Marina Gallery
153 Main Street
Cold Spring, New York 10516
April 9th through the 30th

A nice mix of collage and sculpture, ceramics, paintings, and prints. Marina gallery is nestled in Cold Spring, New York. A warm and inviting village right on the river.

Artists: John Allen, Jane Arnold, Ada Pilar Cruz, Barbara Smith Gioia, Grace Knowlton, Martee Levi, Maria Pia Marrella, James Murray, Marina Yashina

Reception for the Artists:
April 9th Friday, 6:00 – 8:00 pm

Work on view: Thursdays to Sundays
12:00 to 6:00 pm or by appointment
845.265-2204

Hi All

Tomorrow is April Fools Day.

Don’t be foolish…join us for Daryl Zang’s artist reception.

April 1, 2010, 5 – 7:00pm
Michele & Donald D’Amour Museum of Fine Art.
Community Gallery, 21 Edwards Street
Springfield, MA 01103
PHONE: 800.625.7738
HOURS: Tues – Sun, 11am – 4pm
Museum Website: www.springfieldmuseums.org
Addmission is Free
Hors d’oeuvres and wine will be served.

Daryl Zang, Second Reading

I recently rediscovered my local library. I can’t imagine why it escaped me the last 5 years, but it’s a wonderful environment in which to work.  My library was recently remodeled and now comes equip with sloping ceilings, exposed beams and floor to ceiling windows.  I have a favorite spot.  It’s tucked in back with a comfortable chair next to a window that receives sunshine all afternoon. It’s quiet, of course.  While working at the library, I find I can complete entire thoughts, work through solutions, plan, organize and get work done in a peaceful setting.  I’m incredibly productive there and I come home feeling happy and refreshed.  The library makes me feel like I’m hiding out.

I had an excellent day yesterday!  It started with a productive morning with a good deal of client work accomplished… just like that!  There were many emails sent and replied to and phone conversations were exciting and on target.  It seemed like everyone was available at the exact same time I was.  I spoke with some incredibly smart people (always a pleasure). And I asked some questions of others that might have caused ripples.  I love ripples.  I question things… it’s what I do.

In considering the pros and cons of ripples, I couldn’t help but wonder if maybe I’d be better off if I didn’t disturb the status quo; I have a tendency to do so.  Pondering this made me think however of one of the strongest attributes and most wonderful things about designers… And this is one of the reasons you want to hire a professional designer.

One of the designer’s great talents is to question things. They bring fresh eyes into a situation and often ask questions of their clients such as “Why are you doing things this way?”  From that question, comes much information about the client’s organization and that information is what designers use to create effective and successful visual communications. Designers can create a bit of ruckus sometimes with their curiosity but the questions we ask are not meant to be mean or judgmental. It’s fact finding. And it’s done with the intention of best being able to assist those whom we are working with.

It’s not like designers have had their jobs forced on them.  Not like the old days when an employee stayed at a job they hated for 20 or 30 years.  Designers choose to be designers and often design is our lifestyle… our air. We love to talk with clients about their dreams and their missions, to share goals together and to receive new opportunities to be our best creative selves.

So the next time your designer starts picking away at you asking questions, remember it’s because we want to create something for you based on your needs, your mission, and what you might be looking at for the future.

Do you need a creative sidekick?  Contact me… I’ll probably ask you some questions

Caravaggio - Super at Emmaus

I wanted to be a lawyer. Constitutional law, in fact.  So, in 1993 I went back to college as an adult with two small children at home and all the many responsibilities of a grown-up.  Attending college as an adult was certainly challenging. I remember saying “How much harder can this be than a full time job?”  Let me tell you…it was a lot harder.  I attended Middlesex Community College, in Middletown, Connecticut. I worked hard at my studies because like a bad credit report, I had to reinvent myself.  I had attempted college once before right out of high school and, rather than study, I found partying more to my liking.  My failure at college was, of course, documented on my transcript and my past worked against me.

AIGA Connecticut is doing it again and is presenting what promises to be another extraordinary workshop.  On March 10, 2010, award winning photographer and writer, Sean Kernan, will talk about real creativity.  This is not the creativity we learned in school or at work, but the stuff we knew from the start. The workshop will explore how our basic creative impulses affect our lives and our work and how new thinking can open our eyes to the wonderment of what might be an enhanced creative lifestyle.

According to AIGA CT, this workshop will not help you get work, fall in love or make you healthy, but it might just get you back in touch with those creative ideas that you perhaps might have had as a free thinking child.

Sean Kernan

Sean Kernan  lives and works on the Connecticut coast. His photographs have been shown in museums around the world, including the Bibliotheca Alexandrina, the Museum of Photography in Greece, and the Whitney Museum in the United States.  Mr. Kernan has also appeared in The New York Times Magazine, Communication Arts, Graphis, and the Atlantic Monthly. He is the author of Among Trees (Published by Artisan Books, May 2003) and The Secret Books, with Jorge Luis Borges.

This event is $40 for AIGA members and $50 for non-members. If you sign up to become an AIGA member at this event, the event is FREE!
To purchase tickets, visit AIGA CT Online

Perhaps I’ve been reading too many business marketing and motivational books.  Seth Godin, and The Red Lemon Club have provided me with advice on how to be more productive and extraordinary. Taking them at their word, I’ve decided to conduct an experiment as part of my approach at living a bigger life of art and design. I’m ditching TV.

This measure is requiring a certain amount of bravery on my part. While I don’t watch that much TV anyway, there are certain times when I really truly just want to relax in front of the tube and let it take me away.  It’s candy for my brain.  Regardless, this week I’ll be calling up my satellite provider and canceling my account.

It’s not just a matter of wanting to be more productive… if I wanted to be more productive, I could always elect to just not turn the thing on. But, my Directtv bill is approximately $90/month and I find that ridiculous. I don’t receive the premium channels such as Showtime or HBO.  Nope, that $90/month goes for perhaps 4 channels I watch regularly and a whole bunch of other channels I rarely use.  I’ve called Directtv and eliminated some channels in attempt at making the monthly bill less like extortion, but that only brought my bill down by about $15 and eliminated Ovation TV, which I loved.  So with the support of my kids, off it goes and here are the benefits we’re hoping to gain:

1. More productivity and a enhanced lifestyle
2. I can either save that $90 or use it toward attending a social event.  That’s $1,080/year and that’s some significant vacation money!!
3. Less stress… I find that often the background noise of TV causes stress for me.  Quiet is good. Music is good. Bombs blowing up, repeated bad news, loud TV commercials…BAD.
4. I can enjoy television and programs without the monthly bill.  I can rent DVDs from the library. Watch Hulu.  ABC provides many of their regular programs online at abc.go.com. I can read the news online or in print.  These things are all “On Demand”.

I think that with the economy being such as it is, and with the inflated prices Comcast, Directtv and others are demanding, television will eventually go the way of the dinosaur.  Why should we pay $90+ when we can get what we need for less and On Demand.  My mission, my attempt, is to take back control.  Come on, join me.  I’ll keep you posted on my progress.

I’d love to get to know you.  Please drop me a comment and introduce yourself. Don’t be shy.