Abstract Art Blog:

Bipolar Dementia Art Chronicles

"I just finished your book; it was compelling and so emotional and candid. I resonated with so many things, from large to small, and thank you for being so honest." --Nancy M. If you are interested in the life of an artist, issues of depression and bipolar disorder, or the challenges of caregiving for elderly parents, I think you will find this book a moving account of one woman's experience with all three.

Click here for more information or purchase from Amazon.com or Barnes & Noble

This month and last have felt like one long holiday: We celebrated Adrian's 80th birthday in November with visits from his four sons. In early December we adopted a two-year-old yellow labrador mix named Nia. Preparing for and adjusting to life with her has been an ongoing adventure.

Last week we celebrated Chanukah with my daughter, her two children, and Nia. We lit the menorah candles, played the dreidel game, and ate potato latkes. Then on Wednesday, Adrian woke up from a disturbing dream feeling dizzy and off balance. We ended up spending the day at the hospital where he was diagnosed as having had a probable TIA, or mini-stroke. He was fine after a few hours and they let him come home the next day.

I had been anxious about not getting to my studio to paint with all the activities going on, but when Adrian had to go to the hospital, my priorities and concerns suddenly changed. Work, including the work of art, takes second place when a loved-one's life is threatened.

Adrian has been feeling fine since, and enjoying long walks with Nia. Yesterday we celebrated Christmas early with my daughter and her family. We're not traveling or planning anything extravagant for the rest of the holidays.

One detail I did accomplish recently was to design an art calendar for 2007 on Zazzle.com, featuring thirteen images of my paintings. It was fairly easy to set up, and I'm pleased with the results. If you are an artist, you might consider designing one yourself.

I see the start of a New Year as a time to reorganize and prioritize what I want to do with the rest of my life. For my art, I want to continue the adventure of traveling as far and as deep as I can, opening myself to possibility and discovery. I'll take the next week to clean up, organize, throw out, and catch up so that I can start 2007 fresh and ready.

Happy holidays and best wishes for an art-filled 2007!

Often in my painting process I find myself lurching from control to looseness and back. It often happens that while I'm working on two paintings, one will have clearly defined, controlled contours, while the other flows freely, loosely, unbound. My nature calls for freedom, and when I reign it in in order to follow a more controlled path, it pulls at the leash.

Both tendencies, control and freedom, are important to my art. I couldn't do one without the other, at least not successfully. But in any single painting, there is often a preponderance of one over the other. Recently as I worked on a commission, I tackled two canvasses at once because I wanted to give my client a choice. I already posted the "controlled version," but here is the alternative vision as I worked on it step-by-step: