Cory Pitman

Reception fun

2011-04-19T14:04:00.014-05:00

I can’t imagine a better compliment, or complement, than hearing someone say she or he was leaving the reception to go play music, or to create something beautiful, or to have inspired conversation. I am so grateful to this community. Thank you for all of your support. I wonder how I would be able to create anything beautiful if I was not surrounded by beauty every day.

Thank you to Nathan Parent for sharing your music with us all.

Thank you to Carrie and Amy for making delicious treats to share.

Thank you to Scooter for taking these lovely photos of our work together.

Works and Reception

2011-04-16T00:25:00.019-05:00

The reception has been planned for

Monday, April 18th, 2011

at the Black Cat Coffeehouse

from 6-8 p.m.

There will be wine, snacks and sweets.

Also, music by Nathan Parent.

Please join us!

“Tortuga”

“Pollinators”

“Asclepias”

“Guide”

“Peace Eagle”

“The Lake”

“Voice”

“Hope”

April 2011 Showing at Black Cat Coffeehouse

2011-04-07T19:18:00.009-05:00

The works of Michael Scooter Charette and Cory Pitman are on display through the month of April at Black Cat Coffeehouse in Ashland, Wisconsin. Stay tuned for details about the artists' reception.

As always, I could never have accomplished this alone:

Thank you to my dad for building frames.
Thank you to Honore and the Black Cat.
Thank you to Scooter for agreeing to share this exhibition with me on a leap of faith, for motivation and inspiration, and for laughter, smiles, and hugs.
Thank you to Monica for the space, patience, moral support, and many dinners and bottles of wine.
Thank you to Amy for moral support and technical assistance, conversation, laughter and love.
Thank you to Brian for last minute moral support, bread, framing assistance and photography.
Thank you to my mom for supplies and encouragement.
Thank you to everyone who asked how the show was coming along, for the support you all have given me.
Thank you to this place, for the darkness, the silence and sounds of nature, the stars, the water, and the cycles of life.
Thank you to all my relations for unending inspiration and beauty, and for the treasures I’ve found along the way.

Cory Pitman
Washburn, Wisconsin
corypitman@gmail.com

Oh, cabin fever....

2010-02-05T05:37:00.002-06:00

While I did take the time recently to set up a studio space in my basement and to organize all my art supplies, I am still not able to find the time to quiet my mind enough to create. So, for now my creative outlet is a different blog that I'm writing for school. I'm glad I [was] "volunteered" for this because someone is expecting me to sit down and write creatively at least once a week, so I'm keeping some creative energy flowing anyway...

Here's the link to that blog: ilearn.wisconsin.edu/blogs/cory

2009-12-06T23:33:00.000-06:00

This is why I haven't been updating my blog lately...

A short story about Guatemala, a lake, and dreams...

2009-06-02T23:36:00.010-05:00

In February of 2008, I had no idea why I was going to Guatemala. I just knew that it was time to go after dreaming it up for a few years. I had promised a friend that I would visit him there at some point during his 3-year teaching gig but hadn’t bothered to connect in with him before purchasing my plane ticket. Of course, I arrived on his last day there before returning to the states for a visit. But there was something else drawing me to Guatemala - a lake; and I knew it would all be perfect.

It was Lago de Atitlan and it was a 3+ hour chicken bus ride out of Guat-city – but add on at least an hour for a girl without a road map (does one exist??), no sense of direction in a foreign land, and no Spanish other than a Lonely Planet phrase book…

I stayed at a place that offered scuba diving – something I always wanted to take up. I was there to live out a dream that wasn’t quite ready to be realized. Instead I met Gabo within hours of my arrival. The next day he took me to Jaibalito, a small village barely touched by tourists. Here I met some Maya people, learned a few words of Tz'utujil, and skipped out on my PADI certification to pick up garbage. Clearly it was a different dream that was waking up.

After a few days, I remembered a brief phone call I made from the Houston airport to a friend of a friend who I was referred to because she knew people there. Oh, I forgot to mention that I had only booked four of eleven nights’ stay prior to my departure and just figured I would figure it out once I got there…. No need to be tied down once my PADI course was over. So, my friend figured I might need a place to stay. Well, I got an email address out of the phone call and reassurance that I shouldn’t pay any attention to anyone who said I was crazy because I would be just fine there. And this was true.

So, I emailed Pedro and asked to meet him. After a few boat taxis and a hike up to the top of the hill in San Pedro, along with a new friend I had made along the way, we met Pedro in front of the bank. And we followed him trough tiny alleyways; down, down, down past stray dogs and yard birds and houses with no glass in their windows. The whole time my new friend was muttering under her breath things like, “This is crazy. This is how people disappear in Guatemala. This is exactly what you are NOT supposed to do. Are you serious?”

Then we came to the Cruz residence: A small house filled with friendly greetings and with a staircase that led up to an artist’s studio. This is where I first glimpsed the work of Lorenzo Cruz Sunu. And I instantly knew this was special. I learned that selling paintings was a primary source of income for this family with 8 siblings. Other members of the family create beautiful beadwork or weave textiles. I knew that I had channels through which I could help this family earn income.

Now, over a year later, we have worked together to create an art exhibit in St Paul, Minnesota.

Stop in to Jay’s Café for a cultural experience. The exhibit will be up through the month of June. If you are interested in learning more or purchasing one of the paintings on display, please email me at corypitman@gmail.com.

http://www.jays-cafe.com/

791 Raymond Ave.
St. Paul, Minnesota 55114

Map

Like anything in my life, I couldn't have done this without the help of my friends. I owe a huge 'thank you' to Chad for building stretcher frames and to Dana for helping me (a novice) stretch the paintings. Thank you for your willingness, patience and unexpectedly great appreciation for the artwork.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

EXHIBITION TZ` UNUN` YA

Lake of the Birds Exhibition

IXIMULEEW

IXIM (mazorcas, cob)

ULEEW (tierra)

Heart of heaven and earth. Respect for life and equality, and not a single soul to discrimination; Maya, Ladino, Garifuna and Xinca. It also represents the four cardinal points.

$240 SOLD

TERNURA, tenderness

It represents life and peace, love and joy, age and color, homeless and reconciliation.

$240

EXPRESIÒN DE INFANCIA. Expression of childhood

Harmless and tender gaze of indigenous children; represents humility and love in the world

$220

PASCUAL ABAJ. Brotherhood of Chichicastenango.

$330

MAXIMON, wooden sculpture and brotherhood Santiago Atitlàn, Sololà.

$330

CANDELA CEREMONIAL, Ceremonial Candle.

Hand made by the Texeles from the wood of a fig tree. The seed of the plant is grinded and boiled to obtain the way for the candlestick. The candles are carried by Texeles during the processions of the brotherhoods.

$220

MELODIAS DEL PUEBLO, Melodies of the village.

Our souls vibrate as the sound of the marimba; voice soft as a tender mother and the singing of birds in the forests, the sweet embrace of a mother, the marimba is instrumental power of nature and man in the transformed The melody is the traditional SON.

$220

It's more like a feeling....

2009-01-27T01:05:00.004-06:00

Hmmm... I haven't posted much lately.
One could say, without great inaccuracy, that I've been 'distracted'...
or, inspired...

This one's called "In Love"

2008-07-19T13:59:00.003-05:00

Dragons for Rosie

2008-05-26T15:40:00.008-05:00

Liberación Eufónica del Dragón de Rosie
Euphonious Deliverance of Rosie's Dragon

Progress Since High School (thank goodness!)

2008-05-23T13:46:00.007-05:00

I felt like sharing some artwork from high school for those of you who aren't familiar with it. I drew this one when I was 15, just after returning from an AFS Summer Study Abroad in Italy. At the time, it was my way of expressing the feeling of being unable to communicate with another person because of a world of difference, including language, that stood between us. It wasn't referring to any one person, but to every person I met. When I returned home I had reverse-culture shock, which was something I was completely unprepared for. Suddenly, communicating with good old friends became like trying to speak to the Italians. We just weren't speaking the same language anymore.

After progressing on through high school with many frustrations and growing impatience, I ended up married and then divorced - many more failed attempts at communication. At that point I had even lost my ability to communicate through art. I wanted to re-learn how to draw and was encouraged by my good friend, Joel, when we agreed to have a show together at Good Thyme, where we both worked. As I was unable to create anything new, I revamped my old stuff by adding titles, words that related old pieces to my current state of being. The titles didn't stop at one word, but included the dictionary definition of the word. This piece was then titled:

Pidgin: a mixed common second language:

a simplified language made up of parts of two

or more languages, used as a communication tool

between speakers whose native languages are different

This piece could easily be interpreted in this way as the expressions from each person meld together in the middle to create a familiar image...

