Blog No. 73: Reincarnation of Marty Martyn, Auschwitz Survivor Edith Eger, Patti Smith

three things we love

Reincarnation of Marty Martyn

Ryan Hammons and his mom

Ryan Hammons and Marty Martyn

Dr. Jim B. Tucker, Division of Perceptual Studies, Univ of VA

After much thought and reading over the past nine years, the scales have finally tipped for me in favor of thinking this is not all there is. Here is my favorite reincarnation story about a young boy from Oklahoma, Ryan Hammon, who began talking at the age of four of his past life as a talent agent in Hollywood. Incredible as it seems, his fifty plus detailed facts about a man he claimed to be, Marty Martyn, were researched extensively by foremost past life researcher Dr. Jim B. Tucker, and they checked out to a tee. "There is a piece of us, the mind piece, this consciousness piece, that seems to be at the core of who we are and doesn’t seem limited to the life span of the brain or the body but seems to be more primary than that…and continues through multiple life spans."--Tucker is a psychiatrist and professor at the University of Virginia School of Medicine. For more information on this and other cases, check out Tucker and his mentor, Ian Stevenson's long list of books and scientific journal articles on the sujbect.

Auschwitz Survivor Edith Eger

This beautiful, radiant soul, Auschwitz survivor Edith Eger, has a lot of very important things to tell us. She is a Hungarian born psychologist who specializes in the treatment of post traumatic stress disorder and her brief ted talk about resiliency is succinct and well worth the seven minutes. If you would like to go deeper, I recommend you listen to a longer version where she speaks more specifically about her childhood, her experiences in Auschwitz and how she has been able to find joy, passion, love and purpose, the "untapped potential in the shadows." Both have valuable lessons for all of us. Eger has written two books on her life and philosophy: The Choice: Embrace The Possible and The Gift.

Patti Smith People Have the Power

Patti Smith People Have the Power

Please play this full blast!

To quote Patti Smith just ahead of performing this song for an audience in Stockholm, Sweden: "There are a lot of things to talk about and think about. But also we have to be happy, have fun, have a good time and remember joy because while so much strife is around us and so much things to make us feel so confused or sometimes frightened or sad, we still have to maintain our enthusiasm for life, for helping one another, for joy and this song is for you all...."


Lyrics

I was dreaming in my dreaming
Of an aspect bright and fair
And my sleeping it was broken
But my dream it lingered near
In the form of shining valleys
Where the pure air recognized
And my senses newly opened
I awakened to the cry
That the people have the power
To redeem the work of fools
Upon the meek the graces shower
It's decreed the people rule
The people have the power
The people have the power
The people have the power
The people have the power
Vengeful aspects became suspect
And bending low as if to hear
And the armies ceased advancing
Because the people had their ear
And the shepherds and the soldiers
Lay beneath the stars
Exchanging visions
And laying arms
To waste in the dust
In the form of shining valleys
Where the pure air recognized
And my senses newly opened
I awakened to the cry
The people have the power
The people have the power
The people have the power
The people have the power
Where there were deserts
I saw fountains
Like cream the waters rise
And we strolled there together
With none to laugh or criticize
And the leopard
And the lamb
Lay together truly bound
I was hoping in my hoping
To recall what I had found
I was dreaming in my dreaming
God knows a purer view
As I surrender to my sleeping
I commit my dream to you
The people have the power
The people have the power
The people have the power
The people have the power
The power to dream, to rule
To wrestle the world from fools
It's decreed the people rule
It's decreed the people rule
Listen
I believe everything we dream
Can come to pass through our union
We can turn the world around
We can turn the earth's revolution
We have the power
People have the power
The people have the power
The people have the power
The power to dream, to rule
To wrestle the world from fools
It's decreed the people rule
It's decreed the people rule
We have the power
People have the power
We have the power...

Charity of the Week:
Doctors Without Borders

Photo of the Week

Saying goodbye to my studio on the ocean for the time being this coming week…mixed feelings…


About The Author

New York City based contemporary artist, Pam Smilow created the creative lifestyle blog “things we love” in an effort to foster a sense of community during times of isolation and reflection. To read more about her and her art, visit her website and check out the essay written by the Hammond Museum's Frank Matheis entitled The Sophisticated Innocence of Pam Smilow.

Blog No. 72: Stephen Pace, Coconut Curry, If They Should Come For Us

At her young age, Amanda Gorman is a force to be reckoned with and already a national treasure.

three things we love

Many of the images above and below are clickable and lead to further information, so click away….

Painter Stephen Pace

Unloading at Duryeea's Pier #2, 1988, Oil on canvas, 60-1/2h x 84-1/2w in

Lobster Boat at Dawn, 1982, Oil on canvas, 42h x 70w in 

Pulling Lobster Traps, 1989, Oil on canvas, 48 1/2" x 72 1/2"

I first saw painter Stephen Pace's work at the Dowling Walsh Gallery, a wonderful gallery in the heart of Rockland, Maine. Although Pace started as an abstract expressionist in the 1950s, it is his seemingly simple, zen-like figurative paintings that capture the essence of Maine for me. Beginning in the early 60's, his subject matter switched as he started painting the every day life of the coast of Maine: lobstermen, boats, seagulls, the sea...I share some of my favorite images here. You can see more of his work by visiting the gallery in person, through their website and/or by watching this film about him on vimeo.

Coconut Curry with Tofu

Although I live alone, I do like to eat well and during the pandemic, as I found myself craving certain foods that I would usually get in a restaurant, I started to cook more for myself. And as a result of one of my absolute favorite restaurants in NYC (AbcV), I also realized that meat does not always have to be the center of a dish.
Here is a recipe I made last night for the first time from a Melissa Clark recipe on the New York Times cooking app. Surprisingly, even in my local small town Maine grocery story, I was able to find fish sauce, curry paste and unsweetened coconut milk...

COCONUT RED CURRY WITH TOFU
Serves Four
(I made it with green curry paste instead).

INGREDIENTS
14 ounces extra-firm tofu
1 tablespoon peanut or safflower oil
1-inch ginger root, peeled and minced
2 shallots or 1 small onion, minced
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 Thai chile or 2 serrano peppers, seeded and thinly sliced
2 tablespoons chopped cilantro stems
8 ounces cremini mushrooms, quartered
½ teaspoon sea salt, more to taste
3 tablespoons prepared red curry paste (or green)
1 cup unsweetened coconut milk
2 teaspoons Asian fish sauce
Zest and juice of 1 lime
1 cup snow peas
Basil and/or cilantro leaves, for garnish
Brown or white rice, for serving

INSTRUCTIONS
Cut tofu into 1-inch slabs and lay it out on a baking sheet lined with paper towel. Cover with another layer of paper towel and place another baking sheet or something similar on top to press the moisture out. Let sit for 20 minutes. Cut into 1-inch cubes.
Heat oil in a large skillet over medium high heat. Add ginger, shallots, garlic, chile and cilantro stems, and sauté until tender, about 5 minutes. Add mushrooms and sauté until golden brown and tender, about 5 minutes. Season with salt. Stir in curry paste and cook 2 minutes. Pour in coconut milk, scraping up any curry paste with a wooden spoon. Add fish sauce, lime zest and juice. Add tofu cubes and snow peas. Simmer until the sauce thickens slightly and the snow peas are tender, 7 to 10 minutes, stirring frequently. Taste and add more salt and/or fish sauce if needed.
Serve warm with brown rice. Sprinkle with torn basil and/or cilantro leaves on top.

If They Should Come For Us

Poet, writer, filmmaker and creator of the web series Brown Girls

If They Should Come for Us
By Fatimah Asghar

these are my people & I find
them on the street & shadow
through any wild all wild
my people my people
a dance of strangers in my blood
the old woman’s sari dissolving to wind
bindi a new moon on her forehead
I claim her my kin & sew
the star of her to my breast
the toddler dangling from stroller
hair a fountain of dandelion seed
at the bakery I claim them too
the sikh uncle at the airport
who apologizes for the pat
down the muslim man who abandons
his car at the traffic light drops
to his knees at the call of the azan
& the muslim man who sips
good whiskey at the start of maghrib
the lone khala at the park
pairing her kurta with crocs
my people my people I can’t be lost
when I see you my compass
is brown & gold & blood
my compass a muslim teenager
snapback & high-tops gracing
the subway platform
mashallah I claim them all
my country is made
in my people’s image
if they come for you they
come for me too in the dead
of winter a flock of
aunties step out on the sand
their dupattas turn to ocean
a colony of uncles grind their palms
& a thousand jasmines bell the air
my people I follow you like constellations
we hear the glass smashing the street
& the nights opening their dark
our names this country’s wood
for the fire my people my people
the long years we’ve survived the long
years yet to come I see you map
my sky the light your lantern long
ahead & I follow I follow
Source: Poetry (March 2017)

Charity of the Week:
World Central Kitchen

Feed refugees. Click image to donate to Jose Andres’ World Central Kitchen.

Painting of the Week

Landscape with Tree, Village and Moons mixed media on canvas 60” x 80” $8500


About The Author

New York City based contemporary artist, Pam Smilow created the creative lifestyle blog “things we love” in an effort to foster a sense of community during times of isolation and reflection. To read more about her and her art, visit her website and check out the essay written by the Hammond Museum's Frank Matheis entitled The Sophisticated Innocence of Pam Smilow.

Blog No. 71: Wise Quotes, Film The Last Tepui, Eurovision Song Contest

Pam Smilow Tree of Life Series I and II: Day and Night , mixed media on paper 60” x 22” each, $4000

three things we love

Many of the images above and below are clickable and lead to further information, so click away….

Wise Indigenous Quotes

From the website inspiringquotes.com, here are a few wise proverbs from indigenous people world-wide:

The roots of all things are holding hands. When they cut down a tree in the jungle, a star falls from the sky. — Lacandón proverb

We are all visitors to this time, this place. We are just passing through. Our purpose here is to observe, to learn, to grow, to love… and then we return home. — Aboriginal Australian proverb

Do not judge your neighbor until you walk two moons in his moccasins. — Cheyenne

Don’t be afraid to cry. It will free your mind of sorrowful thoughts. — Hopi proverb

Where there is true hospitality, not many words are needed. — Arapaho proverb

The Last Tepui

Biologist Dr. Bruce Means and Climber Alex Honnold

Alex Honnold hanging from a tepui in Guyana

Dr. Bruce Means

Many carnivorous plants are found at the summit of the tepui

I always knew I wanted to be an artist ever since I was little but second choice would have been a journalist. After seeing the film The Last Tepui, I now am reconsidering. This biologist, Bruce Means, might just have the coolest job around although I could do without the spiders and snakes. I watched this mind-blowing Nat Geo film the other night him while staying at my new friends Dede and Scott's beautiful little house deep in the woods of Otisfield, Maine. The Last Tepui is the story of an 2021 expedition into the very remote and untouched region of condensed sandstone mesas, known as tepui ("islands in the sky") that rise out of the jungle between Guyana, Venezuela and Brazil. The purpose of the trip was for Means to carry out his last field study in the area (he was eighty at the time of the film) with an expert climbing team (including Alex Honnold of Free Solo fame, National Geographic explorer Mark Synnott Venezuelan Federico Pisani and an intrepid team of photographers and local Akawayo guides). The Last Tepui documents their exciting, extreme journey and climb into this unbelievably biodiverse, untouched region in search of undiscovered species of frogs, snakes, spiders, etc. Thrilling is an understatement, even from the quiet of our living rooms...Couldn't recommend this film more highly. Here is a link to the trailer and film itself.

