The Art and Antique Gallery of Trouver LLC,
located at 1006D Caroline Street in historic
Fredericksburg Virginia,
is featuring the vibrant art work of Virginia artist Lillian Fitzgerald
throughout the month of April in an exhibit
entitled "In My Garden."
The exhibit coincides with Garden Week and
garden tours throughout the state
as well as Fredericksburg's popular First Friday Art Walk on
April 7, 2007 from 5:00PM until 9:00 PM.

The gallery represents over 45 artists, local, regional, national,
and international whose work includes oil, acrylic, watercolor,
giclees, lithography, and etching.
Hours are Thursday, Friday, and Saturday
from 11:00AM until 5:00PM
and on Sundays (closed Easter) from 1:00PM until 5:00PM.
The gallery is also open at clients' convenience, by appointment.
Telephone: 540 310-0015 or e-mail: trouverllc@aol.com for additional information.

Things have been calming down a bit, a lot of my SAH work is done for the time being and we are between shows at NIH. We finally install nature boy tomorrow and I'm having lunch w/wez in the afternoon.

this in from Cameron...

... an eight-page essay he shot on Mountain Top Mining that is featured in the current issue of Audubon see it here

ok, they dont call it March madness for nothing...

it was just so much fun to watch the second generation Ewing and Thompson beat UNC.

my dear friend wez ordered some prints of mine through my web site and I realized I have not updated it in years. I went searching through my files to find images of my paintings, no luck so far but I've run across some of my favorite photos...

more weekend movies

I watched Impromptu (1991) Judy Davis is fun to watch as George Sand, the rest of the cast is a delight; Mandy Patinkin as Alfred De Musset (the jilted ex-lover), Bernadette Peters as Marie D’Agoult, Julian Sands as the composter Liszt, Ralph Brown as Delacroix and Emma Thompson plays a silly social climbing Duchess D’Antan. The only person who seemed miscast was Hugh Grant as Chopin - I winced every time he opened his mouth.

I also watched In to the West (1993) with Gabriel Byrne and while it is true I will watch any movie with Gabriel in it, its the other actors in this movie that give it its charm. Ossie and Tito are his two sons. Their acting is effortless and their sibling relationship seems so real, it is a beautiful film to watch, it is in the genre of the Secrets of Roan Inish.



And lastly I watched the Perfect Crime (2004). A Spanish film, your typical crime caper farce. Entertaining.

C'ville is just so lovely, especially in the spring. I really enjoy every trip I take there. Even though its work, its such a nice change of routine. I got home in time for Gabe's game (15 - 1!), and we went out and had Chinese food today which was very fun. Had a great long talk w/KT and my rep called with another print order, so nice! I hadn't heard from Lynn in so long I thought she'd dropped me.

started out the morning at the USBG, mapping out placement for our nature boy show, opens April Fools Day! The first time I've ever had to adjust artwork around root systems of trees, so what I love about the USBG always something new and challenging. Made to NIH in time for the walk through with the museum people, they are a delight to work with. We are looking at the space to be renovated in the old building and designing both new changing art show spaces and exhibit space for historical artifacts. Left that meeting to get on a conference call for SAH. I'm very sorry I missed the Life Skills event last night, just not enough hours in the day. Today an early standing meeting with medical arts and pain and palliative care this afternoon. Tonight Gabe has a game if the weather holds.

had a lovely dinner w/grandma Cora's china and the Fitzgerald silver. Mom and Gretchen came over Raph came home from school, Sharon and the twins came over yesterday. If only KT had been home it would have been perfect.

weekend movies

watched some great netflix lately, today My First Mister an indie film directed by Christine Lahti, nicely done, at first glance it looked like it was going to be your typical angst ridden teen film but was being really touching.

Also Playing By Heart, really interesting casting and good story if you don't know anything about it going in. best line talking about music is like dancing about architecture

And Basquiat, Julian Schnabel's movie about the artist Jean-Michel Basquiat. I loved it, really compelling.

a show I cant wait to see!

You might remember my dear dear friend Barbara invited me to Maine last summer, what an idyllic vacation that was! And Alan and I are discussing the Bethesda Camera club showing at NIH sometime in the future.
Barbara's work just brings Maine back. She really lives the green life, and knowing her better has added a resonance to her work in my eyes. Her art truly reflects a noble appreciation of nature. We joked that I went to Maine just so we could have lunch together but, it hasn't happened since we've been back - no matter how hard we try!

