AS SEEN IN THE NEW YORKER

Japanese School Children                 Lois Heeney Bajor

  The other day I ran across an old review of an art exhibit at the National Museum of Women in the Arts.  The author  Peter Schjeldahl , was referencing a retrospective exhibit featuring the work of "Grandma Moses".  

He made a plea that the show was flawless but for the fact that the artist should be given the respect of being addressed by her proper name, Anna Mary Robertson Moses, painter.  Indeed, Anna Mary signed her work, Moses, not Grandma Moses.  He pointed out that she was the equal of Jackson Pollack in notoriety and desireability in her times.  Her age seemed to be both her attractor and detractor.

Her work was seen to be alienated and childlike . charming and naieve.  

Anna Mary, you give me courage. 

 

 

Read more http://www.newyorker.com/archive/2001/05/28/010528craw_artworld#ixzz1bnWGHbtq

 May 28, 2001 " childlike and alienated qualities" 

 

These days we seem to categorize everything and everybody.  In many ways it simplifies and consolidates a complicated universe.

 

SOMEONE LIKE YOU

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CAN'T GET THAT SONG OUT OF MY HEAD

The business of art can be a real distraction.  I love dealing with clients that know exactly what they like.  It makes my job as a creative person so much more fun.  When someone has seen my website loisbajor.com  
and gives me some well thought out feedback, it opens  new paths in my creative process.

People that collect art are many times not who you  expect them to be.  I am often surprised at what someone sees in a painting.  They are as creative and imaginative as the artist.

After the picture is painted it no longer is what the artist intended.  It becomes what the collector desires.  Art exists more in the perception than the reality.  Who am I to tell someone like you what is right in front of your eyes?

9/11 MEMORIAL SERVICE HIGHLANDS N.J.

One week ago today I was dreading the 9/11 Memorial Service that was to be held in our town park.  We were to view two beautiful marble statues and stones with the names of all the deceased carved into 4 stones large half boulders.  This was created by the artist Steven Shaheen and the Memoria Project.  There was also displayed a a twisted steel artifact given to the town by the World Trade Center Museum.

Being reminded of this tragic day and the part our town played in the recovery  was not something I looked forward to.

I went anyway, and it was a beautiful ceremony.  The town really rose to the occasion.

As an artist I am keenly aware of the affect visual reminders have on people.  I needed to create my own tribute painting to resolve this matter in my heart.  Above is my watercolor pictorial of the day.  After 9/11 itself I created an oil on canvas painting that is now displayed in the gallery of the
National September 11th Memorial Museum online  at

http://registry.national911memorial.org/view_artist.php?aid=254

Two Boys Seabright Evening of 9/11

WHAT I FOUND IN THE MESS

While cleaning up after hurricane Irene I came upon a soggy plastic bag containing  crocheted doillys.   In the work of rescuing and  washing  I had time to consider them more fully.

Those doillys  were part of the creative legacy passed on to me from my grandmother, Jennifer Citarella.
As I  lay them in the sun to dry, blocking and arranging them I could picture her hands doing the very same thing.  Those hands that spent their evenings crocheting while watching professional wrestling on her 14 inch TV.  I remember she created table clothes and bedspreads and many delicate and intricate things of beauty.

How did those items get relegated to a plastic bag?

Clearly there was much joy in their creation, all unique and beautifully thought out.  Hand made gifts for her progeny.  Doillys may be out of fashion, but her gift of creativity has been passed on.

Thanks Grandma.

TRYING TO GET BACK IN SWING

                                                            Sunflower House                                             Watercolor 16x20
So, my studio made it through the storm in tatters.  Before we evacuated I removed all my work and almost everything of value.  I am fortunate in that respect.
Everything else needs to be reorganized and rearranged.  Two and half feet of flooding makes for a little bit of a mess.  I feel confused and sad when I try to make some headway.  Baby steps are the only way to move forward.

I am working on a fun little painting.  I passed a house in Long Branch yesterday.  The owner had planted giant sunflowers around the perimeter of the front yard.  It looked like it belonged in a storybook.  I just had to get out and take a picture.  Guess what!  The actual photo was no match for what I had in my head.  I just know I can improve on mother nature for this little picture.