Eurovision Song Contest

Systur Group: Sigga, Beta and Elín

Zdob şi Zdub with Fraţii Advahov

The Eurovision Song Contest is a big deal in Europe. This year it kicks off on May 10th in Turin, Italy. The competition begins with 40 countries, with two semi-finals on 10 May and 12 May and then reducing to 26 groups for the grand final on 14 May. Systur, the Icelandic entry consisting of three sisters (and their brother on drums) is something that caught my eye (ear) with their song Með Hækkandi Sól. So did the upbeat song Trenulețul (The Little Train) sung by the Moldavian folk punk band Zdob și Zdub and folk musicians the Advahov Brothers. To have a taste of other current entries, click here for a sampler with songs from around the world
And if you are really interested, here are past winners of the Eurovision Contest 1956-2021.

Charity of the Week:
Unicef

Products of the Week

Mother’s Day is rapidly approaching…Let’s not forget to celebrate our moms…

Animal Giclee Prints (100+images) by Pam Smilow and Gert Mathiesen, 8” x 10”, $150 Framed

Spring is very slowly arriving…


About The Author

New York City based contemporary artist, Pam Smilow created the creative lifestyle blog “things we love” in an effort to foster a sense of community during times of isolation and reflection. To read more about her and her art, visit her website and check out the essay written by the Hammond Museum's Frank Matheis entitled The Sophisticated Innocence of Pam Smilow.

Blog No. 70: Long Lost Family, Insurrection, Songs in French

Pam Smilow Maine Series: Red Lobster Shack mixed media on canvas 60” x 40” $7500

three things we love

Many of the images above and below are clickable and lead to further information, so click away….

Long Lost Family

Long Lost Family Hosts Chris Jacobs and Lisa Joyner

Stolen child Tyler Graf reuinited with his Chilean birth mother

The reality show Long Lost Family is a television series in the United States and England, although versions of it are popular in other countries as well. Each episode follows the story of two adults who have been adopted (or have given up a child for adoption) in search of their birth parents (or long lost children). It is a caring, sensitive show hosted by two adoptees themselves and it makes you realize how important and essential to our core it is to know where we come from.

Some 20,000 children were adopted by foreign couples during the Augusto Pinochet era (1973-1990) and Chile's Court of Appeals says at least 8,000 of those are suspicious cases (although some fear that number is much higher). One of these cases is that of Houston firefighter Tyler Graf, who always wondered why he was given up by his birth mother. With the help of a nonprofit, Nos Buscamos, he went in search of his past. Watch his moving story here. ABC News did a feature on these stolen children if you would like to read more

Insurrection

Michigan State Senator Mallory McMorrow

Just in case you have any doubt of what we are up against in the United States of America these days, the New York Times compiled a video of exactly what went on on January 6th, 2021, minute by minute. We have all seen tidbits of this, but I realized how I myself only saw pieces of the story and this comprehension footage, although terrifying, is worth watching to get the full picture.

And now, when you are totally depressed, watch this! Self described Christian, straight, white, married, suburban mom, Michigan State Senator Mallory McMorrow leads the way with this inspirational speech she made a week or so ago on the floor of the Michigan state senate. We just need to engage and fight like her...Hate will only win if people like me stand by and let it happen...we will not let hate win."

Songs in French

You probably know by now that I am a sap. In honor of Macron's win over the far right, white supremacist, racist, anti-semitic Marine Le Pen, here are some of my favorite songs sung in French that bring me back to the year I spent in Aix-en-Provence in 1976-1977. Nothing like music to evoke those memories...and bring you right back.

GEORGE MOUSTAKI singing Ma Solitude and Ce Soir Mon Amour.

The Quebecois group BEAU DOMMAGE singing Motel Mon Repos.

JACQUES BREL singing Ne Me Quitte Pas and Marieke

EDITH PIAF singing Je Ne Regrette Rien

 GRAEME ALLRIGHT singing Il Faut Que Je M'En Aille.

GEORGES BRASSENS singing Les Copains D'Abord

Charity of the Week:
Unicef

Products of the Week

Mother’s Day is rapidly approaching…Let’s not forget to celebrate our moms…

Animal Giclee Prints (100+images) by Pam Smilow and Gert Mathiesen, 8” x 10”, $150 Framed

Spring is very slowly arriving…


About The Author

New York City based contemporary artist, Pam Smilow created the creative lifestyle blog “things we love” in an effort to foster a sense of community during times of isolation and reflection. To read more about her and her art, visit her website and check out the essay written by the Hammond Museum's Frank Matheis entitled The Sophisticated Innocence of Pam Smilow.

Blog No. 69: Faith Ringgold, Robin Williams, NY Times Best Books

No, this is not the Caribbean. It is Round Pond, Maine on a beautiful sunny day in April…Photo taken by my daughter Morgan Mathiesen.

three things we love

Many of the images above and below are clickable and lead to further information, so click away….

Faith Ringgold

Click image to hear Ringgold read her beloved children’s book Tar Beach

Art as a weapon of resistance

One of the Flying Home Series Mosaics at the 125th Street Subway Station

Faith Ringgold made political posters

Artist Faith Ringgold’s life’s work is being celebrated right now at the New Museum in downtown Manhattan through June 5, 2022. I look forward to seeing it when I am back in New York. I was first introduced to Ringgold's work through her children's book Tar Beach, which I enjoyed with my daughter many moons ago. Most known for her amazing story quilts, I have always admired her for her versatility and the fact that her art and her life are seamlessly intertwined. She is unabashedly herself and doesn't feel the need to stick to the confines of the "art world." I share her approach. Her humanity comes through in the way she combines her art with her politics, with her role as mother and teacher, through paint, sewing, illustrating, writing, and sculpting. Quoting from the website of the New Museum, "Ringgold has drawn from both personal autobiography and collective histories to both document her life as an artist and mother and to amplify the struggles for social justice and equity. From creating some of the most indelible artworks of the civil rights era to challenging accepted hierarchies of art versus craft through her experimental story quilts, Faith Ringgold has produced a body of work that bears witness to the complexity of the American experience."

Robin Williams

Robin Williams (1951-2014)

Robin Williams (1951-2014)was one of the greatest entertainers of all time, beloved throughout the world, until he met his untimely death by suicide in 2014. The recently released documentary Robin's Wish, tells the story of his illness and clears up myths of his final days. Robin did commit suicide but it was not a result of depression. In fact, he had lewy body disease, a degenerative brain disorder similar to alzheimer's, which went undiagnosed. It wasn't until after his death that an autopsy revealed how far along the levy body disease had taken over his brain.

