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Illustrating life after a life sentence

Wilson made that painting more than two years ago, when an attorney friend asked him to create a work as part of a larger project he was working on. We had collected a bunch of letters from people, men, women and children who were currently in solitary confinement, or had been in solitary confinement, he said. And I struggled at first, because I read these letters and I thought about all the horrible experiences that I had in solitary confinement.

I didn't want to make a morbid painting, he continued.

Filing through the letters, Wilson recognized the common theme was that most people yearned to see the outside world again. Thats when he got the idea to make Positive Delusions.

Almost all of us thought about something positive that got us through solitary confinement, he said. So I started to describe these feelings through colors of blues and pink and yellow. I put some gold in there, and some black. I researched the meanings and symbolisms behind all the colors. And I put that on the canvas.

Wilson said that one goal of the show is to confront people with issues currently unraveling in the criminal justice system. I want people to be outraged by the practice of solitary confinement in America, he said.

The shows curator, New York Academy of Art Vice President Gregory Thornbury, supported that aim.

This is an art show with a purpose, Thornbury said. There's something in Chris's biography that speaks to an incredible injustice that is currently happening in the American prison system, and it needs to end."

He added, Art is a way of forcing people to confront that in a way that both elevates the spirit but also challenges the soul."

Some of the money from sales of the paintings as well as from special edition rolling papers made by House of Puff and featuring Wilsons art imprinted on the box will go directly to Solitary Watch, a national nonprofit watchdog group. Through original reporting, the organization aims to educate the public, law enforcement, policymakers and others on the use and conditions of solitary confinement in prisons across the United States.

We wanted to partner with them to highlight the work that they've been doing for a long time, Wilson said. That's the other thing that I'm really excited about, is being able to collaborate with amazing organizations that's doing meaningful work, and putting some art behind it to help amplify it.

Life before prison

Life has changed drastically for Wilson, whose exhibition opening night coincided with the 10th anniversary of his release from prison. His storied past begins in Washington, D.C., where he was born. He lived with his grandmother during the week, but spent weekends with his mom and other siblings in Maryland.

In his book, The Master Plan: My Journey from Life in Prison to a Life of Purpose, Wilson said shootings occurred often in the area where he was raised. Though his home was supposed to be a refuge from outside violence, it was usually the opposite: His mother was in an abusive relationship with a D.C. police officer, he said.

One night he attacked us and sexually assaulted my mom, Wilson said. He got arrested and lost his job. But he came home and started stalking our family.

This, coupled with the passing of a cousin who was shot, led Wilson to carry a weapon for his own protection, he said.

Not long after this, two people came after me one night, threatened me and said they had been following me, watching my family, he recalled. And then one guy tried to jump on me and I ended up firing my weapon, and I took a person's life.

In 1996, at 17 years old, Wilson was sentenced to life in prison. He remembers his first moments in prison the chaos, the screaming, the strip search as being the most humiliating time of his life.

I kept thinking to myself that this is where Im going to spend the rest of my life, he said. It was horrifying for me.

Having been extremely depressed his first few years in prison, Wilson said he experienced solitary confinement multiple times with his longest stint lasting 117 days. The smallest infractions like having too much toilet paper, extra pencils, or staring at a correctional officer could land anyone in the small room with no windows for days at a time, he said.

Minimum human contact. You start to forget what time it is, he said. And when you go crazy, it is actually science behind it, of what solitary confinement does to your brain. It's just its torture.

In the Mandela Rules, a guide meant to protect the rights of those imprisoned, the United Nations designates solitary confinement that lasts more than 15 days as a form of torture. Yet, prisons across the U.S., including New York City, still use the practice to punish incarcerated people.

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Activist artist Chris Wilson promotes awareness of solitary confinement with paintings - Gothamist

First Presbyterian Church of Sebastian is proud to announce their new Thrift Store Murals Project in conjunction with Pastor Jeff Woods Sabbatical scheduled for this summer. Lilly Endowment Clergy Renewal Programs strengthen Christian congregations through renewal and reflection. The Lilly Corporation provides an opportunity for pastors to step away from the persistent obligations of daily parish life and engage in a period of renewal and reflection. It is meant for those congregations and pastors who have a strong relationship with one another.

Pastor Jeff Wood formed a sabbatical grant proposal team made of church members at First Presbyterian Church of Sebastian, and another pastor from the area. This team worked in concert with the session and the congregation so that the sabbatical would become a church family endeavor.

