On Exhibit at the Danforth Museum of Art

I am very honored to be one of 72 artists whose work is hanging in the Danforth Museum’s Annual Juried Exhibition through September 18, 2022.

This evening my sweetheart and I attended the members only opening. It was wonderful to be with people again, and see many artists and friends who we haven’t seen since pre-Covid times.

My piece Trying to Stay Safe from Germs #3, is mixed media on two layers of stitched fabric that is stiffened.

It’s one of many fiber pieces, and one of quite a few pieces about Covid.

The Danforth Museum of Art is located at 14 Vernon Street in Framingham, MA.

Marking 2103 Lives Lost: A Covid Visual Memorial painting is home

My painting from the exhibit "Remembering Together: Marking Lives COVID-19" at the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard in Cambridge, MA has returned home along with the book. 

I did not have an opportunity to go visit the show so I am especially excited to have the book!

My contribution was my mixed media painting "Marking 2103 Lives Lost: A Covid Visual Memorial" which measures 11.25" x 12.5" and was created in 2020.

Marking Lives COVID-19 is a community art project conceived by Concord-based artist Elizabeth Awalt to commemorate the American lives lost to COVID. This exhibition was a realization of the collaborative social media project. Artists were invited to make at least 1,000 “marks” on any surface in any medium, and then post a public photo of the work using the hashtag #markinglivescovid19. Inspired by projects like the AIDS Memorial Quilt, Awalt collected “marks” representing lives lost to COVID-19 in the United States.

On Exhibit: Remembering Together: Marking Lives COVID-19

I am proud to be one of the artists in the exhibit "Remembering Together: Marking Lives COVID-19" at the at the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard in Cambridge, MA through November 19, 2021.

My contribution is my mixed media painting "Marking 2103 Lives Lost: A Covid Visual Memorial" which measures 11.25" x 12.5" and was created in 2020.

Marking Lives COVID-19 is a community art project conceived by Concord-based artist Elizabeth Awalt to commemorate the American lives lost to COVID. This exhibition is a realization of the collaborative social media project. Artists were invited to make at least 1,000 “marks” on any surface in any medium, and then post a public photo of the work using the hashtag #markinglivescovid19. Inspired by projects like the AIDS Memorial Quilt, Awalt collected “marks” representing lives lost to COVID-19 in the United States.

The Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard is located at 415 Main Street, 2nd floor connector gallery in Cambridge, MA.

The Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard hosts the in-person premiere of this meaningful, online, collaborative exhibit. The exhibit will be installed at 415 Main Street in the second-floor connector gallery, which is open to all Broadies. The Broad welcomes the public by appointment weekdays between 10:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m.

For an appointment to view the exhibit contact Deborah Davidson at ddavidso@broadinstitute.org

More information

New Work: Covid Vaccine Prize

Covid Vaccine Prize
mixed media on stiffened fabric
11.5" x 9.75"
2021

The dots in the center panel of this painting represent the day I got my second Covid Vaccine at my local Community Senior Center with 308 others, and also when a dear friend got her first shot at the same location. The white dots represent all my family members and friends who are waiting for theirs.

The white dots on the left and right side panels represent the millions of others across the US who are waiting for their first shot, and the silver dots represent those waiting for their second.

The background fabric is intentionally blue. Now that I’ve had my vaccines, and when I hear of others getting theirs, it feels like we’re all winning first prize, and the future feels brighter.

New Work in Progress

 

New work in progress about my getting my second Covid Vaccine with 308 others, a dear friend getting her first at the same location, and all my friends and family who are still waiting along with millions of others. I hope to be finished in the next few days. I’ll have a better artist’s statement by then as well.

New Work - Covid Vaccine: Unexpected Opportunity

In early February 2021, I took my mother-in-law to get her first Covid vaccine. She was scheduled at the end of the day. When we were getting up to leave after her 15 minute waiting period afterward, a nurse ran up to me and asked if I had gotten mine yet. I replied no because I’m in the last group that will be phased in due to my age. The nurse explained that they had three more doses and they wanted to give me one of them so it didn’t go to waste. Knowing that more than 1,200 doses had already gone to waste across the state of Massachusetts, largely because there weren’t enough people around to get shots when health-care workers got to the bottom of opened vaccine bottles, I agreed to get it. But that was after a lot of texting back and forth with my husband and physician’s assistant neighbor because I felt guilty getting it ahead of friends and family who have medical needs and really need to get it before me.

