New activity – PAPER ART

Barbara – I’ve lived in the DFW area for over 25 years but hardly ever venture into Fort Worth so I hadn’t yet been to its Arts & Culture neighborhood. But learning that the Amon Carter Museum was having an exhibition called “In the Night Garden” featuring Paper art, how could I not go in “P” month? The two artists featured were Houston based Natasha Bowdoin and Pakistani-American Anila Quayyam Agha.  I LOVED Bowdoin’s art, the main piece being the title of the exhibit and which was paint on board with cut paper and vinyl mounted on moveable supports to resemble a theatrical backdrop. “For Bowdoin, nature is not merely a subject; it represents the idea of transformation.” She uses literature as her muse. 

Agha’s art was paper cut out, pastels, embroidery and beading on paper and was also quite beautiful. This one “suggests the sewing circles her mother established in Pakistan as a forum for women to gather and communicate in a restrictive, patriarchal society.”

If not for the ABC Life I would never have discovered these wonderful artists!

New author – Katherine PANCOL

Barbara: I started and aborted many “P” authors this month until I finally came upon “The Yellow Eyes of Crocodiles” by Katherine Pancol. I enjoy reading books about sisters (naturally). In this book Iris, the more vivacious and wealthy sister, commits to writing a book which she asks Josephine, her self-effacing, struggling sister, to write for her in exchange for the money. The author has a good style and so I enjoyed the story and all the supporting characters. While I would never take advantage of my sister (and vice versa), it was believable in this instance. The only negative for me was that I was extremely frustrated with how Josephine lets everyone use her; I wanted to shake her. But I guess that means the author did her job.