I am exhibiting the whole body of dessert paintings in my collection from Riviera Bakehouse, formerly in Ardsley, (now known as The Bakehouse at Tarrytown) this coming weekend:
To help you plan your action packed Artists’ Studio Tour weekend, click here to see a printable map of the 70 participating artists located in the 6 river towns on the Tour – Hastings-on-Hudson, Dobbs Ferry, Ardsley, Irvington, Tarrytown and Sleepy Hollow.
An interactive map is also available here on the RiverArts Studio Tour site. You can search by village.
Personally, I find the paper map much more useful at this point for planning purposes. You can see the visuals for each artist at one glance. Then you choose the studios you want to visit based on your personal taste. The interactive map might be more useful on the day of the tour as you drive between locations.
Finally, I will have some printed maps available this weekend. And I’m happy to help you plan your tour. Please feel free to email me at beverlyshipko@mac.com if I can help in any way.
GDC and The Lofts has graciously offered up the 3rd Floor Lounge for the show. It’s a large beautiful space with shelves, where more paintings can be shown than in my apartment. GDC (Ginsberg Development Corporation) will be providing food and drinks both days.
Saturday from 2-4 Cheese, Charcuterie and Wine & other non-alcoholic beverages
Sunday from 12-2 Bagels and Cream Cheese, Danish, and Mimosas, and other drinks
Notecards will be available for sale, including Riviera’s signature slanted birthday cake.
Of course, Oreos will be provided for biting (GF Oreos too!). Maybe your bite will turn up in a future painting…
Flowers – video, small paintings and fresh
There will be a running video of my favorite Sogetsu Ikebana arrangements from my weekly online zoom class. Plus I plan on showing at least one Ikebana arrangement – a creative activity that began during the pandemic and is still going strong. It’s like painting with flowers!
Also, some small flower paintings like the Lotus and Orchid will be exhibited, and featured on notecards scattered among the sweets.
Fun – a community of like minded people and a taste of AI
Expect the unexpected. Are you using AI (artificial intelligence)? Hope you’ll share your favorite AI apps with me. And I’ll share what I’ve learned since last year.
I plan to experiment with AI and see what happens. AI has evolved a lot in the last year. This is something relatively new for me. Your guess is as good as mine about how this will come out. Come see for yourself!
Logistics
Tour Maps For the RiverArts Studio Tour Weekend
Over 70 artists in the Rivertowns (Hastings, Ardsley, Dobbs Ferry, Irvington, Tarrytown, and Sleepy Hollow) will be participating in this event. You can download a printable map here and plan your strategy. My location is #23 on the map in the Ardsley section, and the other talented, realistic artist in my apartment complex is #22 on the map, Linda Friedlander. Linda is a short walk away in the 3rd Floor Lounge of Building C (1 Mill River Lane). So this stop is a twofer (two artists for the price of one!).
I’ll be updating this post with new information as it become available. I’ll have a few printed maps on hand, and will be happy to help you plan your route.
GPS Directions and Entry
GPS apps can be quirky. If the address in bold above comes up as being in Hastings-on-Hudson, that’s correct. The Lofts complex is on the border between Ardsley and Hastings., about 30 minutes north of Manhattan by car. As if it wasn’t complicated enough, there’s a second address for the building that you could try – 5 Mill River Lane.
The Lofts is located on Saw Mill River Road (west side), one mile south of the Lawrence Street exit off the Saw Mill River Parkway. Go to the northern building in the three building complex (the Lofts has red trim). Park anywhere in front of the buildings, or in the hidden lot on the southern end of the complex by the maintenance shack.
Hopefully the building door will be open. If not, type Beverly into the directory to reach me or call my cell 914-954-7779 so I can buzz you in. Take the elevator to the 3rd floor.
.If you’re coming by train from Manhattan, take the Hudson Line of MetroNorth to the Hastings-on-Hudson train station. Grab a cab or Lyft to The Lofts at 423 Saw Mill River Road. Call me if you have questions.
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Please note: For those of you who have been coming to the Studio Tour in April for many years, Sunday hours end earlier at 3pm.
Feel free to contact me with any questions through email at beverlyshipko@mac.com or by cell at 914-954-7779. You can also reach me on Facebook (Beverly Shipko, Artist) and Instagram (@beverlyshipko).
2024 Studio Tour | Preview Shows
In addition to the main Tour weekend, there will be two preview shows.
Sunday, October 20 from 3-5pm at Hastings Village Hall Gallery, 7 Maple Avenue (for artists from Hastings, Dobbs Ferry and Ardsley). I will have a painting in this show.
Sunday, October 27 from 3-5pm at Shames JCC, 371 S. Broadway (for artists from Irvington, Tarrytown and Sleepy Hollow)
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This is always a joyful event. It feels like a big celebratory party! Hope you can make it. Bring your family and friends. Everyone is welcome. Feel free to forward this invitation.
Finally, I’m looking forward to seeing all of you art lovers and foodies, and exchanging ideas. See you soon!
For those of you who were unable to join us in May at the Scarsdale Library or on zoom, I invite you to watch the video below of my talk, A Bite-Size View Of Food in Art.
As you will see, the talk covers many highlights of the long standing, irresistible tradition of incorporating food in art, going back thousands of years to the present, including my own work. This bite-size view provides the context of how I see my own paintings, with a brief nod to Ikebana.
A Bite-Size View of Food in Art with Beverly Shipko
This video marks the inauguration of my very own YouTube channel. It was surprisingly easy to set up with Bonnie’s help. Thank you for leading me into the 21st century!
So come take a byte out of my YouTube Channel! You’ll have good time salivating over numerous food images and won’t put on any weight by watching. And as I promised a gentleman in the audience, it won’t raise your insulin levels.
Calling all foodies! You will love this show of over 60 delectable paintings and prints – 90 if you count all the little mounted 5 x 7 and 6 x 6 panel paintings. In a way, it feels like a retrospective. You’ll see everything your heart desires – from cakes, pies, tarts, cookies, candy, vending snacks, fruit, vegetables – except meat (I’m working on that…)
Here I am at the Scarsdale Public Library, enjoying the fruits of my labor.
