Episode Transcript
Speaker 0 00:00:03 The
Speaker 2 00:00:22 Welcome to the Frame Center podcast. Uh, so today we're down, Scott. He wasn't able to make it, but me and Elizabeth have decided we're gonna push on without him, and we are lucky enough to have, uh, a staple in the South Shore art community in with us today. Jody Regan and Jody, thank you for coming in. Thanks for joining
Speaker 3 00:00:45 Me. I'm very excited you asked me. Thanks, Dave.
Speaker 2 00:00:47 Well, my pleasure. Um, me and Jody, we kinda have a, we've gone go ways back as far as framing in framing her paintings, but, you know, we were on the board at North River together, that was, uh, an adventure. And you're still pretty involved at North River?
Speaker 3 00:01:02 Um, I'm involved, uh, as part of the festival. So, um, I've ch Mary Carn and I have chaired the, um, the juried art in the, Yeah. In the big building at the festival for those who have been on Memorial Day weekend at North River. Um, but I've been off the board. I was trying to think about it today. It's been a while, maybe eight years. Um, I think I was on for maybe 15 to 16 years. Yeah. And you were on there quite a
Speaker 2 00:01:25 While. Yeah, no, I was, and I think it was shortly. I mean, I think it, my kids got to the age where it was just like too much. At first it was easy when, you know, when they were babies. Right. But once they got to the age where we were running around sports, a lot of logistics, that was why I had to exit. But, you know, me, me, the, the Frame Center, we try to stay, stay supportive. I still get to hang
Speaker 3 00:01:49 The show and hang the show. Well, we did. Um, now most juried shows are Jud online, as a lot of artists know. And North River does the same. But we used to have a jury day where all the art was brought into the building, and there were three to 400 pieces of art in the building. Yeah. And I ran that day, which was an entire day. And my principal at the South Shore Charter School where I taught, and Dave's kids had been there too. Um, she just automatically gave me that Monday off after Mother's Day. She said, It's on my calendar, Jody. I know you're not coming. Yeah. So that was kind of nice.
Speaker 2 00:02:22 So, yeah. So that, so and now is Mary is she's, is she exiting from the,
Speaker 3 00:02:30 Uh, so from the festival? We're still meeting as a festival committee. Mary, I know is on the arts committee. So the arts committee over there makes the decisions about the exhibits that North River holds in the Ventures Library and at the Dolphin Gallery up in Hingham. Yep. So, Mary's involved with
Speaker 2 00:02:46 That. And I know you got a show coming up too with the, uh, I do at North River. We're talking about some framing. Talking about some framing that's gonna need to be done for that.
Speaker 3 00:02:55 So we're gonna talk, I know about my drawing a day thing. So I have a, a show, uh, at the Hingham Library. It's called the Dolphin Gallery, which is the large wall when you walk in the back entrance. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>. And, uh, the show is gonna be about my commitment to making art every day with a drawing. Yep. So I have some serious thoughts on, there'll be a lot more work than I would have in a painting show. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>, which I think I had a show there 10 years ago with maybe 30 pieces. Yeah. Um, this is gonna be more pieces than that. So I have very significant ideas about how to make it not look hectic, which, um, as you come through the door. So Yes, you and I are gonna be talking about <laugh>, how to do that reasonably.
Speaker 2 00:03:35 So the theme of the show is that revolves around No, it's a drawing a day. It's not a painting a day. Or is it mixed? Mixed
Speaker 3 00:03:42 And match. No, it's fuzzy. So to me, when you're painting, you're also drawing. Yeah. Um, so, uh, the, the name of the show is drawn out. Yeah. Uh, which is, I, I mean, should we talk about my drawing a day? Yeah,
Speaker 2 00:03:55 No, I mean, I know the streak's going on Pretty, is pretty, pretty long. What are you up to? A thousand plus,
Speaker 3 00:04:00 Uh, 1800 something.
Speaker 2 00:04:02 So we're closing in on 2000.
Speaker 3 00:04:03 Yeah. So I began this in 2017. Um, I was a middle school math teacher for 18 years, and I retired in June. And Congratulations. Thank you. So teaching, which is the most fabulous job ever, and the hardest job ever. Harder than the software engineering jobs I had. But Anna, I loved it. Um, but it was time to move on. It, uh, takes a lot of time and energy. So, um, I decided to do a drawing every day for the month of October. The, you all know the artist Sally Dean. She said, Let's do this challenge for the month. Yep. So I set my mind to doing just a drawing every day and posting it. I created an Instagram for that reason. And, um, at the end of the month, after 31 days, uh, which I did do every day, I just thought I wasn't finished. So I just kept going. And I don't have a goal, but it's become part of my routine. And I draw something or paint mm-hmm. <affirmative> every day, um, between 15 minutes to two and a half hours or something. Yeah. Um, so I haven't missed a day. Yeah. And during, oh, my fifth anniversary is, um, this Saturday I'll be five years running. That's crazy. It's impressive. Time goes fast. So, um,
Speaker 2 00:05:12 Yeah, we were talking about that earlier,
Speaker 3 00:05:14 <laugh>. So I, even during that time, I, I, I, I had a knee replacement and I did not miss a day. You know, I had like the second surgery of the day, so I was hang, you know, you hang around in the morning waiting till nine o'clock till they wheel you off. So I had time to draw the nurse's station, uh, which is back there. And
Speaker 2 00:05:31 Yeah. So the significance of what the subject matter you do every day, is it just like, I've scrolled through the, you know, Jodi paints on Instagram, and is that the, the main place where you show your, your work online? Or do you have a website as well?
Speaker 3 00:05:44 Um, I have a website. They're not along there, Jody regan.com. But my Instagram is there only for that reason. So the only thing that's on it is the drawing that day. Mm-hmm. <affirmative> and maybe some process photos that go along with it. So Instagram and I are fans because, uh, you can curate it. I mean, for those who don't have it, a lot of, Look, I'm a little older than you. Right. A lot of people in my generation aren't doing that. I recommend it because it's easy and you get to only look at what you want. Yeah. And so I only see beautiful art every time I open it. So, um, nothing on there is ever political or asking for money or anything. It's just a drawing every day. And I have a friend in Israel who has um, been in touch a couple times saying, I'm really worried when I get up in the morning, it won't be there. <laugh>. Yeah. <laugh>. And I said, Hey, I'm a human. You know, we all expire eventually. Yeah. But my plan is to do something every day. And of the 1800 days, I would say there's only been I, I'm gonna be, uh, let's say honest. I would say out of the 1800, there have probably only been 15 days where I really was tired, but I did it anyway. Yep. Other than that, it's just part of my day.
Speaker 2 00:06:53 And is it always, it's, so, it's, it's always, it's never like you're, you're, Oh, I'm gonna paint like, uh, something from my mind. Is it always a drawing of like, something that's happening in your life? Because, like, you know, the ones that I have over here, I'm assuming you were at Woody's that day when you was, you decided to, uh, when you decided to do that, do those. So it always like something that's going on. You mentioned that when you were, you had your knee surgery, it was like the nurse's station. So is it like always something that's kind of
Speaker 3 00:07:23 From life? Can
Speaker 2 00:07:24 You see a story of Jody's life as well? If you're, if you're scrolling through those?
Speaker 3 00:07:28 Um, there is the story of Jody's life, which, but not all of them are live that day. So especially teaching every day, um, there wasn't always time to do a drawing. And that, and, and I understand where my boundaries are. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>, if I had time to do a little drawing in school mm-hmm. <affirmative>, it wasn't gonna ever be of any students where anybody could identify anything. I mean, just, so I didn't do that. So sometimes in the, So how many are done from life with me sitting in the situation mm-hmm. <affirmative>, I'll say 45%. Yeah. And then the rest, maybe I'm hanging in the evening. Um, I, I will Google things like pedestrians in Boston. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>, or I've used, uh, Google Earth and said, I'm gonna go visit Paris. And then, so I'll be above Paris with Google Earth and looking down, Ooh, there's a park.
Speaker 3 00:08:11 And just zoom in and come down to street level and look around and say, Oh cool. That looks like a fascinating thing to draw. No kidding. Um, so I have done a lot of that. And, um, so like I said, 45% from my life. So the books that I carry around with me, I use these mo Sky and watercolor books, which are five by eight inches. So when you open 'em up, you have five by 16, it's very oblong. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>. Um, and I'll just start drawing at a restaurant or waiting for the subway or wherever I am. And I don't, I draw with a pen every time. I don't draw with a pencil, cuz I want every line to mean something. Yeah. And I don't wanna erase and get fussy and I don't have a design. I just look and I say, Where am am I gonna start?