The theme of the proposal was exploring God and devotion to him through color color in flowers, fish, butterflies, stained glass, mosaics, murals, and village architecture. It incorporates two silent retreat experiences, one at the midway and one at the end. So, Pastor Wood and his wife, Denise, will roam and reflect from the lavender fields in southern France to looking for northern lights in Alaska. And the congregation will work on a mural on our site, a renewed garden at our sanctuary entrance, a mini-retreat about color and devotion, and an online course with Abbey of the Arts- titled, Earth, Our Original Monastery.

The church membership will be embarking on all of these projects on the church grounds during the Sabbatical, and the Thrift Store Murals Project is now nearing completion. Carol Makris was hired, based on her experience, to design and execute this project. I was inspired by our task to incorporate an abundance of color, and to try to make this building more welcoming, explains Carol, owner of Artistic Brushworks in Vero Beach. The theme came into my mind to create a beautiful cottage that would foster our overall goal of making it more inviting!

Church member Vicki Beyer, Mural Project Manager & Artist, lives locally in Barefoot Bay, and she & her husband, Doug, summer in Michigan. Many other members also helped with the initial blocking process. Vicki also creates a variety of artwork for our bulletins and video screen imagery at the front of our sanctuary.

For more information, please visit the website at http://www.WeLoveFirst.org. First Presbyterian Church of Sebastian is located at 1405 Louisiana Avenue. The complex is situated at the corner of Cross Street & Friendship Lane- fairly near to Sebastian City Hall. E-mail: Office@WeLoveFirst.org. Telephone: (772)-589-5656.

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2022 Sabbatical for Pastor Jeff Wood launches mural painting project at the Thrift Store next to First Presbyterian Church of Sebastian - Community...

This week on Urban Spelunking were visiting Jones Island, a small section of land in the Port of Milwaukee, now home to Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District, among other industrial uses.

A century ago the island looked quite different, and the residents there lived much differently than the rest of Milwaukee, too. It was completely isolated from the city, requiring a boat ride to access it. But residents had many amenities on the island, including a school staffed by teachers who would boat in.

This week we learn not only about the island, but also tell the story of a painting created by a Jones Island artist. That painting was recently dedicated to MMSD and now hangs at its headquarters building, across from the Harley-Davidson Museum.

Listen to the podcast below, and visit OnMilwaukee for more history and photos.

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This painting reflects the nearly forgotten fishing village on Jones Island - 88Nine Radio Milwaukee

After four years of painstaking and pioneering restoration, Ilya Repins 1885 masterpiece Ivan the Terrible and His Son Ivan was briefly rehung in Moscows State Tretyakov Gallery on 23 May. The painting was attacked by an overwhelmed drunk man wielding a metal pole in 2018.

The work suffered three tears to its surface. The assailant, Igor Podporin from Voronezh (460km from Moscow), was sentenced to two and a half years in prison.

The repaired canvas measuring 199.5cm by 254cm was unveiled to the press in the Tretyakovs Ilya Repin Hall before being wheeled back into the gallerys vaults at the end of the ceremony. It will not return to public view until a specially designed protective capsule is built to cover it.

The work has been attacked twice in the past; it was first targeted in 1913 by a mentally ill iconographer, who slashed it three times with a knife (Repin was on hand to help restore it himself). The Tretyakov hopes increased security will deter anyone from committing a third act of violence during a fit of rage, like that immortalised in the painting, which portrays Ivan the Terrible cradling his bloodied son, Tsarevich Ivan, after dealing him a mortal blow in 1581.

The museum set up a special restoration workshop on-site, said to include a "unique restoration chair. The Russian state-owned banking and financial services company Sberbank helped fund the project, which is estimated to have cost $160,000.

During the restoration process, for the first time in Russia, an innovative approach to thinning the lacquer coating was used. Together with the excess lacquer, now thinned down to its original layer, a considerable amount of old restoration inter-lacquer notes and materials was also removed. This allowed the painting to regain its true colouristic sound as conceived by the artist, a Tretyakov spokesperson added.

The general director of the Tretyakov Gallery Zelfira Tregulova told reporters that she hopes to raise enough money in the near future to build the protective capsule, which will be made out of the same anti-glare, anti-vandal bulletproof glass that shields Sandro Botticelli's The Birth of Venus and Primavera in Florence's Uffizi Gallery. The glass is only made in Italy and Japan, which Tregulova suggested is an obstacle due to the current sanctions imposed on Russia following the ongoing war in Ukraine.

