AOTA-240823 - Carlota Hursey, Pearlie Taylor, 2024 Hoosier Star

This week on Out in the Air features certified circle dance instructor Carlotta Hersey, whose passion is working with older adults in her Engaging Brains classes. Next, we have a follow-up interview with 83-year-old abstract artist Pearlie Taylor, discussing her recent exhibits. Our spotlight is on the LaPorte County Symphony's 19th annual Hoosier Star on September 24th at LaPorte County Civic Auditorium. Express yourself you are, and show the world your heart. Express yourself you are, and show the world your heart. You're in the know with Esther and Mary, who are on the air today. They're in the know with Mary and Esther, who are on the air our way. Express yourself you are, and show the world your heart. Express yourself you are, and show the world your heart. Welcome. You're listening to Art on the Air on Lakeshore Public Media, 89.1 FM, WVLP 103.1 FM, our weekly program covering the arts and arts events throughout Northwest Indiana and beyond. I'm Larry Breckner of New Perspectives Photography, right alongside here with Esther Golden of The Nest in Michigan City. Aloha, everyone. We're your hosts for Art on the Air. Art on the Air is supported by an Indiana Arts Commission Arts Project Grant, South Shore Arts, and the National Endowment for the Arts. Art on the Air is heard every Sunday at 7 p.m. on Lakeshore Public Media, 89.1 FM, also streaming live at LakeshorePublicMedia.org, and is available on Lakeshore Public Media's website as a podcast. Also heard on Friday at 11 a.m. and Monday at 5 p.m. on WVLP 103.1 FM, streaming live at WVLP.org. Our spotlight interviews are also heard Wednesdays on Lakeshore Public Media. Information about Art on the Air is available at our website, breck.com, slash, A-O-T-A. That includes a complete show archive, spotlight interviews, plus our show is available on multiple podcast platforms, including NPR One. Please like us on Facebook, Art on the Air, WVLP, for information about upcoming shows and interviews. I'd like to welcome to Art on the Air Spotlight from the LaPorte County Symphony Orchestra, starting their new season. It's the Who's Your Star event, which is September 14, 2024, 7 p.m. is, of course, the LaPorte City College Tournament. We have the Executive Director for the LaPorte County Symphony, Emily Yiannas. Welcome to Art on the Air Spotlight. Thank you so much. Glad to be here. Yeah, it's so nice to see you. Well, Emily, this is your 19th year of Who's Your Star, so tell us a little bit about it in general, and then some of the people you have involved with it in terms of the youth division, the adult division, and even some of the other people like your emcee and all those types of people. Sure, yeah, I'd love to. So Who's Your Star is, as you said, in its 19th year. It started in 2006. It kind of follows a sort of American Idol-style competition format. Last March, we held auditions, and we had a really good turnout of fantastic talent. Word is starting to spread throughout the state of Indiana, so we do get folks from as far as Hammond, Fort Wayne, Indianapolis. So people are taking notice of this, and so we get quite a lot of auditioners. So we selected our five youth finalists and our five adult finalists, and they will get to sing a piece with the symphony on September 14th, and then the audience and the celebrity judges, of which there are three, will choose the winners at the concert that evening. So we have some fantastic talent. We have a wide age range as well. We have a sister duet from La Porte, Olivia and Celia Branco, who are going to be performing, and I'm not exactly sure how old the youngest one is, but she can't be more than 10, and she is just cute as a button and just sings so well. So that's going to be exciting. Is that the first time you have a sibling pair? Actually, no. There was a sister duo a few years ago. In my research on Hoosier Star, I saw that there has been a sister duo in the past, so this won't be the first, but it is still exciting to have them. We've got a young man from Fort Wayne. His name is Charles. He is fantastic. I think everyone is going to just really be highly entertained by this program. And then you have several in the adult division. Are there any returning people? I think they can. That's right. Yes, actually, I believe one of the adult contestants was a runner-up last year, Lindsey Brown, and she is the finalist this year. We also have Max. He is from La Porte. He is a frequent community theater performer in La Porte. And then we have a couple of newbies from Mishawaka South Bend area who really just knocked our socks off in the auditions. So we're really excited. So do the judges petition you, or do you reach out to find the judges? How does that work? Becky Osborne, our vocal director, she usually works on finding the judges. So I'm not sure if she gets any inquiries, but she's well-connected throughout the region, and she's the one who usually secures those judges for us. Excellent. And so same MC is? Yes, Jeremiah. Yeah, Jeremiah Mellon will be back to MC. He's fantastic. He does such a great job making conversation with the contestants, making them feel comfortable up on stage, and we're really thankful to have him still a part of Hoosier Star. And then Dr. Carolyn Watson is the conductor. Oh, yes. She will be back. Yes. She's actually conducting every concert this season, which is really exciting. Last year she wasn't available for a couple of our concerts, but this year