JoAnne Tucker shares her experiences in dance from directly a modern dance company to leading movement activities for women in prison and domestic violence survivors.
When we were living in Tallahassee back in the 1980’s with young children, Maggie helped to take care of Julie and Rachel after school while I was busy at The Creative Dance Center. Later she would dance in The Avodah Dance Ensemble. We lost touch with each other for a number of years. Then a few years ago she moved to Santa Fe and we reconnected. She and her husband Bill were helping us as we got ready to leave for Costa Rica. Maggie had bought some of my art and was enthusiastic about both my art and Murray’s photography. Over the years Murray and I had created quite a lot, and after making it available for sale in Santa Fe, we weren’t sure what to do with what was left . In some discussions with Maggie and Bill the idea emerged that she and Bill would take the remaining collection with the instructions “to use it to benefit The Peaceful Project,” a non-profit organization whose mission is meaningful to us.
The Peaceful Project’s mission is “to inspire individuals to foster peaceful relationships based on personal responsibility, collaboration, and leadership.” Here’s a link to their website. (https://www.thepeacefulproject.org)
The original plans were to do a special fundraiser where our art would be available for sale. Instead, it is being done virtually! Here what Maggie has sent out:
You may have received an email asking you to save a date in April for a special fundraiser for The Peaceful Project, The Art of Peace. Instead – with our current world of social distancing – we are going to get the ball rolling right now and do a part of it virtually! This will open up the event to an even wider audience than those who could attend a live event in Santa Fe. Instead of distancing, connect with art!
This all began when friends JoAnne and Murray Tucker generously
gifted me with a delightful collection of JoAnne’s art and Murray’s
photography. Their instructions were “to use it to benefit The
Peaceful Project”. So we are!
Moving to Costa Rica, I brought a few watercolor supplies with me and thought that I might like to experiment with this medium. When I saw that Eric Rhoads had put together an event called Watercolor Live. I decided to check it out so that I might learn some basic skills! The first day was for beginners and then there were three days that followed, pitched to all levels of watercolor painters. I definitely was a beginner so I knew that I would sign up for the first day, and then I thought why not just sign up for the full event? I am so glad that I did.
First of all, I was familiar with the quality of events that Eric Rhoads puts together, having attended a Plein Air 4-day event in Santa Fe held at Buffalo Thunder a few years before. I had learned a lot and thoroughly enjoyed it. The artists that he put together for the event were first rate and I was familiar with several of them prior to attending. In December I spent some time at the website for Watercolor Live where I could see the excellent quality of artists who would be demonstrating during the 4 days of the virtual event[.
There were so many pluses for signing up. First of all there was no way that I could attend any kind of live art event, even here in Costa Rica, because of COVID!! Second, I was getting frustrated with my limited knowledge, and so far my watercoloring was limited to making very simple Christmas cards for friends and workers here in Costa Rica. Third, I was hungry for some stimulation. My husband, Murray, had passed away in the fall and so much time was being spent on handling business things that needed to be done, that a change of pace was definitely important.
So I signed up and wow what an excellent experience. I loved spending four days from 10 AM to 10 PM just thinking about ART. It was non-stop and only occasionally did I pause to take a quick swim in the pool or to walk around the house a bit. I was mesmerized by the variety of different demonstrations. There are three options for buying the event. I had selected the middle option where I can go back and replay segments for 60 days. I am satisfied with that choice as there are quite a few sections that (although interesting) I have little desire to replay, but there are quite a few that I look forward to going back to and watching maybe several times. Beside the formal demonstrations there were other elements that stood out for me.
Suppliers of watercolor brushes, paper and paint presented segments too. And they weren’t just commercials. Instead, they often had an artist explain a technique or show how a product could be used. The first day began with basics about Understanding Materials. It was a perfect way to begin and even more important, it introduced me to Birgit O’Connor, whose floral watercolor paintings are breathtaking. She offers online courses that I might consider taking, down the road. The next session, by Kim Minichelle, related to color mixing and working with a limited palate, and was also very on target. Shuang Li’s demonstration on basic washes was one of the few demonstrations where I decided to paint along with her as she demonstrated. I did of course spend time later working on some of her techniques and have used them in the beginning paintings I have done. Another highlight from the first day was a critique session led by Antonio Masi. As he commented on some watercolor paintings that participants had submitted I realized what had been bothering me about an oil painting that I had almost completed but which I knew had problems!! That evening I figured out what I needed to do to improve the composition of an oil painting inspired by several orchids and while I didn’t get to it until after the four-day workshop was over, the key to solving the problem was learned in Masi’s critiquing session.