Thank you to Webmaster Laura for taking this lovely photo when you visited the Scarsdale Public Library last week! When Laura walked in and looked around the big room, she was visibly surprised, almost stunned (which surprised me!). She exclaimed, Wow, Mom! This is great…. This is a giant room and you filled it! …It’s like seeing old friends.
Laura was happy that she came up from the city (she was virtual for the May 7th talk). And you can’t help but be happy at this show. Everyone walks away smiling! 🙂 Especially little kids.
Webmaster Laura with one of her favorite paintings, Patisserie (oil, 36 x 48 inches).
This is a family friendly exhibit. Bring your kids and grandkids, who will be captivated. What smiles they had! Wish I had taken photos. However, permission would have been needed to post them.
Logistics
Additionally, the flyer below has all the details. The library is open 7 days a week, and until 9pm on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday.
Finally, parking is plentiful. Just in case you want more information, click here for the Scarsdale Library website.
So please stop by to take a bite! The good news is that you have 6 more days to visit. If you would like, I can meet you at the library. Just let me know when.
P.S. This has been a wonderful few weeks. My only regret is that the show has to come down… as all shows do…
I hope you can join us for my Bitesize View of Food in Art Talk and Solo Art Exhibit at the Scarsdale Public Library on May 7th from 4:30-6pm (54 Olmsted Road, Scarsdale, NY 10583).
This is a chef’s tour of food in art history from prehistoric and ancient times, the Golden Age of Dutch Still Life, to contemporary art. All in 45 minutes. So are you up for the challenge? I promise it will be entertaining. Only I’ll put on my artist’s beret instead of a chef’s cap. Plus I’ll tap into my aspirations to be an art history professor.
Along the way you’ll see how I view my own work in this context.
A reception will follow the talk. While the official event ends at 6pm, I’ll hang out at the library until 6:30pm.
The exhibit will run from Wednesday, May 1 through Wednesday, May 22.
Registration
Click here to register and scroll down to the bottom. Select your preferred option. Note you can come back and change this if needed, or re-register.
While we are asking you to register, please don’t let this stop you from coming the last minute. Just come right over. The more, the merrier! If you don’t receive the zoom link by 3:30pm on May 7th, please call the Scarsdale Library Reference Desk at 914-722-1302. They will email the link directly to you.
Parking
It’s plentiful!
With Gratitude
Thank you to the Scarsdale Public Library for hosting this event. I’ll begin with a shoutout to a very special lady and friend, Claudette Gassler, Programing Librarian. A year ago, Claudette came up with the idea of a combination talk and solo show. And she waited patiently for my torn meniscus to heal. In addition, thanks to Roberta Ham-Stein, Support Services Administrator/Librarian who helped coordinate the logistics. Last but not least, kudos to David Sadoff, Programming Librarian, who creatively used his tech abilities to make this a hybrid event and bring me out from behind the podium, onto the stage, and into my comfort zone.
Now I would be remiss if I didn’t thank my daughter, Bonnie Sloofman. After a hard day’s work, she is providing refreshments following the talk at the reception.
As always, I appreciate hearing from you. So please let me know if you have any questions, comments or ideas about the topic.
I look forward to seeing you – one way or another – on Tuesday, May 7th at 4:30pm!
GDC and The Lofts has graciously offered up the 3rd Floor Lounge for the show, a large beautiful space, and will be providing food on Saturday from 2-4 and Sunday from 12-2.
Work-in-process will be included.
Of course, Oreos will be provided for biting (GF Oreos too!). Maybe your bite will turn up in a future painting…
Flowers – paintings and fresh
I’m working on a few small flower paintings, and plan to assemble at least one Sogetsu Ikebana arrangement – a creative activity that began during the pandemic and is still going strong. It’s like painting with flowers!
Fun – a community of like minded people and a taste of AI
I plan to experiment with AI (artificial intelligence) and see what happens. This is something new for me. Your guess is as good as mine about how this will come out. Come see for yourself!
GPS apps can be quirky. If the address above comes up as being in Hastings-on-Hudson, that’s correct. The Lofts complex is on the border between Ardsley and Hastings. As if it wasn’t complicated enough, there’s a second address for the building that you could try – 5 Mill River Lane.
The Lofts is located on Saw Mill River Road, one mile south of the Lawrence Street exit off the Saw Mill River Parkway. Go to the northern building in the three building complex. Park anywhere in front of the buildings, or in the hidden lot on the southern end of the complex by the maintenance shack.
Hopefully the building door will be open. If not, type Beverly into the directory to reach me or call my cell 914-954-7779 so I can buzz you in. Take the elevator to the 3rd floor.
And the bonus is that another talented realist painter, Linda Friedlander, is a short walk away (#22 on the map) in the 3rd Floor Lounge of Building C (1 Mill River Lane). So this stop is a twofer (two artists for the price of one!).
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Please note: For those of you who have been coming to the Studio Tour in April for many years, the switch to November is permanent. Also Sunday hours end earlier at 3pm.
Feel free to contact me with any questions through email at beverlyshipko@mac.com or by cell at 914-954-7779. You can also reach me on Facebook (Beverly Shipko, Artist) and Instagram (@beverlyshipko).
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This is always a joyful event for me. Hope you can make it.
I look forward to seeing all of you art lovers and exchanging ideas. See you soon!
Recently I had the good fortune to be in Los Angeles and see the Keith Haring show, which had caught my eye on a list of 12 Must See Art Show in artnet news.
Exceeded Expectations
Art is for Everybody is an appropriate name for a show with such a breadth and diversity of medium and subject matter. This show is provocative, stimulating, and fun. Most of all it’s accessible, which was Haring’s oft proclaimed intention. It feels very timely even though much of this work was done in the 70s and 80s (1968-1990). And Haring only lived to age 31.
Bottom line: It exceeded my expectations. That’s what I want you to take away from this blog. The Keith Haring exhibit at The Broad, a contemporary museum in downtown Los Angeles, CA runs thru October 8, 2023. Read on for the details (and there are many! Hopefully not too many…).
I wasn’t the only one who felt this way. You can see Bonnie enjoying herself below. This was one show where I didn’t have to ask anyone to interact with the paintings – it just happened spontaneously! Haring’s love of dancing and music comes through in his work and is contagious.
