Sharing a Collaborative, Artful Birthday with you................

January, of this year, I was faced with a significant birthday; ya know one of those numbers that I had to come to terms with. Sixty! Yikes! I had to think rather quickly how I wanted to bring in this new number as I knew my family would be planning one of those surprise parties for me which, frankly, I'm not terribly comfortable with. It led me to stop and think how I really wanted to see in this number 60! This is what I requested:

I shared my actual birth date with my immediate family taking me out to my favorite restaurant for dinner - yummy and great company :) Nice and quiet and no surprises!

My other request was to share an artful evening with 19 of my dearest friends, here, in an artful and interactive way. I got a huge canvas and sectioned it off so each participant could work on a space of approx. 6" x 8". What a result! We held the party at the Albany Art Room where I have the privilege of teaching. It's my happy place and felt it was the perfect place to have my birthday bash. We had so much fun working on the collaborative canvas, and now it is hanging, with honor on one of the walls at the Art Room. :)

I decided, at one point, to submit this to Cloth Paper Scissors magazine and they were very interested in including it in their Muse section in the July/August 2009 issue. It appears on page 14 of the magazine.

You will see pictures, here, of the magazine pages as well as the picture of the actual canvas that we all worked on. Please be sure to click on the picture of the collaborative canvas to get a closer look :) The blocks of collages and paintings appear in different directions and that is because we were working on both sides of the table the canvas was on. I didn't think that part out very clearly :) But; it is a fantastic work of art and I'd like to share, on my Blog, the names of my dear friends and talented artists who contributed to this collaborative:

Top Row - starting at left
Pam Small
Melanie Phillips
James Summa
Patti Gramza
Oona Edmands
Ruth Setzer
GinnieChagnon/Kristen Hessler

Mid Row - starting at left
Mel Galvin
Claire Maziarczyk
Marilyn Rock
Claire Maziarczyk
Karen Nicholason
Karen Schupack
Roberta Partridge
Kristen Hessler

Bottom Row - starting at left
Susan Rivers
Karen Nicholson
Peggy Beck
Nancee Walker
Janet Tanguay
Kerri Posson
Kerri Posson
Linda Martuscello

I want to thank Karen Schupack (proprietor of the Albany Art Room) for opening up her space for me to share my dream come true birthday bash! I also want to thank all of my dear friends who contributed to this wonderful and meaningful collaborative canvas! Some contributed who could not actually attend the party but sent me their art to adhere to the canvas. We had a blast and turning 60 ended up being one of the most memorable celebrations of my life.

Gee; what will I do when I turn 70? Hmmmmmmmmmmmmm; I'm already thinking :)

Love to all and wishing you a safe, joyous, and artful weekend. You all inspire me SO much! Marilyn xxoo