Sunday in the Art Room SITAR 7/12/26

  Welcome to

SITAR is about ANYTHING art. Your art, someone else's art, writing, photography, the art of cooking, the art of sewing and textiles. Sharing historical art, street art, a story about art. Do you have a question or need help with art? Write a blog post and link it up here. We will all try to help with it. My only rule is that if someone asks for critique it must be done with generosity and consideration. 

This is a place of learning, encouragement and inspiration.

 

 I'm writing this on Saturday.

 

I had a good day today. Very early this AM I had an hour and a half MRI. From brain to lumbar. I had the best tech taking care of me. I will have the results tomorrow.

After that Mr. M. and I went to the store for a few things and I didn't get tired at all. I can feel the flare letting up. Hurrraaayyy

 

But on with SITAR.

Today I want to tell you about an artists that I have admired for a very long time. 

Miriam Schapiro.

Schariro was born November 15, 1923.

She is widely known as a pioneer of the Women’s Art Movement and a leading force in American post-World War II art. Recognized for her colorful and sensuous abstractions of this period, Schapiro showed regularly at André Emmerich Gallery, where in 1958, she was the first woman to have a solo exhibition. Despite considerable success, she felt an outsider to the male-dominated Abstract Expressionism scene and her work of this period explores themes of feminine interiority.

She moved to California where she invented the term “femmage” to explain her process for creating art, in which she began to combine painting, textiles, and paper into collages.  

 

Miriam Schapiro Interview, 1959 oil on canvas,  

59 1/2h x 54w in

Ahead of her time.

In 1967, Schapiro moved to California where she became a lecturer at University of California San Diego. Here, she was exposed to a scientific community at the university and cool West Coast formalism. Inspired by her coastal, sun-soaked landscape, Schapiro transformed the bright colors, seascapes, and modern architecture of Southern California into monumental hard-edge paintings. Connecting with computer physicists, Schapiro commissioned a custom program that allowed her to transform her hand-drawn shapes through digital manipulation into new distortions, which she then painted.

For Women by Women

Womanhouse (January 30 – February 28, 1972)  Artists chose a dilapidated house in LA destined for demolition and took it over for the installation. Twenty-one women each chose one room to take over for her individual work. The feminist art installation and performance space was organized by Judy Chicago and Miriam Schapiro, co-founders of the California Institute of the Arts (CalArts) Feminist Art Program, and was the first public exhibition of art centered upon female empowerment. Chicago, Schapiro, their students, and women artists from the local community, including Faith Wilding, participated.  Chicago and Schapiro encouraged their students to use consciousness-raising techniques to generate the content of the exhibition.  Together, the students and professors worked to build an environment where women's conventional social roles could be shown, exaggerated, and subverted.

Only women were allowed to view the exhibition on its first day, after which the exhibition was open to all viewers. During the exhibition's duration, it received approximately 10,000 visitors.

I would have loved to be part of this. 

 

Some of the artful rooms. This is actually a doll house. Miriam Schapiro and Sherry Brody, 1972, via Smithsonian American Art Museum

Nurturant Kitchen in Womanhouse by Susan Frazier, Vicki Hodgetts, and Robin Weltsch, 1972, via judychicago.com 

Miriam Schapiro, Mechano/Flower Fan, 1979; Acrylic and fabric collage on paper, 30 x 44 in.; National Museum of Women in the Arts, Gift of MaryRoss Taylor in honor of her mother, Betty S. Abbott; © 2023 Estate of Miriam Schapiro/Artists Rights Society, New York 

 

Miriam Shapiro. Beauty of Summer. Acrylic and fabric on canvas. 1973-74. Collection of Beth Rudin DeWoody, New York. 

 Miriam Schapiro fundamentally changed art for women by elevating domestic crafts such as quilting, lace maing, and embroidery to the status of high art. Operating in a male-dominated mid-century art world, she pioneered feminist art education, co-founded the first Feminist Art Program, and championed the visibility of women's history  

Miriam Schapiro passed away June 20, 2015

I hope you check out more about Mirium and all that she has done for women, not just in art. 
 Nicole 

Womanhouse 

eric firestone gallery

The Collector  

Artnet

 

Friday Face OFF 7/10/26

 

Welcome To Friday Face OFF (FFO)

This is the place to show off your face art.

You know, ANY type of face, nature, the face of a flower, photography, drawings, paintings, AI. There just needs to be a face in your blog post, a link back to my blog and please use the image below. 

Thank you.

Another week of trying to get over this lupus flare. I am getting better everyday but by mid day I'm done in.

With that said, I have not finished any art this week. I have a face almost done and will show that next time. Here is a sketch that I worked on while I was in bed. Still have to put in the hands and some other details.

 

Some AI

 

The same but different

As promised I will show features from June 26 FFO and last weeks.