Speaker 3 00:08:55 And I start with whatever caught my eye, and then I put the foreground and then I just keep moving. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>. So the thing is, when people see the posts from those books, it looks like I'm out at pubs all the time, which I <laugh>, which I'm not. Uh, just, those are the ones, you know, if you're out to eat and I can sit and have my meal and draw away what's going on and converse with everybody and not have it be, um, distracting or take away from the, the joy of having a meal with somebody.
Speaker 2 00:09:25 Mm-hmm. <affirmative>. So, so these ones, so me and Elizabeth we're working on something new where, you know, we're gonna start like, talking about some of the pieces. I'm gonna pull something out of the back of this just cause I stuck the, the card. I, I have the, these two coasts are yours, which these are great. And that the restaurant I used to live right around the corner from Mory,
Speaker 3 00:09:47 Ohy is the best Eggplant pizza. So it's right there on Hemingway. Yeah. Near Northeastern. Um, and the Museum of Fine Arts for those who need to
Speaker 2 00:09:55 Know <laugh>. So apparently this, I'm just judging from the card. I've had this for a number of years. I don't, uh,
Speaker 3 00:10:00 But did I date them?
Speaker 2 00:10:01 Yeah. 2019 it looks like. Yeah. January, January 31st, 2019. It was like Valentine and State present. So Jen must have like, she
Speaker 3 00:10:12 Snagged them
Speaker 2 00:10:13 For me. Yeah. She must have seen them on, uh, you know, on your Instagram, on your, on, in, in contacted you about, I don't know, I don't know what the process was on, on how she got 'em from you. What do you have a lot of people reach out to you through Instagram? Like direct messages and just say that they Yeah. I like this one. I want it.
Speaker 3 00:10:31 That's, that's what, how it happens. Like I said, some of them are on my website, but I, I'm not really in it about the commerce. I mean, I don't, I'm not gonna turn it down. Yeah. Right. Um, but I sort of, I'm not a marketing, I'm not about the marketing of it. Yeah. So she definitely reached out to me privately, which she did about another one also that was Cannes Donuts down in the business
Speaker 2 00:10:51 District. Oh. Her brother is a big guy. Cannes Donut. Yeah. So I'm sure that, I'm sure she loved that one. Yeah.
Speaker 3 00:10:56 So the coasters, um, I was in some restaurant one time or like, or you know, our daughter went to Northeastern and so we would be in there at a pub or something and I started drawing on a coaster and I thought, this is so fun. But coasters are, um, promotional material. So they usually have designs on both sides. So I actually bought myself a hundred blank coasters mm-hmm. <affirmative>, uh, which those are part of, and I would carry them with me. Okay. So I have done a lot of coaster art and I probably have 40 or 50 of them just capturing, They're really fun to draw on. Yeah. I mean their job is to absorb liquid, right? Yeah. So, so as soon as you put watercolor on it, it sort of sucks it in and it becomes, the colors get very intense. Um, so I have a bunch of coaster art, which will also be in my show, which you and I will talk about. Yeah. How to do.
Speaker 2 00:11:43 Yeah, no. So that, I mean that, that's why I framed them that way just cuz I thought they were so interesting on the coasters and I floated it on that map board and then matted around it. So you could really see that they're a coaster that
Speaker 3 00:11:55 Yeah, that looks
Speaker 2 00:11:56 Fabulous. Which I didn't actually even talk about in the, uh, when, when we were, were, were, were still like in the, uh, the testing stages. Right, Elizabeth about of it's a work in progress. It's a work in progress. I think we'll get there. Um, I have this vision of like, trying to get explained to people about art and like, about buying local art and about how everything, all, all artwork. Like, there's like a story behind it and that makes it more interesting. And I mean, to me, this one's, you know, there's a great story behind it. So, you know, which we, now we're talking about it more. We're gonna probably have to go back and record it, re recording again. You. Um, but you know, I, I grew up around the corner. I was there like, I think it was like my stop every night, you know, before I stopped drinking. I was like, you know, beer, pizza, you know, after work. Uh, and then me and Jen spent went there a couple times. Uh, I think one of our, one of our first dates might have been over there or on one of our first dates, we might have at least stopped in for a cocktail. Um, so she must have seen it at the end of January. Well,
Speaker 3 00:13:00 She has good memory.
Speaker 2 00:13:00 Bought it. You bought it, uh, for me for, uh, Valentine's Day. Uh, judging by the card that I had attached to the back. So, Well,
Speaker 3 00:13:07 That's a thing too, like when you say about picking up original art, it doesn't have to be hugely expensive. And of course those weren't they, um, but if you are on somewhere like Instagram and you curate what you see, you're seeing all kinds of things and artists respond when you reach out to them. And I just think there's so much original art that's accessible, uh, down here on the South Shore. Tons of it. Yep. With the, there's so much access now to the internet and so many ways that, um, you just keep an eye and original art. Nobody else has it. Nobody else has those Yeah. Only you. Yeah. And they're special to you. They mean something to the two
Speaker 2 00:13:41 Of you. Oh. Oh yeah. I mean, there's a great story. I mean, to me they're a great story behind it added on top of the fact that good relationship with you known you for a long time and you know, so it's like, it's not only like the significance of where, where what the art, the subject matter is, but like there's also a nice tie to the artist as well, which is makes it even better.
Speaker 3 00:14:00 Um, and it's fun for me, the drawing, every day when I'm out somewhere, there's an immediacy and I really, my goal isn't to chronicle my life, but that has become a result. Right. So for five years now, I have drawings of all kinds of events. I mean, I draw on the theater. I was drawing at Symphony Hall one year mm-hmm. <affirmative> when I my took my daughter to see Amadeus, which was so great. Right. So they showed the movie and, um, but the orchestra was playing all the Mozart Yep. In right in front of it. It was awesome. So, um, so I did a drawing of the orchestra and then just the words amadas in there in which they saw and they put into some brochure or something of theirs, which was nice cuz it really captured that feeling of there. And I didn't do it from a photograph Yeah. Later. Yeah. Um, and when I add color to those, I never use a photograph. Later I draw, I usually just draw with the ink when I'm in place and then, then I'll add color later. But I add the color outta my head for how I want it to be. Yeah.
Speaker 2 00:14:59 She had told me, I remember this because she, she said, Oh, tried to get, get one of 'em. And there, you know, she ended up giving me both and I just thought it told the cool story too. Like one was like a little less finished, I don't know what, And then the, the second one, you know, very similar like, call it in. So I like, I, I'm like, I really like 'em to together.
Speaker 3 00:15:18 I, I like 'em together. I like That's nice of you to remind me. I have a record of every piece of art that I have put out there in the world that somebody has. So somewhere I have a list of that, but it's a few years
Speaker 2 00:15:30 Back. You're getting pretty, uh, pretty good at photographing the artwork to post on Instagram? Or is it just a quick uh, snap?
Speaker 3 00:15:37 I use my cell phone. I edited on my phone. Um, so I'm not, I'm not doing anything but those pictures are reasonable. And I actually just the other day there was something came up about, um, some company that was printing things on Canvas and they were offering a free one and of course shipping costs money. So, um, so I took one of my photos of a drawing I have, that's four by six. So I'm doing some, a series of gush paintings that are four by six and I have maybe 10 or 12 of them now. So one of them, uh, especially struck me. So I just thought, this is a free on canvas and it's 16 by 20 and I just wanted to see what the quality was and that as an iPhone photo and it came out great. Yep. It printed up really well. Um, the, the colors were accurate. You know, you never know what the colors are completely accurate if you're doing it yourself, cuz your screen Yeah. Is different than reality a little bit. But, um, so, so I was pleased. So that's good enough.
Speaker 2 00:16:32 You funny, you mentioned the, uh, like the colors on the iPhone. So I wonder a little bit, you know, and since you have a history with North River in that jury show where you've gone from like Jurying, the original pieces where like everyone's walking by and they're doing the parade to the actual, uh, you know, now everything's digital e entries. Now, do you feel like with the digital entries, is there, is that still a pretty solid rep? You know, is it, do you lose something because can, someone could hit click a filter or like the colors might just cause not even intentionally how they photograph it. Sometimes colors are a little bit more vibrant or they're less vibrant, which could be a good or a bad thing.