she will be with us for everything. So we're super excited about that. And the songs have been chosen. Those were chosen several months ago, and there's a good variety of Broadway, pop. We've even got some soul. So there's really something for everyone, every musical taste. I kind of wanted to mention my friend Sherry Edwards. Can you talk about her founding of Hoosier Star and what the ‑‑ Absolutely. Yes. Yes. So Sherry founded Hoosier Star in 2006, and at the time, you know, American Idol. I mean, American Idol is still around, but it was super big back then. And so that kind of ‑‑ that was the impetus for starting this benefit for the symphony, and it was also to nurture young talent in the area and to give them the opportunity to perform with the orchestra and to get that experience. And Sherry was really instrumental in mentoring the singers and helping them with their stage presence and what they would wear on stage. And so she had a big part in that. And she still plays a part today, even though she's retired to Florida. We still keep in contact with her as an advisory member of the committee and she helps us out with a few things, and she's a sponsor as well. This is a paid event for the people, so it's actually a fundraiser. So tell us a little bit about that process of getting tickets. That's right. Yes. Yes. So we have many sponsors for this event. Our top sponsors are NIPSCO and Horizon Bank and Northwest Health. So those are our top sponsors. But then we also just go out in the community and encourage local businesses and local individuals to sponsor this event. The proceeds that we make from it go straight to our music education initiatives in the symphony. So it's a great opportunity to support the symphony and also just have a really fantastic, entertaining evening. So if any businesses are interested, they can reach out and inquire about sponsorship opportunities at lcso.net. Executive at lcso.net is my email address. Yes. It's an exciting evening. It is. It's so fun. Yes, last year was my first one, and it was such a blast. It was so fun to see the finalists just really blossom on stage, and I got to see the whole rehearsal process, and it was really cool. So I'm excited to get to do it again. Sounds great. Well, we appreciate you coming on Art in the Air Spotlight. That's the Who You're Star. It's going to be September 14th at 7 p.m., LaPorte County Civic Orchestra, and you can get ticket information at lcso.net and find out all about it. Yes, single tickets are on sale online, so please come. And also support your program. Thank you so much for coming on Art in the Air Spotlight. Thank you. Thanks a lot. Thank you for having me. Art in the Air Spotlight and the complete one-hour program on Lakeshore Public Media is brought to you by McAuley Real Estate in Valparaiso, Olga Patrician, Senior Broker. This is author Christopher Grayson, and you're listening to Art on the Air on Lakeshore Public Media, 89.1 FM, and on WVLP 103.1 FM. We are pleased to welcome Carlotta Hersey to Art on the Air. Carlotta is passionate about making an impact in older adult lives by helping them age well. She's a certified circle dance instructor and has been leading monthly Hansa dance, world dance classes, to the Duneland community since 2019. During COVID, Carlotta went back to college where she got certification in cognitive behavioral therapy for seniors and cognitive stimulation. She is a subject matter expert in cognitive stimulation, optimizing brain functioning, healthy aging, world dance, and brain movement connection. Thank you for joining us on Art on the Air. Aloha and welcome, Carlotta. It's so nice to meet you. Aloha, Esther. I am honored to be here today. Oh, we're so glad to have you on the show and to share. Well, it's not just art, but it is kind of an art in helping people with dance and movement. But we're interested, and our audience, of course, is always interested in your origin story. We like to say how you got from where you were to where you are now. So tell us all about your journey. Well, I think for many years, I lived a very ordinary life and I created, I raised my family and I worked and I traveled. And the reason why I worked was to be able to travel. And my parents took us always on vacation and that we think that expands our minds and our thinking. So I'm passionate about traveling and that has always been my motivation for working. But it wasn't until I moved to the U.S. 20 years ago when I married Joe and I found a job right away and I'm still doing the same job here. But something happened in 2019 is when I found the purpose, my purpose in life. I finally found something that I was passionate about and I was good at. And at that point, I knew that that was the beginning of the rest of my life. And it's very exciting to be here where I am right now and watch, compare how I lived my life and the energy, the enthusiasm and the passion that I have now when I wake up every day. Because now I'm not working. I'm doing, I'm making my dream come true every day when I'm working with seniors. And it was through the dance that this happened. The portal for me to finally finding myself was entering the dance community and that changed my life. So Carlotta, I'm going to take you way back to childhood. So talk to us about your childhood. What were your days like there? What was, you know, was dance part of, you know, part of your childhood, part of your high school life? Absolutely. Part of the family? Absolutely. Well, my grandmother