At Gallery 114 for the opening reception fo With Bated Breath photo credit: David E. Forinash
Many thanks to the members of Gallery 114 for hosting a well-attended opening reception for the juried group exhibition, With Bated Breath. It’s a gorgeously curated show, and it was a pleasure meeting you!
Show runs through February 1, 2020. Gallery hours are Thursday-Sunday, 12 pm – 6 pm.
Happy New Year!
Waiting For Clarity: Sunbreak Over The Broadway Bridge, mixed media 12″ x 16″ by Julianna Paradisi 2019
The above painting, Waiting For Clarity: Sunbreak Over The Broadway Bridge, is included in the juried invitational group show With Bated Breath, at Gallery 114, opening First Thursday, tomorrow evening, January 2, 2020 6 pm – 9 pm. The show features work by artists from Oregon, California, Washington, Wyoming, Ohio, Arizona, New Mexico, Arkansas, Texas and Montana.
I’m pleased to invite my Portland readers to attend the opening and artist reception at Gallery 114
Show runs through February 1, 2020.
David and I celebrated our 15th wedding anniversary last week. The traditional gift is crystal, but the modern one is glass or a watch. So David came up with a truly unique idea. He took me to Astoria, on the Oregon Coast, and treated me to a workshop at a glassblowing studio where I made a glass pumpkin. It was my first experience learning the craft of glassblowing.
We made an appointment at Fernhill Glass Studio where we met Claude and Chris. Claude let me choose the glass colors, and explained the process of making a glass pumpkin from beginning to end. It was a lot of information, but Chris made sure I used the right tool the right way at the right time. It was a lot of fun. At one point, I even used a blow torch half as big as I am tall to heat the glass stem, giving it its mirrored finish. I’d never used a blow torch before. There’s no photo of me with it; I suspect David, who took these photos, ducked for cover and I don’t blame him.
Click on images to enlarge.
I love my new Fall decoration! I had a blast, and can’t wait for our next trip to Astoria and trying my hand at another project.
Quickened Towards All Celestial Things
graphite, acrylic, oil on wood 20″ x 20″ 2018
Nearly a year ago, I wrote a post about mindfulness and found time for creativity, in which I described how I used downtime spent in waiting rooms to draw, or more accurately, for advanced doodling.
The practice continues. This year, I purchased an inexpensive set of crayons, which I keep in a desk drawer. During my lunch break, I take a minute or two to add a splash of color to the ballpoint pen ink drawings. None took longer than 15 minutes to sketch, usually much less.
These rough sketches don’t take the place of painting in my studio, but, there’s a certain satisfaction that comes with adapting to challenges of managing time, learning to juggle purpose and passion. Nursing provides purpose rooted in service, and passion (or a reasonable facsimile of art) blossoms from its branches. Like spring flowers following a severe winter, it will not be denied.
The above paintings are original works by Julianna Paradisi, and may not be used or reproduced without permission.
This year, I’ve had a few opportunities to try on the art of public speaking, a newish skill for me. The topics revolved around breast cancer, and oncology nurse navigation.
Recently, I was asked to speak to a group of inpatient oncology nurses about the role of nurse navigators for breast cancer patients, and the application to the hospital setting. Integrating the patient experience throughout the continuum of cancer treatment is a prominent part of what nurse navigators do, and inpatient nurses wanting to learn more (and earned CE) about oncology nurse navigation is exciting. It demonstrates ONNs have an impact on patient care.
For the occasion, I decided to learn a new skill: creating a Power Point presentation. I know, I know, some of you were making Power Point presentations since your first elementary school book report, but you probably can’t write in cursive as well as an older nurse, or use a real typewriter.
Here’s the stipulation: because I am also an artist, I have a thing against using clip art or stock images from the Internet to illustrate my words. If you are familiar with my blog posts for Off the Charts you already know this.
So, not only did I learn to create, and present a Power Point slide show, I used jpegs from a series of paintings I made of mountains, illustrating the presentation from the perspective of my personal practice. For many, the word navigator connotes images of the ocean or GPS, but as a breast cancer survivor turned ONN, I see myself as a sherpa, someone who has climbed the mountain, familiar with its terrain and potential for treachery. I lead patients up the mountain, summit, and then come back down. The paintings of mountains also suggest the barriers to care ONNs are tasked with removing for patients. The theme was woven into the closing remarks of the presentation.
Most of the paintings depict Mount Hood, the dominating peak and iconic symbol of Portland, Oregon, my home.
I gave the presentation with a sense of creative satisfaction in finding another way to merge art into my nursing practice.
Hang Your Art Here by jparadisi
Nurses and artists share many characteristics. Donations of time and skills are perhaps the most common.
Nurses donate time by volunteering at health screenings, or speaking about risk prevention at health fairs. Artists often donate artwork to local charity fundraisers, or loan work for exhibition in a clinic or hospital lobby.
Art in the clinical setting may offer a sense of relaxation, joy, or even help to redirect the focus away from an unexpected diagnosis for a patient or a loved one — even if it’s just for a few minutes.
A reader asked about bringing art into clinical settings. Here are a few guidelines to keep in mind when either asking for a donation, or curating a hospital or clinic art exhibition on a small budget:
I’m not saying that there aren’t occasions when entertainments transcend their aim and become art, and I’m certainly not suggesting that art must not entertain, but the ultimate aim of an entertainment is to confirm the reader’s existing sense of how things are and how things should be, while the aim of the literary artist is to upset and disrupt that vision.
Robert Boswell
To Celebrate Flag Day, get a 14% discount on JParadisiRN original coffee mugs today only! Follow the links below, and be sure to use the discount code provided in the banner at the top of the page.
The JParadisiRN Art Store is NEW, offering three paintings of nurses, including a brand new painting of a man-nurse, “Don’t Call Me Murse.” Two of my most requested paintings, “Sometimes My Surgical Mask Feels Like a Gag,” and “The White That Binds (Pinning Ceremony)” are also available. You can choose a mug from seven different styles, and customize them with the options offered.
I will offer new items soon. Be sure to take a look.
There’s also a permanent link to the JParadisiRNArtStore on this blog’s right-hand column.
