Sorana Tarmu Art & Design

Ecological Design Retreat in East Hampton

I have been taking classes at NYBG for a few years now, mostly Landscape Graphics. which have taken my graphic skills in directions I have never expected. Also, I had the incredible luck and privilege to take a Landscape Design History course with the delightful Marta MacDowell - one of my favorite educators ever. So when I discovered this off-site course offering (a retreat, no less) at Edwina von Gal's own Marsh House, I was over the moon with excitement. Hoping for favorable weather, although very few adversities would prevent me from attending...

Art Sustains Life, Life Sustains Art

This is the first of a postcard series created for Sustainable JC. The original is an 5’’ by 8’’ mixed media on watercolor paper.

Sustainable JC’s Rain Garden + ART ioby.org campaign launching

Sustainable JC is excited to announce the launch of their Rain Garden +ART campaign!

As some of you may know, Jersey City has an aging sewer system.  Because of the current condition of the system, overflows during rainstorms release sewage tainted storm water into rivers and the urban landscape.  Because of these overflows, Jersey City has been levied with an EPA Consent Decree for violations of the Federal Clean Water Act. 

We at SJC believe that more green infrastructure in Jersey City will alleviate this issue substantially and lower the estimated $54 million dollar tab to repair our sewer system by at least 50%.  We also believe that we can educate and engage neighborhoods across the city about this community health issue through the Arts, and so have launched a citywide Rain Garden + ART campaign.

Rain gardens are a low-cost green infrastructure method that allow rainwater and snowmelt to be collected and seep naturally into the ground.  They divert water away from sewers and thereby reduce the load and the amount of sewage released into the environment.  In order to demonstrate their positive effects not only on the environment but also in the social realm by bringing community groups together, SJC has chosen an initial demonstration site of St. Paul’s Lutheran Church.

In addition to providing an excellent cost-saving measure for the city, the gardens will provide beautification with native plants and companion art installations located in and around the site.  Through our collaboration with community arts organizations, individual artists, the NJ Tree Foundation and our host site partners, SJC aims to show how connecting social, environmental and economic impacts can transform Jersey City into a more sustainable place to live and work.

In order to fund and install these gardens, SJC has partnered with the Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation, the NJ Tree Foundation and the New York City based crowd-resourcing site, ioby.org.  As a community-based organization, our goal is to integrate the community into the fundraising and implementation process as much as possible.  The Dodge Foundation has generously awarded SJC with a grant to finance half of the project but we still need to raise the other half.  We invite you to support us in this campaign and spread the word!

For more information and to donate, our ioby site can be accessed at: https://www.ioby.org/project/sjcs-rain-gardens-art-campaign.

Introspection

If I were a month I'd be April

If I were a day I'd be Monday

If I were a time of day I'd be the noon

If I were a font I'd be Georgia

If I were a sea animal I'd be an octopus

If I were a direction I'd be South-West

If I were a piece of furniture I'd be a Biedermeyer writing desk

If I were a liquid I'd be Argentinian mate

If I were a gemstone I'd be an amethyst

If I were a tree I’d be a rowan

If I were a tool I’d be an old wooden mending mushroom

If I were a flower I’d be a violet

If I were an element of weather I’d be a lightning

If I were a musical instrument I’d be a flute

If I were a color I'd be burgundy

If I were an emotion I'd be exhilaration

If I were a fruit I'd be an apricot

If I were a sound I'd be the song of a whale

If I were an element I'd be phosphorus

If I were a car I'd be an ARO IMS (a Romanian civil off-road vehicle)

If I were a food I'd be a cucumber sandwich with goat cheese, fresh dill and tea.

If I were a place I'd be a tall grass meadow with oak trees here and there

If I were material I'd be silk

If I were a taste I'd be bitter

If I were a scent I'd be an oriental spice sukh

If I were a body part I'd be the nape of the neck

If I were a song I'd be Witch’s Promise by Jethro Tull

If I were a bird I'd be a crane

If I were a gift I'd be a cloth and fiber wrapped Japanese paper notebook

If I were a city I'd be Sevilla

If I were a door I'd be a hand-carved wooden door

If I were a pair of shoes I'd be Louis XIV shoes with buckles

If I were a poem I'd be Unto the Star by Mihai Eminescu.

Inspired by Lisa Jordan and Julie.

Sustainable JC joins forces with Rising Tide Capital for their ARTfest! - this coming Thursday!

Sustainable JC's outdoor patio parties are back this Thursday. For July we're also hosting Rising Tide Capital's ARTfest 2013 - two events in one. SUSTAINABLE JC continues their SJC Green Drinks + ART series with the usual great music, food and drink, Info-sharing, artists sharing their process work. There is a suggested donation of $10 /$5 for students and seniors, which includes a raffle ticket with entry for drawing. The winners receive complimentary lunch for two at the Culinary Cafe. The bands are TBA - Rising Tide Capital surprise. Chef Rick and his fabulous staff will prepare their usual locally sourced food and drinks. There will be the regular artists talk, with
presentations and exhibitions.

ARTfest! is about celebrating the entrepreneur in every artist; many tables will feature RTC's Business Academy Graduates.

Among SJC's visual artists of this edition are Beverly Harris, multimedia artist, who will demonstrate Suminagashi, the Japanese style of marbling; Ibou Ndoye, artist and music-maker, who will demonstrate how to make music with everyday objects; Jazz Amos, master mask maker will exhibit along with Jordan de Liso, SJC's Eco-Artist in residence, who will exhibit his sculptures made from found and upcycled materials.

The spoken word section will feature Hope Guirantes, SJC's poet in residence.

There will be tabling by community groups, vendors and SJC's education partners.

Sustainable JC thanks their past and present sponsors.

Flora growing in my yard before I started planting the garden

These peaches were strange, bitter until very ripe, but then amazingly sweet and fragrant. Of course the peach cobbler I made in the bread machine turned out equally wonderful. This year one of the branches that hang in our yard broke, much to my sadness.

I tried planting ten native flowering trees from Arbor Day Foundation in the backyard, unfortunately none of them seem to have survived the winter. They sent the small twigs in mid December. We were out of town and the postal worker left them at the door, where they lied for days. Their roots were wrapped in bags with gelatine, but I still think they got frost bitten. I was angry the Foundation didn't notify me about the delivery. I gave it a shot and planted them anyway (digging in the icy December soil!). I don't know if they are supposed to vegetate beginning with the first spring. I'll leave them in the ground, waiting for a dormant bud to perform a miracle...