Mimi (34 page)

He washed his face in the frying pan.

He combed his hair with a wagon wheel

And died of the toothache in his heel.

Git out of the way for old Dan Tucker

He’s too late to get his supper

Supper’s over and the dishes washed

Nothing left but a piece of squash.

TURKEY IN THE SNOW

There was a little hen

And she had a wooden foot,

Made her nest

In the mulberry root.

She laid more eggs

Than any hern on the farm,

Another wooden foot

Wouldn’t do her any harm.

Did you ever go fishin’

On a warm summer day

When all the fish

Were swimmin’ in the bay?

With their hands in their pockets

And their pockets in their pants

Did you ever see fishie

Do the Hootchy-Kootchy Dance?

Turkey in the straw

Turkey in the hay. . .

JOE HILL

I dreamed I got the rights to
Joe Hill
last night,

But then he invoiced me!

I said, ‘‘Whoa, Joe, this sure is a lot—’’

He said, ‘‘It’s called a Royalty…’’

BRIDGET HANAFAN: THE RETROSPECTIVE

(exhibition & sale)

 

VALENTINES
(
PRICES VARY
)

 

1. 1979:  cardboard and pencil (5'' × 3'')

2. 1980:  metal (key) and paper (2'' × 1'')

3. 1981:  chalk on paper (9'' × 4'')

4. 1982:  tinfoil and card (4'' × 4'')

5. 1983:  paper and ink (3'' × 4'')

6. 1984:  wood (clothes peg) (4'' × ½'')

7. 1985:  paper and ink (5'' × 4'')

8. 1986:  paper packet containing botanical specimen (seeds) (3'' × 2'')

9. 1987:  fabric and safety pin (6'' × 5'')

10. 1988:  breakfast cereal (Cheerios), flour glue, paper (approx. 30½'' units; 2'' × 8'')

11. 1989:  paper and tinsel (7'' × 5'')

12. 1990: 
 
dried flowers (daisies) and paper (approx. 5, 2'' diameter; 3'' × 3'')

13. 1991:  (no trace)

14. 1992:  (no trace)

15. 1993:  (no trace)

16. 1994:  watercolor on paper (4'' × 2½'')

17. 1995: 
 
cellophane packet containing spice (ground cumin) (2'' × 3'')

18. 1996:  metal (bottle top) (1'' diameter)

19. 1997:  paper and ink (bus ticket) (2'' × 1½'')

20. 1998:  plastic roundel (sink plug) (2¾'' diameter)

21. 1999:  sheep's wool (carded), button, ink, and card (1 oz.; 1'' diameter; 2'' × 2'')

22. 2000:  paper, Saran Wrap, and pencil (4'' × 3'')

23. 2001:  color Xerox (A4)

24. 2002:  candy
(
jelly beans), paper and ink (approx. 6; 3'' × 4'')

25. 2003:  breadcrumbs, cardboard, and acrylic (approx. 1 tsp.; 7'' × 6'')

26. 2004:  papier mâché (heart shape) (3'' × 4½'')

27. 2005:  paper collage (including recipe card) (6'' × 7'')

28. 2006:  frottage on paper, crayon (3'' × 6'')

29. 2007:  metal (chicken wire) and paper, pencil marks (4'' × 4'')

30. 2008:  cotton (name tag) (1'' × ½'')

31. 2009:  paper and ink, wax (vampire teeth) (2'' × 3''; 2½'' diameter)

32. 2010:  plastic medallion (4'' diameter)

33. 2011:  paper and ink, and tea bag (3'' × 4''; 2½'' × 2½'')

*

 

WORKS IN CLAY
(
PRICES VARY
)

 

1. 1994: 
Mojave Desert footsteps
—series of 24 fired clay disks. From Hanafan's first solo show (approx. 19'' diameter)

2.
circa
2011:  9 maquettes for sculptures in stone

 

(approx. 12'' × 16½''; 17'' × 37''; 62'' × 18''; 25½'' × 23''; 36'' × 19''; 23'' × 8''; 2'' × 5½''; 4¾'' × 8''; 9'' × 10'')

 

*

WORKS IN CARDBOARD
(
DATES UNKNOWN
;
PRICES VARY
)

 

1. Three-dimensional human torso—interlocking grid form

 
(19'' × 60'' × 10½'')

2. Reconstruction of children's playpen—cardboard and poster paint (52'' × 46'' × 34'')

3. Large bas-relief triptych with acrylic—still life (72¾'' × 140'' × 4'')

4. Self-portrait: three-dimensional face—grid form

 
(approx. 10'' diameter × 6¼'')

 

*

WORKS ON PAPER
(
DATES UNKNOWN
;
PRICES VARY
)

 

1.
Still Life with Cat
—oil pastel (8'' × 12'')

2.
Cat and Indian Bedspread
—oil pastel (8'' × 12'')

3.
Fern and Bottle
—watercolor (8'' × 12'')

4.
People Pile
—ink (13'' × 11'')

5. ditto (18'' × 12'')

6. ditto (14'' × 10'')

7. ditto (13'' × 10'')

8. ditto (12'' × 10'')

9. ditto (9'' × 6''—vertical).

