Christy Georg

back in the saddle again!

2011-12-30T18:13:00.000-08:00

yup. I'm back at it. Picked up where I left off a year ago in Taos at the Wurlitzer. Pretty much right back there. (You know... I finished that res Dec. 1, 2010 and flew to Boston for the BCA residency to do a drawing project for a few months. Then to Jentel in Wyoming and then my 6 month PCT hike)

It's good to be in the Southwest in good mellow living and making sailorly wild west work. Wait till you see the big leather piece I've got planned.... this should keep me busy?!

life after the PCT in Santa Fe

2011-11-24T08:43:00.001-08:00

I completed my thru-hike of the Pacific Crest Trail (2,650 mi from Mexico to Canada) on Oct. 10, 2011.
Just received my medal! more on my PCT hike blog

I moved into a live/work art studio in Santa Fe on Nov 1.
I took a job as scenic carpenter for the Santa Fe Opera and began Nov. 21.

Things are pretty good. My joints seem well recovered from the hike, though I'm still stiff and my hips don't move right. I'm doing yoga regularly to work on that, and running very regularly. I ran my first race (only a 5K).

I look forward to resuming my studio practice and getting this Wild West work going! But I also have to plan and fundraise for my arctic project next fall - the Arctic Circle residency.

Drawing show up thru late November

2011-10-20T04:29:00.000-07:00

22nd Drawing Show Residue

Opening Reception | Friday, October 14th, 6-8pm

Artist and Curator Talk | Thursday, November 3rd, 6-8pm

Curated by Steven Holmes, Adjunct Curator, Bass Museum, Miami & Curator, Cartin Collection

PCT Hike blog!

2011-03-19T12:33:00.000-07:00

Those of you that choose to "follow" my PCT thru-hike can do so here:

http://wanderingdot.wordpress.com/

I will start April 15.

until then I'm makin art at Jentel

Boston Harbor Drawing

2011-03-18T10:39:00.001-07:00

It's 3 and a half feet square- pretty BIG

PCT Thru-hike PROVISIONED!

2011-03-12T21:37:00.000-08:00

AND in record time--- 2.4 days! Ok, so I made 10 drops, 10 weeks worth. But with some left-over food. And Mom (my life-line) is all hooked up on my google-doc spreadsheets which we can both edit regarding the items in each package. Then on my hike I can adjust my foods in the drop boxes and give advice on what I do and do not enjoy eating.

BUT it sure is strange looking at a gazillion calories laid out on the table. Being weighed, measured into ziplocks, calories being tallied.... so far I think my "food strategy" is a great one. Not all junk and carbs. Whole grains and protein are what make me GO. Bring on the buckwheat and oatmeal! The tuna! the pepperoni! Cous-cous? Lentils and MUNG BEANS? YES, we can.

goodbye Boston!

2011-03-05T17:47:00.000-08:00

I leave you!

I worked well at my residency at the Boston Center for the Arts. I'm happy to have spent so very much time on this site-specific Boston project. It looks really nice. and by golly, I owe you some new pics. Soon!!

I fly away Wed. and head to the next residency, Jentel in Wyoming which begins Mar. 15.

I'll get back to the sculptural work!

Open Studio March 5

2011-02-26T07:05:00.000-08:00

Last chance to catch me on the East coast!!!

Saturday, March 5 · 1:00pm - 4:00pm

Boston Center for the Arts

Artist Studios Building

539 Tremont Street

Christy Georg's current work, Nautical Body, is inspired by the sea. She uses her exhaustive research of maritime history, culture and techniques, as well as her first-hand sailing experience, as inspiration for her artwork. During her Artist Residency, Christy will continue this theme by creating a large illustrative map that charts the evolution of the Boston Harbor from 1776 to the present. Furthermore, her map will incorporate personal stories with historical events, both of which will be given equal importance on her map.

Harbor map pics

2011-02-19T17:58:00.000-08:00

news!

2011-02-14T18:24:00.000-08:00

Exciting potential!

First, I'm a finalist for the Arctic Circle residency. Oh, boy! I've been excited about this since the first expedition in October '09... will find out soon if I made the cut, but financing is my biggest hurdle.

(hence....) I applied for a few teaching professorships recently.

And, I had an interview with School of the Art Institute of Chicago last week. I think it went well.

Also had a call from Carnegie Mellon.

Hmm. What will become of my adventure-seeking starving artist self this fall? My guts tell me IT'S GONNA BE A BIG YEAR, BABY! BIG! That further enforced by discovering that we just pushed into the Chinese new year (*note, I'm famous for my annual Chinese New Year Dumpling Feast but was unable to abide due to my quasi-homelessness) and guess what year it is? MINE. Ha ha! The bunny.

Righto. So, hopefully I won't die on the Pacific Crest Trail, eh? I'm getting psyched up and scared by reading about past adventurers. The Cactus Eaters by Dan White, and Skywalker- Highs and Lows on the PCT. Really good stuff! I've got the mettle. Um, right?

progress and pic of Boston "maps"

2011-02-04T11:41:00.000-08:00

busy busy

2011-01-31T09:49:00.000-08:00

So.

Besides the weekly blizzards that pummel us cruelly...

I gave a lecture @ Maine Maritime Museum last week. It was great to finally see the exhibit in person. I'm thrilled to show my "Nautical Body" of artwork in such a fantastic historical museum. It was nice to get away from the studio for a little while too, and I got to visit with a friend and enjoy country-livin' for a day.

Taught two Sunday workshops so far at the Boston Center for the Arts. One more to go! The sailor's knot tying yesterday was fun for all.

http://www.bcaonline.org/visualarts/workshops.html

Pretty much just crankin away on my big harbor map/drawings and bumping up my training in the gym for my big Pacific Crest Trail hike this summer.

Millionaire's Bacon @ Scups

2011-01-19T21:15:00.000-08:00

Progress pics

2011-01-18T22:20:00.000-08:00

Weather has been lovely here in Boston, as you can see...

some of the bubbles I'm making on my ode to Boston harbor drawing....The Customs House, and the tower add-on on State Street. That used to be the water's edge!