Robin Williams was a true national treasure and I love to revisit his movies from time to time. Here are links to some of my favorites: Mrs. Doubtfire, Good Morning Vietnam, Dead Poet's Society and Good Will Hunting.

NYTimes Best Books

Why read? photo courtesy of Forbes Magazine/ Getty

The New York Times asked their readers what book they considered the best book in the last 125 years. Here is the list they published on December 28, 2021. What books would you put on the list?...Place your choice in the comment section below.

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Charity of the Week:
Unicef

Products of the Week

Mother’s Day is rapidly approaching…Let’s not forget to celebrate our moms…

It’s still winter up here in Maine…


About The Author

New York City based contemporary artist, Pam Smilow created the creative lifestyle blog “things we love” in an effort to foster a sense of community during times of isolation and reflection. To read more about her and her art, visit her website and check out the essay written by the Hammond Museum's Frank Matheis entitled The Sophisticated Innocence of Pam Smilow. And by the way, let me know in the comment section what you think of the new haircut...

Blog No. 68: Ann Lamott Birthday Thoughts, Amazon Unionizes, The Temptations

Pam Smilow Midnight mixed media on canvas 52” x 80” $8500

three things we love

Many of the images above and below are clickable and lead to further information, so click away….

Ann LaMott Thoughts

Ann Lamott's Thoughts on her 68th Birthday:

"I am going to be 68 in six days, if I live that long. I’m optimistic. Mostly.
God, what a world. What a heartbreaking, terrifying freak show. It is completely ruining my birthday plans. I was going to celebrate how age and the grace of myopia have given me the perspective that almost everything sorts itself out in the end. That good will and decency and charity and love always eventually conspire to bring light into the darkest corners. That the crucifixion looked like a big win for the Romans.
But turning 68 means you weren’t born yesterday. Turning 68 means you’ve seen what you’ve seen—Ukraine, Sandy Hook, the permafrost…Marjorie Taylor Greene. By 68, you have seen dear friends literally ravaged by cancer, lost children, unspeakable losses. The midterms are coming up. My mind is slipping. My dog died.
Really, to use the theological terms, it is just too frigging much.
And regrettably, by 68, one is both seriously uninterested in a vigorous debate on the existence of evil, or even worse, a pep talk.
So what does that leave? Glad you asked: the answer is simple. A few very best friends with whom you can share your truth. That’s the main thing. By 68, you know that the whole system of our lives works because we are not all nuts on the same day. You call someone and tell them that you hate everyone and all of life, and they will be glad you called. They felt that way three days and you helped them pull out of it by making them laugh or a cup of tea. You took them for a walk, or to Target.
Also, besides our friends, getting outside and looking up and around changes us: remember, you can trap bees on the bottom of Mason jars with a bit of honey and without a lid, because they don’t look up. They just walk around bitterly bumping into the glass walls. That is SO me. All they have to do is look up and fly away. So we look up. In 68 years, I have never seen a boring sky. I have never felt blasé about the moon, or birdsong, or paper whites.
It is a crazy drunken clown college outside our windows now, almost too much beauty and renewal to take in. The world is warming up.
Well, how does us appreciating spring help the people of Ukraine? If we believe in chaos theory, and the butterfly effect, that the flapping of a Monarch’s wings near my home can lead to a weather change in Tokyo, then maybe noticing beauty—flapping our wings with amazement—changes things in ways we cannot begin to imagine. It means goodness is quantum. Even to help the small world helps. Even prayer, which seems to do nothing. Everything is connected.
But quantum is perhaps a little esoteric in our current condition. (Well, mine: I’m sure you’re just fine.) I think infinitely less esoteric stuff at 68. Probably best to have both feet on the ground, ogle the daffodils, take a sack of canned good over to the food pantry, and pick up trash. This helps our insides enormously.
So Sunday I will celebrate the absolutely astonishing miracle that I, specifically, was even born. As Fredrick Buechner wrote, “The grace of God means something like, “Here is your life. You might never have been, but you are because the party wouldn’t have been complete without you.” I will celebrate that I have shelter and friends and warm socks and feet to put in them, and that God or Gus found a way to turn the madness and shame of my addiction into grace, I’ll shake my head with wonder, which I do more and more as I age, at all the beauty that is left and all that still works after so much has been taken away. So celebrate with me. Step outside and let your mouth drop open. Feed the poor with me, locally or, if you want to buy me something, make a donation to UNICEF. My party will not be the same without you."--Ann Lamott

Amazon Unionizes

Christian Smalls

Derrick Palmer

Two best friends succeed in forming the first Amazon Union in Staten Island.

During the height of the pandemic, we all talked about celebrating essential workers who stayed on the job and serviced us--the grocery store workers, the bus drivers, the nurses, online warehouse employees--people who provided critical services when we needed them most. Christian Smalls, a Staten Island assistant manager at Amazon, became very concerned that Amazon wasn't doing nearly enough to protect workers from Covid-19, whether on personal protection equipment or social distancing. He decided to lead a walkout in March 2020. It got him fired the next day under the guise of his violating social distancing himself. State attorney general Leticia James accused Amazon of unlawfully firing Smalls for speaking out on safety issues...

Long story short, this unlikely pair went up against Jeff Bezos, huge sums of money and a campaign of union busting and misinformation and they won! Listen to Amy Goodman's interview with the pair--two ordinary citizens who stuck their neck out and won. Watch this movement--the New York Times thinks it is ushering in a new era.
Many of us rely on Amazon, and these two union founders have vowed this is just the beginning of protecting Amazon workers rights across the country.

The Temptations

Owen Williams, the only surviving original member of the Temptations.