These days, it has taken on another meaning for me. it represents our ability to transcend language [as we know it] in communication. So much can be said to another with energy, body language, and even just by listening to the silence. This pidgin includes the language of the universe, one that we all know and use whether we are consciously aware of it or not. When I went to Guatemala in February I was on a lone voyage, forced to communicate without a common language or background. What I found was that I made deeper connections with people in one week than ever before. And we are still in touch. Communication can be more meaningful when words stay out of the way, when language and grammatical correctness become irrelevant.

Now, in the Art of Peace program I am in, we are learning new words, new sounds that are energy sounds, new ways to communicate through different areas of existence. I hold the words of Martin Prechtel:

“To the Spirit, the noise of the humans was just about

the same size as a mockingbird’s song, or a cricket’s chirp;

we weren’t that big to them.”

This is my reminder that not only is mine not the only voice, not the only language, but we are also not the only ones who hear it. It also has another meaning to me: that mine is not the only language I can hear. As I hear the cricket, I can hear all of my relations. As I stop in the city street to listen to the birds sing when no one else seems to notice, I can hear my guides. I have only to listen. Sometimes "listening" means picking up my pencils and letting the creative energies of the universe flow through me to create an image that speaks more meaning than many words could express.

This is what happens to me when I create artwork: I am simply listening to another form of language, creating a new living pidgin, translating a message into a tangible form.

The Fire Within

2008-03-12T09:50:00.002-05:00

Cabin Fever Update - February 2008

2008-02-27T13:06:00.000-06:00

Ok, I finally got around to adding the poetry I wrote to go along with two pieces from the show last November. I am hoping to get back into writing more with time.

And so, it's like this: I'm good at drawing with pencils and paper; this blogger thing requires skills I do not have. I finally figured out how to format [sort of] so it's looking a bit better.

The good news is that in this time that I've not been updating my blog, I have been drawing a bit. For those of you who know me, I'm getting back to what you may know as my "high school" style. (Lots of bright colors and more detailed drawings) As soon as I finish one, I'll post it here!

Unfortunately, I am preoccupied with school right now. That's a good thing but it's a bummer to be feeling very inspired and to have to keep yourself from expressing it. Keep checking back for new stuff, though, because it's on its way!

Primordial Breath

2008-02-26T21:45:00.001-06:00

Frozen In The Womb
Until Called Forth
Developing
Perfecting
Waiting For The Time
To Emerge
Into This Realm
To Materialize
And Grow
Born From The
Inner Depths
Of My Being
Places Unfamiliar To Me
Ideas Come Forth
Into A Sound
Understood Here
Primordial Breath
Giving A Voice
To My Soul
With Which
I Can Speak
To This World

Summer Son Rising

2008-02-26T21:36:00.001-06:00

Awaken
Summer Sun Rising
Sheds Light on New Life
My Life
Mothering Myself
Creative Seeds Nurtured
Diving Deep
Into My Soul
Shedding Pain and Tears
Like the Fur of the Otter
In My Bubble
My Heart and My Mind
Growing True
Where I Can Be Me
Earth Continues to Spin
This Season Will Change
And Come 'Round Again
Sunrise in the East
A New Day
At Dawn
Give Birth to
Myself

Opening Reception - November 10, 2007

2007-11-12T20:36:00.000-06:00

Joel and I at the opening. It was a wonderful time! Special thanks goes out to Heidi Howes and Joel Glickman for generously sharing their music with us! You two are really awesome. Thanks also goes to Honore for giving us all the Black Cat Coffeehouse as an invaluable addition to the community. Can you believe this is my fourth show at the BC? It's been a while, though, and I certainly won't wait so long to have another.

Also, thanks to all of our friends and family who came out to support us. For those of you who missed it, the artwork will be up until the end of the month. Stop in and check it out - and get some Black Cat Nachos while you're at it > YUM!

2007 Art Show - A Study of Animal Totems

2007-10-14T22:10:00.000-05:00

North - Butterfly "Aurora Metamorphous"

Below - Frog
"Calling in the Rain"

Owl - Left
"Silent μητέρα"

Right - Horse
"Warriors in Waiting"

For this show, I owe special thanks to three very
important people in my life:
Joel Langholz - For planning this
whole thing with me and actively creating a tradition. Without your
encouragement and committment I would not have found the drive to get this
done.
Liesl Settgas - For introducing me
to my animal totems and for laughing and dreaming with me. Without you I would
not have found this inspiration - and life just wouldn't be as fun!
My Dad - For building the beautiful
frames. Without you I wouldn't have frames! (Very Important!) At least, I would
not have any that mesh so nicely with my work! :)
This show is very important to me as I reconnect with
my creative self. It is a reflection of me and I am but the product of all the
love I've been given. Thank you all.
Cory Pitman