But is Keith Haring’s art really for everyone? Or is it more accurate to say it’s accessible to everyone?
Certainly it’s simplified bold strokes and colors, dancing figures and barking dogs won’t appeal to everyone, especially art fans primarily drawn to traditional chiaroscuro paintings. While it’s not intended to be highbrow, it’s energetic shapes, bright colors, and diversity of subjects tend to appeal to younger generations who are receptive to new art concepts and constructs.
Haring essentially created his own visual language that is easily recognizable.
Recreation of 1982 Major Show at Tony Shafrazi Gallery, NYC
My most recent exposure to Keith Haring was during several Street Art lectures via zoom during the pandemic. I was prepared for a raw feeling that is typical of that genre.
Instead, this splash of sophisticated and bright neon-color greeted us, signaling this show was going to be different. As you can see, Bonne got into the swing of things right away.
Keith Haring 1982 Statue of Liberty… and Bonnie
Upon closer viewing, you can see the Statue of Liberty is covered with Keith Haring’s recognizable marks.
This painting was inspired by NYC and the break dancing of the 50s and 60s. All the works in this room shared bold lines, colors and shapes, along with Haring’s signature people.
Art Historical Influences
Keith Haring surprised me by displaying an awareness of art history, which didn’t fit with my preconception of him as a graffiti artist. This section shows the influence of early Greek vase painting patterns, which we had seen at Getty Villa in Malibu the day before.
Here’s a photo I happened to take at the Getty Villa Museum (which is a lovely way to spend an hour or two). Notice how Haring appropriated the geometric banding concept and unglazed terracotta in his vases, but we see Haring’s dogs and human figures in the registers instead.
Etruscan Vase from the Getty Villa Museum, photo by Beverly Shipko.
Influence of Indigenous Cultures
My favorite room was this one with 3 totem-like sculptures set amidst huge patterned Haring paintings. These bold, whimsically shaped totem had an indigenous feel from South America. Also they were very creative, and had such a distinctive character. Bravo!
When you got closer, you could see that each was engraved with unmistakably Haring imagery in yellow and against the black.
I particularly liked this view of the gallery, which evoked the complex patterns of Mayan and Aztec art that permeated South American cultures. Click here for an example of a typical Mayan portal to see what I mean.
The curators did an excellent job of placing the objects, and coordinating patterns of the paintings and sculptures so they played off of each other, creating a playful space with a lot of movement and energy.
Art History References
When I first saw work below, I thought about Michelangelo’s Creation on the ceiling of the Vatican’s Sistine Chapel. And then I turned the corner to read how he drew on art history and cultures for his imagery – specifically the Vatican. The irony of these naked creatures – with their tongues hanging out – imitating famous Vatican art was not lost on me. Only here we’re witnessing the creation of consumerism vs. the creation of Adam.
Haring hung out with a group of well known Manhattan artists, including Andy Warhol. Rhese paintings are his personal tribute Andy Warhol and his repeated imagery (think Campbell Soup Cans) with its consumerism theme.
This Tree of Life is a symbol that is traceable through all of art history. This was one of the more lyrical, optimistic and peaceful images in the show, with happy colors. I wish I had taken a photo of the wall tag to confirm there isn’t some sinister meaning behind it… as in many of his other pieces.
X Rated
Of course, no Haring show would be complete without a few sexual images and more than a few penises.
Art and Activism
Haring spent a chunk of his short career trying to change the world by calling awareness to issues that troubled him. He was fearless when confronting the establishment, whether he was expressing his strong views on AIDS (which ultimately took his life), apartheid and global social justice, systemic racism, capitalism, or the atomic bomb and nuclear warfare..
There are a lot of different interpretations of Haring’s work, but the following images indicate he was an original who pushed the boundaries of expression. He constantly experimented. He had courage to make and create art that would make viewers uncomfortable.
Capitalism
One of his favorite themes that he often returned to is capitalism, which he presented with the stereotypicial “capitalist pig”. As explained in the wall texts, Haring often used this image “in political cartoons to depict greedy businessmen… Haring’s pig paintings comment on the ills of capitalism and abuses of power in the name of profit.”
This work is a good example of a brightly colored Haring paintings with a very dark message.
Keith Haring, Untitled, 1983, Acrylic and enamel on canvas.
“This tarp painting portrays a pig spewing money-green vomit made up of computers, TVS, clocks, airplane, and other objects of modern life. The green vomit occupies the ground of the painting out of which little figures climb, suckling the sickly peg’s teats. This work is a monstrous depiction of the struggle of production in an era when everything was deemed consumable.”
In this next tarp painting, we see a weapon piercing the central handcuffed figure, representing a tool of oppression. The bleeding globe we see here often represents the worldwide social ills, including systemic racism right here in New York.
Systemic Racism, Social Injustice and Aparteid
In this particular work, red represents blood of a specific person, Michael Stewart, as well as the blood of the world. Michael Stewart was a young black artist, a student at Pratt Institute, who was brutally arrested for writing graffiti in NYC and died after spending 13 days in a coma. This work was created to call attention to systemic racism and social injustice right here in New York.
In addition, the bleeding globe is a symbol Haring often used to represent the ills of institutionalized racial issues such as segregation, in this case apartheid in South Africa – as indicated in the title that references Africa. Yet the US maintained trade ties with the country ostensibly to neutralize off the Soviet Union during the Cold War. In this respect, the red represents the blood of the world. The yellow figures remind me of the quote: “See no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil”.
Keith Haring, “Michael Stewart – USA for Africa,” 1985
Here’s another piercing of body parts by the devil himself using a long Pinnochio like nose as a sword. It’s an unusually powerful horizontal image, and I can only imagine what it means since I can’t read the wall plaque… Please feel free to use your own imaginations.
Frustrated by AIDS
Haring was a visible AIDS advocate, and used his talent to bring attention to the magnitude of the crisis. Here he promoted safe sex and the AIDS hotline. After being diagnosed with AIDS in 1998, he created the Keith Haring Foundation to provide funding to AIDS organizations to support education, research and care.
