Dora Buttone Tremblay (my mom)

I realize it has been a while since I have written. My last post was about my dad…I miss him very much.

I am now turning my attention to my mom. My mom died from breast cancer when I was at the beginning of my sophomore year of college.

She was 50 years old. Talk about suck!

Although as I look back it was very clear that my mom was sick and probably not going to come out of her disease, at 19 years old, you are simply not prepared to lose a parent…too bad for you. I have so many conflicting thoughts about my mom and her death. Was it really necessary? Was "everything" done? It is now almost 40 years ago…with so many public efforts to raise dollars to "cure" cancer, I feel a bit wary of the industry of cancer. 

But looking at my mom, leaving her disease out of the picture, there are so many memories. My mom was one of those people who had strong feelings about things. She was not bland or middle of the road. People either really liked her (or not, I am sure). Fortunately I think more liked her than not.

Her parents were from Italy…like many who came to the US with the hopes of a better life. My mom served in the US Navy during the second world war as a Nurse and it is where she met my dad.

My parents had a real love affair marriage. They were devoted to each other, which, I now know, is why I felt so safe as a child. They rarely fought that I can remember. Our house was a safe haven for me. Very secure.

Although I believe we shared some of the same ideas around of parenting, we parented very differently. She was not interested in being my friend. She never went to the movies with me. She was my mom. Period. A grown-up. There were very clear boundaries. She was not afraid to be disliked by me.  She did what was necessary. The thing about my mom was she was waiting for me to grow up. She was never going to talk to me as if she was a peer. As I got older, more mature, our relationship got closer. I am not sure she was 100% comfortable with me as a little girl.  She did not play with me…ever.

What we did together that was so much fun was cook. We made ravioli, made lasagna, made cookies and we went shopping. She was an expert in all of these areas of life and was always happy to include me.

As I am sure you can tell, my memories , though many, have gotten vague…sad, but I guess thats how things go. As time has passed, and particularly near Mother's Day, when I walk through stores looking at the many displays of the Mother's Day offerings I yearn to reach out to my Mom.

This year I am doing something about that!

I have launched a Kickstarter project called "The Dora Project" as a way to remember my mom and help others celebrate their moms. I hope you will have a look,  participate and share it!

Moms, all of them, deserved to be cherished, celebrated, honored. Their memories not forgotten and opportunities to make memories not missed. 

Happy Mother's Day mom! I love you.

Dear Readers,

Please enjoy this article.  The items in this auction are a mix of personal items( hand written letters) and beautiful works of art.

More Than Just Real Estate: Elliman's Gallery Showcases Historical Artifacts

As a rule, a real estate office is not the typical repository for historical artifacts such as Thomas Edison’s telephone sketches, Beethoven’s crudely written notes done in uneven lettering or John Lennon’s hand-written proposal for forming a band, which he had sent to Eric Clapton.

Nevertheless, those promotional items are a part of a 300-lot auction presented by Profiles in History and displayed at Douglas Elliman’s Madison Avenue gallery.  Personal effects from historical personages as diverse as King George III and Joe DiMaggio are included.

Martha Malinowski from Profiles in History is the curator of the auction.  Malinowski had worked at Sotheby’s for 26 years prior to joining Profiles in History. The number of items in the collection that she had previously handled astounded her. One item in particular is a Charles Dickens’ manuscript that was written following William Makepeace Thackeray’s death.   According to Malinowski, the emergence of previously sold artifacts for re-sale is not rare.  What she found unusual in this case was the size and content of the collection, and the realization that it was held by one individual.

Additional items include ten letters written by George Washington.  There is a poignant letter to Marilyn Monroe, written by Joe DiMaggio after a particularly unpleasant fight.

The auction, entitled “The Property of a Distinguished American Private Collector Part I” will be held in California on 18th December 2012. It will be followed by Part II in May 2013.  The highest-priced items range between $500,000 and $200,000.  Less costly items, such as the letter written by a Revolutionary War soldier, are priced between $2,000 and $3,000.

Malinowski finds the manuscripts fascinating, particularly the penmanship: There is the loopy handwriting of Ernest Hemingway, while Emily Dickinson’s handwriting is, at first glance, similar to page-wide algebraic equations.  Vincent Van Gogh’s handwriting is the clearest of all the letters displayed.  His letter to a Madame Ginoux, written in French just seven months before he committed suicide, is both profound and touching.