Long and Central wharfs (wharves?!) and Rowe's wharf.

my cool Sunday workshops @ the BCA... come!

2011-01-18T09:01:00.000-08:00

C'mon Boston. Get salty with me. I need a little help over here. Your story can be part of my project! And we you can try my unorthodox drawing methods. It's fun! It's free! It's this SUNDAY!

Come learn more about BCA Artist Resident Christy Georg. Her current work, Nautical Body, is inspired by the sea. She uses her exhaustive research of maritime history, culture and techniques, as well as her first-hand sailing experience, as inspiration for her artwork. During her Artist Residency, Christy will continue this theme by creating a large illustrative map that charts the evolution of the Boston Harbor from 1776 to the present. Furthermore, her map will incorporate personal stories with historical events, both of which will be given equal importance on her map.

Mapping Memories of Boston Harbor
Have you ever visited Castle Island or the Harbor Islands? Have you ever kayaked down the Charles River? Do you have relatives or friends who worked at the marina or the harbor? All are welcome to share their experiences and memories about Boston's waterfronts and rivers. You will then illustrate these stories using Christy's drawing techniques of creating new forms through collage, splicing and tracing.

Sunday, JAN 23 1 - 3:30pm Arts Resource Room, Calderwood Pavilion @ Boston Center for the Arts. 539 Tremont St.

Blackbeard's sword, found?!

2011-01-16T08:58:00.001-08:00

Believe it or not. Here's the story that TIME posted (excerpted from: http://newsfeed.time.com/2011/01/14/a-pirates-life-have-archaeologists-found-blackbeards-sword/?hpt=C2)

Blackbeard's Sword, Found! Archaeologists Discover Pirate Treasure Off North Carolina Coast

It's likely Edward Teach didn't need much to scare his enemies. After all, the notorious pirate better known as Blackbeard boasted a thick mass of facial hair so intimidating that it got immortalized in history.

He also numbered among the first corsairs to fly a black flag with bones on it. And, according to some accounts, he had a habit of lighting fuses beneath his hat, a halo of smoke giving the bristly sea dog a decidedly demonic aspect.

But archaeologists now suspect they've found one more clue behind the pirate's menace: what could very well be Blackbeard's sword, or at least part of it. National Geographic published photos released by a team that has for over a decade been excavating the Queen Anne's Revenge, which was Blackbeard's flagship until it ran aground in an inlet off the coast of North Carolina in 1718. These include fragments of a gilded hilt and pommel, possibly of French design (Blackbeard's ship was a retrofitted French merchant vessel). The shipwreck has been worked on since 1997. NatGeo has more pictures of objects recovered here.

Before abandoning the Queen Anne's Revenge, Blackbeard used it in a daring 1717 blockade of the port of Charleston, S.C, where he and his fleet successfully managed to obtain ransom from the British colonial government for the town and its inhabitants. But troops dispatched from Virginia would eventually catch up to him — after he had already abandoned his flaghsip — and in a fearsome sea fight Blackbeard was eventually surrounded and hacked to death. His headless body was then tossed into the ocean. The pirate may now languish in Davy Jones' Locker, but his likely blade may have been brought to light — further evidence of how Blackbeard's bite was as bad as his bark.

Read more: http://newsfeed.time.com/2011/01/14/a-pirates-life-have-archaeologists-found-blackbeards-sword/#ixzz1B2yhoJEo

Chad Stayrook, arwork from the arctic

2011-01-13T08:18:00.000-08:00

I came across this interesting work researching the Arctic Circle residency. What could be more up my alley than a residency on a schooner that goes into the arctic circle?

this artist was on last years October expedition, and lookee already has work out from it:

http://www.romeryounggallery.com/index2.html

I'm attracted to work with almost reckless ambition and scope. Like children building cities... sometimes it's clearly naive, and sometimes it's premature genius.

Robert Parke Harrison, Chris Larson, Janinne Harkelroad, and of COURSE Paul Etienne Lincoln

Baby Carrots

2011-01-12T21:08:00.000-08:00

I saw this on another artist's blog today, and well.. here ya go!

Drawing Center, NY

2011-01-10T20:46:00.000-08:00

Oh boy! My portfolio was just accepted to the Drawing Center's Viewing Program online registry!

That's a rather cool honor. Especially for a sculptor who's new to making drawings. I love seeing shots of my tattoos on there!

Boston friends! Art openings!

2011-01-08T07:41:00.000-08:00

I was rewarded by dragging my buns out in the cold. The art openings at SOWA (South of Washington Arts... we all hate that tag...) were pretty darn good and I saw lots of old friends!

Bumped into Greg Hayes, who I met at the CAC residency in summer of '09

Camilo Alvarez, who runs Samson Projects, a hot gallery. He was on the jury for my BCA res.

Bob Oppenheim, who was involved with my solo show @ Simmons College's Trustman Gallery.

Went out for a pint with Tim Murdoch, Andrew Neuman, Steve Hollinger, and Heidi Kayser- who runs Axiom Gallery.

Isn't it nice to have great artists for friends?

kickstarter

2011-01-07T08:11:00.000-08:00

Can I... should I.... do a Kickstarter grant to help fund my PCT hike?

http://www.kickstarter.com/discover/art?ref=footer

Giant light table!

2011-01-03T20:20:00.000-08:00

Thanks a zillion to my friend Tim for chauffeuring me in his Truck to get supplies!

Building a big 4' x 8' light table as a tool for making my big Boston Harbor historical drawing!

new business cards arrived!

2010-12-31T09:07:00.000-08:00

began BCA res today!

2010-12-29T16:27:00.000-08:00

making a schedule... waiting on packages...designing huge light table.

Although it really just seemed like I walked through snowy streets, spent money, and schlepped stuff till my shoulders throbbed. Then, yoga.

http://www.bcaonline.org/visualarts/programs.html

About the BCA Artist Residency Program

This non-traditional, ten-week residency program provides a unique support system for individual artists, including funding, studio assistance, and the opportunity to experiment and share one’s practice with an audience through three individually designed workshops. This residency seeks to help artists explore audience engagement outside of typical art education models. The residency may be especially appealing for artists who are interested in public programs but who have limited experience with them, or would like to take their current practice in a new, more public direction. Click here for the2010-11 Artist Residency program and workshop schedule.