She also said metal security poles like the one used to damage the painting in 2018 have been removed from the gallery: As you can see during this press conference, we have strengthened security. There is a Federal Guard Service officer and a Tretyakov Gallery guard present. In spite of the security measures, Tregulova added that she does not want to give visitors the impression that the artwork is in a dungeon when it permanently returns.

Tatiana Gorodkova, the Tretyakovs chief curator, said the attack does have a silver lining because more is now known about Repins famous work: Now the painting is in a very good state of preservation. It is alive, the canvas has regained its plasticity, details that we had not seen before have emerged. The incredible, fantastic richness of this painting has emerged.

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Ilya Repin's chilling painting of Ivan the Terriblevandalised in 2018 by a drunk man with a metal polegoes back on show at Moscow's Tretyakov Gallery...

If you want something done ... Sergey Pakulin / Getty Images

The report of that crash comes from 1937. As one of the first mentions of Florentia St in newspaper archives, nearly a century later it serves as an appropriate introduction to a street that has continued to be a site of unsafe speed and collision. People have reported nearly eighty crashes on that street in the last ten years, not counting an unknowable number of unreported fender-benders.

Councilmember Andrew Lewis has been working with residents on simple safety measures for Florentia since 2020, but after encountering one delay after another from the City, he and his constituents are growing increasingly frustrated. And theyre not alone. An international movement from Seattle to New York to Delhi has seen residents give up on waiting for city governments to protect them. Now they're taking the law into their own hands by quietly implementing their own guerrilla modifications to tame reckless driving.

But theres also been a backlash from city transportation departments, with many cracking down on these upgrades, creating a standoff between slow-to-act municipalities and residents fed up with delays.

Improvements perpetually a year or two away

Florentia's ready for its closeup. The Seattle Star, October 22, 1937.

In 2020, residents approached Lewis for help, and so began the long, arduous Seattle Process of performing site visits, holding community meetings, and consulting consulting consulting consulting.

The solution that emerged seemed like an easy fix: Change Florentias designation from an arterial collector to a normal residential street. That would mean dropping the speed limit by another 5 miles per hour and removing the center stripe to reduce the temptation for motorists to speed. Simple.

We were initially told that we could just do that, redesignate the street, says Lewis.

But then word came from the Seattle Department of Transportation that Florentia was designated as an arterial in the citys Comprehensive Plan. That meant that any change would require an amendment to the plan, which required a whole separate process.

Okay, thats a little annoying, but not impossible. So Lewis passed a bill to make an amendment to the plan in the spring of 2021. City staff initially said the change would be done by March of 2022.

When March of 2022 rolled around, residents started asking when the changes would be done, at which point SDOT told Lewis and stop me if youve heard this one before that they really didn't know if they wanted to change the designation.

They want to wait until we redo the Seattle Transportation Plan in 2024, says Lewis, the weariness evident in his voice. And Im like, no. We wanted to do this in the fall of 2020. Then we had to wait to spring of 2022. Now you're telling my constituents, who know the street is unsafe because they live on it they have to wait until 2024? Thats not acceptable.

"We neither promised nor dismissed potential reclassification of Florentia St," wrote an SDOT spokesperson in a statement. SDOT says they're planning a "network-level review" of the entire city's streets as part of the Comprehensive Plan update, which the City Council is expected to review in 2024. "For this reason, we, and the Office of Planning & Community Development (OPCD) recommended deferring the possible reclassification of Florentia St.," the statement explains. "The need for arterial and non-arterial traffic calming both within District 7 and citywide outpaces our limited resources," the spokesperson added.

SDOT, which has a budget of about $740 million, also cited the need for emergency vehicle speed as an obstacle to changing the designation, according to The Urbanist. The department also noted that Florentia "is in an area of Lowest Disadvantage as measured by the Citys Racial and Social Equity Composite Index," and that other neighborhoods have higher priority for reforms.

The mystery of the guerrilla crosswalk

The guerrilla crosswalk didnt meet the Citys normal requirements for pavement paint: It wasnt reflective, and it didnt have bars to indicate where drivers should stop. But neighborhood consensus generally held that it was better than nothing. Eighty-third Street is a bike route, and Greenwood was a major barrier for commuters traveling east-west. After the guerilla crosswalk appeared, drivers started pausing for pedestrians crossing the street, rather than blowing through as they had before.

(Worth noting: Seattles Comprehensive Plan, last seen impeding improvements to Florentia, specifically calls for the Greenwood area to be made more pedestrian-friendly.)

