It wouldn’t be right to post this week without first extending a warm thank you to all of you who have taken a moment over these past two years, many of you faithfully each week, to read Eye of the Needle. I hope that by the time you get to this week’s entry your cooking chores will be well behind you and you are heading back to your studio — or perhaps taking a moment to put your feet up and just digest. And in that case, perhaps the following suggestion might be of interest.
White Cup 5 ©2016 Elizabeth Fram These cup and saucer sketches are becoming more and more about an abstracted composition of shape and value, and less about portraying an object
I recently came across The Memory Palace, a storytelling podcast by Nate DiMeo. He has created almost 100 episodes, and as the current MetLiveArts Artist in Residence at the Metropolitan Museum in NYC, DiMeo is producing 10 more episodes “interrogating the collection to draw out the revealing secrets and stories of the art”. He dives into details, fleshing out the stories behind the artists, their works and the times in which they were created. I’m envious of anyone who will be visiting the Met and can listen in the presence of the works as he describes them. Follow this link to learn more and to hear the 3 episodes that have been completed so far. In DiMeo’s words:
“I come across something from the past — in a novel, during a museum visit, in a documentary, in some listicle on some website…that moves me, that makes me want to know more, and I go off and research it. The writing and production process, in a very real way, is all about me figuring out how to move the listener in the same way that I was moved”.
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And finally, to switch gears entirely, those of you who know me well know that I am the definition of social-media-phobic. Always late to any trend, I have taken the leap and opened an Instagram account (elizabeth_fram) this week. I invite you to follow me for a behind-the-scenes look at my day-to-day in the studio.
Best wishes for a Happy Thanksgiving weekend…