Keith Haring as a Capitalist Pig
Given his desire to fight against consumerism and for the oppressed underdog, it feels like a contradiction in terms that Haring embraced consumerism. He opened his own Soho Pop Shop which sold Haring branded merchandise in lower Manhattan.
A 1988 painting by Haring and items from his Pop Shop
Now you too can own Keith Haring slippers and refrigerator magnets!
Haring argues that his Pop Shop is a legitimate alternative avenue to reach the mass audience. And certainly we’ve all bought branded merchandise. But after making fun of the “capitalist pig”, Keith Haring essentially becomes one by opening this store.
End of Life Works
Similar to other artists, Haring’s last paintings foreshowed the end of his life. They have an unfinished quality and missing pieces. It’s almost as if he’s commenting on the work he still wanted to do to change the world.
To me, these two painting feel incomplete and yet satisfying at the same time. They provide a proper coda to a distinguished career.
Love
On the way out, there’s a mirror where Bonnie and I took pictures that summarized our feelings about this show.
In case you noticed, that is me in a wheelchair still recovering from a March leg injury. I enjoyed the show with Bonnie’s help.
Thanks to these two ladies for making it a wonderful day, especially Lauren who had the foresight to buy tickets way in advance.
It certainly looks like Lauren and Natalie loved the show too!
But the Keith Haring exhibit was the standout show. It’s so relevant today. That’s what I remember and recommend when I’m talking to people about my CA trip.
The rest of The Broad Museum has some pretty stellar art, enough that it’s worthy of a separate blog should I ever get around to it.
If you’re in LA before October 8th, I would highly recommend that you purchase tickets in advance for the show. Weekends are selling out quickly. It’s probably easier to get weekday tickets.
Is Haring’s art really for everybody?
That’s still the burning question. While your initial reaction may be “No, this art isn’t for me”, there’s an excellent chance it is for your kids and grandkids. So bring the family.
And if nothing else, you can appreciate a contemporary artist who was marching to his own drummer in his goal to create positive change.
Haring believed that art made the world a better place. It was his mission.
Today his art and activism deeply resonates in the upheavals that have occurred around the world. Many paradigm shifts have occurred following COVID. The pandemic brought many issues to the surface, including more awareness of inequities, racial issues (#Black Lives Matter); identity (#LGBTQI); plus Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging (#DEI).
The world has evolved in many ways since Haring passed away in 1990. Yet the big unresolved issues feel somewhat the same, perhaps even more pressing today.
It’s important that we become more aware, tolerant and accepting of the inevitable social, economic and political change that is taking place outside of our own little silos. And hopefully there will be some compassion in the mix that will bring help to people who need it most. And Haring saw art as his tool to do just that.
In that sense, Keith Haring’s art is for everybody!
During the pandemic, I attended a plethora of art lectures on everything from prehistoric art, Street Art to Alice Neel. I thoroughly enjoyed all of them. It was amazing how much excellent free content there was from all the museums, libraries, performance venues and associations. I didn’t know what to watch first!
Along the way, I was asked to give a number of art history lectures both because of my artist experiences and strong art history background. As a graduate student in art history at the University of Michigan, I eagerly anticipated planning my lectures (in the slide room, believe it or not!) and delivering them each week.
I thought I found my calling – until the depression came to Detroit along with double digit unemployment. Fast forward through my MBA and marketing career. Now I’m back in my element talking about art once again – and making it too.
Motherhood In Art
I re-presented one of my favorite recent talks – Motherhood In Art – courtesy of the Yonkers Public Library (YPL) who recorded the video below. Simply click on the visual/box to watch.
Click Here for the Motherhood In Art Video
FYI. Here’s the flyer the YPL put together which made the whole event feel so real and professional.
Thank you for joining me on this epic journey celebrating women and mothers through art. I hope you learned something new, which is my goal whoever I speak.
I look forward to seeing you at future talks, whether in person or online, and to fulfilling my college dream of being an art history professor albeit in this unanticipated and untraditional way. At the very least, I feel a Fatherhood in Art talk coming on for June, 2024…
P.S. I realize now that I missed a speaking opportunity during my Food for Thought show last fall. But I have a plan in the works to make up for that. Stay tuned.
Today I had a little local art adventure – something new to me. I joined the Westchester Sketchers Group (no, not the shoes!) at the Neuberger Museum in Purchase, NY for an afternoon of sketching, sharing and chatting about art.
The Unexpected Sketch
I came home with this. Not at all what I anticipated going in since abstraction isn’t my thing. Quite a bit different from my typical food paintings, right? This abstract composition doesn’t even resemble any of the compositions in my Challenge paintings!
My interpretation of Louise Nevelson, 1973 at the Neuberger Museum
A Global Urban Sketchers Community
This is my second Westchester Sketchers event. The first being last week at the Hudson River Museum in Yonkers. This time around I knew what to expect. Thank you to my friend Betty for introducing me to this group, which is essentially a subsidiary of NYC Urban Sketchers and complement to NJ Sketchers. Both Urban Sketchers groups are a part of a worldwide sketching movement called Urban Sketchers. Who knew?
Their global motto is, “See the world one sketch at a time.” And maybe that’s what I’m going to do… starting by experiencing Westchester County and NYC from this new perspective.
The group meets in the lobby of the museum. Then we have about 2 1/2 hours to wander around the museum and choose something appealing to sketch, and create an image using dry materials (since we’re indoors in a museum). Afterwards, we share our work, and talk about the process.
My Process
After wandering around the museum the first time, nothing resonated with me. So I meandered through a second time. I remained undecided.
I considered these two pieces of art. Ultimately, I passed on the Richter since I thought it would do better in color (which I didn’t have). The African sculpture was still a possibility. Eventually I realized I was short on time (already lost an hour) so I better pick something and just do it!.
You can see another member of the group sketching away in front of this African sculpture.
Hans Richter, Wall Wood Relief IV, c. 1970 by Richter.
Eventually I paused at this Louis Nevelson (below) after reading the title. Even though it’s a black wooden wall relief, it is called Day/Night XX. This name intrigued me since I thought the more appropriate title would be Night, with Day being a white version of this wall relief. And Nevelson did work in white.
So I decided to sketch this as if it the original Nevelson before me was white and titled Day.
