Constance Hobbs Art & Photography: 2009

Friday, December 25, 2009

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays

A very Merry Christmas and the happiest of Holidays to all. I wish all my family, friends and readers of my blog a joyful holiday season!!!

Joyeux Noel de Geneve

Wednesday, December 23, 2009

Christmas Madness

I have always admired people who shop for Christmas all year round. It's such a civilized way to approach the commercial end of the holidays. It allows one to choose gifts with time and thoughtfulness. If you find yourself, as I often do running around at the last minute, it takes away from the joy of being with family and friends without fatigue. My problem is I can't seem to get into the holiday spirit until the weather turns cold and the date draws near. It's similar to people who shop early for the seasonal change of clothes. I never could manage that one either, which is very funny since I was in the fashion business which runs way ahead of everyone else season wise. How do people manage holiday shopping in warm climates? I suppose its what one is used to. I'd probably be a disaster. Well, then again, maybe not!

The image above and the image below were taken at Rockefeller Center with the tree, the flags and the wind whipping everything about. New York is such a wonderful place to be for the holidays. We won't make it there this year. I wish everyone much success with their Christmas Holiday shopping. It's champagne and family in Switzerland for us tonight. Bon appetit!

Sunday, December 20, 2009

Tis the Season

The artist's world is limitless. It can be found anywhere, far from where he lives or a few feet away. It is always on his doorstep.

Paul Strand

Saturday, December 19, 2009

Florida Dreaming

Last night we had a lovely evening with friends old and new. It has been snowing here in Geneva for several days now and is quite cold. The lake creates dampness in the air so the cold can be especially piercing. The conversation over dinner found itself gravitating towards warmer climates and to Florida. As many people are flocking away from Florida, due to the financial crisis, there also exits many that find its warm climate, easy going lifestyle and abundant good restaurants hard to beat. So, I offer up these images of Florida from our recent visits to warm every one's hearts while its cold outside. These are for you David!

Friday, December 18, 2009

Swiss Cookie

Yum. Yum. I hope everyone is finding some time for peace and quiet during the insanity and joy of the holiday season.

Saturday, December 12, 2009

Water Color on Paper

A friend of mine asked me to put up these water colors. I did them in 2008 in the winter when I was probably thinking of spring. My friend and I were discussing how when you feel stuck in any medium its good to switch gears and play around with something else. I really enjoy doing small works of art on paper or small canvases. It allows me to work on several at one time easily. I have always enjoyed doing things with my hands. I suppose that's why I enjoyed working with clothing. When I was designing clothing I utilized a lot of artistic techniques including applique, patchwork, embroidery, lace, beadwork and transfers. I think the important thing is not to be serious at all when you switch gears. Totally experiment. Use colors you don't like, brushes you've never used before, odd surfaces, you get the idea.

Friday, December 11, 2009

European Pastry

One of the pitfalls, or not, of living in Europe is the constant availability of delicious pastries. Not only pastries but chocolate too! I'm grateful that I am not a chocoholic. That would be a disaster. The variety and quality of both are amazing here. The pastries above are from our little, local, modest pastry shop. I never read the book "Why French Women Don't Get Fat" but I have my own theories about that. Europeans are by and large very slim. One of the major reasons for this is that they do not over consume. They are reasonable about food. They eat fresh food including lots of fruit and vegetables. Snack foods, like chips etc., are very expensive here and consumed rarely. When you go to a restaurant the portions are small compared to American portions. You might call American portions generous, or perhaps grotesque, depending on your point of view. I like to think of them as generous. The important thing to remember is that you don't have to finish everything on your plate no matter where you live.

Geneva is part of French culture. So, living here is almost like living in France. Of course the Swiss won't agree with that, but its largely true. Geneva is surrounded by France. The border is minutes away. So while Americans are having cocktails and munchies the French are having coffee. They do not have a cocktail hour, that is an American invention. They do not drink wine until they eat, which is better for you, and they do not over consume the wine as well. The food here is not as pumped up with pesticides and other chemicals as it is in the States. That is because the food simply does not have to travel the long distances it does in the States. So the Europeans eat lots of pastries "sensibly" and remain slim.

Thursday, December 10, 2009

Geneva Switzerland

I thought I would treat everyone to images of Geneva.