Speaker 3 00:17:15 So I think the whole, it's a double edged sword. Um, so couple things, um, actually let me back up. So when you're posting something digitally to a show, you are relying on the judges to take a good look and zoom in on that image that you provided. So hopefully people are getting educated about how to provide, um, an image that's a high enough resolution to let them really come in. Yeah. And look at the brush worker. Look at your strokes on there. Um, not everybody does, but, and I don't think all jurors are spending that time. So let's say they did not spend that time. Um, I can't say if they are or aren't. I've done, I've enjoyed some shows online I spend that time cause I think the artists deserve it. So
Speaker 2 00:17:59 Well sometimes the texture inside of painting, like a difference. It makes a huge difference. It's not like it, you know, cuz a paint, you know, painting is three dimens, even if it's later layered on lightly. I mean there's a, there's a a third dimension to 3D
Speaker 3 00:18:14 And the scale really thing too. I mean, you know,
Speaker 2 00:18:16 So Yeah. So now you're looking at everything at a, at
Speaker 3 00:18:19 A, so let's say you can't tell if a juror's gonna look or not look in depth, but if they do not <laugh> Yeah. Um, you would wanna have an image that had a really powerful design or maybe a little bit higher contrast. So when they're seeing a thumbnail mm-hmm. <affirmative>, this is my own take. I, nobody's told me this. Yeah, yeah. This is just my thinking. Yeah,
Speaker 2 00:18:36 No, I just asked cause I'm cur I mean,
Speaker 3 00:18:37 Yeah. So your thumbnail should be, uh, like strong visually right off the bat. So if you, So I do think there's a disadvantage there for artists who paint more tonally and their value range is much closer. Um, if the judges aren't looking at those images really closely, then they're gonna pick up on those nuances. And it reminded me of years ago I went to a chowder festival at government center. So how does that relate? Might you think? So <laugh> and I thought to myself, people are walking around trying 20 different chowers from local restaurants and voting Well the chowder that has a, a taste that's it's gotta stand out somehow. Yeah. Like good CDER is good chowder, right? Yeah. But I mean, so you're in, but it had to make itself stand out. So how was it gonna do that? I don't know. You have to do the same thing when you're in a jury show. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>, I think.
Speaker 2 00:19:23 Yeah. So more of a, more of a statement. It's, you know, just interesting to think about cuz like you, and like you said, I hadn't even thought of the scale thing. Now you get your, somebody's looking at like a five by five, like a small painting and you're looking at it kind of the same eyes, the same scale as like a big 30.
Speaker 3 00:19:40 Yeah. And then when you go, like, I did a show on the Cape a few years ago, um, with Mike's Sleeper and Irene Roman, and we were the judges and we judged, uh, on our own, like you do, um, making our choices. And then whatever got the top votes showed up at the Cape and the three of us went to choose the awards. And it was striking to me like there was a painting of some pese and I thought that was a pretty decent painting. But when I got there, so I hadn't noted the scale when I looked at it online and it was large, it was two by three feet. And um, you know, that changed my impression of it. Yeah. Um, actually for the better even. Yeah. So, so that's, so that's lost on the other side. So those things are, I think that's can be a disadvantage. But the ad the advantage is you get much wider participation.
Speaker 2 00:20:29 Yeah. Oh absolutely. From
Speaker 3 00:20:30 Far and wide. And also artists don't have to frame things.
Speaker 2 00:20:33 Yep. No, I mean, so I've thought about, that's one of the reasons why I've thought about it actually. I think we're working on a blog, Well I think we actually have a blog post about that. Um, I think that obviously less people are framing things cuz they, you know, you know, not everybody has to drop off a framed piece to, you know, Right. Cause they can just do it. So, you know, maybe we're losing that way, but I think we might gain in the sense that like, you know, you got your piece in, so now instead of just like, you know, all right, I just need a frame on this now, it's like, all right, well this is the piece that's going into a show. So I think people might put a little bit more Right. You know, you know, little bit more into it, you know, you're right. Instead, instead of just, I don't wanna say cheaping out, but like, just doing the bare minimum to meet the requirements. Now, you know, you got this piece into the show, so now it's like, now I'm, it's in. So now I want to presented as, you know,
Speaker 3 00:21:21 Cause somebody might want to take it home. Yeah. So your big rush here for the North River Arts Festival is not,
Speaker 2 00:21:26 It's not as, it's not as, it's, it's not
Speaker 3 00:21:28 Mother's Day. The weekend, it's,
Speaker 2 00:21:29 Yeah. I think it's died down a little bit, but, you know, which, um, but that leads to another point too. When I, you know, now the judge isn't taking account into account the, the way it's framed because you, I just from experience Yeah. Knowing, uh, you know, hanging these shows, sometimes I look at things and I'm like, Wow. Like, like I think that this, you know, you see how this is framed. And if you, if it was presented in front of a judge, I can't imagine that they, you know, it would lessen their opinion of it. You know, like sometimes something's really done, really, or it's like, Wow, you can tell that this piece was painted, you know, a long time ago just from the style of the frame,
Speaker 3 00:22:10 Or that the mat is not acid free
Speaker 2 00:22:13 <laugh>. Yeah. But again, I mean, I guess everything has evolved to digital entries for mo you know, a number of
Speaker 3 00:22:18 Reasons. Yeah. And it's the way we're going. Um, so I think it's positive overall. Even though I think if you just looked at the amount of time I spoke, I think I talked negatives more than positives there. But, um, when we used to do the jury day in person was really interesting to hear what the jurors sometimes said about they couldn't take their eyes sometimes off a bad frame. Yeah. I mean it would, And then they weren't objective about the piece of art, about
Speaker 2 00:22:44 Women. No, I think it can, I think it can, it can kill it. And, but I mean, I think it also add to the piece quite a bit. It's always about the, about the artwork.
Speaker 3 00:22:53 So we are gonna talk about framing for my show, which is gonna be kind of
Speaker 2 00:22:56 Interesting. Nice. What do you Yeah, if something special in mind, <laugh>
Speaker 3 00:23:00 Somewhere where I can, you know, come out
Speaker 2 00:23:03 Funny is the show in January. It's
Speaker 3 00:23:05 In December.
Speaker 2 00:23:06 December. That's a good time for a show right before, right before the holidays.
Speaker 3 00:23:10 Yeah. So I've decided, um, I'm gonna organize the work, um, by theme. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>. So I do a lot of architectural, and I'm not an architect, so I don't want people to misunderstand what I mean by that. But I love drawing the city. I love being in the city and, um, hanging out somewhere mm-hmm. <affirmative>. And actually, this occurred to me, I was down in Bryant Park in New York a few years ago when I was with my daughter and I was hanging out, drawing. And, um, so oftentimes it's the angle of some buildings, the way they cut into the sky. So I'll just sort of draw that as the top boundary of whatever I'm drawing. And so you're drawing those angles, you're drawing those lines. And suddenly my pen will sort of make a little move because five stories up, and this, this struck me that day.
Speaker 3 00:23:59 I remember the day five stories up on some building in, across Brian Park from where I was sitting, there was a corners or a molding mm-hmm. <affirmative>, uh, not the top floor, just five stories up. And there were probably more above. And I thought to myself, so this is a connection for me, which I love. I get emotional about it. Somebody 130 years ago, whenever it was, I don't know when it was built that building and put some things up there on the wall that nobody's gonna see, but I saw them Yeah. Here in 2019 or whatever year it was. I saw it. And they did that for me. <laugh>. Yeah. You know, <laugh> or for whomever. And I thought that aesthetic is so joyful to me. Yeah. So when I'm sitting drawing on Newberry Street or anywhere in Boston, I'm just, just
Speaker 2 00:24:45 Looking for details.
Speaker 3 00:24:46 Looking at Yeah. And, and you know, and I'm not looking for buildings that have that I, I'm trying to capture a sense of what's happening around me. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>. So, so there's that boundary against the sky. And then there's all these, every drawing I do looks like I'm at a mob scene. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>, even though I'm not even through Covid. But, um, I just keep adding people as they come and go. Yep. And so, um, you know, you have that, you know, centuries old thing up top and then all that contemporary activity below mm-hmm. <affirmative>. Oh, it's
Speaker 2 00:25:14 Awesome. Yeah. No, I, I especially like your, like the city scenes of yours. I like those a lot. I like mine. I love that. The can just funny, the Canes donut. I know that, uh, I think either my brother-in-law or my father-in-law, one of them I think has something of yours too. Cuz you have Rachel's husband, I think Ice cream. Ice cream. I think there's something ice cream related.
