SGH Museum

Made a short visit to Singapore General Hospital (SGH) Museum, which is just conveniently located in the Outram Campus. .This is an interesting timeline tracing back to SGH's very beginning in 1821 when it first started as a wooden shed, and went through many milestones and defining moments as she develops into a premier hospital..Top left: A stethoscope donated by late Dr Tay CH in 1950s. Dr Tay

Driving Dutchess ArtEast

I spent most of the weekend driving around Dutchess County visiting artists on the Dutchess ArtEast Tour who had visited me the the weekend before. It was a whirlwind.

I was on a schedule, packing too many people into too short a time. But. I was driving with top down, heat on, hat, gloves and a scarf. The sun was in and out. Leaves were golden, falling. I drove by rushing streams and crumbling farms. Tiny box houses and mansions. Mini malls and country stores.

I am always happiest in a car, happier still when driving. (When I was a baby, my father took me on drives around Manhattan when I cried. The movement soothes me still.)  I often get my best ideas while driving. Insights into the work I’m doing or where I am going with it wash over me.

Getting to see other artists’ work, their studios, their homes, too, is an augury in itself. It’s different from going to galleries and museums. The difference perhaps between seeing a diorama at the Met, and walking the woods. One sees not just the work but the subtext of it. The potter’s wheel, the view out the window, the close quarters or expansive spaces. We take in their worlds, somewhat unconsciously, perhaps, in a glimpse. We even perhaps retrace the steps of their lives, walking with them through the universe, as we turn up their driveways, and walk in the doors of their private spaces.

We connect not just in conversation, but in similarities seen at the edges: found bird nests and childrens’ toys, dragonflies, petals and pods, placed just so on a windowsill or in a sacred corner. We see it, too in the work. Not always literally, but in the shadows and gestures.

I gave myself these days off from photosnapping and took it all in without document. For a virtual glimpse, you can still visit dutchessarteast.com and click around the websites. Then, put the weekends on your calendar for next year. And keep your eyes out for any opportunities to visit artist studios wherever you live.

May your days be filled with the Magic Medicine of long country drives into the at once unknown and familiar.

Great Technology - VeinViewer

."VeinViewer uses near-infrared light to locate subcutaneous vasculature and projects its image in real time. It is clinically proven to reduce the nunber of attempts to start an IV by 50%, reduce the time to start an IV by 50%, and double patient satisfaction scores."..The product was designed for healthcare workers especially those working in pediatrics, oncology, emergency & vein clinics.I'm

Physician Nexus Network

"Based in Silicon Valley, Physician Nexus network is the fastest growing social network dedicated exclusively to physicians.This global communications platform was developed with a vision to transform the field of medicine, allowing physicians to connect with each other in ways that were not possible before."I would like to encourage all physicians to join this network.And I'd like to thank the

Can You Smell the Impending Disaster?

Though I'm currently out of the system, I do still pay attention to the healthcare news in my home country. I must say that I'm quite concerned, and this worry started long ago but analysing from the current situation, it is apparently not showing any good changes, and I think many of you will agree with me that, we're foreseeing more problems to emerge along the way.Perhaps I'll just share this

Packet

In the throes of packet production again. Those 3 weeks keep sneaking up on me. Yet, it’s a good span of time. Long enough to follow a thread. Not too long if you drop one. It seems to keep one honest. And engaged.

Interesting how each one is a different experience too. This time it’s been 3 or 4 days in the making, little bits at a time. What with getting ready for the Open Studio Tour this weekend, it’s a lot to juggle.

But I managed to get to a project that’s been on my mind since returning from the residency in July. That is, to tie the gold threads around something larger than one of the small fetishes that I’ve been collecting for years.

On my way to pick up signs for the upcoming Open Studio Tour, I drove one of my favorite roads in the county, Strever Farm Road in Pine Plains. It’s just always stunning, ever season of the year, every time I drive it.

The roots of these giant shade trees are fascinating and beautiful to me. More sacred knottings to come.

