Thursday, February 9, 2012

Cursive

When I was a little girl, before writing was invented, or at least before anyone taught me handwriting, I’d sit with lined paper making marks, writing secrets that no one could read. I was writing in my own personal cursive. It looked like the writing I saw big people doing; mysterious and exciting.
Last spring I went back into my childhood and did a painting with imaginary script written on a curve with a rubber-tipped tool. I carved imaginary words into the surface of the wet oil paint. That painting and three others were in a group show at Scharolette Chappell’s Gateway Gallery in Oak Park.

"Cursive" 30"x30" oil on canvas

During the show, people asked me if the writing on the painting was Arabic. Since Arabic was one of the earliest alphabets, it tickled me that my pretend cursive, my earliest handwriting, looked Arabic. People asked me what it said. That made my heart go bumpity-bump. When I was a little kid no one ever asked me what my writing said. 

Every year the Scarab Club in Detroit has a special show for women. Marilyn Zimmerman is curating "2012 Women Image Color". Treena Flannery Ericson (Gallery Director of the Scarab Club) came over last night and selected ten paintings (including “Cursive”) that she wants to add to the show. Treena’s a delightful, bubbling, down to earth woman. I think she knows every artist in town - and remembers everyone’s name and their work. Can you imagine how exciting it was to get a call saying she wanted my paintings? Wow. I‘m feeling very humbled and honored.

Here are the participating artists in the exhibit:

Diana Alva
Lynn Arbor
Rhiannon Chester
Jenny Chope
Joan Farago
Anne Fracassa
Linda Mendelson
Gilda Snowden
Lois Teicher
S. Kay Young

Anyway, if you’d like to come see the show, here’s the skinny:

The Scarab Club, 217 Farnsworth St, Detroit, MI 48202
Artist reception: Friday, February 17,  6-9 pm
Crone Celebration (Closing reception): Friday, March 23, 6-9 pm
Linda Mendelson and Lois Teicher will be honorees.

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Update: I’m still pretending to be a writer. The memoir is coming along, growing ... some day, some day, some day, it’ll be a real book. I'm still wishing and Geppetto's still carving. 

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One other thing — everything on this blog is copyrighted. 
Copyright © 2012 Lynn Arbor
So don't be a copycat. Do your own stuff. 
Thank you. 

1 comment:

  1. What a happy surprise to find this new entry!!
    I thought that I had invented cursive-----maybe we all did.


    See you at the Scarab Club.

    Ann A.

    ReplyDelete

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