Speaker 3 00:25:35 Oh, there is. So, Oh. So let me, so I'll talk about my painting group cuz this comes up with that. Yeah. So, so, um, many have heard, many of you have not heard. So there's a painting group that I'm involved in called Girls Just Want to Paint. And I think there are 10 of us. And we've been together a long time. 12, 15 years. And
Speaker 2 00:25:52 Who else is in that is
Speaker 3 00:25:54 Nancy. Uh, Nancy was in it. She took a break. Um, Paige Rails backs there. Kelly McDonald. I'm gonna forget somebody and people are gonna be upset.
Speaker 2 00:26:02 Yeah. We'll add Sally Dean.
Speaker 3 00:26:05 Tori Bragga. Yeah. Mey and Win. I'm going right down the list. Pam Copeman.
Speaker 2 00:26:11 You can probably find it online.
Speaker 3 00:26:12 Yes. I'm, I'm like hugely embarrassed now. Hey, I'm, I'm on the mic. I'm on.
Speaker 2 00:26:17 Yeah. This is nerveracking <laugh>. A lot of pressure when it comes back. Got Elizabeth breathing down your throat over there. Yeah, sorry.
Speaker 3 00:26:25 So every month, uh, one of us chooses a theme mm-hmm. <affirmative> and we paint, uh, our interpretation of that theme. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>, um, and Paula Villanova. And, um, so, and we do it on our own. Yeah. We don't usually paint together. And then we have a blog called Girls Just Wanna Paint mm-hmm. <affirmative>. And then on the, the first of the month. So that's this Saturday, um, our interpretations of that theme come up. We post, we post once a month, sometimes more of something's happening. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>. So this month, for example, the theme is takeout. Yep. Uh, which is a theme I chose, which people, you can interpret it however you want. And that's all of us will. So
Speaker 2 00:27:03 It's kinda like the theme art shows, right? Yeah. I like, I like it.
Speaker 3 00:27:06 So it's takeout or take somebody out or mm-hmm. <affirmative>. So, um, that blog Girls Just Wanna Paint. You'll find 10 interpretations of that theme. I
Speaker 2 00:27:15 Think we're gonna have to check that out. I don't think I've be, you know, I knew about the group. I didn't realize it was a blog.
Speaker 3 00:27:20 Yeah. So we have a blog. And so when we picked the theme, so they were teasing me about this the other day because I have this thing about prepositions as a theme. So the one with the ice cream I chose the theme with. Yeah. And I got a lot of eye rolls, which is, Oh. And we, we also meet them, um, the first week of the month we meet
Speaker 2 00:27:39 Together to, they physically get together, talk
Speaker 3 00:27:41 About with the paintings. So I chose the theme with a few years ago, <laugh> Really's, like, What is with you? So I did with sprinkles. And so that's the one that somebody in your family
Speaker 2 00:27:51 Wants? Yeah. I think it's either, it's either my brother-in-law or my father-in-law. It might have been that my brother-in-law got it. For the father. Least cuz of the ties to the, Well,
Speaker 3 00:28:00 I've also chosen under and over and I mean, prepositions are great to paint. There's so many interesting things. So, um, so this month it's, what did I say? Takeout? Mm-hmm. <affirmative>. No preposition there. But,
Speaker 2 00:28:12 Um, yeah. How did the group, how did the group form?
Speaker 3 00:28:15 Um, they formed, uh, Kelly McDonald had the idea. So she's a artist who teaches at North River. Uh, she lives in Providence. Um, the group was together for a little while before they asked me to join, but I think I'd been there like 12 years. So, um, she had this idea that there could be a sort of a painting group that worked thematically supported each other. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>. Um, also, I, my jobs coming out of the box, I wrote software for 20 years. So I'm really deadline driven. So having a deadline every month is important to me. Yeah.
Speaker 2 00:28:47 Every day you have a deadline. Every day. I do that
Speaker 3 00:28:50 One. That one is,
Speaker 2 00:28:51 That's, that's, But now it's part of a Yeah. That's part of my life. That's, that's a good habit to establish. You know, like I all, you know, we all try to establish like daily rituals, daily habits. That's a, that's a great one to
Speaker 3 00:29:02 Have. Yeah. And I, um, so I don't do the drawing at the same time every day. And I don't feel pressured every day. I just know it's going to happen. So I have my materials with me every day. I find a little time to do something. And now that I'm retired mm-hmm. <affirmative>, uh, which is, I, I don't even know what that really means yet. Um, Are
Speaker 2 00:29:22 You teach, So are you teaching patent
Speaker 3 00:29:23 S Not right now. I'm really concentrating on that show, uh, in the fall and, uh, I mean in December, because
Speaker 2 00:29:30 You've taught at North River for a number years too. Cause I know Chris used to rave about your, Rav about
Speaker 3 00:29:34 Your I taught. Well that's nice of her. I, um, I taught oil painting at North River for a long time. But, um, at the same time I was, was becoming a teacher, a math teacher at so short charter. So when I got certified to teach, and so I started as the math tutor in the school. And then I asked them about three or four years in, I asked the director, Hey, if I went and got, cuz it didn't make sense to get paid by the hour, you know, so I thought, if I go get certified, would you want me to teach math? And what would you want me for more hours and what grades? And she said, Yes, please. In middle school. So for a couple years I hung onto the, I taught four days. I prepped for Friday and I went and taught painting on Friday. Um, <laugh>, I was really arduous. Anyway, eventually, it's
Speaker 2 00:30:20 Kinda like, it's kind of a like two different, like really, like, I mean, do, can you find a way to tie those together? Math and, uh, painting?
Speaker 3 00:30:28 Or is it Well, I can, yes. So, um, so first of all, I was raised by, um, an artist. My mother, Joanne Regan mm-hmm. <affirmative>, uh, was an artist. And her father was a chemical engineer. My grandfather was a chemical engineer from mit. He died when I was 10 months old, so I didn't know him. But when he retired they lived in New York. And, and when he retired, I guess he went off secretly and took all these painting classes and then came for my mother was, you know, an artist at the time. And he came and said, Look, there's another artist in the family. So to me, the way you, the sense that I have of um, like angles, proportions, the weight of things, symmetry mm-hmm. <affirmative>, like how to keep things balanced, but asymmetrical, all of that ties in a lot to math. Yep.
Speaker 3 00:31:12 And I remember teaching at North River one time when Christine was in the class and I was talking to 'em about perspective. Right. So perspective can be super mathy, but once you understand the few rules of it and you're not breaking those, um, you can be really successful with it without having it get too technical. But I remember explaining this to them and I talked about parallel. Yeah. So they were with me with Parallel and then I used the word perpendicular. Yeah. They, they, I think, I don't know if it was Chris or somebody, they're like, You have lost us and we're gonna leave screaming from the room. <laugh>. So there's where I went too far with the math, but I, but I really feel like students of mine who really get math, like I say, they have number sense. Yep. They understand like the feeling and the weight of numbers.
Speaker 3 00:31:55 And that's the same with art. Like what's the feeling and the weight of what you're doing right there in that design or that piece. They're all related. Yeah. To me. And I don't think it's just my brain. Yeah. Um, so I came outta high school thinking I'm gonna go to college for math or art and I don't know, which I really didn't know. So, um, my mother, the artist said, I don't think this was a comment on my ability. I wasn't a painter then. I, but I like to draw. Yeah. She said, Go for math cuz no schmuck will have to support you as basically what she said. And then, so I wrote software for a long time and I didn't make art. Um, although I took drawing classes every semester in college and I didn't really start making art till I was in my thirties. So Yeah.
Speaker 2 00:32:39 There's still, so, you know, I've feel like I've taken a hiatus with kids and, you know, hopefully I, I'll get back there, you know, someday. I was hopeful that maybe with like Maya, I'd like, you know, she'd be doing a lot of painting and I could paint with her, but doesn't seem to be happening yet. Not
Speaker 3 00:32:54 Her thing. Is she?
Speaker 2 00:32:55 Yeah, she's still, she's still, she, um, she's talented, I think. But she's just like very like, like driven in other directions, like doing, like reading books and like doing math homework and stuff. She
Speaker 3 00:33:08 Is, I mean, I don't know how long my mother, if she thought I was gonna get involved in it or, I mean, there was no pressure on any of us. Yeah. Um, she was a phenomenal painter and, um, there was no expectation. In fact, um, I have a, my brother Chris, who lives in Marshfield beach,
Speaker 2 00:33:23 Shingle artist.