2010-2011 ARTIST RESIDENTS:

Christy Georg
Christy has been called "a sculptor of wit and ingenuity, clearly in the tradition of Jean Tinguely and Bruce Nauman, but brilliantly original in her use of existential humor to invigorate the works" by fellow sculptor Rob Fisher. Her work is often created for use in a specific location or inspired by a particular historic account. During her time at the BCA, she will be working on a large map of the Boston Harbor and its evolution from 1776. She will be using a relatively new technique to make her drawings by creating new images from existing images found on the Internet and in books.

Georg's public workshops will take place in January/February 2011. In one workshop, she will introduce participants to the sailor's art of marlinespike seamanship, a technique she re-interprets in her contemporary sculpture. In her last two workshops, Georg will explore how people from Boston relate to the Boston Harbor as part of her research for a large map of the Boston Harbor.

blizzard, specs, carbs, and flight

2010-12-27T12:07:00.000-08:00

Ok, Boston is covered in a blizzard. That's where I'm headed tomorrow. Yippee. I'll knock back a couple drinks on the plane to pre-warm up.

One last run outside here in warm, sunny Texas. I gotta remove/clean my motorcycle carbs- very cool of my parents to store my bike and truck for the 10 weeks I'll be @ Boston Center for the Arts for a residency.

I got new/vintage glasses. Thanks to Aili for her patience and insight as I chose from the selection at Old Focals in L.A.

oh, limbo

2010-12-21T08:16:00.000-08:00

Slept terribly last night. Moon eclipse? Well, it likely did influence my thoughts. I came to realize a few things, and have to deal with it. I really miss the whole Taos situation, I was very happy in it. But it's over. Here I am, in limbo. Again. And I'm sending myself to cold, dark Boston. Oof. I'm feeling anxious.

But really. It's not carving my own epitaph. It's just 10 weeks. And a particular project. A Drawing project. Here's the flyer:

Tough luck news:

I'm hanging at my parents house in Houston. Oh, Texas, you ignorant but warm bastard.
I will not be able to work on or finish my 'saddle' piece until I get to Jentel in March.
All my stuff totally reeks of eau de Pine Tar. Big time. Mom is not a fan.
I really want to work on the saddle piece, but can't. Crap.
I also will not work on those cowboy-ish drawings I didn't finish. I won't work. December is pretty much a loss, though I did visit lots of great friends and family, and this is the way the residency train rolls.
I have loads of paperwork to do over the holiday, of course I can't be making stuff- applying for a few sweet teaching jobs, the Pollock-Krasner grant, and doing research/sending packets to bigger venue curators. I need a high profile gig. Hello, fancypants curators: I'm ripe for the pickin!
Yet, I'll begin negotiations with another University gallery. It's become a rut I should get out of.
I'm edgy about my finances. It's hard to relax and have faith things will work out.
I have to deal with logistics of being carless in Boston. How to make light-tables and get the project started? It's a ton of meticulous work for only 10 weeks, but I need to complete it in that time. I'll have to learn to direct my interns. Wow, I get interns!
My mind is turning to my upcoming Pacific Crest Trail hike, I want to get planning! Have some gear issues to resolve, pinpointing mail drops, and most importantly how to turn it into an art project. Blogging on trail, sure. I'd love to find a way to record sound and have it play online in real time. Huffing and puffing, cursing at rainstorms or brutal heat. I like the idea of transmitting the moments. They can only be experienced in real time. All things must pass.

Okay, on the brighter side:

I'm feeling the ease of being at sealevel, coming down from 7,000' Taos. I have been running outside every day, and it feels like I can run forever. Hitting the gym and pumping iron with my parents is pretty cool too. Feeling pretty okay about my endurance level, but the most hardcore training will begin shortly. Thanks to Bill, fabulous friend and fitness buddy in Taos, for sticking with me through tons of hikes, runs, and yoga sessions. I hope to start the hike around April 20, and have my blog showing expected arrival times at points on the trail, so friends can join me for section hikes!
I'm trying to be more active with blogging, and now posting on my facebook fan page and on twitter. Thanks to Tania for pushing me to do that!
It's nice to be rocking a T-shirt in December. Can I move to California?

Follow me on twitter

2010-12-19T11:08:00.000-08:00

my work @ Maine Maritime Museum

2010-12-19T10:54:00.001-08:00

Cross Currents: Visual Arts Distilled from the Maritime World opened to the public on Saturday, Nov. 20.

Just as history is a compilation of complex interwoven elements, Cross Currents will explore how maritime life has been diversely captured in four disciplines in the visual arts - by Carroll Thayer Berry, through printmaking; by Loretta Krupinski, through painting; by Claudio Cambon, through photography; and by Christy Georg, through sculpture.

Carroll Thayer Berry (1886-1978) is one of Maine's best known printmakers. Although the schooners and shores of the Maine coast are Berry's most-recalled inspiration, he was also drawn to the industrial shipyard scene, documenting naval ships at Bath Iron Works as well as the dramatic pouring of the lead keel for the America's Cup defender, Ranger, in 1936.

South Thomaston resident Loretta Krupinski paints outward from historical photography to regain the emotional context and colors of particular moments along the working waterfronts of coastal Maine communities, both living and forgotten.

Claudio Cambon has been a documentary photographer for more than 20 years, recording captivating moments of life and culture around the world, including Maine, through his camera lenses. His work has been exhibited, published and collected internationally.

The unique installations by Christy Georg move otherwise staid maritime objects, techniques, and material - knot work, tattoos, scrimshaw, horns, signals, lanterns - into startling, humorous, and ironic frames of reference. Her work is a provocative reminder of the swirling undertow overlooked by a strictly historical cataloging.