I am not usually big on musicals but saw Ain't Too Proud, the story and love letter to the Temptations when it made its start at the Berkeley Rep a few years ago pre-Covid. I loved it! It has finished its run in New York but now goes on tour to many cities around the country. Check out the schedule to see if it is coming to a city near you. I highly recommend it as it weaves the drama of their lives into their incredible music and dance! Here is a preview of the show. And if you want to be uplifted, listen to this playlist of all their greatest hits. And for those who want to go deeper into the history of these motown wonders of the 60's, here is a documentary about all the original leads.

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Charity of the Week:
Amazon Labor Union

Products of the Week

It’s still winter up here in Maine…


About The Author

New York City based contemporary artist, Pam Smilow created the creative lifestyle blog “things we love” in an effort to foster a sense of community during times of isolation and reflection. To read more about her and her art, visit her website and check out the essay written by the Hammond Museum's Frank Matheis entitled The Sophisticated Innocence of Pam Smilow. And by the way, let me know in the comment section what you think of the new haircut...

Blog No. 67: Boycott Koch, Langston Hughes 3 Short Poems, Trude's Orange Cake

Another photo from Maine, taken with my Iphone 12.

three things we love

Many of the images above and below are clickable and lead to further information, so click away….

Boycott Koch

Koch Industries, one of the biggest multinational conglomerates in the world, is refusing to leave Russia.  What can we do about it?

We don't hear much about BOYCOTTS these days.  But they are effective tools if enough people do them. So if Koch Industries is insisting on staying in Russia, then if ever there was a time to boycott them, it is now (we had many reasons before the war in Ukraine to do so too). They are makers of a lot of products that we use in every day life under the umbrella Georgia Pacific. DON'T BUY:
Brawny
Angel Soft
Mardi Gras
Quilted Northern
Dixie
Sparkle and
Vanity Fair.
Please take a look at this complete list and think twice before purchasing these products. Spread the word.

When I was a kid, we didn't eat grapes and lettuce from 1965-1970 because we were BOYCOTTING companies that exploited farmworkers. Founded by Cesar Chavez, Dolores Huerta, and Larry Itliong The United Farmworkers organized a successful nationwide fight against these growers and were finally able to unionize. To read more about the UFW story, click here.   And here is a short video history about the five year Delano Grape Boycott.

In the words of Cesar Chavez, "we don't need perfect political systems; we need perfect participation."

Langston Hughes
3 Short Poems

Langston Hughes Courtesy Ryan Sheffield

American poet, social activist, novelist, playwright, and columnist

As for Langston Hughes by Terrance Hayes Courtesy BOMB Magazine and Terrance Hayes

Three short poems
by Langston Hughes
(1901-1967)

DREAMS
Hold fast to dreams
For if dreams die
Life is a broken-winged bird
That cannot fly.

Hold fast to dreams
For when dreams go
Life is a barren field
Frozen with snow.

THE DREAM KEEPER
Bring me all of your dreams,
You dreamers,
Bring me all of your
Heart melodies
That I may wrap them
In a blue cloud-cloth
Away from the too-rough fingers
Of the world.

I, TOO
I, too, sing America.
I am the darker brother.
They send me to eat in the kitchen
When company comes,
But I laugh,
And eat well,
And grow strong.

Tomorrow,
I'll be at the table
When company comes.
Nobody'll dare
Say to me,
“Eat in the kitchen,”
Then.

Besides,
They'll see how beautiful I am
And be ashamed—

I, too, am America.

Trude's Orange Cake

Aerial shot of a Passover Seder

Trude Victor

Trude’s Passover Orange Cake

I always forget about this cake until Passover rolls around but I should remember it all year because it is delicious no matter what occasion and it is gluten free.
Passover is my favorite holiday hands down. It has deep significance for anyone who treasures freedom and democracy and it is particularly apt this year when we are under such threat. If you have never been to a seder, get yourself invited to one. You won't regret it...

Trude and Max Victor were friends of my mom's back in Heilbronn, Germany. They are the reason we moved to Usonia, the cooperative Frank Lloyd Wright community where I grew up. They were such lovely, cultured people who were definitely role models for me. In fact, I have modeled my life in many ways around the way they lived theirs. Aside from so many things, Trude was an amazing cook. Here's to her and one of my favorite recipes!

Ingredients
2 large navel oranges
6 eggs
1 and a half cups grated almonds
one cup sugar
1 teasp. baking powder
pinch salt

Boil the oranges whole (organic would be good) in water to cover for 30 minutes or so.
Let it cool for a while, and then process the whole oranges in a food processor.
Beat the whole eggs and then add the rest of the ingredients.
 
Bake in a greased form (I use a round springform- but I don't think you have to) at 400 degrees for one hour or maybe a bit shorter.
Let it cool.
Served with confectionary sugar on top. Yum...

Charity of the Week:
United Farmworkers Union

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Painting of the Week

Pam Smilow Tree of Life Series mixed media on paper 60” x 22” private collection

It’s still winter up here in Maine…


About The Author

New York City based contemporary artist, Pam Smilow created the creative lifestyle blog “things we love” in an effort to foster a sense of community during times of isolation and reflection. To read more about her and her art, visit her website and check out the essay written by the Hammond Museum's Frank Matheis entitled The Sophisticated Innocence of Pam Smilow. And by the way, let me know in the comment section what you think of the new haircut...

*Blog No. 66: Prince Mapp, Eagle's Nest, Peter Ralston Photography

After the rain comes this…view from my window, April 1, 2022. I will remember this for a long long time!

three things we love

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Prince Mapp

My portrait of Prince Mapp 84” x 36” mixed media on canvas

Meet Prince Mapp. I got to know him through my daughter, who works alongside him for the crime reporting app Citizen. Growing up poor in South Jamaica Queens, Prince started "hustling" in the street when he was eleven. He made one very bad decision as a teenager that cost him big time (as well as someone else's life). He spent 18 years doing time in various upstate prisons including SingSing and Clinton. This is his compelling story, told by him through this youtube video, as he walks us through his life. Prince credits Harry Belafonte and Hudson Link for his college degree--an organization that provides higher education opportunities to incarcerated people in New York State as well as reentry and support resources upon their release. If ever there is an argument for rehabilitation, it is here. Prince spends most of his time now spreading love and speaking to young men like him, in hopes of preventing them from making the same mistakes he did. I was so struck by his story, which in a way is the story of so many people growing up poor and black in America, struggling to make ends meet and to belong, wherever they might find it. It compelled me to paint a portrait of him and write this piece for my blog.