The collection was originally slated for display at Fraunces Tavern.  This became impossible in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy, but Douglas Elliman’s New York City real estate  very kindly provided their gallery space for the display.   Elliman’s CEO Dottie Herman referred to the resiliency of New York, and lauded the collection as unique and amazing.

It is a collection not to be missed

This information was written by Ken Torrino, web relations for Elliman, brokers for NYC, Queens Real Estate.

If you have the opportunity to see this fascinating collection of items please let us know. We'd love to hear your thoughts!

Make today your best day ever!

Michele

Please COMMENT, LIKE and TWEET this article.  We are interested in what YOU think!

It's interesting being an artist.

There are many romantic ideas surrounding the artist and her work.

She works because she is "inspired"…driven by a surge of creative power that only artists feel (myth). Creating something outside of herself, she is, at every moment, guided by that inspiration and knows exactly what to do, when and how. Almost as if she wasn't directing this whole thing herself, like it was the hand of some greater power……..

WRONG!

There are those moments of divine inspiration and they are grand.

But then there is the other 95% of the time, when doing what she set out to do is just her work. Hopefully, she has her vision nearby in her mind. So many distractions…mail to read (e-mail of course), walking the dogs, that pile of laundry that needs sorting, the newspaper she has delivered to her house and  never has quite enough time to get to, the phone, Facebook and all, so many distractions.

Then she has her vision.

Sometimes the work takes so long she might lose sight of the final vision in her mind's eye. She just knows she  has to slug through, get the day to day stuff finished, hold the pieces till the glue dries, spend what fells like endless hours tearing pieces of paper to get the just right edge.

The work.

She has to do it, even if she has lost sight of her precise vision of why. But then, the break through…things feel like they are coming together, like the close is at hand, like her idea, her inspiration is coming to life. She finishes and then she can reflect. Is this really where she intended to end? Is there more to do? What is her next step? Now she can decide.

You experience this too don't you?

It is common to many of us no matter what we do, what our chosen profession is. It is not just the inspiration (divine or otherwise)that gets us to do out work. It is also the personal dedication to getting all of this done, completed and finished. Just slugging through the tough stuff, the stuff that isn't so crystal clear all of the time. The stuff where you commit to just getting it done.

That is so much of the process. Just getting it done. Then you can breath and evaluate.

So the goal is to get to the breath…the place where you can evaluate, the place where you are finished!

Congratulations! You have done it.

Time to go out and make today your best day ever!

Michele

Comment below, Share, FB like, tweet and all that stuff! 

Dear Readers,

I am sorry to tell you that my very sweet Dad has passed away this week.

I am very sad.

My Dad, like many Dads, was very special.

He lived his life with a level of enthusiasim and fervor that many might envy.

He loved my Mother with all his might.

He was a family doctor…way before Marcus Welby M.D.

He was loved by his patients.

He NEVER turned a sick or injured person away. That was in the days of no insurance. 

He delivered babies and talked people out of ending their lives.

He worked most days …up at 5:30, rounds at 3 hospitals, office hours all day…break for dinner…hours after dinner 4 nights a week.

His office was at our house (Lucky for us…we used to peek in to talk to him if we had a question.)

He was the school Doctor when I was in grade school.

He had the prettiest hands of any man I have ever seen (they were super soft too).

He loved to dance.

He loved his patients young and old.

He always wanted the best for us, his kids.

He cried about 1000 rivers when my Mom died. I didn't know one man could have that many tears.

He collected himself and moved on.

He fell in love and got married.

He and his wife had 2 babies.

He walked me down the aisle.

He made a new life for himself.

He and his wife lived together for 7 years and decided that they each needed to find a new path. Sad.

He then became a part-time single father.

He took my brother and sister to Disneyworld (more than once)!

He did stuff with them.

He and his now ex-wife did the greatest thing. They did not battle over their children. They each loved them.

He dated for a while and then fell in love with his current wife.

He accepted her children as his own and loved them too!

He had lots of love to give and share.

He became a grandfather to many…and a great grandfather as well

He continued to love his life and his patients and those around him for many years.