And by the way, if you’re interested in a visual look at what I send off in my packets each 3 weeks, just visit my Flickr site. Haven’t figured out yet, how to share the written contents of the packets. But I’m on it. 

Baby steps, as always. 

May your days be filled with the Magic Medicine of time to reflect, and time to do, and time to just be. 

You're invited!

On October 15 and 16, my studio and home are open to all, in the 2011 ArtEast Open Studio Tour.

If the weather's good and I can wrangle a few fire tenders, I will have a bonfire going. And makings for s'mores of course, along with wine, cheese, apples and cider.

It's the perfect time of year to visit my Sacred Art Burial Ground. My Lint Paintings are in the laundry room. ORBS are of course in attendance!

Just a short drive away, you can enjoy the best croissants outside of France (I'm not kidding!), at the Mountain Cow Cafe in Pine Plains, where photographs by my husband Larry Illges, and more work of mine are on view. 

Other artists on the tour are close by. There's a nature sanctuary right down the street for lovely walks and hiking. Wild Hive Bakery is not too far away. And there are quite a few great restaurants a stones throw away. 

And the Sheep and Wool festival is going on at Rhinebeck Fair Grounds. 

You could really make a beautiful day of it. 

For more info

http://www.dutchessarteast.com/2011/03/hello-world/

I am #9 on the Northeast Artists drop down menu, where you'll also find my phone number, address and all the particulars

http://www.dutchessarteast.com/artists-north/riva-weinstein/

I hope to see you! 

Why date a doctor?

.Saw this in facebook which was circulated around..Some are bitter facts and some will just make you smile. ;).

Grad School Report Card and True Tales of the Unemployed.

I originally wrote this post a couple of weeks ago, but never managed to post it. So as usual, I am playing catch up. But still worth sharing. More soon. In the meantime...

The due date for my 2^nd packet suddenly snuck up and took me by surprise. Wasn’t it just yesterday that I spent a 40 hour week pulling together what is essentially a progress report on my reading, art making, film viewing, gallery and museum going?

Apparently not. Three weeks slip by in a millisecond. While you are just back from a beach vacation that started with driving rain and ended with food poisoning, but was sunny, warm and relaxing in the middle. And by some kind of miracle, you take a curious peak at your due dates before dashing out the door for another week long journey away from home and studio, into the city and every night booked for business and/or pleasure.

So while the last packet was a full time, 40+ hour job, this packet is both more intense and more relaxed. I’m compiling the last 3 weeks of art work, reading, reflections and more – in a single day. But because this isn’t my maiden voyage into packet work, I’m less stressed about it. And actually finding myself more at ease with looking back over the last 3 weeks from the vantage point of this particular moment in time.

The thing is, I really love this. I love the reading. I love the ideas that percolate because of the reading. I love having the opportunity to focus on my art in a more concentrated way. It’s still hard getting into my studio to do the real work. Still, I am making leaps and bounds.

In every arena apparently, too. I revamped my online advertising portfolio and moved it over to cargocollective.com/rivaweinstein. Within a week I have an interview. Please let it not be with a gaggle of 20-something product development girls who don’t know what they are looking at when I hand them my portfolio. Or a 30-something marketing diva who dramatically throws my resume across the room because she doesn’t really need to look at it. Or a creative recruiter who is looking for a unicorn. True tales.

Which brings me round full circle back to grad school. I’m waiting for someone to ask in an interview how I expect to work and go to school at the same time. And I can’t wait for the question. I can’t wait to say that I don’t know anyone who hasn’t worked full time while completing their graduate degree. It’s usually a matter of necessity. Education is expensive.

And expansive.  

The Power of Human Touch

From TED: Modern medicine is in danger of losing a powerful, old-fashioned tool: human touch. Physician and writer Abraham Verghese describes our strange new world where patients are merely data points, and calls for a return to the traditional one-on-one physical exam.This is definitely worth spreading and I strongly think all doctors should see this. Came across this from MMR.