Eagle's Nest

Eagle mixed media on Mexican bark paper

Thanks to my friend, nature lover par excellence Tina Carro, I am cancelling Netflix, shutting down Hulu, unsubscribing from HBOMax. Who needs it since she has turned me on to a site with webcams, a myriad of webcams. There you can watch bald eagles feathering their nests, feeding their babies, standing up, sitting down, flying in, flying out. This is armchair science at its best. Check out this camera from Pennsylvania Farm Country and if you get sick of that one, click here to see other bird nests and other animal webcams across the country. Makes me want to become a biologist and it certainly puts our human superiority complex in major doubt to see them so up close and personal...

Peter Ralston Photography

Portrait of Andrew Wyeth

Peter and Terri Ralston in their gallery in Rockport, Maine

I had the good fortune of spending an hour and a half with the photographer Peter Ralston in his gallery in Rockport, Maine the other day. I sought him out because his photography is outstanding and I have long been an admirer, ever since I discovered his work many years ago in Rockport Harbor. You may recognize his name and work as his photos often show up in Heather Cox Richardson's Letters from an American newsletter.
What a wonderful spirit the man has--Ralston is a true storyteller in his photos and in his writing--and it reminds me again and again that if you live your passion, it comes through loud and clear to those around you and is contagious. He has Maine is in his bones, ever since he was introduced to the state by his Pennsylvania next door neighbors, Betsy and Andy Wyeth, who encouraged him "go deeper" with his work and spend the summer with them in Cushing, Maine. Forty years later, here he remains, one of the most celebrated Maine photographers, documenting his adopted state and the people, animals, nature and light that inhabit it.

Like me, Peter likes to share the things he loves--contact him through the gallery if you want to see and read his weekly newsletter called "Images from Maine." And better yet, visit his gallery in person in Rockport, Maine, or check out the myriad of wonderful photos available for viewing and purchase on his website . There are so many images that I love that are not included here...

Peter considers himself blessed-he survived a death defying illness and is here to live life to the fullest. He considers himself one of the .01 percent and that has nothing to do with economics: 1) Make a living at what you love 2) Have it contain a meaningful aspect that contributes something to the world 3) Do it in a place where you feel that you belong and 4) surround yourself with people you love and who love you. He then cited to me JM Barrie, author of Peter Pan: "Nothing is really work unless you'd rather be doing something else."

Charity of the Week:
HudsonLink.Org

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Painting of the Week

Pam Smilow Untitled (Floating House Series) mixed media on acrylic 50” x 80” approx. $8500

I’ve decided to embrace the gray…


About The Author

New York City based contemporary artist, Pam Smilow created the creative lifestyle blog “things we love” in an effort to foster a sense of community during times of isolation and reflection. To read more about her and her art, visit her website and check out the essay written by the Hammond Museum's Frank Matheis entitled The Sophisticated Innocence of Pam Smilow. And by the way, let me know in the comment section what you think of the new haircut...

Blog no. 65: Friendship in Vienna, Mary Oliver Poem, Corey Booker & Ketanji Brown Jackson

click image to see all 100+ available animal giclee prints by Pam Smilow and Gert Mathiesen $150 each (framed)

three things we love

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Friendship in Vienna

On my travels through youtube, I came across another film that caught my eye--a made for TV movie that dates back to 1988, featuring Ed Asner again--he always made decent films! This one is about a friendship of two girls in Nazi occupied Austria and it has particular meaning to me because my mom, Edith Kern Smilow, was in Vienna just before this time. She left Germany in 1935 or 1936 to get out of the way of Hitler (she went the wrong way!) and to work in a Maria Montessori school there. But there was a polio outbreak in the school and she returned to Germany, only to leave again in the nick of time in 1938, this time to be a children's nurse in England.

The film is touching story and gives you a very good feel for how occupation and tyranny can happen very quickly. It is my hope that we all put extra effort in protecting our democracy, which is in real danger right now...lest we take it for granted.

Mary Oliver Poem

Mary Oliver (1935-2019)

Image courtesy of the Wordy Feminist on Etsy

Pam Smilow Tree Series I-III, mixed media on paper, 60” x 22” each, $4000 ea.

When I Am Among the Trees
By Mary Oliver

When I am among the trees,
especially the willows and the honey locust,
equally the beech, the oaks and the pines,
they give off such hints of gladness.
I would almost say that they save me, and daily.
I am so distant from the hope of myself,
in which I have goodness, and discernment,
and never hurry through the world
but walk slowly, and bow often.
Around me the trees stir in their leaves
and call out, “Stay awhile.”
The light flows from their branches.
And they call again, “It’s simple,” they say,
“and you too have come
into the world to do this, to go easy, to be filled
with light, and to shine.”

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Corey Booker, Ketanji Brown Jackson

Illustration Courtesy of Louisa Bertman @louisabertman (Instagram)

Courtesy Sarahbeth Maney, Gina Cherelus and the NYTimes

I had planned something else for this column but decided to save it for another time so I could honor Corey Booker's beautiful emotional speech he made on the senate floor during the Senate Judiciary Committee's confirmation hearings of Supreme Court nominee Ketanji Jackson Brown this past week, in stark contrast to the mean-spirited demagoguery of many of his fellow (Republican) senators.
I encourage you to listen to the full version here but if you are pressed for time, you can get the flavor with the short version too. In Booker's words, "I am not going to let someone in the senate steal my joy...Today you are my star. You are my harbinger of hope...You have earned this spot...You are worthy..."

Charity of the Week:
Jose Andres World Central Kitchen

Feed Ukraine

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Painting of the Week:

Trying to urge on Spring with this painting called Sunshine… Pam Smilow 50” x 80” mixed media on canvas $8500.