Speaker 3 00:33:24 Shingle artist. Yeah. He's, Oh, he's a, he just did, um, he was contracted by the, it's a federal organization. I don't know if it, whoever runs Nas Beach, right? Yeah. So, um, they built New Bath houses and he, they contracted him to design the shingle art for these new bath houses, which
Speaker 2 00:33:42 Yeah. His stuff's great. Yeah. It's, there's probably a lot of math goes into that here. I figured, I dunno, is that, Well
Speaker 3 00:33:47 He had a, he had a piece like standing up at North River years ago that Yeah. Everybody and all these people walking by at the festival, including carpenters were coming in and zero. They couldn't understand how, I mean, they could make shingle art, but they couldn't understand how he did it. Yeah. Like he has a way of vi he has that kind of brain where he can visualize
Speaker 2 00:34:04 Things. He does like really interesting stuff. He, I do know. Does he show his stuff anywhere? Or is it He doesn't, he, I feel like I see pictures on Facebook of his, of his like, like some projects every once in a while maybe.
Speaker 3 00:34:15 Yeah. He has projects, but he wouldn't say he's, he's not making art on a regular basis. So I, I don't wanna put words in his head. I mean, he has a master's degree in sculpture from Cranbrook. So he, you know, so he, he would consider himself as not sculpting at this time. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>. Cause he isn't, you know, he is doing some projects. Um, but he's, you know, so I, I don't wanna speak for him.
Speaker 2 00:34:35 Yeah.
Speaker 3 00:34:36 Sorry Chris, whatever. <laugh>.
Speaker 2 00:34:38 We'll get him on you. We'll have him come in.
Speaker 3 00:34:40 Yeah. He's so interesting. He's so talented. Yeah. And he never sits still. I mean he just, um, like he's he's always but, but they have a middle school, uh, son, so he's pretty busy with all that. Yeah. I'm sure football is happening now, which is really
Speaker 2 00:34:53 Fun. No hockey.
Speaker 3 00:34:54 Uh, no. He plays other sports but not a hockey player. Chris
Speaker 2 00:34:57 Is a hockey. Yeah, I know right? Robert's not skate with, I skate skated with it against Chris for a couple of years.
Speaker 3 00:35:03 Um, Yeah. So
Speaker 2 00:35:06 Interesting. Well, so the, the back to the, uh, the girls just want to paint group. So you, you guys actually do get together every once in a
Speaker 3 00:35:12 While? We get together every month. So we post on the first of the month and then we meet during the first week of the month. So, so our, our blog post, we all, we all are administrators of our blog. So we all can go in and edit it and put our paintings in with a little blurb about what they mean and whoever starts off the post schedules it, uh, to, it's gonna kick off at one or two in the morning mm-hmm. <affirmative> you know, Saturday morning after Friday night. And um, and then we get together in the week and we bring our physical art with us and talk
Speaker 2 00:35:43 About it. Yeah. And that's not like critiquing and mm-hmm. <affirmative>. Yeah. That's, I mean I, I would imagine that there's a lot of benefit and a lot of, uh, you know, inspiration from get get in that group together.
Speaker 3 00:35:53 Well there's such a strong group. I'm still apologizing cuz I know I've missed somebody. I've, Jeanie McFarland did, didn't. Okay. Oh geez. I'm embarrassed. Anyway,
Speaker 2 00:36:02 We're gonna edit. We're gonna, we're gonna cut it. The idea anyone's missing we're, you know, we'll just have you come back. You'll record say their name. We'll, we'll make Scott edited in there one way or the
Speaker 3 00:36:12 Other. So everybody in the group is really such a strong painter and very different. Yep. We're all really different, uh, from one another. So there's different approaches, uh, which I think is valuable. Mm-hmm.
Speaker 2 00:36:25 <affirmative>. Yeah. Yeah. There's some, definitely some to be part of it. Yeah. I mean, it sounds like the, just the names. You, you, you're ringing up, you get a strong group. I, I have one to Kelly, Kelly McDonald's is the, uh, the Sapphire bottle that we were, we were shooting. Yeah. Yeah. Uh, yeah, that was my, I I have a painting of Kelly's that I bought from Duxbury show and it was like after I stopped drinking. Yeah. It was, you know, bottle of Sapphire Congrat.
Speaker 3 00:36:49 Congratulations on
Speaker 2 00:36:50 That bun. Yeah. It's like 10 Plussy. It's like, well, you know, it's like my, it's like my vegan diet. It's like now it's like just part of my personality now. But then that was like, I, I saw that one and we are recording about this as well. It's like the significance of that painting. It's like a really, it's a, you know, like a really strong painting. But like, when I saw it, I remember like, it was like when I was still fighting it and, but I'm like, yeah, this is gonna be the last bottle of Sapphire ever buy. And it's, it's a little painting that I have hanging up Nice. And there's no temptation or anything left in my, in my, but I have that painting and it's a great painting. Little, but it's kind of has like another, like significant,
Speaker 3 00:37:29 I like how you say that. So the, the works that you have, I mean, some people will look at a piece of art and say, Oh, that's pretty, well, you know, we live in a pretty place, so there's lots of things that are pretty, which is fine and fill your house with those. Um, but I, I would say almost everything that I have, and I have a, I mean, my house is not filled with
Speaker 2 00:37:46 Art. Who, who's art do you have?
Speaker 3 00:37:47 So I, my
Speaker 2 00:37:49 Everyone in the groups. Do you have a,
Speaker 3 00:37:50 I I almost have everybody in the groups. So I, I um, I have art by people I don't know that I found online. I have my mother's art. Um, I have some of her, what we, my brothers and I called Dead Guy Art cuz she had a big collection mm-hmm. <affirmative>. Um, but so I'm thinking right now in my kitchen. So I have this painting, Tory Bragga did, we had her up on, we go to Monhegan Island every summer. My family and I and Tory was up there with us and did a painting, which is actually of us sort of, there's a tradition on Monhegan Island, which is 10 miles off the coast of Maine for those who don't know no cars. So there's a tradition when the ferry leaves to take people away. Sometimes people jump off the dock and it's cold mm-hmm. <affirmative> and it's, if the tide is down, it's a 20 foot drop, you know.
Speaker 3 00:38:36 And so people will jump and people cheer them on and people on the ferry are cheering. So, um, so we were there for some people jumping. I didn't jump, but Tori did a painting. So her painting's in my kitchen. I have um, I have this painting I love by this guy named Dwayne Kaiser, who's in North Carolina. And he's actually the originator of the painting a day. Okay. Sort of, um, model. Yeah. Which he's probably been doing for 20 years. And I remember reading about him. He was in the Wall Street Journal. I mean, he's a great painter. Um, I have a small painting that he did. So he painted something every day. The gallery thing wasn't working for him, as he said. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>. So he just started painting every day. He got a little following. He put them out on eBay. Yeah.
Speaker 2 00:39:18 I think some interesting things are interesting guy. I remember seeing a show in, uh, Provincetown and it was a guy who did, uh, you know, paintings like the moon every night, you know. Wow. For, I don't know if he, I don't think it was an every day. He might have spent a year, but like, there's some significance to that too cuz like, people are tied into dates as well, you know, so like, you know, you know somebody, somebody's birthday or mm-hmm. <affirmative>, here's that, you know, scene. I know that my friend Michael, as he does a, he paints every day. He gets the, the, the sunrise and there's some significance. People want certain dates as
Speaker 3 00:39:51 Well. They do, they, um,
Speaker 2 00:39:53 Number numbers and dates. Like there's always, those are always, uh,
Speaker 3 00:39:57 Yeah. He did a thing years ago, uh, which I thought was interesting. He had this Dwayne Kaiser. So he had, he would occasionally, I think I'm talking 18 years ago. Yeah. So he would have these scraps of whatever his painting surface was and like aboard and he called them odd months. Right. So French for scrap I guess. Yeah. And so occasionally those would go out there and the first person who wanted it could have it, but then he decided, speaking of dates, he said, I'm gonna do a year of odd months. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>, you can buy one in advance, just pick a number. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>. So you didn't know what you were gonna get. You just picked a number. And the day that of the 365 that he painted, that it came to you. So I did, I bought one. Yeah. Uh, site unseen, I think on my husband's birthday. Yeah. Uh, date. Yeah. And so I have this, it's probably an inch by two and a half inches of a peanut in a shell half shelled kind of thing. Yeah. It's beautiful <laugh>. It's, yeah. So I mean, it was, it was worth the risk. The cost was reasonable. So Yeah. I thought I, it was like, I'd take the risk.
