I have an opening Friday June 5th at Gallery 55 in Natick! 7:30 on..! I hope you can make it~~~Come to my website for specifics.
I was introduced to John Mottern- owner of Gallery 55- by my old HS friend Meg (McGuire)Randa. Meg and her husband Lewis founded the Peace Abbey in Sherborn. What a cool place. I had never been there before. I met Henry and many other rescues. Henry is actually the offspring of a pig that fell off a truck in transport to the slaughterhouse. He is gigundo- please note his ear is larger than my head. He was ecstatic when Meg scratched his tummy. Well, scratching is too subtle a word for what went on there! There is quite a story at the Abbey of Emily the cow. Emily escaped from the slaughterhouse waiting to be the next cow to get killed. She scaled a 5 foot wall.. 1600 lbs over the wall, while the workers took lunch. That in itself is utterly amazing, but then she eluded capture for 40 days, cold snowy winter- hiding in Sherborn-people leaving her hay to eat- until Christmas eve Meg was able to lure her to the Abbey where she had already arranged w/ the slaughterhouse to buy her(they were getting a LOT of publicity at this point.) Anyway, Emily has become an symbol for compassionate living, even though now she has passed on from cancer after many years happily living at the Abbey. This story was in People...twice..and 100's of articles have been written, and a book The Story of Emily the Cow, too. Buy here! (That's my pretty HS friend on the cover with pretty Emily)
If you missed my interview on Pawsitive Thoughts, WSCA Portsmouth and wish you hadn't, heres the link. Just fast forward 15 minutes past the news. I was so happy to be asked to come back by Jean Proulx (thank you!) and talk more about my artwork and animals. Here's a picture Marc Dove took in action.
Bruce Greenwood from Star Trek talks about animals and the book 'Thanking the Monkey' - a great and entertaining book on all issues to do with animals. Entertaining, yet completely informative written by Karen Dawn. I just finished another painting on the lab rat theme. Take a look, the title is pending
This Friday night, 6:10 PM, May 22, I will be on the radio again- Portsmouth Community Radio 101.6 FM WSCA on the show Pawsitive Thoughts. I will talk with Jean Proulx about all things animal..my art, some of the issues, amusing anecdotes, my upcoming show.... You can catch the live stream here. If you are interested in hearing my last show here's the link..you need to move up about 10 minutes through the news to get to the Pawsitive Thoughts show and ME
Please take a peak at Farm Sanctuary's page on HouseBill 815 in Massachusetts introduced by Representative Pam Richardson, which would ban the most cruel aspects of factory farming like they did with Propostion 2 in CA last November. That's the battery cages, veal crates and gestation crates which when eliminated would at least allow the pigs, baby calves and chickens the space to move in their lives. It's not like they are getting freedom, but it is an improvement that moves it away from the painful 24/7 existence they have now. You can help by just signing the email to Pam Richardson. so easy
and yet so meaningful. My painting 'Pigs in the Road' is a metaphor for the precarious situation most pigs are in.
GREAT NEWS!!PETA's blog has posted how the EU has banned seal skins. This is a huge success that may just wake Canada up to stop the annual seal slaughters. Increasingly no one wants to buy or wear the baby seal skins that are the result.
With great fake fur and other clothing fabrics there is no need for furs. The 60's are over, you can't wear a fur in ignorant bliss anymore. Yet some of our most famous faces choose to ignore the pain for their own vanity. Not Eva Mendes though :)
please go to my main blog page and visit some of the links I have posted . There is so much that can be done on any front that catches your attention to help the animals -with so little effort on our part.
Oops, this blog post went out before I was ready....don't know how that will affect the direct notification..- be curious to know if you gets notified twice.
Here's a picture of the display at Pia SjoIin in Canton, CT. Several framed giclees, a couple of original paintings and many unframed limited edition prints. Looks great Pia. Side by side the Dog Looking Up you can see how incredible the prints are (Pictex on Harrison Ave-highly recommend) . As always, 15% profits of Jane O'Hara limited edition prints go to PETA, where they work tirelessly to improve conditions of animals in all situations. HAPPY news item, The EU has banned all imports of baby seal fur. HUGE! PETA has been recording these slaughters which are a horrifically bloody affairs on the pristine white snow and ice, where the babies are clubbed to death in front of their mothers. It is totally barbaric- all for someone's vanity. We all know there are plenty of warm fabrics out there that don't hurt anyone.
The H1N1 (Swine flu)- already old news? I know you've already probably read the tons of twitters and emails and so on about how thousands die of the regular old flu every year, etc etc. I'm thinking there may be a silver lining here. The root of this flu was in Mexico, Smithfield Farms, the American factory farm that I wasn't even aware we had in Mexico . These factory farms are hideous for so many reasons, and from the H1N1 we learn they are breeding grounds of disease. Then the inhumanity ( inhumane for the workers too). How can we justify thisfor some bacon. This is their entire life, butt to snout, or in a cage unable to turn around. If you eat meat, buy free range. I believe that degrees of improvement mean something. I know everybody isn't going to start eating MorningStar fake bacon even though it is totally delicious and so much healthier.... but every little experiment with the multitude of veggie options helps out. I prefer soymilk to cows milk now. Heres a tip I learned yesterday while waiting for my grande soy latte at Starbucks..Wheelers ice cream. All vegan ice creams!"every one of our varieties is 100% free of animal products." Right on Mass Ave past Symphony Hall. I haven't had a chance to check it out yet but was told it's incredibly delicious- and weird combos too, like cucumber and vanilla. i WILL report!!
Lot's of exciting news for me coming up. Looks like a solo show where the gallery owner is most attracted to my more socially conscious paintings of animals, and another radio show May 22...but I will give details as they become more solid!