Oil painting inspired by several orchids Completed February 2021 after hearing Masi’s critique session.
In fact, one of the best things about the workshop was that it wasn’t only about watercolor paintings; it was about art in general. I was constantly reminded how important it is to continue to work on my sketching skills and to regularly evaluate the composition of my paintings. Also stressed was the importance of spending two hours a day painting even when not inspired.
One of the things that doesn’t work for me and which even now I have no desire to do, is to paint along or copy someone’s painting. I am sure that one can learn techniques in doing this but it is an uncomfortable exercise for me. My preference is to watch and see what I can take away and maybe explore as one aspect or new technique of the painting and then to apply it to my own compositions. I will continue to do that over the next few weeks as I replay. I am also thrilled to have so many good painters’ websites to explore.
Each day there were breakout groups of about 8 people, where for about 25 minutes we could meet other participants from around the world. We could learn about what kind of work they were doing and sometimes see examples of their art work. Most of the break sessions were good but occasionally someone dominated and that took away from a real sharing. We were regularly warned about not doing that. On the whole most people were respectful and I felt it was valuable to participate. I attended almost all of the 8 breakout groups that took place, spread out during the 4 days.
Another very nice element of the event was that all of the demonstration had been pre-recorded and the artist participated in a chat so that students could ask questions during the demonstration, similar to what happens if one is attending a live event!
During the three days of the regular event there was a great variety of presentations, from portrait painting, landscape both plein air and from photographs, cityscapes and a final seascape from well known Australian painter Joseph Zbukvic, truly a master! It was exciting to see so many different techniques and so many fine painters.
Just as I know from my dance days how important it is to be totally immersed in dance, so I felt that same energy being engaged in art even though it was virtual. I came away refreshed and inspired and already I can see a big difference in how I am working in the medium of watercolor.
I highly recommend participating in the events that Eric Rhoads puts together. He just recently had to cancel this year’s Plein Air event scheduled to meet in Denver, for the second year in a row. He had already put together a virtual plein air event (https://pleinairlive.com/2021-register) that was going to be held anyway based on the enthusiasm of last year’s participants. That is the next main event he has planned. In addition to planning this virtual event he has held daily events for artists through the pandemic called Live With Eric Rhoads. Participating when they are happening can be done via Facebook and there are replays available at YouTube at Streamline Art Video Channel.
Eric is a real gift to artists as he has really figured out ways to reach artists during COVID and as a result is getting a worldwide following. He is himself a studio and plein air painter who has made his living as publisher of PleinAir magazine and Fine Art Connoisseur magazine as well as publishing a series of videos, putting on conferences, and writing his own book related to art marketing. At the end of each day he held a “virtual cocktail party” via Zoom where he talked to different participants. A setup was also available so that one could paint at this time as well! I enjoyed doing that the first day and had fun when he called on me to share what I was painting and where I was from. It was fun to share I was in Costa Rica and learn of his enthusiasm for possibly bringing a group to paint in Costa Rica. Right now he has a tour planned for Russia.
To conclude I share two recent watercolor paintings I have done, inspired by views here on the property. A big leap from the little Xmas cards I had been doing. I look forward to seeing where my skills go as I study the sessions and learn more techniques I can incorporate into my landscape paintings inspired by the beautiful property I am very grateful to live on.
View 1 from the Property Completed February 2021
View 2 from the Property Completed February 2, 2021
Nine months ago, I had never heard of the word “Ekphrastic.” In an Introduction to Poetry class that I took last fall, I learned that the word means “description” in Greek. According to The Poetry Foundation:
An ekphrastic poem is a vivid description of a scene or, more commonly, a work of art. Through the imaginative act of narrating and reflecting on the “action” of a painting or sculpture, the poet may amplify and expand its meaning. A notable example is Ode on a Grecian Urn, in which the poet John Keats speculates on the identity of the lovers who appear to dance and play music, simultaneously frozen in time and in perpetual motion. https://www.poetryfoundation.org/learn/glossary-terms/ekphrasis
We were assigned to write an ekphrastic poem, and I had fun writing mine inspired by Georgia O’Keefe’s Abstract White Rose, 1927. Here’s a link where you can see the painting: https://www.georgiaokeeffe.net/abstraction-white-rose.jsp
A Single White Rose
Petals curling and blending
Into each other. Unclear
Where one begins
And the other ends.
