Ellen Sherman Zinn is my online artist buddy. She doesn't live in Buenos Aires, but I call her "BA Ellen" which is short for "Big-Ass Ellen"....
You see, Ellen is tiny, but she paints HUGE abstracts. HUGE. And not every woman would be thrilled to be called "Big Ass" but she adores it, so that says alot about her right there.
Ellen wrote a fun little piece for me. I've been collecting stories on the theme of "circulation" so I asked her to type something up. This was hard for her since she is recovering from back surgery which, when added to the fact that she is a really slow typist, means preparing this was a labor of love. That's Big-Ass Ellen for you!
Here it is:
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"I'm an Abstract Expressionist and a devotee of the New York school of the 1950s. De Kooning, Pollack, Guston, Kline, Motherwell and Rothko were the leaders of the grand pack of giants among giants.
After college, I left for NYC for a career in textile design, as certain conditions prohibited me from winging it as a starving artist. Instead, I became a high profiler in fashion and the more successful I became, the less I painted. I gave up the career, moved to central NJ, married, mothered, rescued greyhounds and painted the rest of the time I had left. I fit in a graduate degree, "circulated" enough to be known on the local level, and took pride in the fact that I had done all this having left Boston with $300, no job and no place to live.
Again, courage needed to be called upon after a few personal hits, and I was single again and pretty much alone. But, I pulled through, as most of us do when called upon to do so, and bought a small ranch home with a huge studio right off my bedroom. An artist's dream!
I share my life with my sweetest heart Robert and my therapy greyhound Cristy...both of whom are smart and wonderful. I came to the conclusion, that "circulation" was a full time job, unless I could afford a customized studio-equipped helicopter to beat the commuter traffic. So, I decided since that wasn't feasible, I'd be happy with the quiet little beautiful package we had created.
Then, my dear nephew, Richard, talked me into developing a web site, and another phase developed in my "circulation" history: I just completed my third tryptic commission in a row, 90"-108" wide. I love large scale and I love the challenge of painting to order and the pluses that go along with that: the "up front" money, the painting with someone else's colors, but with my own imagination, and knowing in advance that I cannot get too attached to the creation.
Next summer I have a grant for a terrific artist- in-residence program in Vermont. I feel privileged for this as I will be under the same roof as other selected artists, writers and poets from all over the world. So here I am, "circulating" in spite of myself! Whatever is meant to be, so be it!"
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Thanks, Ellen. ;-)
If you want to see BA Ellen's online gallery, take a look at http://www.ShermanZinn.com/gallery.htm
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