was German. I didn't have the pleasure to know her. But the German culture has always been very present. And as you know, Germans love music and love to dance. And Brazilians go without explanation. Babies start dancing when they're on their cribs. We are fascinated by music and we cannot control. When we listen to music, we're dancing. Either we are tapping our foot or we are singing or we are moving. So that was always present, but I never thought I was really good at it I discovered circle dance on the top of a mountain in the countryside in Brazil when my neighbor invited me to dance that night. And I looked at her and said, where are we going to dance? And she said, in my garage. And I'm like, okay, that's different. Why don't we try that? But coming back to your question first before I forget to answer. Since I was three years old, I could sing in six different languages. My mom taught me how to dance. When I was six years old, I danced in front of the whole town on a stage. I was dressed as a Hawaiian girl and I danced. And I remember my mom telling me that the night before the performance, I lost one of my frontoos. And I was terrified. And my mom said, honey, just smile without opening your mouth. So I went into that stage. I was so confident. And the whole dance went well. And I was never shy of dancing or singing. But as I said, there was never something present professionally in my life. And then finally, going back to the top of the mountain, at the Montequeira Mountain in Brazil, when my neighbor taught me these dances that we dance holding hands in a circle, I couldn't believe it. I was loving it. I was having so much fun. And short after that, I came back to America, and I started researching that kind of dance that we call circle dance. And bless YouTube, because the more you look for something, the more you find of it, right? And I spent months dancing in my living room. And what caught my attention was I could never stop smiling as I was dancing, repeating those choreographies that I was watching on YouTube, until two friends of mine, we were reading the Tao Te Ching, we had a book group, and they said, I suggested if they wanted to learn this dance, and they loved it. And then soon enough, we stopped reading the Tao Te Ching, and we started dancing every week instead. And they told me, you have to pursue this passion. This is part of you, and you should take this seriously. So the next year I went to Brazil and got certified as an instructor. But I remember when we were doing our class, it was an immersion for 10 days. And we danced probably six, seven hours a day. And in between two dances, I remember that I said, the circle made Carlota, brought Carlota to me. Now I know who I am. In the circle I became. And that, everybody started crying. And to me, I was being born at that moment, because there I found, I can do this. I'm good at this, and I will take this on and show everybody, share with everyone, the pleasure that dancing is and can be, regardless if you're shy or if you have two left feet, right? Well, yeah, the circle dance is so ancient, too. So we're tapping into, like, ancestral movement as well. As we do that, we are honoring traditions, and we are keeping traditions alive. And when we share a dance from Macedonia or from Greece, here in the United States, we are exchanging cultural behaviors and language, body language. And I really believe, Esther, that that brings respect and honor, if you get to know a culture, you learn how to honor. And I think it makes a big difference. So you use traditional music from these things, or do you even use modern music? Or what music that you would do? Like, the tambourines are all Eastern, well, mostly Eastern European, I think. But what kind of music do you use? Or is there some newer stuff you use? That's a great question, Larry, because circle dance started from a German ballet master, and he was passionate about dancing. Because it's funny, this story, his dad was a religious man, and his dream is that Bernard Vosin would follow his religious career. And Vosin said he couldn't concentrate and pray sitting down. And when he started, he was exposed to classic ballet. He discovered that by dancing is how he connected with whatever it is that you want to call it, and that brought him close to God. And by traveling in his career throughout all Europe and different countries, he went to Africa and all sorts of places, he was curious about learning their folk dances. And to him, it was wonderful to observe the connection. It was the opposite of dancing by yourself on a stage. So when he started circle dance, he brought all the folk music that he accumulated throughout his years and adapted most of the dances to a circle to enable that connection, people to people, because when you're holding hands and your eyes make eye contact, it's impossible not to connect, or through a smile. And from that point, circle dance expanded and became, there was the traditional circle dance, and there is contemporary circle dance. We preserve the values, the symbology, the intention, we dance with an intention, but we dance to mantras, we dance to samba, we dance to Latin music, we dance to opera. So it's very multicultural, and it's impossible for you not to find your dance in circle dance, because there is a little bit for everyone there. It's got to be the bossa nova, no? Why not, yeah. So how did you focus on working with seniors and aging? Because there's the circle dance, but then you also