Speaker 2 00:40:58 So Yeah. Would you say most of the pieces that you have in the house are like, there's a, a story behind them?
Speaker 3 00:41:03 Absolutely.
Speaker 2 00:41:04 Yeah. I mean that's, that's what I want this video series that we're try, you know, we're gonna start in my house. Maybe we'll hit you up and we'll come by you at some point. Awesome. Yeah. I kind of in my mind have this, you know, this thing of kind of just talking to people and getting the stories behind it to kinda, Cause I feel like some people are intimidated by art, which, and like there's stories behind everything too.
Speaker 3 00:41:25 Well how do you know you're, get I, this is what I think paralyzes people. How do you know you're getting something that's good? Yeah. I mean that, that's a question. Question.
Speaker 2 00:41:33 Yeah. No. Yeah. And I think that sometimes people are intimidated cause they don't wanna, it's like a deer in the headlights. Right. So they like, they're concerned. They, they like it, but they don't know why they like it. So I think sometimes talking to people and like getting to know the, the artist or like having that relationship, you know, they is important and helps people want to buy things. But I think that they're just nervous. Like Right. And they don't want to be made fun of, or like, they don't want to be like, you know,
Speaker 3 00:41:59 I'm seeing, I'm seeing a bond here that could be created. This just occurred to me. Yeah. Like you, so everybody out there you go. You find yourself a friend who knows something about art and just ask them their opinion. Yeah. Like, and it doesn't, and specifically, you know, about the design. Well, you know, do you need to have a friend that way? Is it a service you offer Dave? Hey, what do you think about
Speaker 2 00:42:18 This? You know? Oh no. Yeah. Maybe. Maybe it is. I mean I, you know, so I'm, no, I don't like to dictate to people what they should have and they shouldn cuz I think that everybody has different tastes and I think that there's, there's good art, There's, you know, in my opinion, but my, you know, it's so when people come in and they ask about opinions on frames, I mean it's like, there's like a hundred different options that too choices for me. Yeah. But, but there, it's so subjective, right? Like there's like, this might have looked good with a white frame and done like very contemporary. You know, like I, I just like the way that one worked. There's like so many right answers. I mean, there's certainly wrong answers. Right.
Speaker 3 00:42:56 I feel like there's too many choices for me Yeah. Personally, which is why I love your staff here who have good ideas. Yeah. Um, and then if somebody offers me five ideas, which often will happen, then I can say which ones I don't or do want. Yeah.
Speaker 2 00:43:11 That's, Yeah. I mean, sometimes it's easier to narrow it down by eliminating too. Yeah.
Speaker 3 00:43:15 Yeah. And I didn't mean you would offer a service to say to somebody, don't buy that painting, but you might say, Look how strong that design is, or, Um,
Speaker 2 00:43:24 Yeah, no, I mean I, I, I think at this point I've seen so much art and I like, you know, I know what like what I like and sometimes it's just a matter of like, alright, well you know, this certain artists whose stuff I want, you know, I'm sure I'm gonna have some more, uh, your paintings at some point. But, you know, like it's my, the, the right one hitting me and, and seeing, seeing the, you know, seeing the work and then just buying it. Cause I have, I have some in my mind, like ones that I feel like at the time I saw and like at the time I couldn't really like justify paying for it, but now it's like, Jesus, I wish I had bought that. Yeah. Right.
Speaker 3 00:43:59 Well there's, there's ways to take a risk. Like, let's say you were somebody who doesn't have a lot of original art or you feel uncertain and people will say, Well buy what you like. But it's kind of hard to know mm-hmm. <affirmative>, you know, if you're new at it. Um, there are opportunities here on the social a lot. Like, again about the North River Arts Festival, there's an art in the barn concept there. So artists put in, I think up to 20 pieces. The prices are all under $200, but the bulk of the prices are under $50. Yeah. And so you can take a risk for $40 on something that appeals to you. Yeah. And then, then you bring, if it's $40 Yeah. And you're helping an artist, you help the organization, you have some original art, you know, you bring it home and that's a start. Yeah. And that's where the risk,
Speaker 2 00:44:42 Well, Chris had a great, has a great thing is she's always talked about with like, framing. And, and I think the same applies towards, uh, you know, towards buying artwork as well. It's like people sometimes are, they block at a price and then it's like, but they wouldn't block at that same price if it was what, what the dinner was cost. Exactly. And that dinner's gone. Yeah, that's right. Is that, you know, that that experience is over in a short period of time. You know, like if you would, thinking about a, you know, having a meal in it's costing, you know, $200 and that's gone forever after that night. You know, I mean, you might have a nice, you know, it might have had a significant memory from that, you know, that night mm-hmm. <affirmative> or it might have been, uh, an anniversary or something, but like, that's gone. I mean, a piece of artwork you carry with you for the
Speaker 3 00:45:27 Yeah. I, um, I traveled a lot in my twenties and now we've had Covid, but I, we've, Steve and I have had a chance to take our daughter when she was younger. I buy a piece of art, um, every time I travel. Mm-hmm. <affirmative> Is that, which is what you're saying about having the stories. Yeah. And I'm not going into a gallery to buy a piece of art. I mean, there's art on the street. I, so I have a beautiful primitive painting of a boat that I bought mm-hmm. <affirmative> from a guy on the street, uh, who painted it on a, a piece of driftwood. Yeah. I mean, and I have these beautiful carved, um, birds. When I was in my twenties, my mother and I and a friend of hers went to Jamaica. And this, uh, we weren't in a resort mm-hmm. <affirmative>, we were sort of on the main drag, which wasn't really that safe, I think for
Speaker 2 00:46:12 <laugh>. Yeah. Looking back, three
Speaker 3 00:46:13 Women from New England. Yeah. So, um, <laugh>. But there, the house
Speaker 2 00:46:18 You survived.
Speaker 3 00:46:19 Well, there was a couple, um, May and Ard, who I was in my twenties, I don't know how old they were, but they, she cooked our meals in this little house and he hung out every evening and turned out he would play dominoes with us. And turns out he sort of slept in this shed, Oops. On the property.
Speaker 2 00:46:35 Keep going.
Speaker 3 00:46:36 So I have two birds that he carved out driftwood, which are really beautiful. So, and they're, and I think he was functionally illiterate. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>. Um, I, and I, so I looked at them again the other day, I was dusting them off. And, um, one, my mother had one, I had the other, but she's deceased now, so the birds are back together. So the bottom of one has him, how he had written his name with the ability that he had, cuz the education wasn't a priority, you know, So it was interesting.
Speaker 2 00:47:04 Yeah. The trips are a good way to, uh, you know, have a, a significance to it. I, I was getting, I was take buying a piece every year after I hung North River. Oh yeah. Well, I mean, I get that. Yeah. I saw him talking to Mike Sleeper about this a while back and it's like he, cuz he was kind of in the, he was early on, he got an early view too, cuz he would always light it. Right. But, uh, we, after hanging it, you know, I mean, one, you're getting, getting a, you know, I'm looking at all the pieces like, kind of closely cuz you're trying to make sure that
Speaker 3 00:47:33 You do a really
Speaker 2 00:47:34 Nice job. You're trying to make sure that certain, you know, I mean that's tricky. I mean that's a, a challenging job's, you know, And Mary would, and you never, you know, there's always an adjustment that a different set of eyes, you know, comes in and says, well yeah, may, you know, but you're, you know, you're looking at everything and you gotta, uh, you got a preview kind of before anybody else gets to show up and,
Speaker 3 00:47:54 Well, I think volunteerism has its purpose. Benefits,
Speaker 2 00:47:57 Yeah.
Speaker 3 00:47:57 <laugh>. So that, that certainly is one. And you're, I mean, yeah. Good for you. Well,
Speaker 2 00:48:04 I also thought it was a nice way to, you know, I wanted to make a point to buy a piece from the festival cause buying that art and supporting the organization also. I don't think, I didn't buy one this year, but yeah, I don't,
Speaker 3 00:48:14 Yeah, it was nice to be back this year. I love, Well you, I know as you know, cuz I remember years ago I took that picture of you and Maya walking down the yellow line together, you know, Now what is she? 12? 13. 13. Holy cow. Anyway, so she was walking, she was probably a little over a year. Um, but I paint out on the street both days, all day, day long, which I love.
Speaker 2 00:48:34 And how do they pick the artist to do? I wrote, is it just whoever?