Cross Currents will be on view at Maine Maritime Museum in Bath through Sunday, February 6, 2011.

http://www.mainemaritimemuseum.org/about/news_and_press/detail.php?news_and_press_id=53

find me on my Facebook fan page

2010-12-18T14:18:00.000-08:00

My brilliant friend Tania Kaufmann suggested setting up a Facebook fan page for my artwork to help drum up some traffic to my website www.christygeorg.com

go ahead. "like" me.

progress

2010-11-08T11:22:00.000-08:00

new work

2010-10-31T19:18:00.000-07:00

I've started a new body of work! Spending most of my time on this saddle made using sailor's materials and crafting skills.

lots of smelly pine tar

Wurlitzer Foundation residency begins!

2010-09-06T08:29:00.000-07:00

After another cross-country adventure, I arrived at my lovely casita at the Wurlitzer Foundation in Taos, New Mexico on Aug. 31.

I'm acclimated to the altitude now, went on an epic hike in the mountains outside of town, and am feeling very happy about how this experience will be for me. I'm going swimming, doing yoga, and riding my motorcycle.

I look forward to beginning a new body of work that blends ideas and skills of the "Wild West" cowboy, outlaws, and ranch-hands with Age of Sail pirates, man-of-war's men, and fishermen.

We'll see....

Boston!

2010-08-05T19:39:00.000-07:00

I'm laying low in Boston this month, recovering from my adventures. But of course, more residencies are around the corner!

Soon I'll head to Taos, NM where I'll be an artist-in-residence @ Wurlitzer Foundation thru Dec 1. It will be an interesting shift to be landlocked and at the edge of the desert! I admit I have fantasies of blending my arctic and maritime research with cowboy/Wild West themes...

And I'm very pleased to announce that I will be actually living and working in my "home" town of Boston as artist-in-residence at the Boston Center for the Arts beginning Jan 2011; it's a great feeling to have this support and work in my community again!

Fogo Island, off northern Newfoundland

2010-07-22T12:53:00.000-07:00

Spending about a week camping and exploring fascinating Fogo Island. I'm loving it. I applied for a residency at the new studios being built here by the Fogo Art Corp, which is part of a company called Shore Fast which is fixing up heritage structures, funds a theater company (I saw a show last night) and has the Art Corp.

The town of Tilting, on the east side of the island, is where I've been camping and meeting locals. They have their own two residency houses as well.

Brigus residency

2010-07-14T12:00:00.000-07:00

My 3-week stay in Brigus is almost complete. I was selected as the 2010 Artist-in-Residence at Landfall’s Kent Cottage in Brigus, Newfoundland. It’s been a dream come true for me, staying at this historic artist cottage, (Rockwell Kent and A.E. Harris worked here) while hobnobbing with Bartlett descendants and the people of Brigus! This quaint town of about 800 residents is steeped in sea culture that interests me personally as a professional artist, a schooner sailor, and a Massachusetts resident with ties to Bob Bartlett’s old schooner Morrissey.

I sailed on Ernestina in 2001 when I was a graduate student at MassArt. About twenty students went on a most memorable 5-day trip…but that’s another story. More recently I worked as deckhand aboard other New England schooners as a sort-of research project to inspire my artwork. For several years I’ve been developing my “Nautical Body” of sculpture, drawings, and photographs. I’m interested in the history of Brigus, Bartlett, and the Ernestina for an upcoming art project.

Last night I enjoyed a fantastic concert by Jim Payne’s Crowd of Bold Sharemen from Newfoundland and Wren Music from Devon, England. There were plenty of sea songs, the tune “Captains and Ships” mentions Bartlett. This concert was part of the Cupids 400 Celebration happening which highlights Newfoundland’s English roots. Cupids is a town next to Brigus where archeologists have an ongoing dig site recovering artifacts. It’s the oldest English colony in Canada, founded by John Guy in 1610, so this year is its 400 year anniversary. There is a bit of irony of course, in that Newfoundland only became part of Canada in the 1940’s, but hey, it’s another nice tourism destination in the area.

I was cooking a codfish dinner one night, and a pod of whales came into the harbor, breaching right at the foot of my cliff! A mother whale rolled over revealing a speckly-pink piggish belly. They must be chasing the caplin, Ron Burke tells me, it’s usually about this week. Ron is the caretaker of Landfall and was born in the big white house on the south side, smack across the harbor. I saw old pictures of old caplin runs, and one newsreel of Bob’s talking about this “tasty snack” which was mostly used as crop fertilizer. The huge school of fish swarm right up on the beach, and people would just scoop them up inti buckets and carts!

Capt. Bob Bartlett’s family home, Hawthorne Cottage, is a well-preserved museum. I suppose it looks about the same as it did when Eleanor, one of Bob’s sisters, the last Bartlett to inhabit the house, died. I spent a long time watching all the old newsreels that Bob made on his arctic trips in the 1940’s. I’d only seen little bits of Bob in moving-pictures at the Arctic Museum at Bowdoin College in Maine, so it was really charming to hear his voice and get a feel for the man in the very rooms he grew up in.

Ernestina is held truly dear in these people’s hearts. Everyone has stories or old photos to share in response to my inquisitiveness. Bill Pomeroy, a descendant of the family that built Landfall Cottage in the 1790’s, was a crewmember on the sail from Brigus to St. John’s in 1988 or '90 when she visited under Capt. Dan Moreland, now captain of Picton Castle, (who I briefly met in 2007 on Block Island when I was crew on Mystic Whaler). Bill visited me at the cottage carrying loads of old pictures of the town and harbor. He pointed to the little island in the harbor across from where the Bartlett pier was. Bob’s uncle had a tunnel blasted in the rock to make the pier more accessible for his big sealing ship Panther; it’s a big tourist destination in town. Bill grabbed the binoculars and showed me how there are still big chains attached to the rock on the island- the Panther would be lashed between the island and their pier. He pulled out a photo of it. It makes sense, given the geography, but for me it was magical to look at Bill’s old photo collection while hearing his first and second hand accounts of how things have changed while I was looking at the place. With the bird’s eye view of town and harbor from Landfall, he pointed out different landmarks. It was a warm sunny day, and I figured I was in heaven.

