestions you may have in either of our posts, or better yet, make a contribution to a gallery or support an artist by purchasing their work. After all, what would life be like without the arts?

Cheery love, Laura

Support The Arts…please

Dear Friends and Laura,

The other day I received news that a wonderful business in Charleston is closing.  Andrea Schenck at Plum Elements Gallery has hosted not only my work in group exhibits and a solo exhibit, but also the collaborative work Laura and I created last Fall.  I know, times are hard for everyone…but I wanted to make mention of this passing as a way to open up a conversation/awareness of what the regular joe/jane can do.  It is my hope that those who read this blog and appreciate the arts will make some sort of action to reflect that appreciation.  You might say “I don’t have any money to buy artwork/theatre tickets/music tickets/dance/etc”, but there a many other actions to take to send the message to your local community that the arts MATTER.

First, a list of WHY the arts matter (written by Elliot Eisner –these are written in an educational context to demonstrate why the arts matter to our humanity not just our finances, although the creative people are generating a lot of money for the city…but that is for another post)

• how to make good judgments about qualitative relationships
• that problems can have more than one solution
• (celebrate) multiple perspectives
• that in complex forms of problem solving purposes are seldom fixed, but change with circumstance and opportunity
• (make vivid) the fact that neither words in their literal form nor number exhaust what we can know.
• that small differences can have large effects
• to think through and within a material
• how to learn how to say what cannot be said
• to have experience that can be had from no other source

Read more at Suite101: Elliot Eisner’s 10 Lessons: Why The Arts Are Important to the Wider Curriculum http://artseducation.suite101.com/article.cfm/elliot_eisner_s_10_lessons#ixzz0eRD4zFt0

How about some ACTIONS to show your support for the arts:

• Go HERE to see how you can take TWO minutes to tell congress that you support the arts with the amazing organization Americans for the Arts
• Look up when your local area is having an art walk night, and get out!  Charleston’s is this Friday night.
• Attend free concerts in the park or at your public library.  Not only will you be happy to get out, but your presence will signal to the higher-ups that there is a demand for the arts.
• Farmer’s Markets in your area are filled with local crafts, fine arts, and home goods along with music performances at pretty affordable rates.
• Investigate what your local/regional creative folks are up to through websites like this: Charleston Art Coalition
• Buy a book from your local independent book seller about an artist (or get it from the library)

I am sure everyone out there has more suggestions about how we can support the arts (and the businesses that support the arts) in this economy, so please leave your comments.  You might spark an idea in another town across the country.

Thank you Andrea for always supporting a strong and talented crew of artists at Plum Elements.  I know Andrea has plans for a party in a few weeks, so those of you who are local, keep your ears open.  I know I will definitely be there.

~Tina~

We appreciate your support and hope that you will stop by or phone to get that item you’ve long been thinking about, before the doors close. Your kind reception and warm encouragement of the offerings and space Plum Elements has provided have meant a lot. The last three and a half years have gone by in a blink. Thanks for helping to make it all possible. Beginning this week, items will be reduced as we take steps to close Plum Elements on King Street. Many thanks again. Cheers, Andrea

Plum Elements, LLC
161 1/2 King Street
Charleston, South Carolina 29401
843.727.3747

Working Table 2-2-10

Tina's working table

Tina’s Working Table Notes:  today was spent thinking about our collaborative book exchange.  I am building on your nest image with torn text pages (a vintage book about how to run a school in the 20′s).  I am planning to cut this paper to reveal some sort of tree branch that might extend onto the next page.  Still thinking and working….

Laura's working table

Laura’s Working Table Notes: Today was spent revisiting this piece. I collaged the background with text that was sent to me by many friends in response to the question, “What do you know about friendship?” It is a continuous thread in my work as it expresses connection, thought and love (Tina’s writing is in the top left). The colorful layers on top represent growth. It is still a work in progress.