Happy Father’s Day with this art-mail from 2017. (Bob) Pray for Peace, Justice, and Equality
REMEMBERING TOMIE on June 20, 2020
Happy Beginning of Summer with this art-mail from 2017. (Bob) Pray for Peace, Justice, and Equality
REMEMBERING TOMIE on June 19, 2020
I can’t imagine how Tomie would have commemorated today, Juneteenth, “the most popular annual celebration of emancipation from slavery in the United States” (Henry Louis Gates). But, I did find this version of a traditional Buddhist prayer that he would contemplate during his daily, morning meditations: May all beings attain happiness. May all beings be free from suffering. May all beings never be separated from joy. May all beings abide in equanimity. Amen. (Bob) Pray for Peace, Justice, and Equality
REMEMBERING TOMIE on June 18, 2020
The book, BONJOUR, MR. SATIE, was published in 1991 and publisher G. P. Putnam’s Sons decided to celebrate its publication with a party at a very non-children’s-book-like location: a nightclub in NYC, Tatou. Tomie was traveling in the U.S. and would meet me in the city. He left a suitcase and his NYC clothes in New Hampshire. Tomie called me from his hotel room after I arrived and asked me to bring his clothes to his room. And that’s when I learned the answer to the question I had been pondering during the nearly six hour trip to NYC: Why was I traveling with my suitcase and Tomie’s empty suitcase? I went to his room and explained my mistake and offered to return to New Hampshire to get his clothes. He chuckled and said he’d work with what he had and maybe buy something new the next day. After laughing about my lapse the next morning with Marilyn Ducksworth, head of all publicity at Putnam, she said she’d arrange for car service for the day so Tomie could go shopping in Manhattan, and shop, he did. He bought clothes for the party and the stay in New York, and he also bought shirts that he later realized didn’t fit him, a $700 raincoat (no rain was forecast), and many other items of clothing. The party was great. He looked great. And the story of my error was retold over and over again. (Bob) Pray for Peace, Justice, and Equality
REMEMBERING TOMIE on June 17, 2020
Sherry Litwack was the go-to friend for museum visits. Tomie wanted to see “Georgia O’Keeffe: Art, Image, Style” in 2018 at the Peabody Essex Museum in Salem, MA, featuring some handmade garments alongside photographs and paintings. But, he was disappointed by it. After leaving the O’Keeffe gallery, we “stumbled upon” an exhibition of work by an artist with whom Tomie was unfamiliar. “T.C. Cannon: At the Edge of America.” He was thrilled by the work and background story of this Native American artist. Sherry and Tomie are photographed in front of a Cannon painting. https://www.pem.org/exhibitions/t-c-cannon-at-the-edge-of-america (Bob) Pray for Peace, Justice, and Equality