Some folks, like Bill, follow SEMA updates, but many are shocked when I tell them of the plight of the Ernestina, and how much repair she requires. Last summer Newfoundland held many Bartlett Celebrations to honor the man in conjunction with the 100^th anniversary of Robert Peary’s “dash” to the North Pole to which Bartlett was essential. Reading a brochure of the events for the Bartlett Celebrations held all over the island, I became fairly mortified that the schooner Bowdoin (a fine old arctic schooner) visited for the festivities instead of Ernestina. At that point, she was in the yard in Maine having her stem revamped at last, which was valuable progress… It’s just such a pity that work (and more) could not have been done sooner to allow her to participate in a monumental event that’s part of her legacy. Ernestina is the “official vessel of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, ” part of the New Bedford Whaling National Park, the oldest fishing schooner in New England, and a designated National Historic Landmark. Maybe these designations indicate a relic; do they read like an epitaph? She’s not dead, I sailed on her just 9 years ago. I never felt more alive, and I swear she loved it too! She has a very viable mission as a sail-training vessel, school ship, and educational enterprise. It seems positively criminal that she’s so neglected!

What I’m enjoying most about Brigus is that everywhere I turn I meet with a personal connection to the history of Bartlett. I discovered that both Andy Critchley (who runs Landfall Trust) and Jenifer Soper (my liason from the Rooms in St. John’s supporting my residency) are grandchildren of Bob Bartlett’s sister Anne. Bob’s nephew Rupert’s wife still lives here. I met with many people, especially old people, whose fathers or other family members served with the Bartletts sealing, fishing, or exploring the arctic. I met the Bartlett family maid’s granddaughter. I ate dinner at Jenifer’s house off identical china-ware to what’s in Hawthorne. It was her grandmother’s, of course, and all the Bartlett women had ordered the same set!

Flipping thru the guestbook of Landfall which Jake started in the 1960s, I find an entry from Dan Moreland on Aug 2 1990. He drew a picture of the Morrissey in the harbor from right there, and thanked Jake for the hospitality.

I hiked way out beyond my cottage to the lighthouse at the tip of the rocky peninsula. With the strong land-breeze aiming to blow me off the cliff I imagined what the Morrissey looked like sailing into this scenic little harbor. Jenifer Soper has a photo in her home here of her mother as a child sitting on Uncle Bob’s lap. She told me how her mother would describe to her how the Morrissey would enter the harbor and just where she would tack, and with her pointing out the window to the harbor, I imagined it. But what I’d really like, it to see it with my own eyes and for Brigus . Let’s rally up support to SAVE ERNESTINA and sail her up for a visit! . It was a really big deal, Jenifer said, when she sailed in the harbor. The town provided her crew and provisions and affected everybody’s lives. Its no wonder that even some 60 years later, she’s still beloved.

Learn about my “Nautical Body” of art: http://www.christygeorg.com

Donate to Schooner Ernestina/MorrisseyAssociation:
http://www.sailernestina.org/%3Chttp://sailernestina.org/?q=node/178

Struts Gallery blog

2010-07-14T11:59:00.001-07:00

http://strutsgallery.ca/blog_Georg/

sewing?

2010-06-19T09:27:00.000-07:00

Back at Struts. The opening in Halifax was smashing! Here I am making semaphore flags for a photo shoot....

solo show @ Khyber ICA in Halifax

2010-06-16T10:35:00.001-07:00

the Ballroom Gallery at Khyber Institute of Contemporary Art in Halifax, Nova Scotia hosts:

Christy Georg

Nautical Body

It looks absolutely super fantastic.

http://www.khyber.ca/2010/05/christy-georg-nautical-body-june-17-july-8-2010/

Struts Gallery artist talk today

2010-06-09T18:17:00.000-07:00

went well.

Sackville has a heck of a lovely community. I met some very smart, as well as informative folks tonight. And I thought I was dishing out the info. Ha!

oh, Canada!

2010-05-29T16:52:00.001-07:00

So. My solo 3 week, 300 mi Appalachian Trail hike was a success. But don't tell my feet that. I saw all manner of wildlife critters and averaged 15-16 mi per day. More on that adventure later.

I finally made it to the Struts Gallery in lovely Sackville, New Brunswick (that be CANADA y'all) today! I'm getting settled in to my art residency here. Time to make stuff!

Appalachian Trail start

2010-05-02T20:23:00.000-07:00

well, I think I got it all together. It's a bit late already tonight, but I start hiking tomorrow.

I start in North Adams and head south. I have almost 3 weeks and want to go at least 300 miles to Pennsylvania.

see ya later.

sold.

2010-04-20T22:54:00.000-07:00

Awe, shucks. The Franzen's bought a sculpture from me, I'm so happy. All packed, hitting the road in the morning. Going east.

Thinking about how my wanderings the last few years might be becoming the subject of my work, rather than happenstance to facilitate it. All this packing and residency-hopping has become an art project. Is that why I feel the urge to do these long-distance hikes now? Straight- up rambling. Hobo style, you only got what you can carry and what's in your head.

Hit the Road!

2010-04-18T11:21:00.001-07:00

On Wed morning I'm leaving this lovely residency at Art 342. Damn.

We had a hell of a party last night to celebrate our 15 weeks of working here, a lovely group of 8 ladies that Jim, the founder, likes to refer to us at "The Sisterhood". And I'm "Mother Superior". Hmm.

The beautiful weather and the freakiness of packing (for the umpteenth time in my life) unnerves me with its elegant solitude. I need to buy and install new clamp-on leaf springs on my truck since I broke one moving out here. Poor truck. But I bought her a new set of tires. Well, that fits my Sunday afternoon of sun, packing, and beer drinking.

Visiting friends on the road en route to Boston- my storage unit haven.

I'm giving a lecture at my alma matter, Kansas City Art Institute on Thursday night, which is an honour and a treat.

Then, to Boston. Deal with storage and do lots of schlepping, retreiving artwork from shows, logistics like the dentist and doctor, visiting friends. I have a sound piece in a work that will screen at the Axiom Gallery in Boston the following Thursday, April 29. Then to Troy, NY and the fabulous Contemporary Artists Center @ Woodside is having a residency reunion weekend, which should be a hoot of communal cooking, art chats, and a sleepover.