Grays become white
And white becomes grays
With a touch of yellow
Or maybe lavender or blue.
Circling into the center
And then back out again.
Like breathing in and
Catching one’s breath
And breathing out again.
Curving, circling, catching,
Breathing, weeping, centering,
A single white rose
Awakens a sadness
Deep within.
A second poetry course followed, led by Pam Wax, and later I showed her this poem and appreciated her feedback, which helped me to edit the poem to the version I just shared. Pam also talked about ekphrastic poetry and told us about Rattle, an online website with the mission of promoting the practice of poetry. Each month Rattle has an Ekphrastic Challenge where they share a piece of artwork and invite poets to submit poems inspired by the visual image. The artist whose artwork is featured gets to select a favorite poem, as does the editor, Timothy Green. I was fascinated and enjoyed exploring the website, seeing different artwork and the winning responses. As I continued exploring, I came across a request for artists to submit artwork for the Ekphrastic Challenge. Twelve pieces would be selected for the coming year.
Soon I was browsing through digital images of my artwork and came up with five pieces I thought might inspire poems. What a delight to get an email a few weeks later that The Kitchen Goddess had been selected for the February challenge.
In mid-March I received an email from Tim with an attachment that had 25 poems for me to select from. While 455 poems had been submitted, Tim had chosen just 25 for me to read. I read and reread the twenty-five submissions, and clearly one kept standing out to me. Before making my final decision, I went back and read them all again to see if I would change my mind. Here is what I wrote about my experience and the poem I selected, The Rebirth of Venus by Luisa Giulianetti:
I was delighted and surprised at the range of emotions and different journeys that were expressed in the poems which I reviewed. The pastel painting was part of a show calling for work on the theme of the kitchen goddess. I approached the painting from a whimsical point of view placing a dancer in a frying pan. The poem that I have selected captures the playfulness of the painting. It is called The Rebirth of Venus and the opening lines refer back to the painting Birth of Venus by Botticelli. I have fond memories of seeing that painting when I visited the Uffizi Gallery in Florence. I laughed with delight with the phrase ‘found new digs.’ While the Botticelli painting was not on my mind when I created my kitchen goddess, the reference shows how two paintings inspired the poem, and I love that. In the poem, the poet has the dancing goddess opening a scallop and of course the original Venus is standing in a scallop shell. In addition, the poet also captured so well the feeling of the dancer in the kitchen ‘reigning supreme.’
Mostly Dance’s editor, Kezia Gleckman Hayman, was with me when I saw the painting Birth of Venus. We had spent time in Italy setting some of Avodah Dance Ensemble’s repertory on local dancers for a Jewish Film Festival. When our work was done we had a few fun-filled days sightseeing in Florence. Kezia reminded me that we were so fascinated with the painting that we went back to view it a second time. Here’s a link to see the Birth of Venus:https://www.uffizi.it/en/artworks/birth-of-venus
I was curious which poem the editor would choose, and I had to wait almost a week until it was published also as a poem of the day on March 30, 2023. He chose Joy by Melissa Madenski.
Comment from the editor, Timothy Green: “The best ekphrastic poems expand on their source image, pushing the experience in a new direction. Joy does that by finding all-too real grounding for the rich symbolism of JoAnne Tucker’s painting. Rather than describe the woman dancing in the frying pan, the poem describes the emotion she represents—and through the otherwise unrelated metaphor of the train. As a result, the poem enriches the painting while the painting enriches the poem, as if the two pieces of art were bound in their own dance together, exploring the complex transition from the darkness of grief back to the brightness of joy.”
I was fascinated by his selection and that he focused on the emotion my Kitchen Goddess represented.
I encourage Mostly Dance readers to follow the link to the poems and not only to read them but to hear the poet read them. It adds another dimension. I am most grateful to Timothy Green for selecting The Kitchen Goddess for the February Ekphrastic Challenge, as it was fun, and an excellent learning experience. I look forward to following the Ekphrastic Challenges each month and reading the selected poems. I might even get brave enough to write a poem and submit it.
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