Today, I had the pleasure of meeting up with one of the most influencial people in my life, Susan Josepher, who was the department Chair at Metro State which I attended from 93-99. We met at The Chocolate Room on Court Street, owned and run by her daughter. Its a place that oozes chocolatey warmth. Susan is smart, sassy, powerful, warm and funny. My time at Metro was enhanced by her presence. In spite of being a busy department chair, she made time for our conversations in her office, where she would explain details about art history that I found confounding. The New York City Happenings of the 1950s and 60s, Minimalism, Abstract Expressionism for instance, were considered "important" by our art history professors. When I asked her confidentially what was so important about them, she said, "You had to be there". Now that I live in NYC and have experienced my own happenings, I get it. She is the embodiment of why I am a semitophile. Also, the image of a sane, intellectual, powerful lady in the arts was stabilizing counterpoint to some of the flakiness I had observed. After I told her (I thought she knew) how influential she has been to me, and how she is the primary reason I going to Brooklyn College (It is her alma mater), she was a little stunned. "I was just doing my job", she said. It was a chance for both of us to reflect on the people who have buoyed and pushed us, and whether they know what a powerful lasting force they've been in our lives. Her work can be seen here. http://www.susanjosepherart.net/home
Not suprising in this time of colliding worlds, and speaking of powerful forces, I find myself seated in the Chocolate Room beneath a Jonathon Blum Piece. Note the dog with cake on its head in the above photo--a commission by the family to commemorate beloved dog. Jonathon Blum, the titular Rabbi Painter, is my first real NYC friend. We met at a loft party, where I had a painting up, and he, in his ever slightly exasperated manner, charmed me into coming to see his storefront studio on 5th ave in Park Slope. He has a printing press, and makes mostly monotypes. Before his kiddies were born and before I had to become an adult, we would spend long nights making prints and talking about life, music. and art. Jonathon is a Brooklyn maven. It takes a certain personality to have a storefront studio on a busy street where doors are open to anyone who wants to wander in. He is kind and patient with the wide range of humanity that stop by. He has encouraged me relentlessly for the entirety of our friendship. We have an art date this coming weekend! His collage techniques are embedded in my pscyhe, and are the technical inspiration behind much of my mixed media work.
https://www.jonathanblumportraits.com/
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