This is a doorstop idea that I had based on my painting, The Secret Life of Walter Kitty.

A Male embellished upon from a dover celtic book, on a pottery tile.

After 5 years, I found myself able to sing again! I have many things that impinge on my singing ability in regard to my sight, my hearing, my exhaustion, my attention and more.  My ability to take a deep breath is kind of slow, but lately it has improved.  I still need to read the lyrics off of the page.  It seems I can glance at a few lines and remember them, but very quickly my brain heads toward nothingness.  I know that is hard to comprehend, and would be a welcomed situation if it wasn’t for wanting so much to remember by heart the words that I once knew so incredibly well.  Oh, well.  Just after the stroke, one of my doctors said that he expected me to regain most of the brain power that I had lost….I am counting on that. That is what keeps me pushing so hard.  Even so, I am grateful to have come so very far as I have.

 Krempel’s Center is a place in Portsmouth, Nh, that caters to people with all types of brain injury. I haven’t been able to make use of it so much because I have a young daughter, but the work and community that is built there has a tremendous amount of merit.  I am very proud to have performed my first concert there since my stroke. Most humble thanks to Jenny Freeman, who works there, and hired me to sing for the people at Krempel’s Center.  After the performance, Jenny said that they would love to have me back to perform again, and so I am planning a return visit sometime after the first of the year.

My mother, whose stories can be heard on this website, always wished that her performances were recorded.  It is because of this that I decided to record this performance (even though my voice isn’t what it was or could be- perhaps you can hear me gasping for air and clamoring for a shred of energy) .  Regardless- I want my children and grandchildren to be able to hear me sing!

I was accompanied by our friend and local musician and recording engineer, Jim Prendergast (Mill Pond Studios), who also plays (and sings) with my husband, Steve’s band, Great Bay Sailor.

I hope you enjoy this show!

What have they done to my song

Pretty Peg

Leatherwing Bat

Both Sides the Tweed

Annan Waters

Foggy Dew

Part 2: 

Kremples Part 2

“Salty Dogs” Exhibit, a Summer Send-Off

Painter Elizabeth Stewart considers her “Salty Dogs” exhibit of pet portraits a celebratory “last hurrah” for the dogs of Seapoint Beach, Maine, before the popular spot limits canine traffic for the “dog days” of summer.

The exhibit will be shown as part of a group show tentatively titled “Salt of the Earth” at Kittery Art Association, April 30 to May 24. An opening reception with live music will be held Sunday, May 3, from 2:00 to 5:00 p.m.

The “Salty Dogs” series features oil on canvas and clayboard animal portraits, most of them private commissions. Seapoint Beach is still open to dogs in summer’s morning and evening hours (before 10 a.m. and after 5 p.m., if on a leash). But the more carefree days of running the pebbly beach and swimming in the sun come to an end for our furry friends on June 15. With that timing so close to the exhibit, Stewart thought a dogs-only selection of her work would be a perfect send-off for the season.

“What is it about these animals that are worth so much to us?” Stewart asks herself, and explores the answers in her custom pet portrait series. Observing people-pet relationships through the lens of art, she’s concluded that it’s about healing.

“Our pets remind us of our simpler nature; a part of us that enjoys a good meal, a loyal friend and a refreshing walk or run on the beach. In our busy lifestyle, we all benefit from the reminder to allow ourselves to enjoy these basic pleasures and be grateful for the simple things in life.”

Stewart’s unique style uses traditional Celtic design as a visual language, often revealing and amplifying complex patterns in an animal’s fur or surroundings. The result is sytlized and layered, and creates a new “conversation” between viewer and subject. These animals have stories to tell.

The “Salt of the Earth” reception on May 3 will include light refreshments and live Irish music by the local band Toad in the Road. Stewart-a trained Irish folk singer as well as self-taught painter-will likely sing a few numbers, as will her fiance, Steve Carrigan. He and Stewart’s son, Noah McCormick, will also exhibit their own original art. Dean Diggins and Anastasia Maertens round out the group show.

Gallery hours are Thursdays, 3:00 – 6:00 p.m.; Saturdays, 12:00 – 6:00 p.m.; and Sundays, 12:00 – 5:00 p.m. KAA is located at 8 Coleman Ave., off Route 103/Pepperell Road, just south of the now-closed Cap’n Simeon’s Galley in Kittery Point, Maine. The gallery can be reached at (207) 451-9384.

Stewart’s work was featured in a solo exhibit in March at the Elysium Arts Folk Club in Rollinsford, N.H., and has earned awards including the “Alpha Dog Award” at the 2006 “Who Let the Dogs Out?” show at Heartwood College in Kennebunk, Maine; “Honorable Mention” in the Omer T. Lassonde Juried Competition at the Robert Lincoln Levy Gallery in Portsmouth, NH; and “Most Original” in the Maine Women in the Arts’ 2006 Fine Art Competition in Kennebunk, Maine.