Home and Abroad: Two New Views
A Photography Exhibit Featuring New Works By

Barbara Southworth – “Homelands”
And
Alan Sislen – “Tuscany in Shades of Gray”

Multiple Exposures Gallery at the Torpedo Factory Art Center in Alexandria, Virginia presents “Home and Abroad: Two New Views,” an exhibition of works by Washington D.C. area photographers Barbara Southworth and Alan Sislen from April 3 until May 7. The public is invited to attend a reception on Saturday, April 7 from 3-5pm.

Each of the photographers’ images represent places they have returned to repeatedly – Sislen revisits favorite Tuscan locales, while Southworth goes back to streams and marine sites in Maine and Virginia. Both have departed from ways of making pictures for which they have received recognition. Known primarily for color landscapes, here Sislen explores black and white as well as infrared. Southworth has set aside the panoramic format in favor of a subtly altered vision.

Both photographers present settings with a high degree of visual order and variety. Though the character of the places each is drawn to appears dissimilar, certain of their images mirror each other with strikingly similar compositions and quality of light.

Many of Sislen’s Tuscan sites have been intensely and productively cultivated for generations. Evident in his images is Tuscany’s deeply rooted celebration of the land’s fruitfulness and beauty. Southworth’s homelands begin at her doorstep and range to wooded and watered surroundings that appear wild. But some of her areas may be more environmentally imperiled than manicured Tuscany, due to unseen exploitation such as unsustainable fisheries.

The juxtaposition of these two photographers’ images raises questions about how land’s harmonious appearance relates to its true environmental status. Their views invite consideration about what qualities of place and land people respond to, call home, or travel great distances to reach. When photographers are drawn again and again to experience the soul satisfying sense of well-balanced parts forming a vibrant whole, whether wrought by man or nature, viewers may be called to think about protecting landscapes they value.

Gallery hours are daily from 11am until 5pm, except Thursday, April 12, from 2-9pm, when Barbara Southworth will be available to discuss the photographers’ work.

what a good day to stay home and not face that commute. I was going to have lunch w/my old buddy Lee but SAH has asked me to be on another ED search call so we will have to catch up on another day. Yesterday I glanced at my calendar as I'm putting on my shoes to go to the gym and realized I was scheduled to meet an artist who was picking up her work in Bethesda and meet with the manager of the Daily Grill at Tysons both at 10:30. So I raced to NIH, loaded her artwork on the cart, left it w/those sweet hospitality folks and made it to tysons on time. If you've never been they have 4 locations around town, we did the art and framing for the downtown, tysons and georgetown restaurants. interesting historical images from the library of congress. really good food.

Another Brilliant SAH news brief

Art Classes Teach Docs-in-Training New Ways to See
Dr. Bill Lydiatt, a specialist in head and neck cancers, has hired two professional observers in hopes of teaching his students how drawing and writing can be useful to their medical careers. Scottish artist Mark Hilbert and former U.S. poet laureate Tead Kooser have the medical students do various writing and drawing activities to help improve their observation skills. “The art of drawing pulls a lot of things out. It helps to bring out the detail that you may not normally pay attention to,” said third-year medical student Suzanna Tucker. CNN.com, March 5, 2007 MORE>

Music Therapy for Preemies
The Neonatal Intensive Care Unit at Florida Hospital is only one of two hospitals in the country to use the Pacifier Activated Lullaby system. The PAL system is used on preemies that are born around 25 weeks, who have not yet developed the suck, swallow, breathe reflex that is needed to feed. The PAL system is a sensor that is hooked up to a pacifier, which is hooked up to speakers and a CD player. When the baby sucks, the music plays. The machine shows the pressure of the suck, how many times the baby needs to suck to start the music, pacing, and how long the sucking lasts. This helps the doctors and nurses keep track of the progress of the baby. According to Amy Robertson the babies are feeding twice as much, and are leaving the hospital about two weeks earlier than babies who do not use the PAL system. 13 Central Florida News, March 8, 2007 MORE>

97-Year-Old Songwriter also Blogs, Plays Bridge
At 97 years old, Leland Smith reads, writes, keeps up with current events as well as with technology to keep busy. He writes songs, and is currently looking for a group to perform the musical he wrote, “The Cherry Tree Teller,” which is based on a book he wrote in 1974. Despite retiring 35 years ago, Smith is working on having four or five novels published as well as a few short stories that he has written over the years. Tennessean.com, February 23, 2007 MORE>

New CD Features Ugandan Music Used to Combat HIV/AIDS
Greg Barz, an ethnomusicologist with Vanderbilt University, has compiled a CD of music from Uganda to help the fight against HIV/AIDS. Since 1999 Barz has studied how the arts is used in fighting HIV/AIDS and argues that the HIV infection rates in Uganda have dropped from 30 to 5 percent over the past ten years in part due to good information told by storytellers, dancers, musicians, and other artists. Barz said, “When you get the broader perspective, the experience [of listening to the CD] is elevated to a powerful understanding of the healing potential that can be unleashed when the arts and medicine combine efforts.” Yahoo.com, February 16, 2007 MORE>

Designers Roll Out Their Latest Lines: Chic Wheelchairs
At New York’s fashion week, Discovery Through Design, a non-profit that raises money for spinal cord injury research as well as paralyzed women, put on a fashion show that featured glamorized wheelchairs designed by top designers in the fashion industry. “As a woman in a wheelchair, I get stared at. Now I’m getting stared at because I’m so fashionable. It’s very exciting,” said Melissa Holley. USA Today, February 13, 2007 MORE>

Napa State Programs Help Patients’ Recovery
Napa State Hospital’s art therapy programs use photography, drawing, ceramics, as well as dance to encourage patients to take part in group activities, help improve their self esteem and self expression. Hospital employees also use the artwork as a tool in their patients’ psychotherapy treatment. Scott, a patient at the hospital, said, “This class has pulled me out of a lot of tight spots. I get all cooped up in the dorms. A lot of the guys in there are crazy, you know. I come to this class, and I’m free. It’s a safe haven here.” The Napa Valley Register.com, March 7, 2007 MORE>

Music is a Sound Way to Help Open Ethan’s Closed World
Ethan was diagnosed with Asperger’s Syndrome at six-years-old. He has a much easier time communicating and making friends, whereas he used to only communicate by pointing and grunting. His transformation is partly accredited to The Listening Program at Kalkeith’s Mayfield Primary School. The program entails a series of 15- minutes sessions with specific music chosen to better stimulate the brain. The sessions that Ethan attended helped him to become less quiet and withdrawn. “The music has been modified to challenge the pathways between the ear and the brain – it actually changes the brain,” said Suzie Smith, a special needs teacher at Mayfield Primary School. Due to the program’s success, there are plans to start the program throughout Midlothian’s schools. Living.Scotsman.com, March 7, 2007 MORE>

Art Therapy Helps Remove Limitations on People’s Creativity
The art therapy program, Conquest Art, uses a series of unique techniques to adhere to the sometimes severe disabilities that their patients face. Ursula Hulme, who teaches art therapy classes for the program, places Blu Tack over the pencil lines that her blind patients draw, so that they can feel what they have drawn. Some of her students even use perfumed paint so that they can determine what colors they are using by their smell. Patients who do not have any use of their arms wear a cap with a brush on it, using that to paint. This is Local London, February 16, 2007 MORE>

Cold Weather Blues Eased with Music Therapy
Sally Fletcher, a professional harpist and author on the healing power of music, suggests that music can help people deal with the depression they feel during the winter months. She says that music has been used to help relieve stress and create a better mood, which in turn has been related to betterment of heart rate, breathing, and blood pressure. Fletcher also suggests that a person pick music that suits them, starting off with music that has a more relaxed tempo, and gradually adding music with a more rapid tempo. Fletcher said, “This music will become a stimulant that increases the production of endorphins, energizes and quickens brain activity, and helps the listener to focus and think more clearly.” PR Web, February 20, 2007 MORE>

Therapy Through Art
The Art Therapy Centre in Rosebank, Gauteng is aimed at teaching teachers and guardians how to cope with children who have suffered abuse and trauma, as well as children who suffer from behavioral and developmental problems. Teaching in South Africa has proved challenging because of the numerous non-academic problems, such as hunger, abuse, and ill-disciplined children. The program uses art therapy because it has no language barrier, and is a positive force in creating change. The program also aims at putting together a group of art counselors who would work at schools, churches, hospitals, and prisons. Mail & Guardian Online, February 13, 2007 MORE>

Music Therapy Helps Boy, 9, Whose Senses are Too Acute
Josh Grafft, 9, was diagnosed with Sensory Integration Dysfunction. SID is described as “a constellation of behaviors that are seen when a child is inadequately putting together information from the senses.” Josh’s school work began suffering when his responses to loud noises, or tags on clothing, among other things, became too extreme. Josh began attending sessions which used spectrally-activated music, which forces the ear to work differently. The repetition of music causes changes in the brain, observed through different tests. Josh’s skills in reading and handwriting improved, as well as his attitude. LSJ.com, February 18 2007
MORE>