Materials
I sketched the whole drawing freehand, often standing (which I do at home when painting on an easel), using a soft graphite pencil (on the right) with a kneaded rubber eraser. (Note to self: Throw a ruler in my bag next time.) The smooth, stiff paper is called Bristol board, which I use for my 6 x 6 inch Oreo Cookie drawings. This was about 2/3 done.
Kneaded eraser, 6 x 6 inch Bristol board, and a soft artist pencil.
All of a sudden there was only 15 minutes left to add the contrasting, darker shading and small details, like the little staples holding those horizontal wires and the shadows on the horizontal molding near the bottom.
Time to stop and meet up with my fellow sketchers, uncomfortable though that is. The “final” version.
As I look at this, I realize my choice of subject was at least partially driven by my left-sided math brain, which was always drawn to geometry when I was a math major. How I always loved the challenge of solving geometric math problems! I guess I still do only in a different way.
Stretching or Sketching Outside My Comfort Zone?
Overall, today was a positive experience – even if I was uncomfortable going in. More so last week when it was my first time. Usually my paintings are carefully thought out, often ruminating in my head for weeks. Quick sketches are a radical departure for me.
However, I believe it’s a good thing to try new approaches and get out of my comfort zone. And to open myself up to different comments from other artists, as well to see how other artists approach this challenge. That’s how we all grow artistically and unlock new opportunities.
And no, the headline is not a typo. The best headline that captures the spirit of today is still Sketching Outside My Comfort Zone and not stretching – although I did a lot of both today and especially over the past few weeks.
Maybe that could be the subject of my next blog….!
It gives me great pleasure to present Chef Bonnie and her extraordinary Thanksgiving extravaganza.
This feast is a labor of love that is several days in the making, but much longer than that in the planning. As a result, we enjoyed this fabulous, mouthwatering spread of 17 dishes that makes me salivate for more… although I admit I already stuffed my face with leftovers twice today…
There are 14 main dinner dishes – Lemon Turkey Breasts Stuffed with Herbs, Sweet Potato Casserole with Pecans, Cauliflower Puree, Pears with Goat Cheese and Cranberries, Green Bean Casserole in Cashew Sauce, Cranberry Orange Sauce, 2 versions of Popovers and 2 versions of Bonnie’s Signature Stuffin Muffins (Gluten Free and Gluten Full).
Plus 3 homemade desserts – Apple Pie, Sour Cherry Tart, and Pumpkin Cheesecake that is both gluten free and dairy free – but you would never know it!
And did I mention this whole dinner is gluten free and dairy free – except for one set of Stuffin Muffins and Popovers for the Chef herself? With 15 dishes/desserts to choose from, I’m in heaven! Bonnie thoughtfully separates the two gluten items on the left and the equivalent GF items on the right.
Planning and Grocery Shopping on Tuesday
For the last few weeks. Laura, Bonnie and I have been talking about the menu.
After reaching a consensus, Bonnie made a detailed ingredients list. Since she was cooking in my apartment starting Wednesday, she sent me the list and I started pulling out items that I already had. That way when she wouldn’t come back from the grocery store on Tuesday night with duplicates.
In preparation for Thanksgiving, I ordered a new table protector, and made a Vegetable Ikebana table arrangement during my Monday class. In addition, I made several trips to my storage unit to return artwork from my recent Studio Tour. It was the least I could do.
However, the table stayed like this for all of 10 minutes before I pulled out all my pie pans and utensils, serving dishes, and more – which I am deliberately not showing you. I would rather you remember these two images.
Vegetable Ikebana. The concept in my head was an Ikebana version of a cornucopia.
Prep and Pie Night
Pie Night on the Wednesday before Thanksgiving has been a family tradition going back many years. It’s Bonnie’s time to focus on baking at least 2 desserts. You can read more about Pie Night at Bonnie’s Thanksgiving Feast Challenge 2020!, when she baked and cooked in her own apartment during the pandemic and brought everything here.
This year she made a Sour Cherry Tart and Apple Pie for Pie Night. She started by making the pie dough for both desserts from scratch. The dough quickly went into the refrigerator to firm up for rolling.
Early on she strained the tart cherries, thickened the cherry sauce, and then filled the pie crust.
The Apple Recipe called for Granny Smith Apples. I love tart apples, and cherries too! They make the best desserts.
I wish Mom were here to see this masterpiece of a pie. It looks as good as the ones she and I used to bake together. Our secret was lots of lemon and cinnamon, which has now been passed down to Bonnie and Laura.
Here is the Apple Pie with the top crust on. For the sake of time, she passed on doing a lattice pie crust.
Into the oven they go.
While waiting for the desserts to bake, the Chef made Cranberry Orange Sauce and Butternut Squash Soup to give herself some breathing room on Thursday, the big cooking day.
It’s so interesting to watch as Bonnie cooks and bakes – and posts along the way on her Instagram account @bonniesbitesoflife. There’s a certain rhythm to it all.
Then she put the butternut squash and Granny Smith apples in the Vitamix blender to give it the smooth, creamy texture.
Bonnie also slipped in a quick rejuvenating nap (with all the lights on!) while the pies were baking. This nap was well deserved since she had been teaching in the morning and was already up for 16 hours.
What a difference a nap makes! And what a delicious-looking tart she just took out of the oven! I’m salivating….
Here comes the apple pie.
Now it’s time to clean up for the Big Day before going to sleep. I hate waking up to a bunch of dirty dishes in the sink.
Thanksgiving Day
Bonnie always begins the day by turning on the Thanksgiving Parade. Then she started cooking by soaking the cashews for the Green Bean Casserole from @daniellewalker. Ah, she’s sure got the art of multitasking down as you shall see..
I could barely keep up with Bonnie as she moved from one dish to another, with hardly anything written down.
One could say I was her sous chef, which I like the sound of. In reality, my job was to help her avoid logjams at the blender, mixing bowls, pans, sink and utensils. Thus I hunkered down with rubber gloves and did a lot of washing and scraping. Not as sexy sounding, is it?
Somewhere along the way, this tray of cauliflower florets showed up roasted to perfection for the Cauliflower Puree. I couldn’t resist a taste test.