The 1200 silver oval dots represent the wasted doses before I received my shot. They were made one at a time on a stiffened piece of fabric that has the monoprinted texture of a construction fence that was stitched following the grid.

Construction sites use construction fences as a barrier to keep people out of danger by blocking off the site. The vaccine was developed to help us stay safe from Covid-19.

Covid Vaccine: Unexpected Opportunity measures 10.25" x 10.5".

Marking 2103 Lives Lost: A Covid Visual Memorial

2103 people, who lost their lives due to the pandemic, are represented by each dot on this painting. The dots were made one at a time on a piece of fabric that has the monoprinted texture of a construction fence that was stitched following the warped grid.

Construction sites use construction fences as a barrier to keep people out of danger by blocking off the site. Unfortunately these 2103 people succumbed due to a danger what we can not see.

Marking 2103 Lives Lost: A Covid Visual Memorial is mixed media on stiffened fabric and measures 11.25" x 12.5".

detail

New work: Donating Blood Because I Can't Donate my Second Kidney

 

After donating my left kidney to a woman I don't know in Wisconsin in December 2019, in exchange for the kidney my son received in October 2019, I feel that I want to do more to physically help others during the pandemic, so I decided to give blood, something I haven't done since 2012.

I went to an American Red Cross donation center in August 2020, not knowing that they actually tell you where your blood went.

A few weeks later I received an email that told me that my blood donation was sent to Holy Family Hospital in Methuen MA to help a patient in need. 

That inspired me to not only donate again, but to also create a painting about it. 

Donating Blood Because I Can't Donate my Second Kidney, measures 19” x 23” and is mixed media on stiffened fabric.

New Work Still in Progress: Blood Donation Painting

 

New work still in progress. I did some more work on my blood donation painting. I glued the squares to the base and I sewed three lines of dark red stitches inside each of the empty rows of squares. 

I have more to do, including deciding how to crop it.

I decided to make this painting because after donating my kidney in October 2019, I want to do more to physically help others, and I decided to give blood.

A few weeks after my blood donation, I found out through the Red Cross that my blood was sent to Holy Family Hospital in Methuen MA to help a patient in need.  

That's totally inspired me to donate again. I already have my next appointment scheduled.

There are a few more steps to go before this painting is finished. I hope to get some time in the evenings this week, or sometime next weekend.

New Work in Progress: Blood Donation Painting

I've been working on my blood donation painting, trying different layouts, like this one. I also  experimented with the square shapes tighter, but I think I'll go with this more spread out view.

I decided to make this painting because after donating my kidney in October 2019, I want to do more to physically help others, and I decided to give blood.

 

A few weeks after my blood donation, I found out through the Red Cross that my blood was sent to Holy Family Hospital in Methuen MA to help a patient in need. 

 

That's totally inspired me to donate again. I already have my next appointment scheduled.

The next step in this painting is to attach all the square shapes to the red gridded background. Then additional steps afterward.

Covid restaurant barriers decoration

Nice decoration on the outdoor restaurant Covid patio eating area barriers in Natick Center (in Natick, MA)! There are pictures of all the painted electric boxes represented including mine.

 

New Work: Hoping to Avoid a Second Wave #2

Hoping to Avoid a Second Wave #2

23.25” x 24.5

2020 

The Covid-19 numbers in Massachusetts were pretty low for much of the summer, but started inching up in August as people grow restless and want to socialize and travel in the warm weather. My family and I are being diligent and not taking risks unless we have to, but as I walk around my neighborhood and see big parties, I am filled with a range of feelings about it. This painting is trying to express visually what I'm feeling inside.

The series is created using monoprinted the textures of construction fences, combined with handpainting and stitching on fabric. The top whole cloth layer of the fence is stitched to the drop cloth foundation below. The fence “holes” are cut away so drop cloth pattern can be seen through the fence. The two layers of fabric are then stiffened, cut and shifted to create a fractured design.

More new in progress: Hoping to Avoid a Second Wave #2

These photos show as I cut away the colorful squares of the monoprint of a construction fence, leaving the grid on top of a drop cloth. There is just a little left to do before the next step of cutting and fracturing the whole into pieces, and stitching them back together, to express my feeling about people being reckless during the pandemic.

