Trash talk 2020.
Amy Stacey Curtis, I'll be celebrating your birthday all day long...
It was my microbiologist daughter, Anne Madden, who taught me to wash my hands for the time it takes to sing the Happy Birthday song twice through.
During this COVID19 social distancing I find myself noting whose birthday it is on any given day and washing my hands repeatedly throughout the day singing Happy Birthday to them.
It's a funny little practice that has risen from functionality
(it makes me slow down the process and wash more thoroughly and more often) to spiritual ritual. I enjoy it. It brings that person(s) closer to my attention. Closer to my heart. And that helps reduce all this distance and isolation.
Amy Stacey Curtis, I'll be celebrating your birthday all day long singing 'Happy Birthday Dear Amy, Happy birthday to you!' in the spirit of your recent singalongs....ALL DAY...after I go for a walk. Before I make coffee. After I clean the rug...again. Before making lunch. After. Well...you get the idea.
Happy Birthday to our brilliant superhero of the heart and healing, you bedazzled beauty made of sweet stuff AND that highly polished intellect.Wow.
This is another photo from our recent collaboration.
Please see Amy's full blog post at www.theartistplan.com
One of the beautiful volunteers dragged a door across the mill floor leaving a beautiful white line behind her...
Also very fond of this image from a photoshoot with Amy Stacey Curtis at the Bates Mill. We arrived in the morning and set to work cleaning and lighting for an afternoon session. Amy's amazing volunteers were sweeping and hoisting and dragging all manner of stuff to clear the runway for Amy's 100 foot cape. One of the beautiful volunteers dragged a door across the mill floor leaving a beautiful white line behind her and that caught Amy's attention, which caught my attention.
Please see Amy's full blog post at www.theartistplan.com
By the river just before the bridge in a parking lot adjacent to the sea.
By the river just before the bridge in a parking lot adjacent to the sea. Covid19 Testing Site not yet operational. Portland/ Falmouth Maine
Documentarian Emily Bernhard filming artist Ashley A.J. Ricker doing hair and make up with Amy Stacey Curtis...
Documentarian Emily Bernhard filming artist Ashley A.J. Ricker doing hair and make up with Amy Stacey Curtis at our recent photo shoot at Amy's beloved Bates Mill. (February 2020)
Please see Amy's full blog post at www.theartistplan.com
Amy Stacey Curtis with her 100 foot superhero cape taking a break after the photoshoot. Even superheroes need a break.
Amy Stacey Curtis with her 100 foot superhero cape taking a break after the photoshoot. Even superheroes need a break.
Please see Amy's full blog post at www.theartistplan.com
Signs of the time. Martin's Point Health Center.
Signs of the time. Martin's Point Health Center.
Seen at Martin's Point Health Center this morning. Thank you, thank you, thank you to whoever created this and deep gratitude to health care workers worldwide.
Seen at Martin's Point Health Center this morning. Thank you, thank you, thank you to whoever created this and deep gratitude to health care workers worldwide.
The dedication of the crew at Bates Mill, friends and volunteers of Amy's, was stunning as they work preparing the 100 foot cape for Amy Stacey Curtis.
The dedication of the crew at Bates Mill, friends and volunteers of Amy's, was stunning as they work preparing the 100 foot cape for Amy Stacey Curtis. Their commitment to be of assistance and be supportive and to help create a vision was an education for me regarding the power of collaboration and...community. They are such stars.
Amy had requested that the cape's attachment at the shoulder resemble or infer the form of hands. Like hands holding her shoulders...to symbolize how held she felt by community throughout her illness and recovery. © Joanne Arnold
Please see Amy's full blog post at www.theartistplan.com
http://www.theartistplan.com/colossal-cape-collaboration
It was like introducing the Pope. Or Lady Gaga. Or both...
I was the emcee at a recent PechaKucha Portland and I was honored to introduce a personal hero, the art world icon Amy Stacey Curtis. It was like introducing the Pope. Or Lady Gaga. Or both.
She had forwarded the following bio and I was crushed exquisitely with its personal truth, it's implied devastating pain and it's winged humor. Didn't think I could love her anymore but after reading that bio I in fact did.
Her bio for that evening:
“Since completing an 18-year art project in Maine’s mills, Amy Stacey Curtis has been tackling a new ambitious project, battling a severe neurological illness and disability possibly caused by untreated Lyme Disease. When another neurologist tried to determine if she’s schizophrenic, he asked if she thinks she’s a super hero, three times. She didn’t tell him about the cape she wears to give her strength. He wouldn’t get it. It flows behind her, long and purple, with a gold and red butterfly, sequins and rhinestones…”
This image is of Amy and her devoted team prepping for a photoshoot at Bates Mill last month. And I was honored to photograph my super hero in her cape....which she wore to symbolize the abundance of support and assistance she has recieved throughout her illness.
More about this soon.
Deep gratitude to Amy Stacey Curtis for her trust.
http://www.theartistplan.com/colossal-cape-collaboration/
Commercial Street. Sunday morning...
Commercial Street. Sunday morning. I know nothing about this or how it may have happened but it sure provided the metaphor.
None of us. Bulletproof.
The Extraordinary Amy Stacey Curtis standing in her beloved Bates Mill...
The Extraordinary Amy Stacey Curtis standing in her beloved Bates Mill with a 100 foot super hero cape trailing behind her woven of the love and support she has received while battling and recovering from recent illness.
Honored to bear witness to her beauty.
And from a distant star all our isolation and distancing still appeared like a gathering.
And from a distant star all our isolation and distancing still appeared like a gathering.
At dawn today my neighbors at Skillin's Greenhouse were already at work.
At dawn today my neighbors at Skillin's Greenhouse were already at work.
Coming to a Neighborhood...soon.
Coming to a Neighborhood...soon.
Grateful for people who choose to do this. Falmouth, Maine.
Grateful for people who choose to do this. Falmouth, Maine.
—with Nancy Lund
What appears to be a set up for drive through testing.
What appears to be a set up for drive through testing.
A sign inside the furthest tent prompting instructions.
With all we can do in the world. With all we manage I wonder why we did not have immediate COVID 19 testing for everyone, with FEMA trailers in every neighborhood.
I know some reasons why. I do not know others. Or the real and complete answer or even if it is the right question. But here along the river is a set up for what appears to be a preparation at least for drive thru testing.
Her eyelids were drooping as of late.
Her eyelids were drooping as of late.
The irony of a clear view.
The irony of a clear view.
Daylight reveals another chapter.
Daylight reveals another chapter.