Then Bonnie turned her attention back to dessert, and to getting the Pumpkin Pie Cheesecake into the oven. Thus I got to sample the leftover batter, once I got it off the blender, that is. I savored every minute of this task!
The Turkey
This year, Bonnie bought a 4th turkey breast vs. the usual 3. I admit to being skeptical about whether it would fit in the roasting pan. She was confident it would fit, and it did.
I love the expression on her face as this picks up this slippery turkey breast.
The recipe called for herbs to be stuffed under the skin. She used fresh rosemary, thyme, sage and basil.
Lastly, she added some dijon mustard to give the turkey a pop of flavor.
Then Laura was recruited to mash the sweet potatoes before they could move on to the next stage – the hand held mixer.
Often I forget how many steps there are to these recipes. Below Bonnie is adding the chopped pecan topping to the sweet potatoes to finish off the dish before it does into the oven with the turkey.
After a few hours, and several checks of the meat thermometer, the turkey is ready. Bonnie reports the pan is heavy (“Mom, take the picture already!“)
She took a brief break to pirouette around in her favorite apron (wish I had a video of that!). Bonnie loves the deep pockets. Don’t we all?
Joy!
Look at the absolute joy on Bonnie’s face as she take the popovers out of the oven and assess’s how much they popped! This was one of the best batches ever. They are really tall and fluffy. Success!
Maybe there’s not so much joy in the photo below. Can you guess which popovers are the gluten free ones?
Although this batch didn’t pop like the other one, these little muffins taste fantastic! You would think that they have butter in them when they don’t. These popovers remind me of the Bloomingdales ones I craved for years. When I got up the next day, they were the first thing I ate.
We’re getting closer to dinner! Hurrah! Bonnie is carving the turkey. I took this photo since it reminded me of a Wayne Thiebaud painting where he stuck a big black knife into a roundel of cheese.
It was surprising how fast Bonnie could carve the turkey. Clearly her knife skills are superior to mine.
Once the turkey was plated, it was a signal to start unwrapping the other dishes and place them on the buffet counter.
Photo op time!
“Only be quick about it so we can take our food while it’s still warm!”, says Bonnie. (Note: Besides removing the garbage bag, please remind me to take the sticky notes off the door next Thanksgiving…)
Bonnie always likes photos from up high. Hope she sends me this shot.
Soup’s On!
We started with the Butternut Squash Soup, which was simply delicious!
Dinner Is Served!
At last it was time to dig in for the main course. Very serious stuff…
Well, maybe not so serious….“Mom, enough pictures already! It’s time to eat.”
Menu
Here’s a photo of each dish so this blog can double as a 2023 menu planner:
Lemon Turkey Breast with Herbs (Rosemary, Thyme, Sage, Basil)
Quinoa with Apples, Broccoli and Braggs Vinagrette Marianade
Lastly, we come to my two contributions.
Roasted Broccoli with Rosemary and Thyme
Long Grain Rice with Fresh Dill
And here she is, the satisfied Chef.
The Chef’s Plate.
What a big hand I have! That’s a good thing for a sous chef…
The Finale – Dessert!
The unveiling of the Pumpkin Cheesecake.
What an amazing taste and texture this Cheesecake Pumpkin pie has!
I won’t say that Bonnie, Laura and I fight over the this addictive GF dessert, just that we’re on the honor system not to take more than our fair share. But it’s so tempting… I’ve been eating the teeniest slices since Thanksgiving to make my leftovers last as long as possible.
Finally, I have to close this blog with our annual Thanksgiving family selfie. It’s a tradition. As you can see, our Thanksgiving family motto is Let’s Get Stuffed. And so we did. The best tradition of all.
In addition, the tradition continues as we stuff ourselves for several days with leftovers. That could be the highlight of this holiday season… eating so well and not cooking for several days afterwards.
Food for Thought
After looking over the photos and thinking about all the dishes, I realize what an extraordinary meal this is. I know I’ve said this before in Mother’s Day: A Ballet of Flavors, but watching Bonnie put this together is a unique experience, like watching a choreographer arrange a dance. This is described more eloquently in the blog.
Bonnie, now I’m talking directly to you. You performed like the veteran food artist you are, and are in control of every step along the way. Even when things go awry, you calmly make adjustments but don’t lose your cool. These impressive character traits serve you well in cooking, teaching and, most importantly, in life.
This is truly a fabulous feast – and fabulous feat too! Thank you, Bonnie, for making this day so exhilarating and memorable.
For those of you who have visited in the past, this is the same event that was traditionally held in April. Studio tour preparation involved planting spring flowers… While I’m still in Ardsley, it’s at a new location. See Directions and Parking below for details. The most important thing that never changes is my passion for painting desserts – and sharing them with you!
Consider this an official invitation.
You are invited to my Open Studio this Saturday & Sunday, November 5 & 6, from 11 am – 6pm
Beverly Shipko’s Home Studio at The Lofts
423 Saw Mill River Road, Third Floor Lounge, Ardsley, NY 10502
Please note: The Lofts management has graciously offered the beautiful, contemporary Lounge space on the 3rd floor in my building (Building A) for this event. So I will be able to show you more than in my own apartment. While technically this isn’t my working studio, there will be work-in-progress and materials to show you. Plus, I’ll just picked up my newly framed prints that I am proud of!
When you arrive at the building, you will have to be buzzed in. Scroll down to read more about that.
And, the bonus is that another talented realist painter, Linda Friedlander, is a short walk away in the 3rd Floor Lounge of Building C (1 Mill River Lane). So this stop is a twofer (two artists for the price of one!).
Please feel free to contact me with any questions though email at beverlyshipko@mac.com or by cell at 914-954-7779. You can also reach me on Facebook (Beverly Shipko, Artist) and Instagram (@beverlyshipko).
Tour Maps For the RiverArts Studio Tour Weekend
As you can see from the official Studio Tour poster below, 80 artists in the Rivertowns (Hastings, Ardsley, Dobbs Ferry and Tarrytown) will be participating in this event. You can download the map in advance and print it at home and plan your strategy. I’ll be happy to help you plan your route.
For your reference, I’m #24 on the Studio Tour map and Linda is #23. Another fellow Ardsley artist and friend, Carol Sommerfeld, is #25 on the map.