The Art of Healing
Richard Yarde, who is generally attributed to being one of the leading American watercolorists of the 20th century, has taken his art in a different direction after suffering from a series of small strokes. His watercolor, “AM/PM” is one of 18 pieces in the show “Visionary Anatomies,” which is a collection of artwork inspired by human anatomy done by 11 artists. Some of the artwork exhibited is based on X-rays and angiograms, with a piece presented by the (art)n group, a group of artists who have been working with scientists since 1983 creating pieces that brings together art and science. Since Yarde has began recovery, he slowly started painting again, and searched through different cultures for symbols of healing, such as models of DNA code, X-rays, healing symbols from Chinese, Hopi and African cultures. These healing images are now found in his artwork. Amherst Bulletin, February 23, 2007 MORE>

Keith Sharp

Keith will be exhibiting with us at the USBG and this summer at NIH. we are so excited...

“Nature Boy” Series

When I was a little boy, I very much enjoyed exploring nature by collecting bugs, looking for critters in creeks, and by taking walks. In the “Nature Boy” series, I have combined my interests in nature and self-portraiture by having portrayed myself transforming into a tree creature. In doing so, I am able to step into my romanticized view of the world. I photographed familiar situations but with a twist in an attempt to make the viewer do a double take. The inherent awkwardness of this character trying to blend in portrays my experiences as an outsider trying to fit in to my environment. I began this series by creating sketches of the various ways that I could imagine myself transforming into this creature. The props that I created for these performances were created from natural and artificial materials – bark, leaves, flowers, old clothes, fabric, plastics, paint, and glue. While some of the costumes have remained intact, others have fallen apart. A photograph is the end result of these performances. web site here

watched Sofia Coppola's Marie Antoinette, totally loved it, so beautiful, eclectic casting, lovely story, sex in the city shoes, truly compelling. Sofia as a director reminds me of Baz Luhrmann (Moulin Rouge, Romeo & Juliet). Amazing period movies with great story lines, such a beautiful visual experience that you can watch again and again.

Opening today 2 - 4

Robyn Einhorn

Robyn does amazing work, she has been in a trial at NIH, and has lovely things to say about our collection and the wonderful care she received there. We are hoping to exhibit some site specific work there and also show her next winter at Smith Farm - here is a recent story about her in the Hill Rag.
Robyn Einhorn: A Visionary Artist

Finding Emotional Healing and Liberation through Art

by: Pattie Cinelli

Robyn Einhorn, curator and assistant manager at Hoopla Traders on Eighth Street, SE, is well recognized to those who have frequented Capitol Hill’s Second Saturday events. She’s the one behind the artists and craft people whose work is exhibited and sold in the store.
This month Robyn is changing roles. Robyn has created a unique Valentine exhibit for Hoopla that will stir the hearts of those who view her artwork. Robyn began creating the art pieces on exhibit about a year ago. It was at that time she became able, as she describes, “ to come out” and share her story. She always loved Valentine’s Day and is a self-described romantic, so it was natural for her to connect these strong emotional feelings with her art.
Robyn is a woman of many accomplishments. She’s not content unless she has many projects professionally, socially and spiritually brewing. She has been an artist most of her life. While living in New Mexico in the 90s, a full time job as curator and single mom was not enough for Robyn. She also was an art appreciation instructor at a juvenile detention center, a trustee of the Roswell Museum and Art Center, a board member of the town’s Hispano Chamber of Commerce and a board member of the New Mexico Endowment for the Humanities. In 1999, Robyn traveled to Japan as a Fulbright recipient of the program’s memorial fund teacher’s program.
When in the mid-90s an opportunity to teach art in high school presented itself, Robyn like the idea of having her summers free. She enjoyed biking in her free time and did it regularly.
Robyn didn’t think twice when she began to feel tired all the time. Her schedule was grueling, but being active and multi-tasking made her happy. One day when she was riding on a bike trail, she felt dizzy and nauseous. She thought she needed more rest. When a kid on a tricycle passed her on the trail, Robyn knew something was wrong. “I went to a doctor and found out I was anemic. No big deal. I took iron.”
But she still wasn’t feeling right. The doctor did more tests including a very painful bone marrow aspiration. Doctors told her they were relatively sure the test would be negative because she was so young, and her profile did not fit the disease for which he was testing; yet he had to rule it out. Robyn’s zest for life did not waiver.
During this same time seven years ago, Robyn had reached a level of dissatisfaction with her teaching position that prompted her to search for new opportunities. So one day she googled words that expressed her interests, and up popped an internship through the Parsons School of Design Masters program at the Smithsonian Institution. She applied, and on the day she learned that she was accepted into the program in Washington, DC, she received word from her doctors about the tests: she had a rare form of anemia that would make her transfusion dependent for the rest of her life.
Robyn’s world as she knew it came to a sudden halt. But not for long. “I had no idea what being transfusion dependent meant, nor what myelodysplastic syndrome was.” She did research, deferred school and her move for a year, regrouped, then decided to make the move.
“Over the years since that first diagnosis, I’ve tried to come to terms with my disease. Who can I tell? How did it change my personality? How did it affect chances for getting employment? Health insurance? How could I continue to live a ‘normal’ life and get blood tests weekly, experiment with medications and receive transfusions monthly?”
With two masters degrees and an undergraduate degree in the arts - drawing, printmaking, painting and the history of American Decorative Arts - it was natural for Robyn to use her art to gain a new understanding about what she describes as this “new glitch in her life.”
However, Robyn decided not to use her academic training when creating her pieces. Instead, she wanted her art to “come from the heart, soul and brain, not books. I didn’t use techniques someone taught me.”
Her art begins with hearts and blood, threads and beads. The embroidered, collaged and painted body organs in her work reflect the symbolic relationship of body parts, love and valentines, while the images from medical textbooks and actual medical supplies express the body in more scientific terms. The exhibit attempts to understand why or how body organs connect emotional feelings with the physical body.
The exhibit is about lovers and compassion. It is her personal thank-you to the nameless and faceless blood donors who have kept her alive. “It is about the sharing of blood and becoming a part of all those donors who share their blood with me. It’s a way to express the certainty I have that I am a part of everyone, and we are all a part of each other.”

