New Art for 2009

I have been asked to participate in the Demuth Museum's 2009 Invitational exhibition, A Novel Approach: Literary Inspiration, which will be on view March 7 - April 26, 2009. The assignment is to create a piece based on a work of literature. I selected The Autobiography of Alice B. Toklas by Getrude Stein. It is an assemblage/collage work that I have placed in an old desk drawer.

Information about the museum and the exhibition can be found at: http://www.demuth.org/

Animals on the farm

We no longer have a small flock of sheep here at the farm. Dan's health problems made it difficult to do the heavy work involved which left me as the only farm hand. As I told him at the time, "I am willing to do a lot of work around here, but I do NOT wrestle sheep!" After we sold the flock we learned that the life threatening bacterial blood infection that had invaded Dan's body may have been a result of handling newborn sheep. Although the sheep came with the farm when the Backenstoses bought it, the tradition has come to an end.

These latest pictures serve as documentation that a person can change...in this case, my dear husband has become a cat person! Here is a picture of our latest addition, Puffin, about 10 weeks or so. She was a skinny little feral baby that Dan rescued from the cold several weeks ago. She makes number 3 of our "house" cats. She is currently living in Dan's shop but once she is a little bigger, she will probably reside with Khumir in my studio which is much warmer and sunnier. "King" Noir (a black feral kitten we rescued about 18 months ago) is the privileged fellow who actually lives in the house (and Dan said he'd never have a pet in his home!!).

Seasons Greetings from

Buffalo Springs Farm 2008
Dan and I are feeling truly blessed this holiday season. 2008 was truly a year of challenges. This time last year Dan spent the holidays in a wheelchair in a nursing home. Thanks to medical care and sheer tenacity (on both our parts), this December finds Dan on his feet and puttering in his shop on his beloved farm. Thanks for all our friends' prayers and well wishes. What a difference a year can make!!

We are both now "retired" and operate on the belief that now is the time to do the things we want to do. In Dan's case this translates as spending most of his time either working around the property or in the shop creating his artistic expressions in wood. For me the studio and the garden (in season) beckon. Probably my most difficult retirement task is occasionally coercing Dan into leaving the farm for some kind of adventure that requires leaving not only the property but even Lebanon county! Those who know him well know what I mean!! We've made a few trips to art museums this year and I'm campaigning for more trips in the next.

So here's wishing health and happiness to all in the new year.

Love and peace,
Teri and Dan

Simple Twist of Fate

It's time once again for an entry to the Lancaster Summer Arts Festival’s annual exhibition at the Lancaster Museum of Art. I have had a piece in this exhibit each year for almost 20 years and it just wouldn't seem right without an entry. Last year's was a departure from the collage work I am best known for; however, this year I am back to my familiar narrative mixed media collage. This one is called "Simple Twist of Fate." As to the narrative, the viewer is welcome to "fill in the blanks," although I am happy to discuss my version of the story if asked.

Check out the Lancaster Museum of Art website at http://www.lmapa.org/about.html for more information about the 45th Annual Open Art Award Exhibit from June 2-July 29, 2007.

Women's Expressions 2007

I have been invited once again to participate in Women's Expressions, an art event sponsored by Lancaster General Women & Babies Hospital. The monies raised from this year's gala and art auction are used for women's health programs. I have entered one of my fraktur-inspired acrylic and beeswax pieces, Eternal Flame.

There will be a Community Open House on Sunday, April 1st., 2:00 - 5:00 pm at Women & Babies Hospital. The exhibit will be on display at the hospital for three weeks. The work will then be sold at the gala fundraising event on Saturday, April 21st.

For more information , check out their website at www.LancasterGeneral.org/ArtEvent .

The Snow Geese are here!

Dan and I visited the Middle Creek Wildlife Management area near our farm (approximately 5 miles away) this afternoon to see our late winter visitors, the migrating Snow Geese. We were told by the park ranger that there are 180,000 this year, an unusually high number. Apparently they are reproducing and surviving at a fast rate. In fact, hunting them is allowed here to thin out the flock. ( I saw a Snow Goose recipe book for sale for in the Visitors Center). The farmers find them destructive to the land as they devour all they can find during their residency in our area before they continue on their way to the Artic Circle. The weather was warm today and the crowds were out. We couldn't get close to the geese but we did trek down to the lake which is still covered with much ice and snow. We even saw a couple of ice fishermen which seemed incongruous with the 50 degree temperature. We loved the sight and sound of all those birds... and have no intention of eating a single one!

I didn't get close to a bird for a photo but the line of white in the one photo is a very immense congregation of birds on the water with a large group of people beyond them watching them.

You can find more information about Pennsylvania Wildlife Management areas at www.pgc.state.pa.us .

Demuth 2007 Annual Invitational Exhibition

I have been invited to particiapte in the Demuth Museum’s 2007 Invitational exhibition, Forbidden Firsts: Jazz at Marshall’s which will be on view from February 2– March 30, 2007.

A lifetime of fragile health added a sense of immediacy to Charles Demuth’s adult life. His healthier moments were driven by a belief in living life to its fullest. As a creative person, he sought experiences that stimulated his senses. The early jazz clubs offered such a sensory experience. My mixed media work created for the exhibit is entitled Borrowed Time. For this piece I wanted simulate an impression of the exterior and interior of the type of building that may have housed Marshall’s or one of the other clubs Demuth frequented on his trips to New York City. The clock on the top floor is set just minutes from 12 o’clock; the bewitching hour for one living on “borrowed time.”

For more information about Charles Demuth, go to the museum's website www.demuth.org .
Borrowed Time may be purchased for $950.00 at the museum during the run of the show.