2022 Studio Tour Weekend is here!
This is really a major milestone year for RiverArts which is celebrating its 60th year anniversary. Congratulations, #RiverArts!!
RiverArts Studio Tour Registration
Please click here to register in advance to help secure future funding for this annual event. “Attendance” matters (sounds like we’re in school again…).
Directions and Parking
Please contact me at beverlyshipko@mac.com for information for directions and parking.
I look forward to seeing you this upcoming weekend – and restarting this annual tradition!
In case you missed the Food For Thought Exhibition Opening last week, please join us at One Martine Gallery for the White Plains#SeriousFunArtsFestGallery Hop thisThursday, October 13th from 6 to 9 pm.
Food For Thought is featuring 29 of my paintings and prints through Thanksgiving Weekend (Sunday, November 27th), along with the delectable artwork of Nancy Cohen and rich still life photography by Andre Baranowski. Three of my vending machine paintings are showcased in this window display – of which I am very proud! (I can’t help myself…).
Gallery hours are Tuesdays through Saturdays 10 to 6pm, Sundays 12-5pm, Closed Mondays.
I am very excited about this evening re-opening, which is easy to be now that I’ve seen the show.
Webmaster Laura says this is my best show yet (of course she’s a bit biased, but it’s fabulous to hear!). The spacious gallery has a contemporary Manhattan vibe. Plus the entire exhibit is beautifully designed by Walker Manzke, Director of One Martine Gallery. Thank you, Walker!
Invitation
Here’s is the official email invitation.
Plus Gallery Hop Night is FREE and includes a total of 3 gallery locations all within walking distance of each other, one of which is One Martine Gallery.
One Martine Gallery (located at 1 Martine Avenue), is a new gallery in downtown White Plains, New York, within walking distance of the White Plains train station. If you’re driving, see the parking directions at the bottom of this post.
In addition, the Gallery Hop is part of a much larger Serious Fun Arts Fest 5 Day event in White Plains running from October 12 to 16, sponsored by Arts Westchester and presented by Montefiore Einstein. Specifically, it includes everything from concerts to live mural painting, a public art walking tour to dancing in the streets. Click here for more information.
While the official Gallery Hop time is 6 to 9 pm, I will be there closer to 5:30pm to greet people coming directly from work.
Normal gallery hours are: Tuesdays through Saturdays 10 to 6pm, Sundays 12-5pm, Closed Mondays. Food For Thought runs through Thanksgiving weekend.
Parking and GPS Instructions
Since I got a lot of positive feedback from my previous parking instructions, I am repeating them again here.
One Martine Gallery (not to be confused with the apartment complex 1 Martine at City Square on your GPS device) is located on Martine Avenue, a one way street going south towards the White Plains train station.
The parking garage entrance is just past the gallery as Martine starts to curve to the right towards Bank Street. You can see Seward Johnson’s statue of an embracing couple right before the driveway. See below for a photo and parking instructions provided by the gallery.
Finally, if you pass the entrance, don’t panic! Simply keep going around the block and try again. I found the entrance easily the second time – and that was without this photo.
You are invited to the Opening Reception of a two woman show all about my favorite subject – food!
The exhibit features over 20 paintings and prints of my work, including my latest and largest vending paint, Food Choices.
Food for Thought opens on Thursday, October 6, 5:30-7:30pm, at One Martine Gallery (located at 1 Martine Avenue), a new gallery in White Plains, New York, within walking distance of the White Plains train station. If you’re driving, see the parking directions at the bottom of this post.
I like what is written in the official invitation below, “Food sustains our bodies as art sustains our soul.” So this is your big chance to get a lot of sustenance – not to mention a sugar fix! The show continues throughout October.
Nine 6 x 6 Challenge Panel Paintings, mounted on black board (24 x 24 inches) with velcro, by Beverly Shipko
I am exhibiting with Nancy Cohen, a talented painter who also shares my predilection for sweets. And if you want to see more of her work, go to Nancycohenstudio.com.
Candies, 20 x 20 inches, Oil on linen, by Nancy Cohen.
PARKING
One Martine Gallery (not to be confused with the apartment complex 1 Martine at City Square) is located on Martine Avenue, a one way street going south towards the White Plains train station.
The parking garage entrance is just past the gallery as Martine starts to curve to the right, with the Seward Johnson’s statue of an embracing couple right before the driveway. See below for parking instructions from the gallery.
Finally, if you pass the entrance, simply keep going around the block and try again. I found the entrance easily the second time – and that was without this photo.
Sometimes we have to take some time to catch our breath and celebrate our achievements – no matter how large or small. And today I’m doing just that.
I almost titled this blog Finished! because that’s what I’m celebrating today – the completion of this painting. These days we are often so preoccupied with our chaotic world that we can be unfocused and leave projects half done. I am proud to say I got “in the zone” and finally finished Food Choices (formerly called Choices)!
Food Choices, Oil and acrylic on canvas, 36 x 36 inches
It’s now hangs in the place of honor over my couch.
Temporarily, the painting of a Box of Dunkin Donuts that was here for 3 years is “on break” until I figure out where to put it.
A Lot of Firsts
At 36 x 36 inches, this is one of my larger painting, similar in scope to my Bakery Display paintings. There are a lot of firsts here. Certainly it’s my largest vending machine painting to date. It also has the most food items (20) and most logos (15). So many logos! It’s the first time I attempted bananas, carrots asparagus and corn. Obviously it’s the first time I put them together in one image. When I began this painting, I didn’t realize how ambitious a project it was.
Nor did I realize all the intervening events that would keep me from finishing it. I started it when we were living in our spacious house where there was a dedicated room for my home studio. Unfortunately, I had to dismantle my home studio to stage the house for sale while going through a divorce. The unfinished painting was relegated to a display easel in the family room before going into a storage unit for more than a year.
Eventually I retrieved Food Choices and brought it into my much smaller apartment. In order to take up where I left off, I first had to figure out a whole new way of working creatively in a modest, compact space. No more sprawling trays of paint tubes for me! It has been a struggle to adjust. After commiserating and brainstorming with other artists about this common challenge, I eventually got into a flow and finished it.