Suzanne Stryk @ NIH

The title of the show, This View of Life, is from the last line of Darwin's Origin of Species, and refers to my fascination with evolution and the variety of life on earth. My work features birds and insects, sometimes set in architectural plans or in actual books attached to the panels, signifying our wish to collect, understand and organize the wild. Many images, such as Little Wing, are metaphors for our own personal experience of life as well as explorations of nature. Somewhere in each painting the DNA double helix, genomic sequences, chromosomes or writing appears, suggesting questions such as: How do we use symbols to connect with but also distance ourselves from nature? And has the mapping of the genome unraveled mysteries or simply created more?

—Suzanne Stryk


This exhibit is in conjunction with DNA day on April 25th.

Donna McCullough

This wonderful piece by Donna is going to be in our "Patterns" show next month at Smith Farm

Arlington Art Center

these are some of the interesting works of art I saw at Arlington Art Center last week. They are doing a great job using the space dramatically. I always find something I enjoy seeing in their shows.

I heard from my dear dear old friend and college roommate wez yesterday. We're going to get together Saturday nite w/some people from HS. just a dusting of snow, its so beautiful out this morning.

a big push today to get through not only a lengthy art committee meeting but an important conference call for the ED search. Had a wonderful dinner with KT and Gabe last night, its been a delight having her home over spring break.

I had a great day yesterday until I got sick w/food poisoning from a salad I ate a lunch. Started out at Arlington Art Center, picking up luscious little ariel paintings from Caroline Danforth and images from Jill Romanoke for the Smith Farm Show. Very interesting images I'll post from the AAC show. Then to Capitol Hill to see Robyn's work. Met Martha Oatway to look at her work for a possible exhibit at NIH. I was planning to go to the Smith Farm opening but kept getting sicker as the day wore on. Today we changed the shows at NIH

if you get a chance get down to the USBG and see the tulips! this picture totally doesn't do it justice. We had a great meeting with Keith Sharp aka Nature Boy. I'll ask him if I can post some of his images, they are hilarious. Christine had a great idea, along with a traditional exhibit in the West Gallery we are also placing the images in the jungle plant beds as a kind of hide and seek for april fools day.

sad news yesterday, I applied for several artists in residences through the VCCA and didn't get into any of them. I'm a firm believer that things happen for a reason and it would have been really difficult to keep things going here if I was in Europe for 6 weeks but its really disappointing all the same.

Come to an opening Friday night!

The Forest Within 2007

Works by Jeanne Drevas Artist’s

Reception 5:30PM-8PM MARCH 2

Of my work someone once said, ‘This is what nature would be like if it had a will.’”

“ While the old growth forests are gone, the variety and abundance of the natural world offers an unending choice of materials for all who build their homes: bird, squirrel, beaver, wasp . . . and me. I pick and play with an interesting grass, seeing if it's strong enough to withstand some kind of test of time. I collect a doomed young tree with a huge scar on its side and study and dream how I will continue its evolution. It goes from maple DNA to mine."

Smith Farm Center for Healing and the Arts

1632 U Street, NW Washington DC 20009