Visit me at the Holiday Open Studios
at the Sawtooth Building 2547 8th Street #31, Berkeley CA
Every Saturday, Sunday December 23 and Monday December 24th
Monday, December 3, 2012
Saturday, November 17, 2012
Holiday Open Studios start Next Weekend!
Holiday open studios start next weekend November 24th.
Berkeley Artisans Holiday Open Studios Berkeley Artisans
I will be there every Saturday through December.
Cards, small works, paintings
Friday, November 2, 2012
Open Studio First Saturday November 3
Join Me For First Saturday Open Studio
This Saturday November 3 at Studio 31, The Sawtooth Building, Berkeley CA
Dia De Los Muertos Small Works, Works on Paper, Wood and Canvas
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| Between the Worlds 2011 oil and gouache on Paper on Canvas |
Wednesday, October 3, 2012
Its that Wonderful Time of Year Again!
Join me at STUDIO 31 at the Sawtooth Building in Berkeley:
Saturday, November 3rd
at 2547 Eighth Street, between Parker and Dwight Way
First Saturday Open Studios,
Celebrating Halloween and Dia De Los Muertos!
Thursday, July 26, 2012
Wednesday, June 13, 2012
Saturday, May 5, 2012
PROARTS OPEN STUDIOS
Join me for Pro Arts Open Studios
June 2-3 and June 9-10 at
Studio 31 In the Sawtooth Building, Berkeley
#71 on the Pro Arts map
I will have a variety of original paintings, prints and cards available for purchase
(Inquiries for commissions always welcome)
For More Art Click HERE
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| "A Goddess Among Gods" Digital Rendering on Canvas |
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| "Magnolia" (Losing Paradise)" 24 X 36 Oil On Canvas |
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| "I Use to Be a Real Turtle" (Alice Series) 18 X 24 Mixed Media on Canvas |
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| "Plumeria" (Losing Paradise)" 24 X 36 Oil on Canvas |
Monday, April 23, 2012
C is for Cassandra:
a cautionary tale
(copyright 2011)
by Christine Rossi
Cassandra was the daughter of Priam and Hecuba the king and queen of ancient Troy, the site of the infamous Trojan War. Already you can see there will be problems…
She had a twin sister, Helenus, who you don’t see mentioned very much in the ancient literature…maybe she wasn’t as cute as Cassandra or as talented or maybe she just didn’t want to be in the limelight.
Legend has it that Apollo gave Cassandra the gift of prophecy; Helenus supposedly had the gift of prophecy too but Apollo didn’t seem interested in her. One story has it that the serpents of Apollo gave both girls the gift of prophecy when Hecuba and Priam forgot about them and
left them asleep in the Temple of Apollo during an outing that included
much drinking and other such activities.
One could surmise many double entendres from this story…
Anyway, Apollo was really in to Cassandra, but Cassandra wouldn’t go out with Apollo….she thinks he’s really cool but not in that way and can’t they just be friends… He is a god and doesn’t do well with rejection so he curses her. She will be able to tell the future but nobody will believe her. What a guy!
Helenus discreetly fades into the background as Cassandra’s problems really begin:
She tells Paris not to judge the beauty contest between the three goddesses, Artemis, Aphrodite and Athena…he doesn’t listen....
She also tells him not to kidnap Helen (no relation to Helenus) from Sparta…he doesn’t listen.
She tells King Priam to send Helen back so Troy won’t be destroyed…Priam doesn’t listen and we have the first epic poem by Homer, The Iliad.
She tells the Trojans to be wary of Greeks bearing gifts (one large horse statue), they don’t listen and we know what happens there…
“There on the threshold of the breach
It jarred to a halt four times, four times the arms
In the belly thrown together made a sound-
Yet on we strove unmindful, deaf and blind
To place the monster on our blessed height.
Then, even then, Cassandra’s lips unsealed
The doom to come: lips by a god’s command Never believed or heeded by the Trojans.”
(The Aenid by Virgil, Fitzgerald Translation)
She seeks solace and refuge at the temple of Athena where she is pursued and kidnapped by Ajax the lesser (he is the lesser for many reasons).
She warns the Greeks not to desecrate the temple... they don’t listen and incur the wrath of
Athena (who had been on their side…dumb Greeks). So Athena gets Poseidon to create a big storm when
they try to return home and we have another epic poem by Homer…The Odyssey.
Back to Cassandra…
Just when you think things can’t get worse, she gets taken by Agamemnon, the King of Mycenae, and made his mistress. She warns him that if he takes her home things will not go well for him or her with his wife Clytemnestra.
From The Trojan Women by Euripedes:
Agamemnon, that famous king of the Achaeans will find in me a bride more vexatious than Helen. For I will slay him and lay waste his home to avenge my father's and my brothers' death. But let that go; I will not tell of that axe which shall sever my neck and the necks of others, or of the conflict ending in a mother's death, which my marriage shall cause, nor of the overthrow of Atreus' house. But I, for all my frenzy, will so far rise above my frantic fit, that I will prove this city happier far than those Achaeans, who for the sake of one woman and one passion have lost a countless army in hunting Helen.
True to form nobody listens. And off they go to Mycnae..
It takes a while to get home to Mycenae and they have a couple of kids on the way.
So guess what happens? They get back to Mycenae and Clytemnestra is really pissed (she doesn’t act it…all gracious and forgiving)…and she has several reasons, Agamemnon killed her previous husband and baby, and she was probably pretty annoyed that he made it back from Troy and was going to take over. Maybe she was jealous of Cassandra too, but who knowswhy she would be!