Sunday, December 6, 2009

Blue Exhibition

My photo above, Meditation #06, was chosen for the exhibition Blue at The Photo Place Gallery in Vermont. The show was curated by Aline Smithson, a very talented photographer in her own right. There is a catalogue of the show that can be purchased for $20.00 from Blurb books at the following link: Click Here to Order from Blurb Books.

Wednesday, December 2, 2009

More Snow on the Jura Mountains

We arrived back in Geneva this morning from Florida. We went from beautiful white sand beaches to snow covered mountains. From 80 degrees F. to 32 degrees F. I'm exhausted and totally jet lagged so I'll be brief. This was the view from our flat when we arrived this morning.

Friday, November 27, 2009

Longboat Key, Sarasota Florida

Tuesday, November 24, 2009

Florida

I'm enjoying our last few days in Florida. We are in Sarasota and the weather is mixed. It's warm, 80 degrees F., but it has turned windy and cloudy. The Gulf of Mexico has some substantial waves which I found surprising. On the local news they have a count down to the last days of the hurricane season. It begins June 1st and ends November 30th. Sarasota is a big town. Population about 370,000 in total, but probably 50 to 100,00 in the city proper. There is a lot going on in the arts. Ringling College of the Arts is located here. The Ringling circus family have contributed quite a bit to the cultural life of Sarasota. This is the first time I will spend Thanksgiving in a warm climate. I would like to wish everyone a very Happy Thanksgiving.

Monday, November 23, 2009

Traveling

Traveling abroad but will be back soon, stay in touch.

Tuesday, November 10, 2009

Color Color Color

I guess we all know how much I love color. This image is made originally from clouds. Playing with the colors and finally combining two images together.

Sunday, November 8, 2009

Expectations

Expectations, we all have them and what are they exactly? We have expectations that are part of our rearing and home environment. Basically the expectations of the family at large. Then we have expectations that we acquire as we experience life, and the ones that we think we should have and hope to or want to acquire. Now, how does this effect us?

I wonder if what we receive in life is equal to our expectations? What we expect we get. Can we live life without any at all? I'm sure Buddhists think we can. Having realistic or unrealistic expectations can effect us enormously. If you have unrealistic expectations you set yourself up for lots of disappointment and pain. By contrast, if you have realistic expectations you gain confidence and self assurance by accomplishing what you expect to. How do we differentiate between what's realistic and unrealistic? Between expectations that are our own and the ones that are not?

I suppose by knowing ourselves intimately. Taking a hard look at what is really possible for us. But that might mean placing limitations on ourselves where none exist. We may think or feel that some things are beyond our reach and this may not be true. I think there is nothing worse then imposing limitations on people. Life can be magical and wonderful things can happen if you are open to them. Perhaps its necessary to think, believe and have faith in possibility. Isn't possibility a wonderful word?! It's origins are Latin and pertain to ability. Possibility is extraordinary, mysterious and implies potential. I think if we have the expectation of things being possible, then it is probable, that wonderful things will happen to us in this life.

Friday, November 6, 2009

Snow on the Jura Mountains

We woke this morning to snow on the Jura Mountains. Winter is imminent now. Geneva is surrounded by mountains. You have the Alps on one side and the lower Jura mountains on the other. The Jura lie mostly in Switzerland but a good part of the western sector lies in France. The mountains above are the view from my flat here in Geneva but they actually are in France. The highest peaks of the Jura are in the south, in the Geneva area and include Cret de la Neige at 5,636 feet and Le Reculet at 5,633 feet, both in France. If you are a skiier Geneva is a wonderful place to live. In a half hour to 45 minutes you can find yourself in an ideal place to have a run. I remember the first time we drove up a local mountain side and just pulled the car over to the side of the road, parked and took the lift right up. No fuss, no lines, pure joy, amazing. Especially wonderful if you have small kids. So easy.

It's that time of year when I promise myself to do "winter projects". I always imagine extra time to do things not yet done. You know, all those either personal or artistic ideas that have been floating around in your brain. Yet somehow it remains elusive to me. Each year I'm just as busy as I always am. I think one should try to make space all year long for experimentation and personal projects. Experimentation and personal projects are fun, and after all, we all need fun!