He faced adversity along the way.

He never ran from it.

He faced it head on.

He became sick but continued to work, to help others.

He eventually became too ill to work.

He retired and was able to catch up on some of the everyday living he had missed in all of his years of serving others.

He read and watched baseball games.

He went for lunches with his kids and his grandkids.

He went for drives down streets he had always wondered about.

He looked at life as an opportunity and an adventure.

Right until his final adventure was to say good bye to us.

I love you Dad. I miss you already.

Love,

Shelley

Please like this post, share this post and tweet this post. I really want everyone to know my Dad. 

Just a quick post. Getting thoughts together for a new, exciting project.

Wondering how you collect your thoughts?

I am working on getting back to working on my big flowers. Lots of plans. Excited to get things rolling!

Ideas take time to germinate and grow. It is so tempting to rush things along , but stepping back and taking a deep breath is so important!

While I am busy letting things germinate, remember to go out and make today your very best day!

Michele

Tweet and FB like! Oh yes…and comment too!

A lovely illustration of change…a local sunflower

I have been dragging my heels, avoiding doing something that has needed to be done…but I am on my way! If you have been here before, you probably notice, things are different around here!

YAY!!!

It has taken me a while but I finally got thoughts together and organized (kind of) and, well, welcome to my new home. I needed to change the look of my blog to better reflect where I am going with my art work, my paper sculptures. My old header was wonderful and I miss it, but I grew out of it, so here I am….compliments of my son Tom!

So much has happened in the last few months and I have been remiss in reporting all of this great progress!

So much has happened since we last spoke. I have been making my big, beautiful paper flower sculptures but, honestly, I am trying to figure out the very best way to get them out into the world. They delight me when they are hanging around the house with me, but my mission is to spread the delight! Some of them are still at Millesime and I have recently entered another local sculpture show. It is a juried show which means there is a panel who decides if my pieces get selected. Usually it is a group of artists who do the selecting. Actually, I don't know who does the judging for this show but I hope they like flowers! This is another step towards letting the world experience the "Delight".

All of this progress, all of these changes have been exciting and terrifying at the same time. I have been asking for changes from myself and they have come. My environment seems to be self adjusting. I am stepping forward in faith, embracing the changes and looking forward to what tomorrow brings.

The most important single thing I learned in college: "Change is the only constant". How very terrifyingly, thrillingly true!

Make today your best day ever!

Michele

p.s.Facebook "Like" me, share me and a tweet would be great too! Thanks

Looking forward to sharing NEW ideas with you about art and my journey back to doing art. flowers and who knows what else? For the last 30 years Michele has been designing beautiful flower arrangements for all kinds of people, from brides to prom goers, from dining rooms to boardrooms. Trained as a fine artist , Michele brought her unique vision to the art of Floral design. Designing flowers in a more relaxed,"unfloristy" way was always the goal when working for private clients.

Michele continues to do artwork , including paper sculpture (this is new!) and designing various products from table linens to greeting cards to holiday decorations, She continues to have a distinctive and diverse viewpoint she brings to her work. One of Michele's goals is to help people feel confidence and joy, enjoy art, enjoy flowers and enjoy the art of the everyday.

From my private collection. Untitled, By Carol Oldenburg, 1999

3 Secrets of Wealthy,Experienced Art Collectors

1. Buy what you love!

It is tempting to think that experienced collectors buy fine art just for the sake of investment. While you read stories about couples who have spent their years together buying artwork that ends up being very valuable, they usually start by following their eyes and their heart and buying what they love.

I have seen a good number of private collections of artwork and one of the things that seems so remarkable is that people who buy art love having it around. They enjoy it every day and don't keep it locked up in a vault somewhere.

When I was doing floral design, I will never forget the day I was given an original Picasso (a ceramic pitcher) in which to do a flower arrangement. Holy Cow! That got my attention, but I understand (at least I think I do) that the owner of the art wanted to enjoy it as a part of her everyday experience. Picasso would have loved that I am certain.

2. Make the art you collect a part of your every day.

When my husband and I got married, we were very fortunate to be given a small number of pieces of art. I have loved looking at, enjoying and sharing these beautiful paintings and drawings with me family and friends. 