That is a totally expect-able response if the City is not living up to its obligations, Lewis says of the guerrilla crosswalk. I think its an indictment of our failure to rise to the occasion to meet our goals of Vision Zero.

Vision Zero is the Citys professed goal of having zero traffic fatalities or serious injuries by 2030. It's not going well. From 2019 to 2020, the citywide collision rate rose by 14%. That year there were 74.2 collisions per million trips, the highest rate in a decade.

The Greenwood crosswalk survived for about eight months until SDOT scraped it up earlier this month. Removing the paint, the department says, cost $40 in materials and equipment.

SDOT said they removed the crosswalk because it didnt meet safety standards. They added that they plan to install significant upgrades in the coming months. The intersection will get a traffic light, crossing signals, and an official set of crosswalks.

But locals will believe it when they see it. Those upgrades have been promised for years, but they have been eternally delayed by staffing shortages. (Even getting this information took longer than expected, due to staff availability in SDOTs communications department.)

An international movement

Citizen-led streetscape improvements are nothing new transportation safety enthusiasts refer to the practice as tactical urbanism but reports of deployment have been growing in cities and towns as residents realize that safety upgrades may never happen unless they do the work themselves. Crosswalk-painting is a relatively easy, cheap process, requiring just a few hundred dollars and a couple of volunteers.

The city doesn't keep us safe, so we keep us safe, announced a group called Crosswalk Collective LA back in March of 2022. The Crosswalk Collective has been painting crosswalks around the notoriously deadly city for the last few months, much to the chagrin of LADOT.

Last week, LADOT carved away guerrilla crosswalks at one intersection, but the neighborhood activists moved fast, and while city workers were busy removing paint, the Crosswalk Collective was busy laying down new stripes in Silverlake.

Tactical urbanism has long been a tool for pressuring cities to make streets safer. In Connecticut, a guerilla crosswalk prompted the City to implement a full overhaul of a pedestrian-unfriendly crossing in 2013. A little citizen paint on a New York curb ramp stopped drivers from blocking pedestrians. A group in Charlotte, NC built benches for bus stops. A tactical urbanism project in Delhi reduced conflicts by 32%. In Portland, a citizen-led demonstration resulted in a new bike path along the river.

In fact, some cities have encouraged tactical urbanism. Atlanta released an official guide for citizens wishing to upgrade their streets, as did the town of Jackson, Tennessee. Indiana awards grants to community groups for tactical urbanism projects.

Even Seattle has flirted with tactical urbanism in the past. Back in 2015, the city experimented with pedestrianizing Pike/Pine on weekend nights over the summer to combat overcrowding on the sidewalks. That project came together relatively quickly, requiring only a few months' worth of planning. In 2016, Seattle Neighborhood Greenways painted temporary pavement markings to improve a Burke Gillman Trail crossing, which worked well enough that SDOT made the markings permanent. In 2018, SDOT made Seattle Neighborhood Greenways' pop-up bike lane on Pike permanent.

But the City is not always so nimble. Despite dropping speed limits from 30 to 25 on arterials in 2016, SDOT left an old 30 speed limit sign in place at 12th and Republican for years, actively instructing drivers to speed.

In emails shared with The Stranger, a nearby resident asked SDOT to update the signage in June of 2021. An SDOT investigator wrote back, "We only cordoned out the downtown area with 25 mph speed limit signs to avoid sign clutter. The Vision Zero team is going to develop a cost estimate and will see if they can fit this into next year's workplan. We do not have funding or crew capacity to make this happen this year."

After waiting several more months, in December of 2021 someone made their own speed limit sign and placed it over the old one. The citizen-made sign lasted only a few weeks before the 30 sign was restored. It was finally updated to the correct speed in early 2022.

The pattern that has emerged over the last few decades is clear: Sometimes cities and citizens are able to work hand-in hand on rapidly testing streetscape improvements. But when transportation departments aren't able to move quickly enough, pop-up improvements will appear whether city agencies like it or not.

Why are we so bad at this?

Visit beautiful Seattle('s parking lots). Matt Baume

After suggesting some restrictions on private vehicles, Councilmember Lewis has been ramping up the familiar old Seattle Process, and he hopes to have made progress on improving circulation through the market by the end of the year. Thats disappointing news to anyone hoping to stroll through the market this summer, but at least its something.

The Pike Place Preservation and Development Authority [PDA] is going to be going through their campus master plan process starting in the fall, Lewis says. We had to have a big fight to even agree to have people talk about this.