really have some specific things that you do. Yeah, as I said, entering the world of dance was the big portal that I had to cross, and the dance community ended up making me fulfill a dream, from when I was very young. Since very young, I used to say, the day that I don't have to work anymore for a living, I'm going to dedicate my time to seniors, because I loved and I lost my, I didn't meet any of my grandparents, and I lost my parents when they were young. Not young for me, but young for my daughter. So after my parents passed away, I started going to senior homes, so she could have access to other grandmas, and receive that attention and that care. And that's when I decided one day I was going to dedicate my life to working and serving them. And when I started the circle dance, I said, there has to be a way to do this for seniors. And I was introduced to the mother of senior circle dance in Brazil, and she teaches dance in chairs. So, of course, me, I come back to America, and I say, I do chair dance for seniors, and you can imagine that that created some curiosity about what I was doing. And the Dunlap senior community invited me for a demonstration, and one student from that class is a student from the Y, and she went back to the Y, and she said, there is this lady that did a session of circle dances, and everybody was sitting in chairs, and you need to meet her. So that was, okay, 2019 I got my certification. 2020 and 21 during COVID, there was the very blessed side of all the pandemic, which is the opening, everything online, and even when I was here, I was able to take courses in Brazil and become certified in circle dances for seniors. So 20 and 21, I was doing that. In 21, I did my first dance, and they were so happy, and I said, I have a confession to make. This was the first time I taught circle dance for seniors in chairs, and they couldn't believe this. We could never guess that. And so the Y invited me to become a volunteer, to come once a month and teach circle dance in chairs for them. And I stayed the whole year, from May 2021 until September 22, I came once a month. And then in 2022, I met a lady that has a longevity center in Brazil, and I was introduced to cognitive stimulation. I had never heard about it. And when I saw her work, I said, I need to learn this. So I went back to college, and I did cognitive and behavioral therapy throughout 2022. And in 2023, I went back and did another course specific for cognitive stimulation, because I was able to create a program that I bring cognitive stimulation and circle dance together, because it puts your brain on fire, and it is not exhaustive for them, for the seniors, because it's half an hour of thinking, and the other half an hour we are dancing. And dancing is pure cognitive stimulation. It is rhythm, it is coordination, it is memory, it is attention, lateralization, especially when you cross your body, your right hand on your left, both sides of your brain are on fire. So I was able through dance to get to this thing that to me, this program is complete and so very important for them. But the big charm of our class is the dance. And they are looking at the clock, waiting for the half an hour to go so that we can start dancing. What a marvelous gift you are giving those people and helping to connect in many, many ways. Do you still do more traditional circle dance anywhere? I mean, besides the senior dancing? Yes, yes. We still offer every month, I hold an open community class at the Essential Aid Studio, downtown Chesterton, a Sunday a month. And in July, we dance, we celebrated the World Circle Dance Day that the Fyndhorn is where circle dance was born. And Fyndhorn, they choose three songs that are going to be danced around the world by hundreds of thousands of people. So it's a way to connect all over the world and then they put together some videos showing and it's really, really neat to see how people were all doing the same steps and honoring the same traditions. And I'm not alone with my circle here. Last year, I think we had 257 groups all over the world or something like that. Global energy going on there. Very much so. And promoting peace and respect and it's a beautiful thing. Well, and just thinking culturally, circle dance is something that's so cross-cultural. You think about the indigenous people of our continents here, North and South America. I mean, the circle is a big... Well, I think one of the cool connections is how in modern theater, like Fiddler on the Roof, the opening of the show is kind of a circle, in the circle of our little village. So, yeah, it has a universality about that and such a great connection. Yes, very much so because people have been dancing circles from the beginning of civilization and we're dancing circles mostly to celebrate, right? To celebrate a birth, to celebrate a wedding. People dance, the indigenous people dance in a circle to call for rain. The warriors would dance in a circle to receive the blessings of the gods to go to a battle. So, the symbology behind dancing in a circle, the circle has something that I think it's magic. Everybody in a circle is equidistant from the center. So, no one is more important than the other. And the circle will not move without cooperation and patience. You are not going to dance if you are not cooperating with both people that are by your side and even teaching and helping them to dance so the circle continues. So, it creates... Love and energy. I cannot exactly... Actually, Esther, you