When I was doing flower arrangements in private homes (my favorite part of working with fresh flowers) I was able to see many private art collections. My clients had artwork from all kinds of artists and many were pieces that were museum quality.

I saw original Andy Warhols, original Picassos and original Marc Chagalls…all in private collections. These were all there for anyone who entered the home to view and enjoy!  

3. Make sure the artwork is made of quality materials.

This sounds daunting, but it really isn't. When you buy a piece of artwork make sure you ask "Is this paper acid free or archival quality?"

The reason for asking is that acid free, archival quality means that the artist did everything in their power to insure that the piece of artwork you purchased will retain the quality of the work for as long as you own it.

If you have ever come across an old newspaper clipping you will see that the paper has turned yellow and is very brittle and can actually break. This is because newsprint is manufactured so that you can read today's news. There will be more news tomorrow, so it need not last past today. While newsprint actually does last for more than a day it does not have a long life expectancy (there are acids in the paper that allow it to naturally disintegrate. The paper quality is not stable.).  This is not a desirable quality in a piece of artwork.

If you have something that you love, you want it to retain the qualities that it had when you purchased it. For this reason, while there is definitely a trend to recycle paper, I would never purchase a piece that contained recycled paper.(Well, never might be too strong, but if I were to purchase something that was going to alter as it aged, I would need to know that).

Do you have an art collection?

How does having artwork that you love affect the quality of your everyday life? Please share your thoughts in the section below.

Make to day your best day ever.

Michele

Comment, Facebook Like and Tweet!!! Thanks p.s. Here is the link to Carol Oldenburg's website http://carololdenburg.com/

Michele is an artist whose artwork includes drawings, paintings and paper sculpture. She also designs various products from table linens to greeting cards to holiday decorations, She continues to have a distinctive and diverse viewpoint she brings to her work. One of Michele's goals is to help people feel confidence and joy, enjoy art, enjoy flowers and enjoy the art of the everyday.

I have a big announcement! (for me this is HUGE)

Some of you know it, but I now have a Facebook fan page…"The Art of Michele Tremblay". I am telling you this because I am going to be posting all of the pictures of my paper flower sculptures on it eventually.

It is taking me a while to get them all up. I know you have seen many of them on Facebook already, but I am asking you to do 2 things.

1- please "like" my Facebook page (that would be great) and

2- please share the pictures of my paper flower sculptures with your friends on your wall.

I really want to share the feelings of delight that people get when they look at the flowers. It is my mission to share these good feelings with the world so please help me by share these pictures with your friends.

That's it!

Go out and make today your very best day ever!

Michele

p.s. COMMENT, Like and Tweet!!!!

Looking forward to sharing NEW ideas with you about art and my journey back to doing art. flowers and who knows what else? For the last 30 years Michele has been designing beautiful flower arrangements for all kinds of people, from brides to prom goers, from dining rooms to boardrooms. Trained as a fine artist , Michele brought her unique vision to the art of Floral design. Designing flowers in a more relaxed,"unfloristy" way was always the goal when working for private clients.

Michele continues to do artwork , including paper sculpture (this is new!) and designing various products from table linens to greeting cards to holiday decorations, She continues to have a distinctive and diverse viewpoint she brings to her work. One of Michele's goals is to help people feel confidence and joy, enjoy art, enjoy flowers and enjoy the art of the everyday.

My collection of paper flowers titled "My Delightful Mission" will be

presented on First Friday at:

Millésimé

# 41 South 3rd Street,Philadelphia, PA, 19106,

starting Friday, June 1 through the month of June.

http://bit.ly/LiPtqv

Michele Tremblay is currently working primarily with paper to create over scale sculptures of flowers. She earned her BFA from Tyler school of Art in painting. After graduation Michele worked in the floral industry, doing events and installations that covered everything from very small intimate events to large corporate events.

Her work in the flower world and her experiences doing 3-dimentional pieces for clients led her to her current work.

Her paintings and drawings are represented in private collections.

Below are the three large flowers in the collection.

 mine flower

any rose #2

sunflower 

Each of the above flowers is 45-48 inches in diameter.

Michele

p.s. FB Like this post, tweet it, comment…and share it too! Thanks!