When asked for comment, Madison Bristol, the Market's Marketing and PR Manager, wrote, "Its a complex operational ecosystem," noting that many tenants regard the street as "a lifeline."

Bristol added that the pandemic has left the Market in a place of "recovering and rebuilding," and that "altering that flow at such a delicate time is not in the best interests of our businesses. Once we get to a place of stability, we will discuss ways for Pike Place to function at its fullest potential with the Market community at the forefront."

There's already an eight-hundred-spot parking garage attached to the market, and a recent survey showed that 81% of Seattle residents support traffic limits. Restricting access to deliveries, emergencies, and people with mobility needs seems like it ought to be uncontroversial.

But Lewis says that in his conversations with market tenants about reducing private vehicles, many think its an existential threat to the existence of the market. He doesnt see it that way, but there are a lot of veto-gates on this. Like the PDA has a really big role in everything in its borders.

That phrase veto-gates is a helpful visualization for what stands in the way of change. Every proposal to change a street must pass through an ever-growing series of gatekeepers, each with their own veto, no matter how popular or simple or cheap the change may be. And though other cities seem to have figured out ways to expedite projects, Seattle has few options.

Thats been my frustration over the last two-and-a-half years as a council member, Lewis says, noting that City departments ultimately answer to the Mayor, not to the city council. For the last two years, he says, we had an executive who wasnt interested in doing anything. Hes hopeful that Mayor Bruce Harrell will take a different approach.

The Stranger reached out to the Mayor's office about pedestrianizing Pike Place, and we received a noncommittal response from his spokesperson:

"Mayor Harrell is focused on welcoming Seattleites and visitors back to our treasured Pike Place Market this summer," wrote Jamie Housen. He added that Harrell "looks forward" to developing a "long-term" vision for the entire city that includes Market access and economic activity, with an expected adoption date of 2024.

Meanwhile, the sagas not over for Florentia Street. Lewis has emails out to various City staffers to see what legal options might be available for making changes sometime this century.

I hate asking people to be patient. Im right there being pissed off and impatient with you, Lewis says. My colleagues do everything we can to knock down these bullshit impediments. But its frustrating.

It's true those impediments are indeed frustrating, whether in Seattle or in cities across the country. But time and time again, they've proven no match for a few buckets of paint and a handful of neighbors tired of waiting.

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After Waiting Years for Cities to Act, People Are Painting Their Own Crosswalks - TheStranger.com

In a career that amounted to just 10 years, Vincent van Gogh created a varied body of work that continues to enchant people from around the world. His iconic Post-Impressionist style used a vibrant color palette and thick, expressive brushstrokes to convey the world around him. And while the Dutch artist succumbed to a gunshot wound at the age of 37, the weeks preceding his death were among his most productive periods as an artist.

Living and working in an artist town called Auvers-sur-Oise outside of Paris, he dedicated all of his time to painting, finishing one canvas a day, on average. His stylealready highly uniquebecame even bolder, and his compositions even more ambitious. Between the time he arrived in Auvers-sur-Oise in mid-May and his death on July 29, 1890, he created over 70 paintings, in addition to dozens of sketches and drawings.

Here we will learn more about Van Gogh's last year and take a look at a couple of paintings theorized to be his final work.

In May 1890, Vincent van Gogh (18531890) finally left the asylum near Saint-Rmy in France after living there for a year. Although he willingly checked himself into the facility the last May, he began to show signs of restlessness in his letters a couple of months before his departure.

The surroundings here are beginning to weigh me down more than I can say I need some air, I feel overwhelmed by boredom and grief, he writes to his brother, Theo van Gogh.

Nearly immediately after leaving the asylum, Van Gogh relocated to a small town outside of Paris called Auvers-sur-Oise, a popular destination for artists, where he was placed under the supervision of Dr. Paul Gachet, a physician and art collector.

There, he was also closer to his younger brother Theo, who worked in Paris and was responsible for financially supporting Van Gogh.

Van Gogh famously was never able to sustain himself as an artist and relied on Theo for financial and emotional support throughout his life.

Although this arrangement went through several periods of ups and downs, it appears as though Van Gogh was especially concerned about finances in the weeks leading up to his death.

At the time, Theo and his wife, Jo, were expecting a child, which would mean another person to support. Furthermore, Theo was considering leaving his job as an art dealer to start a business.

These changes very likely caused Van Gogh a great deal of anxiety, which likely transferred to the art he was producing at the time.