I’ve decided to embrace the gray…


About The Author

New York City based contemporary artist, Pam Smilow created the creative lifestyle blog “things we love” in an effort to foster a sense of community during times of isolation and reflection. To read more about her and her art, visit her website and check out the essay written by Frank Matheis entitled The Sophisticated Innocence of Pam Smilow.

Blog no. 64: Tashi and the Monk Documentary, The Song: One Day, Finnish Prime Minister Sanna Marin

Hearbreaking New Yorker Cover by Ana Juan. Courtesy New Yorker Magazine and Ana Juan. @anajuan_art and if you would like to see more of her awesome New Yorker covers, click here.

three things we love

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Tashi and the Monk

In the foothills of the Indian Himalayas, Buddhist Monk Lobsang Phuntsok created a community for abandoned children called Jhamtse Gatsal: The Garden of Love and Compassion. He himself had been abandoned as a child and vowed that he would help children like him feel loved and wanted. To quote him speaking to his kids: "Everybody kind of give up the hope on us. But in this place, you are welcome and you have opportunity to change, and we will be with you, no matter what. This is a community of love and compassion." Tashi and the Monk documents this amazing place and the fantastic work a single man has done to rescue so many unwanted children...

The Song: One Day

Young@Heart Chorus

Chicago Children’s Choir

Hampshire Young People’s Chorus

I am not particularly musical--in fact, I am not really good at carrying a tune, but I do love to sing (mostly in the car) and I recognize that singing is very uplifting to the spirit. I remember once, way back when in Cornwall, Connecticut, there used to be a once monthly get together where someone played the guitar and people would come and just sing along. We don't do that much any more and I wish we did. Just before covid struck, I was even thinking of hosting that kind of evening in my studio. Maybe I will do it in the future...

In the meantime, we can all enjoy this match made in heaven that joins my favorite Young@Heart Chorus out of Northampton, Massachusetts (you have to be over 70 to join) as they join the celebrated Chicago's Children's Choir, along with the Hampshire Young People's Chorus, singing the hopeful song ONE DAY by Matisyahu.

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Sanna Marin, Prime Minister of Finland

It is International Women's Month and I can't help but think that if women ruled the world, we might just be much better off... A country that stands out in the gender equality category is Finland. It just so happens that one of my oldest friends (from fourth grade)--Sue Gallo--has been living there in Helsinki for the past six years, along with her partner Alyssa, and they are always singing the praises of Sanna Marin, one of the world's youngest prime ministers. And at 37, she leads an all-female coalition government. CNN did a small feature on her recently. And hear Trevor Noah talk about her and offer a good laugh here.

Charity of the Week:
Jose Andres World Central Kitchen

Feed Ukraine

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Painting of the Week

Pam Smilow mixed media on canvas 50” x 80” approx. $8500 In hopes of summer and better days ahead for the world…

I’ve decided to embrace the gray…


About The Author

New York City based contemporary artist, Pam Smilow created the creative lifestyle blog “things we love” in an effort to foster a sense of community during times of isolation and reflection. To read more about her and her art, visit her website and check out the essay written by the Hammond Museum's Frank Matheis entitled The Sophisticated Innocence of Pam Smilow. And by the way, let me know in the comment section what you think of the new haircut...

Blog no. 63: Kurt Vonnegut Quotes, W.H. Auden Poem, Frank Matheis on Art

three things we love

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Kurt Vonnegut Quotes

Kurt Vonnegut (1922-2007)

My father and I shared a love of Kurt Vonnegut. We read all of his books and then talked about them. I came across these words of wisdom from him recently, as he described a conversation he had had as a young boy and remembered...I thought it worth repeating here.

“When I was 15, I spent a month working on an archeological dig. I was talking to one of the archeologists one day during our lunch break and he asked those kinds of “getting to know you” questions you ask young people: Do you play sports? What’s your favorite subject? And I told him, no I don’t play any sports. I do theater, I’m in choir, I play the violin and piano, I used to take art classes. And he went WOW. That’s amazing! And I said, “Oh no, but I’m not any good at ANY of them.” And he said something then that I will never forget and which absolutely blew my mind because no one had ever said anything like it to me before: “I don’t think being good at things is the point of doing them. I think you’ve got all these wonderful experiences with different skills, and that all teaches you things and makes you an interesting person, no matter how well you do them.” And that honestly changed my life. Because I went from a failure, someone who hadn’t been talented enough at anything to excel, to someone who did things because I enjoyed them. I had been raised in such an achievement-oriented environment, so inundated with the myth of Talent, that I thought it was only worth doing things if you could “Win” at them.” - Kurt Vonnegut

And here are a few more Vonnegut quotes to throw in for good measure...

“I believe that reading and writing are the most nourishing forms of meditation anyone has so far found. By reading the writings of the most interesting minds in history, we meditate with our own minds and theirs as well. This to me is a miracle.” – Kurt Vonnegut, Palm Sunday

“We are what we pretend to be, so we must be careful about what we pretend to be.” – Kurt Vonnegut, Mother Night

“Perhaps, when we remember wars, we should take off our clothes and paint ourselves blue and go on all fours all day long and grunt like pigs. That would surely be more appropriate than noble oratory and shows of flags and well-oiled guns.” – Kurt Vonnegut, Cat’s Cradle

“A purpose of human life, no matter who is controlling it, is to love whoever is around to be loved.”

Musée des Beaux Arts

MUSÉE DES BEAUX ARTS
by W.H. Auden

Courtesy New YorkTimes and Elisa Gabbert

About suffering they were never wrong,/
The Old Masters: how well they understood/
Its human position; how it takes place/
While someone else is eating or opening a window/
or just walking dully along;/
How, when the aged are reverently, passionately waiting/
For the miraculous birth, there always must be/
Children who did not specially want it to happen, skating/
On a pond at the edge of the wood:/
They never forgot/
That even the dreadful martyrdom must run its course/
Anyhow in a corner, some untidy spot/
Where the dogs go on with their doggy life and the torturer’s horse/
Scratches its innocent behind on a tree./

In Breughel’s Icarus, for instance: how everything turns away/
Quite leisurely from the disaster; the ploughman may/
Have heard the splash, the forsaken cry,/
But for him it was not an important failure; the sun shone/
As it had to on the white legs disappearing into the green/
Water; and the expensive delicate ship that must have seen/
Something amazing, a boy falling out of the sky,/
Had somewhere to get to and sailed calmly on.