I expect to begin hiking the Appalachian trail on Sunday, May 2. I hope to cover all of MA, CT, NY, and NJ. Got all my gear together, and my friend John "Stove-Lab" Osorio-Buck will provide with a kickass custom homemade lightweight backcountry kitchen. Thanks, John!

I will hike for 300 miles or 3 weeks, whichever is longer. I don't know about you, but when I have to clear my head, I like to take a walk.

This is a first- step training for doing the whole 2,650 mi Pacific Crest Trail next summer, with my wonderful old friend Aili Schmeltz. She's an artist too, and somehow this will become an art project. I'm hoping my shorter journey will teach me how to figure out what that's all about. I follow my gut. My gut says: take a walk. It's just as compelling a desire as what makes me make my artwork. I'm unconvinced it's different.

planning Appalachian Trail hike

2010-04-05T21:22:00.000-07:00

So, I have been in training since Jan. Summer of 2011 my friend Aili and I will hike the 2,650 mile Pacific Crest Trail. Her idea... really. But I've always wanted to do it! Later this month, I'll meet up with my old buddy Derek, who did it in 2000 to pick up some tips.

I've gotten together or ordered most of my gear. I had to get lots of new stuff as most of mine is about 15 years old-skool and heavy. Next month I will section-hike the Appalachian trail alone. Around May 4 I will start in northern Massachusetts and then thru CT, NY, and NJ. I am hoping to complete the 301 miles in those 4 states in under 3 weeks.

After that I gotta scoot up to the Canadian Maritimes for two nice residencies and a solo show!

And MOOSE viewing!

So, the highlight of my day was discovering the ULTIMATE hiking skirt. Thank you ARC thrift store, for my "Express" brand polyester above-knee black skirt with red, yellow, and pink polka-dots. Lightweight, breathable, chafe-proof, and privvy savvy! Not to mention cute. How can I possibly feel tired and defeated in polka-dots?

2010-04-05T08:29:00.000-07:00

Theater of Fish by John Gimlette.

Very fun. Basically a travel writing book exploring Newfoundland and Labrador.

And lemme tell ya, it's the only one out there. Not a lot of folks go visiting "the Rock" let alone wholly forsaken Labrador.

It' written interestingly, as he follows the route of his great-grandfather. So the story flip-flops between around 2002 and 1893.

Good prep for my trip to Newfoundland. My residency is in Brigus (home of infamous Capt. Bob Bartlett) in Conception Bay, about 1.5 hr drive N of St. Johns. HOPEFULLY I'll have a bit of time afterwards to explore and do some camping, not that I want to be trampelled by a moose in the middle of the night.

2010-03-28T18:49:00.000-07:00

Peary was an asshole.

2010-03-18T10:59:00.000-07:00

This is probably the most recent book to come out about the whole Peary/Cook "Polar Controversy". Now I'm not sure what to think about it. One thing is for sure though, Peary was a milk-whet mamma's boy and a ruthless fame-seeker. He was also a toeless old fart with a huge crew in his 1909 "discovery" of the Pole. Cook was quiet and meek, not boastful, and he was a friend to Amundsen, who seems awesome (though I've not yet read full bios on him) and pioneer of ultralight travel. Well, it sure was a good read.

drawin an' a hikin'

2010-03-11T17:54:00.000-08:00

So I gave up awhile ago on trying to track my progress in training for the PCT thru-hike. Lets just say I'm gettin into it. The weather's getting nicer, I've started exploring my local hikes... testing my endurance, seeing how much I have to eat on the trail, and just getting back into being in the elements all darn day.

When I first started working on the schooner Mystic Whaler (I crewed summer '07) I found myself seriously pooped the first few weeks. All that sun and wind takes it out of ya, but then you just get used to it. Always feeling your skin. And some sore muscles somewhere.

I've been exploring gear online and there's tons of info out there, and blogs. I need to find more by short ladies though, to help in the gear department. I will buy a new sleeping bad (finally) and a teensy lite stove before leaving Colorado. I think I can do at least a 2 week hike in May maybe on the AT.

In other news... I'm finishing up the octopus on my USS Constitution drawing.

Sir John Franklin

2010-03-03T18:33:00.000-08:00

This was pretty good.

I hadn't realized how OLD Franklin was at the time of the expedition. It was so well funded, and such a huge deal at the time.

drawing progress

2010-02-22T12:59:00.000-08:00

My "stern air of sadomasochistic ritual"

2010-02-18T19:34:00.000-08:00

ok so I edited down this review just to the part about my work. Woah, pretty ballsey there, Greg!

I'm pretty sure this little sound-byte nugget is gonna keep me snickering for decades!

Purposeful randomness

‘Experiments, Memory & Devices’ at BCC

By GREG COOK | February 17, 2010

three-person show "Experiments, Memories & Devices" at Bristol Community College's Grimshaw-Gudewicz Art Gallery

(777 Elsbree Street, Fall River, Massachusetts, through February 25).

INTRIGUING Georg’s Monitoring the Dunes Apparatuses.

Also on view here is art by Christy Georg and Richard Metzgar. Georg makes curious devices like a scissors-like clamp, spoon-scraper things, or a large metal funnel connected at bottom to a hose attached to a pair of what look to be earphones. Her Triple Doser (2005) is a bowl with three small attached spoons. It sits atop a stand connected to a kneeler. The idea seems to be that three people could kneel down and drink fluid poured from the bowl into the connected spoons, as if receiving a sacrament. But beware: the bowl and spoons are made of toxic lead.

Monitoring the Dunes Apparatuses (2003) includes a pair of crutches that stand on what seem to be speakers, and connect to a pair of headphones. Photos show Georg wearing the gear at the great dunes of White Sands National Monument in New Mexico and holding herself aloft on the crutches like an acrobat. She describes it as an "endurance performance" in which the artist is connected to the earth only by these stethoscopic crutch ears for as long as she can hold herself aloft. Georg impresses with her craftsmanship and her ability to invent creepy, mysterious objects that seem like artifacts from another era. Her stern air of sadomasochistic ritual can feel like pretentious affectation at times, but the goal — isolation of senses (taste, hearing) to generate a more powerful and elemental connection with the world — intrigues.

mysterious Mary Celeste

2010-02-17T22:02:00.000-08:00

mentioned in Bartletts books, this mystery of the Brigantine Mary Celeste. Found sailing erratically with no hands aboard in Dec 1872. It took a very long time for the mystery to be unfounded. Ooooh, makes for good reading!

more Capt. Bob

2010-02-15T11:59:00.000-08:00

Ouch. I've had a gnarly crick in my neck for a couple days.