Giclee prints and greeting cards are available at her Web site, www.elizabethstewart.com.

Painter Elizabeth Stewart
Solo Exhibit at Elysium Arts to Launch New Business and Website

Emerging Seacoast painter Elizabeth Stewart will be featured in a solo exhibit titled “It’s Raining Cats and Dogs” during the month of March at the Elysium Arts Folk Club, in the Lower Mill at Salmon Falls in Rollinsford. The opening is free and open to the public on Sunday, March 1, from 4 to 7 p.m., and will also offer Celtic music and song by the artist. The gallery is open by appointment and for three additional concerts by local musicians throughout the month.

The exhibit coincides with the launch of Stewart’s new business, Elizabeth Stewart Art, and its accompanying website, www.elizabethstewartart.com.

Specializing in traditional Celtic designs, Elizabeth Stewart Art steps off with an unveiling of the artist’s series of pet portraits: whimsical portraits of people and their pets, integrating Celtic spirals, knots, and mazes to create a stylized texture and symbolic context for each painting. The series has been shown in solo and group shows around the region, and is now available both in greetings card collections and giclee prints online.

In her pet series that treats animals as diverse as dogs, cats and rabbits, “Cecil’s Locusts” is one installment that embodies the layered stories Stewart crafts with her brush. Setting about to paint a friend’s dog named Cecil, Stewart learned that the mischievous Springer Spaniel had been trained as a hunting dog, only to ignore all birds in favor of a trail of locusts on his first hunt. The painting in verdant greens and rich blues renders a testy quail biting on Cecil’s tail while he nonetheless pursues his own prey of choice. Surrounding the scene with a frame of Celtic knots, the painting harkens back to traditional Celtic designs of dogs and birds entwined in decorative art.

“Celtic designists of old who crafted the now famous illuminated manuscripts drew their inspiration from the beauty of the world around them and the activities of their time,” Stewart explains. “Honoring nature and our relationship with it by celebrating even its everyday moments is a rewarding and meditative endeavor that hopefully brings joy and inspiration to those who look at it. That’s very sacred to me, and I also love honoring the humor in life,” she says.

Other painted series of Stewart’s include “Human Trees” and “Work in Progress,” an exploration of ordinary but unique moments during various types of work. These series also incorporate Celtic designs and principles, and are available for sale as greeting cards and giclee prints through the Elizabeth Stewart Art website.

Born of English, Scottish, Mic Mac, Abenaki and other unknown bloodlines, the self-taught painter weaves many ancestries into her work, and is drawn primarily to ancient Celtic traditions of art, music and dance. She views Celtic design as no less than a visual language. Drawing from such revered sources as The Book of Kells and other ancient Irish and Scottish artifacts, she explains, “I am honored to be part of the evolution of this tradition. … The way these designs happen is very hypnotic. Hopefully people will find it soothing and also invigorating at the same time.”

Among other honors, Stewart’s paintings have won the “Alpha Dog Award” at the 2006 “Who Let the Dogs Out?” show at Heartwood College in Kennebunk, Maine; “Honorable Mention” in the Omer T. Lassonde Juried Competition at the Robert Lincoln Levy Gallery in Portsmouth, NH; and “Most Original” in the Maine Women in the Arts’ 2006 Fine Art Competition in Kennebunk, Maine.

More information on the artist is available at www.elizabethstewartart.com. Details about the opening of “It’s Raining Cats and Dogs” at the Elysium Arts Folk Club in Rollinsford can be found at www.elysiumarts.com/folkclub, or (603) 743-4700.

This is the first time I have written on this site, and the first time I have written publicly about my stroke.  It is the first of many blog posts, and I am immensely grateful to anyone who would take the time to read it.

Speaking of firsts, since the stroke 3 years ago, I decided to try painting on pottery to try and rehabilitate my right hand.  It was so slow and frustrating, but it is paying off, as you can see from the photos of my Tiger Mask that I completed after 2 years of painting on tiles and other pieces. It took me many, many, many hours to paint, but it was worth it!

If you care to see this for real, it is on display at Firefly Pottery in Portsmouth Nh.  http://fireflypottery.net

There has been quite a lot of improvement on many things,  and I look forward to keeping you posted on how I’m doing and how the recovery is going.   Thanks for reading!

e

This interview was conducted right after Ethel opted not to have a long and complicated surgery, and to have hospice care instead.  I  brought her her favorite Chinese food, we had a wonderful meal together, and then we recorded this interview.  The first few minutes were somehow lost.  She talked a bit about her family and relatives and painted a scene of what it looked like growing up.  The remainder has been split up into the four parts below.  Also, there is a link to her obituary inn word document form.  Thank you Ethel for sharing these stories with us.

Ethel Stewart Interview Part1

Ethel Stewart Interview Part2

Ethel Stewart Interview Part3

Ethel Stewart Interview Part4

Ethel Mae Stewart Obituary