Tuesday, November 3, 2009

Two Pears

Two pears just before we ate them.

Sunday, November 1, 2009

Autumn in Geneva

We have been so fortunate with the weather here in Geneva, but today it has decided to change. I was walking in the park and I remembered something Joseph Campbell had said in an interview I had seen. He said, "I have such enormous admiration for mothers". He considered motherhood an incredible sacrifice. When my children were small, life was usually hectic and busy. I didn't have the luxury of contemplating "my sacrifice" if indeed I thought I was making one. Now that the girls are in college and I have more time for reflection, I am able to see bits and pieces of sacrifice emerging. I'm not sure where I will go with this, but explore it I will.

When we lived in downtown Manhattan I remember other artist friends who wouldn't dream of having a child because it would take away from their art. They were absolutely correct, it would. Other artist friends had only one child. They felt it gave them more free time and flexibility, as a couple with a child and not as a family per se. I will admit there is a big change going from having one child to having two. Women have a complex life to lead as wives, mothers, sisters and lovers. So much to juggle, to do, to be. I'm like Joseph Campbell. I admire women. Being a good mother is such a wonderful, difficult and consuming job. If a women is able to achieve more than that, they are super women to me.

Thursday, October 29, 2009

Creativity

"Creativity always requires taking a chance on one's self...and moving ahead despite self-doubts, discouragement, and anxiety."

Stephen Diamond

Wednesday, October 28, 2009

Center de la photographie Geneve

Katja Glass

The Photography Center in Geneva, Centre de la photographie, had an interesting exhibit which I visited recently. I particularly liked the work of Katja Glass. It got me thinking about self image. Have you ever stopped to consider what self image really means? It's an image, a picture, a snap shot in your head of who you are, right? It's a concept really. Something made up. We think in images. An accumulation of images defining who you are. Now how can you be a concept or an image? Can we conceptualize ourselves? We are a living, breathing, changing, moving human being, in the flow of life. An image, a photo, a picture, is static. We are not static. We are constantly in motion. Cells dividing, mutating, dying and being born a new.

Bianca Dugaro

Psychoanalysts say we're supposed to have a good self image in order to be happy. Is that really true? I'm certainly no expert in this area, I'm just a human being questioning these things. I do feel this can be very confusing for most of us. Imagine all these different labels and images vying for your attention. An accumulation of things people have said about you, experiences you've had, insults, praise, parental expectations, all things good and bad. The list goes on and on. Which one of these images is the real you? Maybe none. Which image you select probably reflects your current mood and who you've recently spent time with. Can we choose and select who we are? Pick an image and live up to it. Or are we always in a process of growing, becoming or simply being?

Sophie Brasey

We seem to be so easily influenced as human beings. We either respond to flattery or insults rather quickly.

Now, what if we were to drop all these images? What is there then? Nothing? The real you perhaps? Freedom? Maybe its a relief to drop all these stories in our heads. Plus, its hard to live up to some images. Imagine the effort put forth to keep up an image of something you really are not. What a burden. Or images of failure and success? I say images are a burden and of little value. You are a success because you were born and are alive. You are part of this miracle called life. The greatest mystery of all mysteries. You are much more grand than any image created by yourself or another.

Tuesday, October 27, 2009

A Birthday Wish

Today is my older brothers birthday. I can't imagine my life without him. In fact, I can't imagine my life without any of my siblings. I have sometimes considered what life would have been like as an only child. So much attention, peace and quiet and no competition for ones parents attention and affection. That sounds pretty good. If I had been an only child though, I would have missed out on all the camaraderie, love, and affection that exists between brothers and sisters. The noise, the chaos, the competition and all the rough and tumble were very stimulating and instructive. Life can sometimes be a lonely place and I am a lucky lady to have so many wonderful siblings.

Thursday, October 22, 2009

Winter Ahead

The trees are losing their leaves in Geneva. Winter is ahead.

Saturday, October 17, 2009

Time

I was thinking about the earth rotating around the sun. Isn't this our concept of time, day and night? How long it takes us to sling shot around the sun with the momentum from the Big Bang. The Big Bang occurred some 13.7 billion years ago. This sequence of events following each other, day after day and night after night, is what we call time. What would happen if the earth got tired just a tad and slowed down just a tad? Well, never mind, let's not think about that.