A Blast From the Past
As I just proofed this post before publishing it, I realized that there’s a song running around in my head, Celebrate The Moments in Our Lives!, the tagline from a General Foods International Coffees (GFIC) campaign I worked on years ago. It’s funny how it stuck in my subconscious when I wrote the title to this blog – Celebrate the Moments.
In this particular GFIC commercial, a major lifecycle milestone was celebrated, the birth of a baby. But we don’t have to wait for these infrequent, monumental events to acknowledge our accomplishments. We can all benefit from stepping back and giving ourselves credit for more common and modest events that we are proud up – like the birth of a… painting!
I thoroughly enjoyed our Ikebana class this week! Ikebana is turning out to be an unexpectedly creative outlet for me, and has opened up new horizons that are here to stay.
The last time I posted Ikebana arrangements, they were beautiful centerpiece lessons from our Sogetsu school textbook, and made of typical flowers like red and pink roses and greenery, which you can see in Joy and More Joy.
This week our lesson was a freestyle arrangement with a Halloween/Fall theme, which means that I got to break out my box of light colored driftwood from my naturalist friend Steve who volunteer to work the trail behind my apartment. I tend to think more sculptural in freestyle too.
Leslie also gave us the option of creating Haunted Halloween Ikebana (clearly an American take on Japanese Ikebana), taking advantage of seasonal materials. I was so inspired that I ended up making 3 different arrangements, using various Ikebana techniques.
#1. Fall Theme. Orange is the salient feature of the first one.
This arrangement features gourds and flowers from Trader Joes, light gray driftwood, and a piece of dark, textured wood I found walking with my friend Ronna in Dobbs Ferry. (Sometimes it takes a village!) Of course, I can’t forget the water in the black container (or suiban in Japanese) which is an important part of this arrangement. I finished this pretty quickly since the design came easily.
#2. Haunted HalloweenTheme. While working on a second arrangement on a round white container (similar to the black above), I was startled to hear Leslie suggest that I take the container away.
I actually forgot that she could see what I was doing. It felt like Leslie was in the room, but she was on zoom. And it was a great suggestion and gave the design a more natural look. This was as far as I got in the allotted time. I wasn’t happy because the branches felt so bleak.
I asked the group for feedback during the last half of the lesson when everyone shares. I explained my original vision, and that I had looked for spider web netting to drape on the branches for that spooky quality, but never found it.
Then someone suggested using Spanish moss, and pulling it apart. It was like a light bulb went off! What a terrific idea that is, I’m thinking, especially because I can finally use those two small unopened bags of moss that have been sitting in my closet for a year!
Adding the moss made a major impact and this arrangement finally felt finished. It was conceived of almost as a tableau – almost like a stage set in its own little world. Somehow the addition of the moss reminded me of the Rose Bowl Parade floats with hanging moss that I watch every year on New Years Day, since the Big Ten always played in the Rose Bowl… hopefully with Michigan in it..
Getting spookier?
#3. Halloween. What would you call this one?
This last arrangement I made Sunday night before class. What I’ve found is that it’s a good idea to plan ahead for Monday’s class. I try to pick a direction on Saturday, and then go to Trader Joe’s at 8am on Sunday morning when the flowers are delivered… most of the time.
As I had already bought my orange flowers and was going through this planning process Sunday, I remembered that Steve had given me another piece of wood that had possibilities for this theme. I won’t say that the wood was ugly, just that it has character and I tried using it so many times before but could never make it work. Here’s a closeup of the top.
This time around, I thought it looked rather haunted, and maybe evoking scarecrows I used to see in old movies in the middle of corn fields (am I thinking Wizard of Oz?). So I put the wood in the vase (propping it up on rocks), and added dried grasses that reminded me of straw and scarecrows. Finally, I cut little white mums from large pots on my little patio that I bought at Westchester Greenhouses (a bargain at $8 each for such a large size).
This is what I ended up with. While I designed the arrangement so it could be viewed from all sides on my kitchen counter, this was my “front” when I began.
Here’s the side view.
Here’s what I considered the back, until Leslie got all excited the “back” so it became the “front” of the arrangement.
Leslie said it reminded her of the gargoyles on Notre Dame, which I included below for myself as much as for you.
Now that I’m comparing the two images (the middle gargoyle in the photo vs. the arrangement), I really do see why she said that. The wood has a head (even has an eye!), with the horn coming out, similar to the gargoyle. There’s the beige grass that almost feels like a shoulder, or wing, or whatever is coming out the back of the left gargoyle. The dried grasses come forward almost mimicking the corner curve of the Notre Dame architecture under the gargoyle (any one know what that’s called?).
Arrangements By The Other Students (aka fellow Ikebana addicts…). Carin and Susan had fun with this too. I was impressed with what they both came up with.
Let’s start with Carin’s, which has that decomposing feeling of Dutch vanitas and memento-mori still life paintings, reminding us of the transitory nature of life with its semi-bare branches, fading sunflowers and berries. All that’s missing is the skull… Carin even made her own container by carving out the inside of the pumpkin. She wins my Most Creative award of the week!
Ah, but the skull is here in Susan’s arrangement, which I thought was absolutely delightful! What a happy and macabre skeleton this is in its coffin-like container. She made the dark spider web herself using orthodontic rubberbands, and had wonderful white plant material that felt so ethereal like real spider webs do. (I admit I was envious at the time.) Susan wins my most Spooky Fun Award of the week.
The coincidence is that we both used the same orange flowers even though we live on opposite coasts of the US. When I looked up the flower on my seek app , my new favorite app that identifies species at the click of a photo, it turned out to be a pot marigold. Maybe Susan went to Trader Joe’s too in Oregon, or maybe she’s just lucky enough to have these growing in her backyard, which has been an amazing source of plant materials for this class.
Ikebana is having a major impact on my life – both in my everyday and artistic worlds. I take longer walks and look for different trails and habitats, studying the plants and trees as I go. After working with natural materials every week for a year, I went down to the garage to get my fake gourds with the stand I’ve been using forever for the fall. This time I had to put the fake ones back and fill the stand with real gourds from Trader Joes.
It’s funny but I’m already looking forward to next year’s Halloween Ikebana arrangement. That’s how I know this is really the start of a new tradition.