Speaker 3 00:48:37 It's a volunteer thing. And so you, you
Speaker 2 00:48:39 Show up
Speaker 3 00:48:40 And paint. Yeah, Nancy Howell sends out a call and people just show up. But I, I just, I like to do it. Um, So get interrupt other people pick time. Oh yeah. Completely <laugh>. I mean, I, I don't, I've probably completed a painting like, I don't know how many times. Not many, but, um, but I love, especially talking to the kids and the way I paint. So kids, you know, somebody will come by and my painting never looks like anything at the start, you know, some peoples do, mine don't. And so they, they smile and nod. But then I will say to the kids, especially ones who ask me interesting questions, Come back in a half an hour, come back and go to the end. Get your hot dog, come back this way. Yeah. And, um, sometimes I let them paint on my canvas if, if I collaboration. Yeah. Well, you know, I taught middle school for a long time so I know how to choose wisely <laugh> so I know which student to choose somehow based, just based on what they asked me. Yeah. And um, so I'll, and I remember one time I let a girl do this and her parents were behind me just making faces. No. Like, not cuz they thought she was gonna reckon. I said, So I'm putting all these people in, What color do you think? And she was wearing purple head to toe. This girl, she was probably nine.
Speaker 2 00:49:49 So you had a pretty good feeling that she
Speaker 3 00:49:51 Yeah. I'm like, what color do
Speaker 2 00:49:52 You think that
Speaker 3 00:49:52 Person should be wearing? She's like, How about purple <laugh>? Very what you, Amazing. So I left her person, she painted the person's what they were wearing and a couple other things. And I left those there, whether it was what I would've chosen or not, so mm-hmm. <affirmative>. That's awesome. Which was pretty awesome cuz their kids are great. I'm
Speaker 2 00:50:09 Good. I like, Yes, they got point out. I'm sure. I'm
Speaker 3 00:50:11 Sure we, I feel like I've been talking a lot.
Speaker 2 00:50:13 No, I mean this, that's, I mean this whole uh, you know, the whole idea with the podcast, you know, one, I think, you know, bringing some of the artists out and like getting, you know, I think people also, like, another thing is far at least buying artwork. Like people getting a little background from artists and like getting to know them. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>, like this is a nice way to get people to like kind of get, you know, not that you're not the, you know, what very well known in the South Shore, but some people might have heard of you, they might have seen your work. But then getting to hear a little bit about your background, you know, like, oh, you know, I'm sure that there's people that like, they know you as Jody, the math teacher and don't even know that, uh,
Speaker 3 00:50:50 They don't know. So at the Charter South Shore Charter School where I, I, you know, this past tense thing is hard, but where I taught, right? Yeah. Um, every content teacher, So every teacher also teaches what's called project cuz the school, uh, has an emphasis on project based learning. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>. So I taught an art project, which was a couple of hours a week mm-hmm. <affirmative> and, um, which I love doing. And all of the students at our school, and you can attest to this starting in kindergarten, uh, make a presentation out of their project. It's called an Exhibition of Mastery. So mine were all about art. So as a result, the students that come out of that school are great public speakers.
Speaker 2 00:51:30 Yeah. I feel like both my kids are very,
Speaker 3 00:51:33 Our daughter completely at ease. Yep. And when there's an open house at the school, which I think they usually is one in November and another one in January, it's, it's students who are 11, 12, 13, who are leading
Speaker 2 00:51:45 Goes around, I remember the, uh, the, the tours. It was like, you know, these are little, you know, little people that are very capable and not intimidated to talk to you.
Speaker 3 00:51:55 So when was the first time you spoke like to an audience? Do you remember? I,
Speaker 2 00:51:58 I, in school, I don't know, but I still in into an audience. I think I remember getting up in front of a classroom even when I, like when I did my, uh, half a semester at college and remember having to speak and still getting nervous. I'm, I've gone and I've spoken, um, even about framing and it's, I'm still, I'm like, you know, this is a subject. I know like the back of my hands, I mean 30 years now. I remember doing a talk over about framing it, uh, social arts center and it's still like, you know, nerve wracking.
Speaker 3 00:52:30 Yeah. I think I did it think seventh grade, which is holy cow. So much is happening in seventh grade. <laugh>, you know, as an individual anyway. And then to have you get up in front of everybody and speak. It's was,
Speaker 2 00:52:42 It's
Speaker 3 00:52:43 Challenging. Hard. But then, and then when I wrote software, uh, which I did for a long time, um, we had a user's conference where we would need to get up in front of potentially a thousand people. Depends how many people came and talk about, um, the project we were working on. And I was terrified. I was in my, how old is I in my early thirties maybe. And that was terrifying to me. But then once I found art and started teaching now just off the cuff. Yeah.
Speaker 2 00:53:09 These
Speaker 3 00:53:10 Kids, But your kids and my kid, they've got it down.
Speaker 2 00:53:12 Yeah, no, it's is a great, I think a great tool and a benefit of giving, being able to communicate is so important,
Speaker 3 00:53:18 You know, so we would do, we used to make things at school for the auction. So I would have my art kids make things. And um, so there's these things that they've made over the years. I always would use the school logo. Yep. In the art. So there's different pieces of art.
Speaker 2 00:53:32 Can we write for one, two of those? Yeah.
Speaker 3 00:53:34 <laugh>. Um, and then we ended this year, um, one of the teachers who was in charge of the library asked me if my art project would like to make a mural for the library about cultural diversity. So, um, I, well it's student driven, so I asked them and they agreed. So, uh, we did, we made a big mural. We divided it, um, into, well we talked about what that meant mm-hmm. <affirmative> and they defi decided there's all kinds of diversity. So we made the mural into four quadrants. So there's four three by three foot canvases. So it's a six by six square. And it was supposed to go in the library. I didn't want it on the wall because if they reconfigured it would be gone. Yep. Um, so we did it on canvas, they <laugh>. So I'm like, I'm working so hard, like go wait.
Speaker 2 00:54:20 Yeah. When you're, when you can easily just put it on the panel and hang at this
Speaker 3 00:54:23 Moment. So now it's hanging, um, behind the front desk cuz they loved it so much. So that's super great for these kids. Um, seventh and eighth. So those seventh graders are still there and they get to see their work every day, which is pretty nice. Yeah. So I, and I have, I made a vow. I did the same when I taught painting mm-hmm. <affirmative>. Um, I've never, um, touched my brush to somebody's canvas. Mm-hmm. <affirmative> not theirs. The kids not a student. I just won't do it. Um, my reason being, when I started painting, I was my mother's student. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>, I grew up in Canton. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>, she had a studio there. So as a 30 year old when I moved back to Massachusetts from DC I said, Hey, I wanna take painting classes with you. So I was one of her regular students except she made me dinner, but I took her trash out. So, um, the, and then I had these paintings I did of these still lives and things and I would hang some of them around. And over the years, people, whoever saw them would always say, I love that passage right there. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>. And it was always the place that she touched. Cause she would touch, you know, she would do a little every single time <laugh>. Yeah. So I was resolved.
Speaker 2 00:55:30 Yeah.
Speaker 3 00:55:31 <laugh> never to touch a canvas. Yeah. Cause I just didn't want to hear that anymore. Yeah. Because of course it was, She was amazing.
Speaker 2 00:55:37 Yeah. You don't wanna steal anyone's thunder. Well we, when we do this podcast, we've started a new tradition. We wrap 'em up and we ask, or we've been asking everyone who's joining us, um, about how do we put it, Elizabeth, their favorite piece in their house or one, or just to tell us about one of their favorite pieces that they have at their uh Yeah. Have framed hanging at their house to try to get the story behind it. And you know, then we ask them to send us a picture of it so we can, uh Oh. So the people listening or watching can get a, uh, visual of it as well.
Speaker 3 00:56:10 Can I have two?