Our concept of time then, is nothing more then a constant rotation around the sun. So is there really any time at all besides that? Can we define it as a specific event or a thing? It seems to me we are in constant motion spinning, whirling, rotating and going no where.

What about the past? What happened to all that millennia of time that's gone by? The history of all that has happened since the Big Bang. Is there some vast reservoir that holds the past? Or is that reservoir only in our minds? If it exists in our minds, it must take up a lot of space. What's the value of carrying around this reservoir? Particular knowledge of where we live and so forth is important, but what about the rest? Tons of useless experiences of hurts or pleasantries that may be propelling us forward, hurling us along on a trajectory that may be false.

Has our past already become ashes, useless debris in the brain taking up space? If so, what can we do about it? I have experimented with this and it isn't easy. When you try to live without your past you are trying to live without your own identity. Who you "think" you are. But that's really just a story, isn't it? A certain sequence of events and experiences that no longer exist and makes up who we think we are. Are you and I merely a sequence of events? Experiences that have already turned to ashes? At first its scary to experiment with this but as time goes on it becomes a fun game. Its very challenging.

Scientists believe that we use only a small portion of our brains. Is it because the past, time, takes up so much space? It's like a room filled with old furniture. You have to move out all the old furniture to give space for new possibilities. I like what quantum physicists call human beings. Bubbling bits of energy and possibility. Totally cool. Totally awesome.

Now, there might have been time before the Big Bang. Scientists really don't know for sure. The Big Bang is a theory supported by some good evidence, but a theory non-the-less. Our concept of time is very small, day, night, and what we perceive as a sequence of events. It's our small world. A concept of time as everything or nothing is huge. Or the idea that the Universe is limited or limitless. It's fun to try to imagine a limitless universe. I do like one concept of time though. To tell time by the beat of ones own heart, now that's lovely.

Trust

Trust is something hard to come by even in ones own family. Why is that? Why is there such a lack of trust amongst human beings? When do we begin to trust? Or, what gives us an opportunity for trust to grow? I've heard people say that without trust there is no real relationship. I'm not sure I have the answers to the earlier questions, but I do think trust begins inside oneself. One must trust and have a sense of belief in oneself first. How many times as artists do we mistrust the value of what we are doing artistically? Frequently. How many times do we have an idea, think of a great contact, want to connect with another artist only to back track and lose our enthusiasm with a lack of trust in ourselves? A lack of self assurance. I think women may suffer from this malady more then men.

The only way I know to increase our sense of trust is literally to catch ourselves in the myst of non-trust either with ourselves or with another. This means becoming more conscious of what we are doing every day. What we are thinking and feeling. Trust can grow within ourselves or within our relationships to others. Trusting first is a way of extending a hand. Others may be capable of responding or not, but if we are conscious we ought to be able to tell the difference. Some successful artists are not necessarily the most talented, but they are the ones who trust themselves to make it in some facet of the art world. So, as an artist, trust in oneself is a feeling not to be under estimated in its importance.

Wednesday, October 14, 2009

An Authentic Life

Is there a fine line or subtle difference between happiness and unhappiness? I think there is. I'm not referring to obvious reactions to stimuli that create deep despair or extreme joy. I'm referring to everyday happiness or unhappiness. As human beings we adapt and become used to things as they are. We form habits and routines and there is a certain comfort in that. Is contentment happiness? I suppose it could be or is part of happiness.

I sometimes think what a nightmare it would be to wake at 60 or 70 years old only to realize that one has lead someone else's life. As a woman, I find my life has been very influenced by my husband and my family. Motherhood also places or imposes restrictions upon us. I want to live an authentic life. One that is uniquely mine and belongs to me. Not a life that has my husband or families stamp of approval upon it. I think its a good idea to ponder the question of happiness, unhappiness, habit, routine and influence. You can throw in authority too. Who is your authority outside yourself and inside yourself. How did it get there? One form of authority is that little bird in your head distinguishing between right and wrong and that big bundle of "shoulds". Are those "shoulds" really yours or very subtly someone else's?

I realize one has to follow ones bliss inside the framework of everyday life. One has to balance the two. A good life or a life well lived, becomes then, a work of art. Perhaps the most important work of art.