That said, I read another book by Capt. Bob Bartlett.

It made me all giddy when he mentions later in his life taking the Morrissey up into the Arctic. He used to own that Schooner, now called the Ernestina. The first schooner I sailed in back in 2001.

Timmy Flynn's Hardware Store pics

2010-02-09T13:31:00.000-08:00

my "Super Sweepsy (Sailor's Whisk)" and "Sweepsies (Sailor's Whisks)"

Images from "Timmy Flynn's Hardware Store" @ Foothills Art center last friday night.

Today: AM ab pilates, 10min row, walk 1mi incl. PM walk 1.5, run 1.5 mi

"Best Sculpture" people's choice award

2010-02-08T20:23:00.000-08:00

Tonight was the 2009 New England Art Awards in Cambridge. Hosted by Greg Cook.

http://www.gregcookland.com/journal/

I won the People's Choice award for "Best Sculpture" for my exhibition "Nautical Body" @ the Trustman Gallery at Simmons College last September.

The director of the Grimshaw-Gudewicz Art Gallery in Fall River MA where I'm in a large three person show, "Experiments, Memories, and Devices" told me that Greg came to see the show and will probably write about it in the Boston Phoenix next week. That's pretty cool I think- he took the trek down!

Yesterday: walk 2 mi incl. Run 1 mi

Today: walk 1 mi. Run 4 mi.

Prizes! Prizes!

2010-02-06T15:33:00.000-08:00

Super Sweepsy (Sailor's Whisk)

OOH! I won a prize! It's money!

I won first prize, announced at the opening last nite of "Timmy Flynn's Hardware Store" in lovely Golden Colorado. It was a really cool show, and Golden is the cutest town evah. You totally want to see saloon doors on the taverns. But you don't. My theory: they replace 'em with winterized doors this time o year. Yep.

Yesterday: rollerblading!

Today: ab, FB, and bun pilates, walk 1 incl, run 1.

guitar. beer. progress

2010-02-04T17:29:00.000-08:00

So the other night I stayed up late recording some fun old songs. The recordings are lousy, but who cares? It's just incentive to 'master' some songs, meaning... to remember them the whole way through. It's harder than you'd think. Anyways it was good to feel my fingertips really burn again since playing with the boys at VCCA.

http://www.reverbnation.com/onetakewonders

Also, I discovered this beer called 1554 by New Belgium. Dude. This has got to be one of the most delicious beers I have ever tasted. I am not kidding. In fact, I saved one and I am going to go get that beer and drink it right now.

Slow and steady progress on the big drawing.

Making more little sailor's whisk sweepsies to bring to my opening tomorrow.

Yesterday: walk 1.5, run 3.5

Today: ab pilates, walk 1 mi, run 5 straight, walk 1 = 85 min

Newfoundland!

2010-02-02T19:56:00.000-08:00

Sweet! I was awarded the Brigus residency! It's 3 weeks from the end of June to mid-July. It comes with a healthy stipend as well. Should be immediately on the heels of my New Brunswick residency! AND the freaking coolest thing is that it's the town in Newfoundland where Capt. Bob Bartlett is from. I'm almost done reading his book about the Karluk shipwreck in the arctic. That man is a freaking badass.

So I'll get to see his house, I think its a museum. Maybe I'll think up some nutty site-specific tribute. That would really be the thing to do. So I became interested in Bob, which led to a serious Newfoundland infatuation, because Bob used to own the schooner Ernestina (then called the Effie Morrissey). He used it for personal arctic trips, taking millionares on wild hunting trips, that sort of thing. Anyways, back in 2001 when I was a grad student at MassArt I went on a sailing trip on the Ernestina. It was for 3-D students, and I'm sure I was the oldest one. I think it was five days. It was the end of the sailing season, October I think. To be sure, the weather was bad. It blew snot and we never even left Buzzards Bay. Almost everybody was badly seasick, really cold, and real buzzkill bummers. One girl was so sick they motored her to shore. Somebody clogged a toilet and the crew tried blasting water through it and basically there was a poopsplosion on deck, which I missed.

I loved every minute of it. Funny thing too, I signed up too late (afraid of the price tag...) so I was on the waiting list in case somebody cancelled. But it was a teacher who cancelled and somehow I never paid a dime for the trip. Lucky me.

As we all know, years later, in 2006 I learned to sail and worked on several schooners, including some volunteer work on Ernestina (of New Bedford), and she's in terrible trouble these days. The fore half of the ship was recently completely rebuilt. Beauty! However the aft half is pretty much rotten. She leaks like a seive. Its a crisis.

So send buttloads of money to her through here: http://www.sailernestina.org/

Yesterday: bun pilates. Some scotch and a bunch of Pino Grigio... gotta have a little fun.

Today: holy cow I went rollerblading! Walk 1 mi incl, run 4 (half at 6 mph!) cooldown = 60min

I Am A Machine!

2010-01-31T17:43:00.000-08:00

101 min=8mi. Walked 2 inc., Ran 4 fast, walk 1, run 1

I'm so having a beer. Trying O'Dell's 90 Shilling Ale. A lighter Scotch ale, pretty darn good. Found out I won the New England Art Awards "sculpture" category.

Not sure if by people's vote or the jury. They do both. Anyway, I'm not supposed to announce it until the awards ceremony Monday the 8th.

drawing, drawing. Listening to bluegrass.

2010-01-30T18:09:00.000-08:00

Finally finished and mailed my VCU sculpture teaching application the other day.

Things are rolling in the studio. I'm working away on this big drawing about the USS Constitution, and I'm glad to be feeling back in the groove.