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Frank Matheis on Art

Frank Matheis

I am not a big fan of art critics. In fact, I don't really like reading about art at all. If I buy an art magazine, it is always to just look at the pictures. But then along comes Frank Matheis, German husband of a good friend of mine, who has many accomplishments under his belt in the world of culture: music writing, radio documentaries, and as publisher and editor of thecountryblues.com. He approaches me and tells me he wants to add art writing to his repertoire and could he interview me as his first essay in a new series called In Other Words. I was flattered and of course said yes...I was flattered and of course said yes...

By now, he has written quite a few essays about visual artists and as it turns out, I finally found an art critic I respect...he is down to earth, very observant and intuitive, anything but a snob, and seems to go directly to the crux of a person and his or her art instead of pulling people down. Since his first article, he has written many others and I urge you to check them out here. Most recently, here is a very insightful article about artist Bill Traylor.

Bill Traylor

Art by Mireya Samper

Art by Ilse Schreiber

Art by Wennie Huang

Charity of the Week:
Jose Andres World Central Kitchen

Feed Ukraine

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Painting of the Week

Pam Smilow Darkness mixed media on canvas 20” x 70” approx. $6500

I’ve decided to embrace the gray…


About The Author

New York City based contemporary artist, Pam Smilow created the creative lifestyle blog “things we love” in an effort to foster a sense of community during times of isolation and reflection. To read more about her and her art, visit her website and check out the essay written by the Hammond Museum's Frank Matheis entitled The Sophisticated Innocence of Pam Smilow. And by the way, let me know in the comment section what you think of the new haircut...

Blog no. 62: Outsider Art Fair, The Sound of Silence, Joanne's Artichoke Squares

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three things we love

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Outsider Art Fair

Selene Perez, courtesy Creativity Explored, SF, CA

W. Tucker, courtesy Koelsch Gallery, Houston, Texas

James Castle, courtesy Hirschl & Adler Modern

Oscar Azmitia, courtesy Pure Vision Arts, The Shield Institute

I look forward to going to the Outsider Art Fair every year in New York City and I am happy to report that yesterday I was back there again after a two year Covid hiatus..Although I can't invite you to come along, I can share a video from a past show which will give you a taste of it and the types of art you would see there. .

Outsider art or Art Brut is a term that translates as 'raw art', originally invented by the French artist Jean Dubuffet to describe art such as graffiti or naïve art which is made outside the academic tradition of fine art. It encompasses a wide range of artists from those that are self-taught, artists with disabilities, child art, art of the mentally insane, folk art, primitive art--in short, art that exists outside the mainstream academic art world and is often made out of a compulsion to create rather than a commercial motive.

I have been a long time fan and proponent of community organizations that support artists with intellectual and developmental disabilities. I remember the first time I was walking in downtown Oakland and came across a supermarket size space of people hard at work. The studio seemed to have everything: a ceramics area, people doing embroidery, printmaking, painting, sewing, working with wood and making the most beautiful of things. It literally brought tears to my eyes when I found out what I was looking at: a group of people with disabilities of all types, normally people the society would consider throwaways, engaging in the most productive of ways, creating beautiful art and giving meaning to their lives... Every community should have a place like this!

Places like Creative Growth Art Center in Oakland, California and ArTech Collective in New York afford these "outsider" artists a venue to practice their art, while providing them with a variety of art supplies and support, enabling them to realize their full potential as practicing artists.

Bill Traylor

Sister Gertrude Morgan

Gee’s Bend Quilts

Sound of Silence

Art Garfunkel and Paul Simon

Simon and Garfunkel Concert in Central Park, 1981, NYC

My friend Eileen shared this story about Art Garfunkel (of Simon and Garfunkel fame) and his blind friend Sanford Greenberg, revealing the origins of the song The Sound of Silence. The touching story reveals what a deep special bond the two had and reminds us that we all have the capability of impacting the life of others in a very meaningful and everlasting way.

And while we are at it, here are three of my favorite Simon and Garfunkel songs: The Only Living Boy in New York, Kathy's Song and A Heart in New York and the full Simon and Garfunkel Central Park Concert from 1981.

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Joanne's Famous Artichoke Squares

I think of this recipe as a Thanksgiving one since our family's festivities around that holiday always began with hot mulled cider and these delicious artichoke squares made by one of my favorite cousins--Joanne Kahn. At a time when we are finally resuming gatherings, I thought this would be a good time to share this hors d'oeuvres recipe with you. I guarantee this one will be a hit, no matter what time of year you serve it....

ARTICHOKE SQUARES:

INGREDIENTS
2 small jars of artichoke hearts in oil, drained
1 small sautéed onion
1/4 cup seasoned bread crumbs
4 eggs
1/2 pound grated sharp cheddar cheese
1/4/ teaspoon salt
pinch chopped oregano
pinch chopped parsley or flakes
small cooked onion

INSTRUCTIONS
chop up artichoke hearts
Beat the eggs
Combine all ingredients together

Spread mixture into a greased square 9 inch pan
Bake at 350 degrees for 35-45 minutes
Cut into squares and serve.

Charity of the Week:
Jose Andres World Central Kitchen

Feed Ukraine

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Painting of the Week

Pam Smilow Mandala Series: No War mixed media on canvas 54” x 54” $7500

I’ve decided to embrace the gray…


About The Author

New York City based contemporary artist, Pam Smilow created the creative lifestyle blog “things we love” in an effort to foster a sense of community during times of isolation and reflection. To read more about her and her art, visit her website and check out the essay written by the Hammond Museum's Frank Matheis entitled The Sophisticated Innocence of Pam Smilow. And by the way, let me know in the comment section what you think of the new haircut...