Thinking in Circles

I just returned to the Grail this past Saturday to visit the show with my family. Despite the wet weather this summer, the work is holding up well. (En)Compass looks like it has been visited by many a wild critter and perhaps slept in or rolled upon, shuffled through and certainly walked around. There is a nice trampled path around the piece...I imagine the wild woman of the woods coming to visit for a game of ring around the rosey. I certainly played it with my son and parents on our visit. This piece, the visit with my family and our new theme has me thinking of cycles...life cycles in particular and the cyclical nature of well, Nature in general. Maybe it's my summer of stay-at-home-mom-dom sneaking in as well. It's generally assumed that women want to be mother's and reproduce...create a lineage and legacy. I have to admit that this wasn't a particular goal of mine before having a child, and I often scoffed at those who pressured themselves to produce "heirs" by a certain age. As a mother, I now understand (a little better) where these women were coming from. There is something incredibly beautiful (not to mention) powerful about being able to create life. It does link a woman to something deeper...primordial...ancient...No wonder we were worshipped once upon a time! Yes, Gaia, Demeter, Athena, Changing Woman, Grandmother Spider...she is in us.

I have been rereading two books "Women Who Run with the Wolves" and "Ceremony" to reconnect with the wild woman archetype. I haven't had much studio time in this "Summer of Cy" but I'm looking forward to exploring this new theme.

Meghan's Research...

... or lack there of.
Okay, so I admit it, I haven't spent a lot of time researching the Stillman's or archetypes the last few weeks. I took a look at the painting of the sisters at The Brooklyn Museum


Other than that I've been doing some mental research. I've been thinking about dichotomy's and 2 halves to a whole and those sort of thoughts that were all inspired by the sisters painting, and by knowing the one sister went on to be Thayers' model of an angel in his later work. So I've been thinking about good and evil, heaven and hell, left and right.

But I am looking forward to finding out more about the sisters. I can't wait for our historical society trip!
But one thing I haven't been able to find: what were the sisters names? I'm guessing one was Bessie G. Stillman, but that is only speculation.

So, I don't have much to report right now.  I just returned for teaching art summer camp in Pennsylvania.  That was a great experience and I hope to develop something career-wise from it BUT I can't wait to get started on our new project.

 ARCHETYPES based on STILLMAN SISTERS 

I must admit I have not done any research or had the chance to read any of the other member's research but I can say, the Stillman Sisters at one time owned the estate the Grail at Cornwall-on-Hudson is now located.  They have been refer to as "spinsters" yet seem to be very inspiring women.  Who were very involved in the arts.  Just my kind of ladies!

I would also like to report I spoke to my sister, Heather Sincavage-another one of our members, and she is working very hard to include us, One Stone Collective, in the women's identity events she is working on in conjunction with Lehigh University.  All of her programming will be going on during Women's History month, April, in Bethlehem, PA.  Heather was looking for a possible venue for us to be able to show our new works for that month.  That means, if this happens, we need to get our works together by the 3rd week of March so we can get into all the publicity and set up our works and hopefully put together a formal show brochure.  All of this is still pending and Heather is waiting to see if a budget is approved.  Once the school year begins we should know more on this front...

One more thing, Heather missed our last meeting because she was at an incredible women's funeral, Bernadette Cozat.  Heather had worked with Bernadette and 21 other women to create a piece/grant regarding their identities.  While meeting with this particular women, she had mentioned opening a lecture for a women's group in NYC kinda like this:

 "If you cannot look within the mirror and see Isis, Gaia, Athena or any goddess then it is time to find her.  It is not until YOU see your divinity that other people can recognize it."

Peace.

Our First

We did it!  Our first show is now officially under our belts.  Thank goodness for family and friends who helped us work late into the night and woke up early the day of the show so that everything was done (mostly) in time.  The show is up until the end of August so if you're in the neighborhood stop on by.  Here's a peek at what you'll see:

FIRST YOU'LL WANDER IN THE WOODS

There you may come upon, Merissa's piece "Burning Bridges" under an archway.  

Corey's Piece "(En)compass will emerge behind the stone wall, in the area that used to be a carriage house.

Felted circles - sails in the distance beckon.

Meghan's piece "Reminiscence of a Journey" winds it's way through the woods.

Marcie's piece "And it Lead her Straight to the Heart of Boo's Tree" 

is waiting for you to peak inside.

Marcie's piece "And When He Fell in Love with the Sea, She Sewed for Him Sails of Indigo" catches wind but can never set sail.

AND WHEN YOU FIND YOURSELF INSIDE A GARDEN SHED GALLERY

Katrina's piece, "The Red Sweater" sits on a shelf, patiently waiting for you.

Massie's piece, "Moral Compass" stands sentinel.

Timi and Carolyn's piece, asks you to stay awhile and read a little story.

And Meghan's piece, sums it all up.  

Pick your compass - it's how you begin.

With love, from a group of "wanna be and sometimes just about making it" superheros.

The One Stone Collective at The Grail.

So here is a little photo introduction to COMPASS, and to the Grail property generally. This weekend Corey, Merissa, and Meghan came up and installed their pieces, and over the next week the rest of the pieces will go up--draped in the trees, installed in the old garden shed. Already it's a magical experience, walking these grounds. Take a look!

Compass: Viewing Hours

Our First Show, Compass will be on view at The Grail from Saturday June 27th through Saturday August 29th.

Opening Reception:
Saturday June 27th Noon to 6pm
Join us for Live Music From the NYC Go Girls sponsored by Imperial Guitar & Soundworks
Bring a Picnic, water will be for sale.

Regular show hours are from 11-6 daily for the duration

Press Release

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Carolyn Turgeon

The One Stone Collective at the Grail in Cornwall-on-Hudson Announces Its Inaugural Art Show:

COMPASS,

Opening July 27, 2009

12 - 6pm at the Grail in Cornwall-on-Hudson

The One Stone Collective is made up of nine women artists from around the country working in various media. For their first show, they’ve collaborated to create fine art pieces around “compass,” an intentionally broad theme that has inspired work as disparate as enormous denim sails covered with ancient mariner imagery, industrial felt strips looped to create a series of spirals that “scribe a compass,” an oversized knotted net inspired by traditional red map lines, a Byzantine-style self-portrait on lacquered silk, a mechanized gyroscope attached to a Greek-style bust, a written fairytale about a girl with “a compass for a heart,” and a papier-mache and ceramic-shard winged sculpture inspired by this story.

Sponsored by the Grail, an international organization with a long history of providing spaces for women to create art, and held at the Grail in Cornwall-on-Hudson, New York (located at 119 Duncan Avenue), the show is site-specific. The Grail at Cornwall is situated on 45 pristine acres in the Hudson River Valley. Nets will be draped through honey locust trees in the woods, artwork will swing in the archway of early 1800s ruins, sails will hang in one of the meadows on the property, sculptures will be displayed in outdoor garden shed, and small pieces will jut from holes in the oak trees along the path that leads to the ruins. The June 27 opening will feature live music provided by GO GIRLS NYC and sponsored by Imperial Guitar & Soundworks of Newburgh, a reading by Collective member Carolyn Turgeon, a raffle and prizes, and other activities. The exhibit will remain up until mid August.