Other than that I'm still hooked on LOST, in the 3rd season now. Zoe and I went to Ft. Collins Brewery for their little tour and tasted all of their beers. It was pretty awesome really. Well, so some of them taste like ass. Well. But some were great. The Chocolate stout was great. And two of the seasonals... the Scotch (uh lager I think?) was released yesterday. Yum. To my astonishment and horror I adored their Pommegranite Wheat. Not fruity even a tad. It was so carbonated, almost like champagne. Freaking fantastic. Small brewery.

http://www.fortcollinsbrewery.com

Yesterday: AM ab, FB pilates, PM bun pilates

Today: abs, run 4 mi, walk 1 mi.

simple day

2010-01-27T15:07:00.000-08:00

Almost done with Karluk's Last Voyage by Bartlett.

Did some thinking. Did some image research/printing for the Constitution drawing. Should be able to get that rollin again tomorrow!

Still addicted to LOST in season 3.

Almost done with a couple more applications.

Snowed a little.

Today: bun pilates, Ran 5 mi, walked 1 = 70 min.

details of the USS Constitution drawing in process...

2010-01-26T11:42:00.000-08:00

Today: AM steep incl 1.75 mi in 30 min. PM run 2 mi

The Good, The Bad, and The Delicious

2010-01-25T20:37:00.000-08:00

The "bad" news:

I didn't make the final cut for the Boston ICA's Foster Prize. Thats fine.

Super Sweepsy

(Thanks to VCCA, the kickass residency where I made this)

The "good" news:

I should finally have the second half of that grant I got last year in my hot hands this week!
I dropped off Super Sweepsy and a crate of Sweepsies (Sailor's Whisks) to the Foothills Art Center for "Timmy Flynn's Hardware Store" group show that opens Feb. 5. Nice place. The postcards are super cute too.
I got my contract for my next residency at Struts Gallery in New Brunswick, Canada. They are hooking me up big time, and I'm enjoying the sudden relief of a potentially non-financially terrifying time for awhile. Maybe till the fall. This is very, very good.
I bought a cute winter hat today at Target. It was in the kid's dept on clearance for 2 bucks.
I just had my first sip of 21 year Balvenie scotch, aged in Port casks. Bliss! Thanks Jim!

Today: 6 mi. 75 min. Ran 4 mi, walk 2 var. incl.

2010-01-23T22:07:00.000-08:00

FB and Mat pilates am, 1 mi incline, 1 mi run, 1 mi walk, .5 run, .5 walk

Application and Bluegrass

2010-01-21T20:04:00.000-08:00

Trying to finish my application for VCU. They have a search for a tenure-track sculpture prof. While I'm pretty psyched about what I've got going on these days, I'd be a fool not to apply for the (no-brainer) best sculpture teaching job in the nation. Right. Too bad I lost all of my student images in a hard-drive crash a couple years ago. Hmmm. I've been editing little clips of what few I shot video of. ugh.

Enjoying a scotch before a show. Oh boy, live music! Greensky Bluegrass.

Today: AM pilates, PM ran 1 mi, incline walk 1.25 = 30min

Arctic Research Continues!

2010-01-20T21:13:00.000-08:00

I'm pretty sure my "Nautical Body" is moving Northward. I've been obsessed with Newfoundland for a couple years now, largely because Capt. Bartlett is from there, Brigus. Bartlett owned the first schooner I sailed on, back in 2001 when I was in grad school. The Ernestina (ex-Effie Morrissey) is the state ship of Massachusetts and is in dire straits factually. More on that later.

Watched the Nova special Arctic Passage about Franklin. Dropped off during the second half about Ammunsen, I'll have to try that again later. Just cracked "the Karluk's Last Voyage: An Epic of Death and Survival in the Arctic" by Bob Bartlett.

15 months o' training

2010-01-20T11:59:00.000-08:00

On Monday, I officially started training. I plan to hike the entire Pacific Crest trail from Mexico to Canada from May-Sept 2011. I plan to spend my 37th birthday in agony, thank you.

There will be some sort of art project involved, but I figure I've got 15 months to figure that part out. So pardon my recording of my training progress here, they'll be short.

Mon walked at least 1 mi incline. Ran 3.5 mi @ 5.8mph

Today ran 3.5 mi @ 5.8mph, walked 1.5 mi incline, ran 1.5 mi @5.6= 80min

2010-01-20T07:37:00.000-08:00

Got the studio set up. Finishing up that big rope piece and a box of miniature twins for "Tim Flynn's Hardware Store" a group show that opens soon in nearby Golden, Colorado. (You know... where they make Coors beer..."it's the water")

NE Art Awards nominee

2010-01-19T17:45:00.001-08:00

Well, for all my boasting and cooing about how I never get sick...

I feel like crap. Fought, fought, lost.

Brighter news:

I got nominated for the 2009 New England Art Awards & The New England Journal of Aesthetic Research

in the 'best sculpture show' category for my Sept. show @ Trustman Gallery @ Simmons College

The public is asked to VOTE. So DO IT by friday!

http://gregcookland.com/journal/2010/01/vote-for-2009-new-england-art-awards.html

2010-01-16T22:07:00.000-08:00

Apparently the Franzens, who run this gig, have a particular sense of humour. One which I can appreciate.

2010-01-16T10:36:00.000-08:00

What's the first thing I notice about my new digs? Yep, there's more in the freezer.

2010-01-16T08:24:00.000-08:00

So.

After VCCA, I drove to Houston for Christmas.

That was nice. My nephew, he's cute. I flew to Los Angeles to hang with my best friend from college, Aili. We look for trouble. Art, camping, hot springs, hikes, etc.

Then I drove from Hou to Dallas to visit Tania, a high-school friend and drink scotch at the bar across the street and be reluctantly converted to the ways of turkey-"bacon". Yes, it was good.

Two Advil gel caps later, I'm on the road to Colorado. Spent the night in a hotel in the NE corner of New Mexico. Awoke to blue skies, cardigan weather, and a ghetto McMuffin provided by the hotel "breakfast nook".

Onward. To Fort Collins.