Upon arriving in Auvers-sur-Oise, Van Gogh threw himself into his work. He completed, on average, one painting a day. I am giving my canvases my undivided attention. I am trying to do as well as certain painters whom I have greatly loved and admired he writes to Theo.

While this renewed energy may have been his way of coping with some of the anxiety surrounding finances and his mental health, and certainly his loneliness, it's clear that the artist was extremely inspired by the landscape. Wheatfields became a reoccurring subject, and he rendered several from different times of the day and perspectives.

Not only that, but Van Gogh's late art also appears to reflect a change in his stylein which his canvases became even bolder, more expressive, and at times, even abstract.

In total, Van Gogh completed over 70 paintings between the time he arrived in Auvers-sur-Oise in late May and when he died on July 29, 1890.

While there is no clear consensus on which painting was Van Gogh's last completed workespecially since he rarely dated his paintingshistorians have made arguments for a couple of pieces that are confidently pinned to the month that the artist died.

The painting that was commonly believed to be Van Gogh's final work is Wheatfield With Crows. Although now there is enough evidence to counter this theory, this painting is among the last works he produced and one of his most highly regarded compositions.

As part of Van Gogh's Wheatfields series, this long work depicts a stretch of tall yellow wheat with a dirt path winding through the very middle of the canvas. Above the horizon is a dark blue, almost turbulent sky, dotted with flying crows. The dead-end trail, stormy sky, and crows have all been used as evidence of Van Gogh's possible mental state at the time.

Another one of Van Gogh's last paintingsand possibly even the last one he ever worked onis Tree Roots. Distinctly abstract and brightly colored, this piece depicts a view of tree trunks and tree roots, although it is not obvious at first glance. A letter from Theo's brother-in-law, Andries Bonger, provides evidence that this painting could have been Van Gogh's final work: The morning before his death, he painted a sous-bois [forest scene], full of sun and life, Bonger writes.

If that is the case, this painting provides a very different perspective of Van Gogh's mental state at the time of his death. Although Tree Roots is unfinished, it appears to be a celebration of nature's beauty.

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California Impressionism: How American Artists Adapted French Plein Air Painting

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Here Are the Last Paintings Vincent Van Gogh Completed During His Lifetime - My Modern Met

BRATTLEBORO Gallery in the Woods is pleased to show oil paintings by Bobby DiTrani for the month of June with an opening reception on Friday from 5 to 8 p.m. as part of Gallery Walk.

DiTrani's work focuses on themes of mythology, archetype and implied narrative, often with an environmental undertone. "Beautifully rendered figures full of energy and light in devastated landscapes. Drawing from past and contemporary influences, new myths are transcribed for our times. A climate of unrest described hovering amongst the natural world," reads a description of his work.

DiTrani's formative years were spent in the once small logging town of North Bend, Washington, and the heavily deforested Pacific Northwest informs his work. He studied painting at the Aristides Classical Atelier at the Gage Academy of Art in Seattle and then set out to wander. Often living in different parts of the United States such as Washington, Vermont and New Orleans, DiTrani works wherever he establishes a studio. When not painting or drawing, he frequently tours the country with his band, DiTrani Brothers.

In addition to his personal body of work, Bobby DiTrani has created imagery for bands such as The Resonant Rogues, Intuitive Compass, Mike Antone, Isenordal, Impulse Noise, Asymmetric Warfare, and his own band, DiTrani Brothers. He has also recently finished a project with poet GennaRose Nethercott and Ninepin Press entitled "Lianna Fled the Cranberry Bog," in which he created over 200 illustrations to accompany a series of narrative prose.

For more information, go to Gallery in the Woods, 145 Main St. in Brattleboro, galleryinthewoods.com or call 802-257-4777.

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Gallery in the Woods to show oil paintings of local musician Bobby DiTrani - Brattleboro Reformer

Norman artist Leticia Galizzi is a native of the Brazilian state of Minas Gerais. She lived on both coasts of the United States before coming here four years ago.

As a way of gaining insight into the Oklahoma psyche and preparation for continuing artistic pursuits, she chose a unique method. Galizzi set up a table on a Main Street sidewalk and invited random passerby to write down their fondest wishes and leave them with her.

Without giving their names, but whatever wish they had would be written down and put in a box, she said. Eventually I will make paintings from this material for an exhibition. Of over 100 wishes, only one person wanted something material, and she wanted a dog. No one wished for a fancy car or anything like that. Many wanted to be better people.