10.
Personal Space
—ink (7'' × 5'')

11.
Odalisque (after Matisse)
—watercolor (10'' × 12'')

12. ditto

13. ditto

14. ditto

15. ditto

16.
Hunter—Mr. Marriage
—oil bar (8'' × 10¼'')

17. Drawing for sculpture—charcoal (10'' × 12'')

18. ditto

19. ditto

20. ditto

21. ditto

22. ditto

23. ditto

24. ditto

25. ditto

26. ditto

27. ditto

28. ditto

29.
Monster Eye
—ink (6'' × 8'')

30.
Self-portrait
—oil pastel (9'' × 10'')

 

*

INSTALLATION

 

1997: 
Primordial Egg
—ready-made and found materials, white emulsion paint, string, metal pulleys (264'' × 349'' × 349'')

 

*

COZINESS SCULPTURES
(
A SELECTION
)

 

1. 2001:
Creaky Boat in Maine
—found materials: wooden boat remnants, card, stones, artificial foliage, lighting effects, audio element (approx. 98'' × 66'' × 53'')

2. 2002:
Twilight Snow
—wooden window-frame, oil paint on canvas, lighting effects, audio element (48'' × 30'' × 6'')

3. 2003:
Paris café
—found materials: round metal table and chair, china ashtray, small glass tumbler, audio element (28¾'' diameter; 14'' diameter; × 38'')

4. 2004:
Fall Rain
—wooden window-frame, painted backdrop (acrylic), audio element. (50'' × 34'' × 9'')

5. 2005:
Infant Coziness
—found materials: conglomeration of knitwear (baby garments), child's building blocks, buttons, plastic toys, wooden spoon, cardboard box (approx. 27'' × 29'' × 20'')

6. 2005:
Period Coziness
—found materials: antique candlestick, clock, inkwell, footstool, doily, teacup and saucer, stuffed cat, chaise longue, paisley shawl, frayed carpet (approx. 86'' × 49'' × 36'')

7. 2005:
Vacation Coziness
—Sand pile, artificial sedge grass, stones, shells, towel, wine bottle, two wine glasses, lighting effects, audio element (240'' × 230'' × 17'')

8. 2007:
Log Cabin in Wisconsin
—found materials: eiderdown quilt, feather mattress and pillows, camp bed, partial banister or balcony, lighting effects, audio element (40'' × 48'' × 67'')

9. 2009:
Spring
—found materials: wood planks suggesting porch, banister portion, rocking chair and cushion, lighting effects, audio element (120'' × 65'' × 60'')

10. 2010:
Fireside
—found materials: table, lamp, chair, book (by Dickens), sherry glass, lace tablecloth, mantelpiece (with imitation fire in fireplace), lighting effects (67'' × 72'' × 59'')

11. 2011:
Mom's Bed
—some found materials: cotton stuffing, woolen bedspread, pillows, oversize wooden bed frame, audio element (96½'' × 89½'' × 60½'')

 

*

WORKS IN STONE
(
PRICES VARY
)

 

1. 2011: 
Bradbridge's Widow, Wilson's Wife
—plaster reproduction of the original two figures carved in white sandstone

 
(46¾'' × 11'' × 5''; ditto) (originals not available)

2. 2011:  Five untitled works in sandstone (48'' × 18'' × 12''; 6'' × 5'' × 5''; 39'' × 9'' × 5''; 66'' × 48'' × 17''; 2'' × 2'' × 4'')

 

All proceeds, minus commission, go to the Bee Hanafan Foundation, which helps women artists by offering them loans and other forms of support.

CACOPHONY

THE MAN OF FEELING
:

[Did] you know by what complicated misfortunes she had fallen to that miserable state in which you now behold her, I should have no need of words to excite your compassion. Think, Sir, of what once she was! Would you abandon her to the insults of an unfeeling world…?

The Man of Feeling
, by Henry Mackenzie

MELANCHOLY
:

I have always carried a large load of melancholy [
un gran sacco di melanconia
] with me. I have no reason for it, but so I am made and so are made all men who feel and who are not altogether stupid.

Giacomo Puccini

What we think is secondhand, what we experience is chaotic, what we are is unclear. We don’t have to be ashamed, but we are nothing, and we earn nothing but chaos.

My Prizes
, by Thomas Bernhard

COZINESS
:

Think how cosy it must be in its nest.

W. H. Auden

HEROES
:

This is your farewell kiss, you dog.
This is for the widows and children of Iraq!

Muntadhar al-Zaidi

Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame,

With conquering limbs astride from land to land;

Here at our sea-washed, sunset gates shall stand

A mighty woman with a torch, whose flame

Is the imprisoned lightning, and her name

Mother of Exiles. From her beacon-hand

Glows world-wide welcome; her mild eyes command

The air-bridged harbor that twin cities frame.

“Keep, ancient lands, your storied pomp!” cries she

With silent lips. “Give me your tired, your poor,

Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,

The wretched refuse of your teeming shore,

Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,

I lift my lamp beside the golden door!”

The New Colossus
, by Emma Lazarus

But only be good, dear, only be brave, only be kind and true always, and then you will never hurt anyone as long as you live, and you may help many, and the big world may be better because my little child was born. And that is the best of all. . . it is better than everything else, that the world should be a little better because one man has lived—even ever so little better, dearest.