Whatever her motivation, she gets her lover, Aegisthus to help her kill Agamemnon. Then she chops off Cassandra’s head and has Aegisthus do away with the kids. These actions lend much grist for a series of classic Greek tragedies starring Orestes and Electra, the children of Agamemnon and Clytemnestra.
All this prophecy gone awry was good for the careers of Euripedes and Aeschylus; as well as Homer and Virgil and a whole bunch of other poets and playwrights as well as sculptors and artists.
Just like a Greek Tragedy, Cassandra is still hanging around and still nobody will listen.
Warren Buffet was dubbed the Wall Street Cassandra when he warned that the rise of the Stock Market in the 1990’s was a bubble that would burst.
Nobody listened, and here we are….
The Environmentalist Alan Atkinson claims that we are on an environmental collision course and will be unable to divert disaster, he calls this the “Cassandra dilemma”.
So our friend Al Gore is a major Cassandra because he is so not being listened to and is derided and mocked for his messages…
So it goes…
Wait til we are all eating Soylent Green and we will be wishing somebody paid attention…
Tuesday, March 27, 2012
Selections From Current Project to Be Shown in Brooklyn NY
Prints from my new project "The Fall" have been selected to be shown at the Williamsburg Art and Historical Center in Brooklyn NY the weekend of April 14th and 15th.
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| "He rears from the Burning Pool" (16" X 12" Archival Print on Canvas) |
Three prints from my illustrations for "Paradise Lost" will be on display for the "Paradise Lost Collectors Weekend" coinciding with the 52nd Antiquarian Book Fair being held in New York in April. See below for more information.
Paradise Lost Collectors Weekend
And Antiquarian Books and Art Exhibit
April 14 & 15, 2012
PLUS, The Annual WCIAL Dinner
April 14th Schedule:
2 PM Admission $10: Dr. Robert J. Wickenheiser, major collector of Milton's Paradise Lost books, art and related materials. He will be exhibiting some of his coveted collections.
6 PM $50 Per Person: The Williamsburg Circle of International Arts and Letters Annual Dinner and Open Meeting in the Grand Reception Hall, gorgeously replete with old master paintings and historic displays.
"The Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall have asked me to thank you for your kind invitation to attend a Special Preview on 14th April 2012...and have asked that I pass on their best wishes for the success of the exhibition." Major Pete Flynn, PARA, The Equerry to TRH The Prince of Wales and The Duchess of Cornwall“Thank you for your kind letter of February 6th regarding the Williamsburg Circle of International Arts and letters. I am pleased and grateful to be invited to the first event on April 14th...I am sure it will be a great success." Thomas P. Campbell, Director, Metropolitan Museum of Art
ALL DAY:
A Special Display of Terrance Lindall's
GOLD ILLUMINATED PARADISE LOST ELEPHANT FOLIO
The Paradise Lost Elephant Folio is a hand-embellished and gold illuminated 13 x 19 inch book containing 14 full-page color 1000 dpi prints with 23.75 carat gold leaf hand painted pictorial borders on Crane archival paper.
“ ‘The Paradise Lost Elephant Folio,’ …is amazing; it is the culmination of Terrance Lindall’s life’s devotion to Milton, to Paradise Lost, and to all that Milton represents and his great epic means. Because of Lindall’s supreme dedication and artistic achievements, Milton will live in yet another new age, brought to life in refreshingly new ways, made “relevant” in remarkably profound ways. Because of Terrance Lindall, great new numbers of readers will be attracted to Milton and his profound epic than would otherwise, most assuredly, have been the case.” Dr. Robert J. Wickenheiser
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ALSO CONTEMPORARY
PARADISE LOST ART EXHIBITS
Featured artists:
Bienvenido Bones Banez Jr., Robert Beal & Dario Rivarossa
Guest Artists:
Miya Ando, Stephen Auslender, Alan F. Beck, Philip Catania, Troy Frantz, Jacek Gulla, Amy Hertog, Janet Hoffman, Estelle Levy, John Lloyd, Mark Mullfinger, Christine Rossi, Larry Scaturro, Agniezka Szyfter, Torie Tiffany, Jania Vanderwerff, Courtney Lee Weida
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Monday, February 27, 2012
Elements for New Project: THE FALL
Sunday, January 29, 2012
REVIEW FROM ALAMEDA PAPER ON THE MAGIC BOOK !
The Alameda Journal reviews THE MAGIC BOOK, read the review!
Another reception is scheduled for February 10th, Friday from 6 to 9PM
Part of the Estuary Art Attack!
C is for Cassandra, altered book and accompanying paintings are on display
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| "The Fate of the Nightengale" Oil on Canvas |
Saturday, January 14, 2012
Working on New Story...
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| Sun Wheel |
Finding the proper vehicle that will resonate is the challenge.
I worried that Cassandra would not find an audience, but there was a lot of lively discussion over the paintings and the altered book last night at Rhythmix Cultural Center. Thanks to d'arci Bruno for including my work in the show.
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| Isis Searches for Osiris |
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| Ignorance Swallows Hope |
Thursday, January 12, 2012
The Magic Book at Rhythmix Cultural Center this Friday, Jan. 13 2012
K Gallery @ Rhythmix Cultural Works
2513 Blanding Ave., Alameda, CA
| Books hold information, stories, feelings, and history. Artists create new experiences by altering old books or binding new materials together in ways that take these beloved everyday objects into the realm of Magic! Featuring handmade and altered books, book related paintings, crafts, sculpture and photographs. See my Cassandra Series and the accompanying Altered Book. Party starts at 6 and goes til 9PM! |
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