Galizzi was impressed by the friendliness, generosity and character exhibited by her chance sample of Norman residents.

Some people asked me for more paper and they wrote front and back, she said. They were having fun with me, a person they dont know. It allowed me to see what kind of place I was coming to. It made me feel very happy and welcome here.

Galizzi is a spouse and mother of two. She holds graduate degrees in Applied Linguistics and Painting. She teaches Beginning Portuguese at the University of Oklahoma. Shes also an arts educator at the Firehouse Arts Center.

Resonator Institute hosted an April exhibition of her paintings in downtown Norman. Her work is bold, vibrant and attractive. Galizzi presides over public art appreciation sessions on Monday evenings at Benvenutis Ristorante (contact leticiagalizzi@gmail.com for information).

Choosing art was not an easy path for me, Galizzi said. I grew up in a dictatorship where art was almost not an option. Artists were considered people who did not work.

Galizzis undergraduate degree is in Business Administration. For a time, she worked at a hospital administration consulting firm, but was not passionate about it. Later, while working on the Linguistics Masters degree, she knew art was what she really wanted to study.

Creating as an artist now is what I always wanted to do, she said. Now that I have the opportunity, Im very intense about it. I wanted this for a long time. I get to have exhibitions and show my work.

Galizzi has a show in Nice, France this summer and one later this year at JRB Art at the Elms gallery in Oklahoma City. It has taken time, but Galizzi has learned not to overthink her art.

She connects it to her experience with psychotherapy.

People will ask what Im doing and I tell them I dont know, she said. It takes time, but then maybe I give myself permission to see what Im doing. When you let your subconscious show, sometimes its unknown to yourself. You dont know that its there. Sometimes you may be afraid of this. You may fear what you desire.

Stemming from her youth in the historic city of Ouro Preto with its cobblestone streets and Baroque architecture there are ornamental elements in Galizzis work.

The region I come from has a very particular kind of Baroque, she said. Its just part of my soul. Theres a desire to add it there and I use it in a very repetitive way. Its a way that I organize my thoughts.

Many of Galizzis paintings are large scale, which she admits can be draining to work on.

A big painting does not allow you to control the whole, she said. In a small painting, I look at everything and have very good control of what Im doing. A big painting demands a lot of courage, because you have to be brave with your gestures. If everything goes very wrong, you have to redo everything.

But theres no option except to be brave. If youre too precious about it, youll stop there. When I look at the whole, I may feel its not ready, so Ill need to come back and work on it. Its a process that demands a lot from my brain and a lot emotionally because of my need to take risks all the time.

Galizzis OU professor husband has suggested that possibly she could make her paintings smaller so theyd fit in the car. Her retort is that maybe he could author his books with fewer pages.

I want the challenge and surprise, she said. What I get back from that painting is being able to see the unseen and the ability to think about something that is bigger than me. I like that the canvas is a place where fears and desires can come out.

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Wish upon a painting: Norman artist explores desire and fear in her work - Norman Transcript

The national average cost to clean windows is $120-$170. Typically, window washing for commercial spaces costs less per window than residential window washing, but has a higher overall price because the greater number of windows. Commercial window cleaning companies may charge a standard rate per window for example, $3 to clean the exterior only, with a higher rate of $4 or $5 to also clean the interior. There may be an additional charge, such as an extra $1 per window, for scrubbing off water stains or deep-cleaning window tracks. Double-hung windows require more labor and will therefore cost more to clean. Companies may charge a flat rate, such as $8 per double-hung window or $9 per French door, to account for the added work. Building height will play a factor in window washing costs. Standard cleaning for one- and two-story buildings will typically stay within the same range, but cleaning high-rise windows may entail special safety permits and equipment, which would increase costs. Your location will also affect window washing costs. Smaller towns and areas with a lower cost to do business will have lower window cleaning rates than large cities.

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The 10 Best Window Cleaning Services in Rocklin, CA 2022

Windows are one of the first things you see when you approach a building, but theyre not something that is regularly cleaned. The job can often seem daunting, especially if you have a two-storey house or a business with multiple large windows. But whether you have a home or office, cleanliness is important, and professional window cleaning can help make your glass shine.

There can be lots of reasons for cleaning your windows. You may want a full spring clean, with carpets and oven included, or if your lease is finished, you might need to do vacate cleaning. Either way, thoroughly clean windows can be the finishing touch that makes your house feel truly spotless. Jims window cleaners are professionally trained and available Australia-wide for residential window cleaning, so you can enjoy clean glass no matter which part of the country youre located in.

