News

June 20, 2011 I was admitted to the ER with abdominal pain. A cat scan showed my appendix needed to be removed. After an attempt to remove it laparoscopically, open surgery was required. What was then discovered was that my appendix had burst and thus the removal of the appendix and some of my colon was removed. I spent 10 days in the hospital receving intravenous antibiotics every 6 hours for a duration of 30 minutes each adminstration. I am now home and on the mend which I've been told will take 6 to 8 weeks from the time I came home, June 30; thursday August 4 will make week 5. I'm still experiencing some pain and must be very careful in my movements & lifting things to avoid the possibility of having a hernia. I'm anxious to return to Cheltenham Center for the Arts to continue my residency there. My plan is to make a trip there tomorrow, August 1. I'll keep you posted.

I have been teaching since 1998 for the The Saturday Arts Lab, part of the Division of Continuing Studies at the University of the Arts which provides educational opportunities in the visual arts - drawing, two- and three-dimensional design - and technology for students in grades 1-8. This year I applied for and was recently awarded a grant. In the middle of May I will attend a week long workshop at the Snow Farm in Williamsburg, Mass. http://www.snowfarm.org/index.html

"Snow Farm is a special place where students can come for solace and rejuvenation while learning a craft from master craftspeople."

I will be attending Collage: The Imaginative Use of Materials, taught by artists Alexandra Sheldon.

I am grateful for this opportunity and look forward to learning something new. Upon my return, I will update you on my experiences there.

I will be teaching an adult collage class - Collage: An Individual Touch starting June 15 at the Cheltenham Center for the Arts. This class was inspired after taking a week long workshop on collage at Snow Farm in Williamsburg Mass. taught by Alexandra Sheldon, a painter, printmaker and collage artist. Alexandra's painterly approach to collage is what attracted me to signup for this workshop. If you are looking for an immediate, accessible and uncensored path to creativity then login and register.

I will be beginning my residency at Cheltenham Center for the Arts on June 1, 2011. The resident program is being offered in clay, metals and painting/drawing/printmaking studios. Residents will have a small, private studio space, be the studio coordinator for their areas, and teach classes at the Center. At the end of their residency residents will have an exhibition at the Cheltenham Center for the Arts.

I'll be sure to keep you abreast my activities and experiences at CCA.

http://www.cheltenhamarts.org/about-us/job-opportunities

Sorry people, I just have no desire to add one more thing to my schedule. I intend to use my website to post news, events and updates on my work. I even forget I have a blog. Can't my website be a blog in disguise or something? I wanted you to know this so that you too don't waste anytime looking at my blog and wondering why there is nothing on it. I plan to get rid of it. Is that possible?

I started a Blog. Check it out: http://colleenhammondart.blogspot.com/

Again this year I have donated my services to do a Pet Portrait of your Pet in Oils. Online closing is Dec 15, 2010 8:00 PM EST. Please help support the Arts and keep them alive and in our schools. Check out the auction site for there are many things to bid on. Make a Bid. Give a Gift. (BiddingForGood.com)

To help promote my Pet Portraits I placed an ad in the current issue of Philly Pet Pages (November 2010 - October 2011). This publication is free and can be found in many locations serving Philly, Bucks, Montgomery, Delaware and Chester Counties. It can also be viewed free on line: http://phillypetpages.com/ My ad can be seen on page 71. Check it out & let me know what you think.

Through the month of September see some of my new & old work on display in The Artist Window at Daffy's Department Store. The last window on 17th street all year round is designated for artists to display their work. Don't have time to visit a gallery? No problem, on your lunch break or while shopping in center city, walk by Daffy's and get a close look at some of the best talent in the Delaware Valley area.

1700 Chestnut St
Philadelphia, PA 19103
Neighborhoods: Rittenhouse Square, Penn Center

How exciting to know one of my dad's paintings will be placed on the cover of a book. April 16, 2010 I recieved an email from a writer, Marie Manilla http://www.mariemanilla.com/ who this fall will be publishing her first collection of short stories. The title of the collection is Still Life with Plums. Searching the web she came upon my website & was excited to find my dad's work, particularly his painting also titled Still Life with Plums. Ms. Manilla wanted to know more about the painting and requested my permission to use dad's painting for the cover of this upcoming book. Of course I gave her permission and after several attempts to get a clear jpg of the image to her, and four versions, a final design has been chosen. How cool is that?!

With a chuckle, a side galnce and twinkle in his eye, I can see and hear him saying - Really? How pleased he would be. I'm thrilled and can't wait to see the book on the shelves. I will post the cover once it is final & printed. See dad, you're here to stay.