New Work in Progress, Hoping to Avoid a Second Wave #2

 

I squeezed in some time last week to stitch the top and bottom fabrics together for my new painting, Hoping to Avoid a Second Wave #2. Next step is to cut out the “holes” from the top layer of the monoprinted construction fence fabric to reveal the drop cloth below it. This weekend has been BEAUTIFUL weather, in the 70’s, and I'm trying to be outside as much as possible after being inside during all the heat we just survived. We shall see.

New Work About to be in Progress, Hoping to Avoid a Second Wave #2

This photo shows a colorful monoprint of a construction fence on top of a drop cloth, ready to be stitched together as one to become Hoping to Avoid a Second Wave #2. There’s lots to do and I’m ready to begin.

New Work: Hoping to Avoid a Second Wave #1

The Covid-19 numbers in Massachusetts were pretty low for much of the summer, but started inching up in August as people grow restless and want to socialize and travel in the warm weather. My family and I are being diligent and not taking risks unless we have to, but as I walk around my neighborhood and see big parties, I am filled with a range of feelings about it. This painting is trying to express visually what I'm feeling inside.

This piece is created using monoprinted the texture of a construction fence, combined with handpainting and stitching on fabric. The top whole cloth layer of the fence is stitched to the drop cloth foundation below. The fence “holes” are cut away so drop cloth pattern can be seen through the fence. The two layers of fabric are then stiffened, cut and shifted to create a fractured design.

Hoping to Avoid a Second Wave #1 measures 11.5" x 8.75".

Work in Progress: Hoping to Avoid a Second Wave

I started a new painting, and perhaps a new series, Hoping to Avoid a Second Wave. The Covid-19 numbers in Massachusetts have been pretty low for the past month or so, but are now starting to inch up as people grow restless and want to socialize during the summer. My family and I are still being diligent and not taking risks unless we have to, but as I walk around my neighborhood and see big parties, I am filled with a range of feelings about it. This painting is trying to express visually what I'm feeling inside.

These photos show work in progress, the actual painting so far (above), a photo of the painting a few days ago (bottom) that I printed out, cut up and taped together (below) in an experiment for my next steps before I cut it up and reassemble the actual painting and try not to screw it up.

New Work: Trying to Stay Safe from Germs #5

Trying to Stay Safe from Germs #5 is the fifth (and maybe last) piece in this series, and not as overly geometric as my other work. Maybe it's a new direction and maybe not. We shall see.

Monoprinted textures of construction fences are used to represent how we’re trying to stay safe during the pandemic, similar to how construction sites use construction fences as a barrier to keep people out of danger by blocking off the site. Fabric paint on a drop cloth, which can be seen behind the stitched grid of the fence, represents germs we can not see. 

The top whole cloth layer of the fence is stitched to the drop cloth foundation below. The fence “holes” are cut away so drop cloth pattern can be seen through the fence. The two layers of fabric are then stiffened.

Trying to Stay Safe from Germs #5 measures 21.5” x 23.5”.

Fabric Ready

I've got various stamped drop cloth and monoprinted construction fence pieces of fabric ready to use for a new yet named series. I do have some names I'm considering, one of which is "EEE, and Covid, and Lyme, Oh My!" but I have not figured out how the name will correlate to the imagery. I like the name because it's something I think about everyday this summer now as I go out for a walk, water my garden, and sit by the fire, or just sit, in my backyard.

The detail below is a gem of a find as I gathered the pieces from the stash of fabric in my studio. I have many of these on paper towels but none on fabric. I want to think of something special to do with this random stamping pattern.

Work in Progress: Dates in a Life Project 2020

Here is work in progress through July on my Dates in a Life Project 2020, a year-long painting project documenting the number of steps I walked, and the number of flights of stairs I climbed, each day. I'm 7/12 of the way done.

Since I started working from home because of the Pandemic, I have mostly walked 10,000 steps or more (the red shapes), around 4 miles, each day. In July, I walked over 9000 steps (the big black circles) on 7 days, which I think is also an accomplishment since it's been pretty hot and it's hard for me to walk when it is.

For me, walking is great exercise as well as a stress reducer. I'm going to try to keep this pace up, on hot and humid days, as well as when we have less sunlight as we move toward fall.

One set of marks still not reflected on this painting yet is bike riding. I bought a bike on May 26th after not riding since 1984. I'm still trying to decide how to best make marks reflecting the number of miles I'm riding, in addition the number of steps I walk.

This painting is mixed media on stiffened fabric. I keep track of my steps and flights of stairs using the Pedometer app in my iPhone.