Speaker 2 00:56:10 You can have as many as you want. You can tell. I mean, we're gonna actually go to your house at some point. Once I get my, once I get my plan of like telling the stories behind, uh, artwork on the, Oh, we're gonna,
Speaker 3 00:56:20 All right. So I'll tell you. So I, I'll So two. So, um, in this big Victorian house where I grew up, you know, it had the back to back living rooms Yeah. With these marble fireplaces. So when my mother, my mother did portraits of all of us. Yeah. Um, many in pastel. So, um, she had a framer in Boston. Um, I would go with her when I was a kid and I think it, it was, I just, it was in back Bay somewhere, I think Copley places on top of it now. Frame swag. Guido. No, it was like back, I don't know, it was, it was like a palace of when you walked in. I remember there was train track right behind it. No, all like guilt and statuary. I mean, it was an amazing, phenomenal place. So she bought these two great big huge gold frames. And for some reason over the mantle, there was a portrait of me at about, I'm the only girl out of four kids of five kids. And there was me at maybe eight years
Speaker 4 00:57:12 Old. You're forgetting some of the artists now you're forgetting siblings. <laugh>
Speaker 3 00:57:16 <laugh>. Well, no, I'll tell you what. And then there wasn't my brother Kevin. So, and Kevin was like, um, you know, energy that couldn't be contained. So I can't believe, and these were from life. Like, so I, so when we were dividing up all my mother's things, uh, we had furniture day and dish day and book day and painting day. Cuz there was just so many things. So we just, um, my brother Kevin passed away in his thirties unexpectedly. So of my four brothers, that one who had been on the wall with me forever Yeah. Was deceased. And those paintings were down, They'd been down for the last decade. They were tucked away somewhere unlike, but I knew where it was. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>. So when it was my turn, I went and dug up on the third floor of the house behind the knee wall.
Speaker 3 00:57:57 And I found the one of Kevin, I didn't care about the one of me. Yeah. So my brothers are like, Oh, that's a cool choice. Yeah. And I said, One of you can have the painting of me <laugh>. And they were like, No, you take it. Which I knew they would. So now I have them. But I brought them in here. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>. So they're in these ornate gold, you know, 1910 frames. And um, so I brought them in here to you guys. You took 'em apart, you put all the Correct, like backings. So they're more archival museum glass. Yes. So you updated them for me. So they're still hanging side by side, uh, in my house that does not have giant marble fireplaces. Yes. But, so that makes me happy. So that's one. So then the other one is, um, so I had always loved this artist, uh, Chip Chad Borne.
Speaker 3 00:58:42 So Alfred, Chad Borne, he's deceased. He died in, I don't know, in 1990. But he was one of the famous artists school in New York that used to put out these classes. And his work is amazing. And when Steve and I got married, I was 35 and we had a house. And so, um, my maid of honor said, you know what, like, you know, gift, what do you think? And my mother was smart. She said to them when they asked her she'd love a chip, Chad born painting. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>. So they made a gift certificate up and this was back in the early nineties. They made up a gift certificate and they called him. And when Steve and I were in Maine, I called him. I didn't meet him. I had met him before, but we drove up to Blue Hill Main and we picked out one of his paintings, um, from this gallery way up there. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>. So it's like 14 inches square. It's just astounding. Yeah. It's amazing. I'm so thrilled we have it. So
Speaker 2 00:59:34 Is it hanging in a pretty prominent place or or
Speaker 3 00:59:37 Is it a, Well, we're repainting things in our house. So it's probably stuck behind a cherry <laugh> at the moment cuz it came down off the wall. And then this is a future project. Nice. Ready? It's in, um, a scrunchy. I don't know why, but <laugh>,
Speaker 2 00:59:51 I like I can tell you right now, I like that tattered edges and the tape. I know that this is gonna have some serious character and I'm excited about it.
Speaker 3 00:59:59 So one of my brothers, uh, still lives in, well two of my brothers live in Canton. And one of them, we were at his house a few weeks ago and he gave me this, I can hold it up. So it's a pencil drawing a charcoal, I guess of my, of me. Oh, I can hold it over there. Whatever. And my, um, the brother, this is my brother Jamie, who's the youngest. Um, and we were sitting on the floor obviously watching tv. Yep. So she, um, so I, so I'm gonna have you guys like mount it and do something to preserve it for me. But, um,
Speaker 2 01:00:29 I feel like you should do something and like keep those tattered edges. I feel like that's so much character
Speaker 3 01:00:34 To maybe to talk about it. So, I mean, but I thought to myself, she had, I mean this was a traditional family of, we grew up in the sixties Yeah. And um, you know, five kids really close together. Yeah. Irish Catholic family, um, with dad who worked all the time but didn't do a lot of childcare. Yeah. And I thought she, she still made art. Like how the heck Yeah. Did that ever happen? So she did. And um, which is really impressive to me. So he found that among his many things. And um, so I'm gonna, that was, and I don't, and I kind of said to him, Don't you want it? It's got you in it. Yeah. But he has enough. So
Speaker 2 01:01:10 He's decided to pass it on. It's come to me. Well, Jody has been a pleasure having you come in. Um, if anybody wants to see your, your work, Jody paints on Instagram. Jody
Speaker 3 01:01:20 Paints on Instagram. Yeah.
Speaker 2 01:01:21 And then the, uh, the girls just want to paint and that's just girls just wanna paint.com or is that
Speaker 3 01:01:27 Uh, it's a blog. So if you just look a blog, girls just wanna paint, just wanna with an a, like girls just wanna have fun kind of thing. Yeah. And then, and
Speaker 2 01:01:36 That's where that comes from, huh?
Speaker 3 01:01:37 I don't know. Like I said, I joined a couple years later, so I'm not sure where it
Speaker 2 01:01:41 Came from. Yeah, you didn't get, you weren't part of the, you know, the, the coming up the name. That's what we gotta come up with. There's a name for this series of, uh, of talking about like the stories behind the painting. So I have like these crazy ideas in my mind and you know, like, you know the story behind it and like, start by like with, with the painting, the back of it. I don't know. I'm trying to try
Speaker 3 01:02:02 You. There's so many clever, I don't know. I mean, I can think too, but you can just, you don't even have to answer me. If I send you ideas,
Speaker 2 01:02:09 You can send me whatever you want. <laugh> we already have our, we have, we already have our first person lined up after, after we nail this at my house. We covered the Jody's house to get the stories about her
Speaker 3 01:02:20 Place. I mean, but I'm totally on board with you. Like an art that has a story and the story uh, can just be where you were when Yes. It crossed your path.
Speaker 2 01:02:28 You know? No, and I think that's a great way. You know, and hopefully we inspire some people and they go on vacation. Cuz I, I've also heard when people are on vacation, they spend a little bit freer mm-hmm. <affirmative> that, you know, that's a, you know, a good, from an artist perspective who sells. You know, that's probably, in thinking about it, it's probably why a lot of places on the, uh, vineyard nataka and not to mention people are, you know, well off over there, but some of these like destinations spots are,
Speaker 3 01:02:55 And that you might not be there again. Yeah. And, and it, and painting isn't gonna gather dust the same way a Nick, Nick will.
Speaker 2 01:03:01 Yep.
Speaker 3 01:03:01 You know, and it doesn't take up any shelf space. So
Speaker 2 01:03:04 <laugh> and,
Speaker 3 01:03:04 You know, I don't have any of that
Speaker 2 01:03:06 <laugh> and you can get a painting as, and you have it for life, not like a dinner. Yeah. Not, not that going out to dinner is a good idea as well. Yeah.
Speaker 3 01:03:13 And, and I'm so you and I sitting here talking about people acquiring, you know, original art, it it, I mean it's not just self promotional cuz you were framing and I'm making original art. Yeah. I, I, before I was an artist, um, I understood the value of collecting original art. I've never had, um, prints of anything hanging in the house because I mean, I just, I I, I grew up around it. It, it feels right to me.
Speaker 2 01:03:38 It's exciting. And I, you know, and I think people, this is like part of my whole vision with this, like the website that we're working on and the podcast, I think like, just bringing it into people's attention and like having them like realize that buying original art, like anything, just supporting local artists, you know, like making things more, things are more beautiful. Like every like that.
Speaker 3 01:04:02 Yeah. And you buy things that feel right to you. Yeah. I I I've never been somebody who knows enough to say I'm gonna buy that cuz it's an investment. I don't want something hanging in my house that I
Speaker 2 01:04:13 No, you don't, don't like, you wanna lock up. Yeah. No, it's,
Speaker 3 01:04:17 Um, so
Speaker 2 01:04:18 All right. Awesome. Well, it's been a pleasure having you in, I think, I think we went on for a while and I think we may, I think we could probably have you come back. So this is, uh, you know, Jody Regan, uh, on the podcast, Girls just wanna paint blog and the, you know, the Jodi Paints on Instagram. I would highly suggest checking their stuff out and you'll
Speaker 3 01:04:40 See a drawing every
Speaker 2 01:04:41 Day. And I think we'll, uh, certainly have something to talk with Jody about down the road. So we'll have her back. So this is episode one with Jody. Thanks. Thanks for listening. See,
Speaker 5 01:05:04 See, see.