Clean windows are about more than just looks. Over time, glass can become dull due to oxidation, dust and hard minerals, making your home or office appear dark. In addition, the dirt, dust and grime that can build up on glass may contain allergens. Cleaning your windows regularly gets rid of this buildup, helping to keep you healthy. Jims window cleaning services can also clean screens and tracks, getting rid of any built-up dirt and keeping your windows parts moving smoothly.

Residential window cleaning not only makes the outside of your house look better, it can also improve indoor living spaces. Clean windows let in more natural light and make rooms look bigger and more appealing. As a bonus, spotless glass lets you appreciate your view of Australia, whether you overlook the beach, the bush, or just the kookaburra sitting in your gum tree.

For business owners, commercial window cleaning can bring many benefits to an enterprise. If you own a retail space, clean windows allow people walking past to see what you offer, encouraging that foot traffic to walk in the door. In offices, large, clean windows can actually improve the health and sleep of workers, with one study finding that more exposure to sunlight during the day, even through windows, improves sleep at night.

Cleaning windows can be a big job. Most homes and businesses have a lot of windows, and they can be hard to reach. It may be difficult for you to clean the top of floor-to-ceiling glass, or you may not be comfortable climbing a ladder to clean windows on a second floor. This is one reason why window cleaning is often put at the bottom of the weekends task list. Booking a professional means that the job will get done.

Its especially important to not leave streaks on the glass when you need customers to be drawn to a window display. Its equally important to get rid of all the grime when your home is on the market. A professional window cleaner is experienced at cleaning in the hard-to-reach places, which means youll be satisfied once the job is done.

Finally, professional domestic window cleaners bring their own equipment, so you dont need to go to the hardware store for squeegees and lint-free towels that rarely get used for other chores. For Jims window cleaners, squeegees and cleaning solutions are the tools of their trade, so you can be certain theyre using the best. Plus, they have the equipment to ensure all the cleaning is completed safely.

If youre thinking, its time to find a window cleaner near me, start your search with Jims. All Jims window cleaners are fully-trained small business owners, so theyre working directly for you to get the best possible results. They offer a 100% satisfaction guarantee and supply all the cleaning equipment and products. Every cleaner is police checked and insured before they start cleaning for your peace of mind. Window cleaning prices differ greatly depending on the size and difficulty of the job, but Jims window cleaners can talk you through the process and give you a free quote.

What is the best thing to clean windows with?

Each window cleaner has their favourite solution for cleaning windows. Commercial window cleaning products can do a good job, while a mix of water and white vinegar is a long time favourite of homeowners and professionals alike. A small amount of dishwashing liquid added to a bucket of water can help remove grease and grime. For great results, try mixing the water, vinegar and dishwashing detergent together to add extra sparkle. Just be sure to rinse well afterwards.

How do you get streak-free windows?

The best way to remove streaks from a window is with a squeegee. Make sure the rubber blade is in good condition. Professional window cleaners change their blades regularly to ensure a streak-free finish. Work from the top down, in either a horizontal or vertical stroke. After squeegeeing, any leftover streaks can be removed with a lint-free towel or a chamois cloth, although newspaper or clean paper towels can work in a pinch. Particularly dirty windows may need two rounds of cleaning. For best results, work on a cool, cloudy day so the soapy water doesnt dry before its wiped off.

Are our window cleaners licensed?

Window cleaners in Australia dont need a special license to clean windows; however, all our window cleaners are fully-trained and run licensed businesses. More importantly, each one is fully insured and police checked, so you can feel secure when you invite them into your home. Best of all, Jims Window Cleaning has a satisfaction guarantee, so if youre not happy with your window cleaning experience, well clean the windows again at no cost.

Do we offer residential window cleaning?

Yes, Jims Window Cleaning cleans residential windows. We can clean the inside and outside of windows in both single and double-storey homes. The service is perfect for a regular spring clean as you get your house ready for summer or for a vacate clean to help you get your bond back. For an extra-special touch, think about getting your blinds cleaned as well.

Do we offer commercial window cleaning?

Window cleaning is important to businesses, as a well-presented building is appealing to customers. Jims Cleaning can clean commercial premises, whether thats small shops or high-rise office buildings. Jims can also provide window cleaning for builders who are preparing to hand keys to new owners.

Fill in the form to arrange a free quote today or talk to our Jims Window Cleaning team on 131 546 about your window cleaning needs.

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Window Cleaning | Jim's Window Cleaning Services - 131 546