 

Mia  

Tom

Jeanie

 

Features from last week.

 

Erika

 

Violetta

 

Arnoldo

 

That's it for now 

Be sure to join in for 

Sunday in the Art Room 

 

I will be joining Gillena 

Now it's time to show me your face.

Nicole 

 

Good News

 Hi Everyone!

I'm having blood pressure problems. Too low for me, but the doc says, "Oh that's nothing to worry about." Well, 91/65 may not be anything for him to worry about but it makes me feel horrible. I ate and used salt and I'm feeling better but totally exhausted from my day. lupus sucks the life  out of me. 

I will get over this and be back to my normal soon. 

In the meantime. Last month I wrote about seeing a dentist that wanted to charge me $3,000.00 to fix 2 teeth. I decided to get a second opinion and I'm so happy I did.  

First the dentist office phoned and said they had a cancellation if I wanted to come in early. Oh, yes! The office is literally a 2 minute drive away. As I sat in the big chair the assistant joyfully spoke to me. Dr. Daren, as he likes to be called, showed me the ex rays that were sent over from the last dentist. He did an exam and said, "I can fix this with out removing your crown." I said Ok, I will make an appointment up front." As I'm getting ready to walk out of the exam room the assistant said we can take care of this for you today. I said, "Yes, please" She pulled up the pricing and quoted me, are ready for this? $500.00. OMG! Uhhh yeahhh!!! With the exam and repairing of 2 teeth it took less than an hour. I also purchased some toothpaste for Sjogren's that he recommended. I like this young man and all the people that work there. I made an appt for my next teeth cleaning and canceled the one at the "rip off dentist" 

I know this may seem like such a boring subject but saving this much money is big for me. LOL

Do you have a story where you got a second opinion that worked out well? Let me know in the comments. 

Have a good day

Nicole   

T is for Tuesday 7/7

 Hi Everyone!

 

I had a pretty good day today. I've been resting in my living room chair instead of bed. It's an electric lounger and quite comfortable.

So, I thought I would try to join Elizabeth and Bleubeard today.

Not much has been going on, but before I got lupus sick I took these of the garden. This makes me happy.

 

Mr. M. has been doing the watering. Just another view.

 

One morning Mr. M. came upstairs to show me these photos and that a squash has come up. I put some seeds on the other side of the garden just to see if anything would sprout.  

 

And some carrots are making their way.

 

Mr. M. wanted some homemade bread for his dinner. I instructed him on my easiest recipe and here is what he bake. I'm so proud of him.

The crumb is just perfect and it tasted good too.

 

This is it for me. 

I'm really tired, lupus tired. 

 

I almost forgot I have to show a drink.

I've just been drinking water. This is ice cold, just the way I like it.

Have a great Tuesday.
 Nicole

Monster Monday

 Welcome to

Hi Everyone!

Thank you for all of the well wishes. I'm still not doing very well, but I'm up and out of bed. At this point I can deal with how I feel and try to get back to normal. I will spare you all the details. LOL

 

I created these awhile back. 

Glad I did. 

 

Here are some pretties.
 

 

 That's it for now.

Have a fabulous Monday. 

 Nicole
 

No Sunday in the Art Room SITAR

 Hi Everyone!

I'm cussing at my body because it won't cooperate at all. I'm so sorry there will be no 

Sunday in the Art Room. 

I'll be back as soon as I can.

Nicole
 

 

 

Friday Face Off FFO 7/2/26

 

Welcome To Friday Face OFF (FFO)

This is the place to show off your face art.

You know, ANY type of face, nature, the face of a flower, photography, drawings, paintings, AI. There just needs to be a face in your blog post, a link back to my blog and please use the image below. 

Thank you.

 

Hi Everyone! 

 

It's been a heck of a week and it's not over with yet. For about 2 weeks I could feel a flair coming on. I did all of the things I normally do to either stop it or at least make it bearable to live with. Well, that didn't happen and I have been in bed most of last week. I'm still not doing well but wanted to get FFO up.

Mr. M. made sure I had art supplies while I am in bed. I slept most of the time but did manage to get a face almost finished for FFO. Warning, the photos are not great. Sorry.

She starts with a sketch of her face 

The face is covered with paper because I used charcoal for her hair. 

 

I like the hair but at this stage her face looks pretty freaky. LOL

 

She is starting to come alive.

 

This is the colored version.

 

Here is the black and white.

Either one I do like her smile. I still have to do some shading and correcting so tonal values. All in all I like her. 
 

A few AI that I made months ago.

As for features this week. I will be honest I just didn't have the strength to get on my PC to even look at the wonderful artists that joined in last week. Not to fear, as soon as I can I will be back to commenting. Next Friday I will feature from FFO June 26 and this week  July 2.

I'm heading back to my bed and hopefully tomorrow I will be much better. 

Right now it's your turn to show me your face. 

Nicole