said that we have a position of our hands that we do when we're dancing that everybody moves their hands together. You receive the energy from your left side and you give your energy to the person on your right. So, by holding our hands like that we believe that the energy is flowing and at the end of the dance when you stop you can still feel that field that is so rich and vibrant even after the dance is over. You sense about the circle dance maybe in ancient times is dancing around a campfire maybe and that was the central focus point of energy. So, that's wonderful. And actually, Larry, that is the root of the word focalizer. We are not instructors, we are focalizers. We are supposed to keep the fire burning. The instructor teaches the staff. We keep the fire burning and everybody together. It's a beautiful way to see it. After the world gathering, what is your calendar like? Because I know you have these marvelous videos on YouTube on the cognitive chair stuff which is, you know, they're wonderful. I've been doing them. They're great. They're complex. Well, they're not... At first, they're a little... The movements are very simple but to get your brain to perform them I mean, that's the cognitive part. It's so challenging and wonderful in a good way. I'm very happy you brought that Esther because I started those videos because I fly south for the winter. My husband and I go to Brazil every year and in the winter is when the seniors need the most cognitive stimulation. They're home and they're lonely and they're bored. So I had to find a way for them to have access and keep dancing while I was gone. And the goal with that YouTube channel which is at Engaging Brains or Carlotta Hersey. You'll find the YouTube channel if you look with those words. And those dances are made for my group at the Y. So the songs are chosen to connect to their hearts. Music that make them motivated and it's a great, great brain exercise and makes you happy. Enhances your mood and that's the goal of that YouTube channel. And you are such a deluxe instructor. I mean, you break it down and it's so clear and you go over it the right amount of times for it to connect with the brain. They're truly brilliant Carlotta. Thank you so much for doing them. Thank you for bringing that. I was not even going to mention but it's something I'm happy to leave and I am planning on keep that growing so everybody that is lonely at home has a chance to dance and be merry and celebrate life. In our last few moments here, how can people find you either on social media, your website or YouTube to participate and also any events coming up here from August on forward? We don't have a set Sunday but follow Essential Weight Studio in Chesterton, Indiana. Their Facebook page always announce when our next dance will be. And the YouTube channel, again, it's Engaging Brains and with my name Carlotta Hersey, you should be able to find the videos. Well, we so appreciate you coming on Art in the Air and sharing such a wonderful activity for people and a great way to share. That's Carlotta Hersey and she's been with us talking about her, well, in a sense, an art journey and art dance in a healing sense. Thank you so much for coming on Art in the Air. Thank you guys and aloha. Thank you for Engaging Brains. Aloha. This is Megan Stoner and you are listening to Art on the Air on Lakeshore Public Media 89.1 FM and on WVLP 103.1 FM. We are delighted to welcome back Pearlie Taylor to Art on the Air. Pearlie is a Chicago painter renowned for her abstract work Creating Paintings, Dynamic with Movement that are interesting, provocative and beautiful. We spoke with her on July 29th of 2022. At the close of that conversation, Pearlie said, a change is coming. We will explore what she has been investigating in the last few years. She just closed a solo show in Chicago at the Gallery Gachard in Bronzeville called A Life Well Abstracted. Viewing that show is still possible on gallerygachard.com. Thank you for joining us again on Art on the Air. Aloha and welcome Pearlie. It's great, great, great seeing you again. Well, thank you for having me again. It's great talking to you again. Well, we are excited to have you back since the 2022 interview. And if people want to review that, they can listen to it at the Lakeshore site or on our webpage. And that's July 29th, 2022. And so we won't repeat your entire origin story, but maybe briefly tell us just a little bit about yourself as we start this one and what's new in your life. Okay, well, I've turned 83, which feels just like 82 as a matter of fact. I'm in pretty good shape. A newlywed. Oh, yes, I am a newlywed. But I was a newlywed back then also because we're coming up on our fourth anniversary in September. So it still feels like we're newly married. And I like it. It's great as a matter of fact. And probably because we're retired and life is just easier. Our children are grown on their own and we don't have any particular problems or headaches or anything. We're free. We do what we want. We come and go as we want. And we're pretty much everywhere. So that's good. And I like it. And I think he does too. So while you have a vibrant art practice, which fills up all those other times when you're not traveling and enjoying this time period. Absolutely. Is your husband an artist as well? He is not. He's a retired electrical engineer. So he has just finished his Ancestry book. And he's putting the finishing touches on that. And he's going to distribute it to his family members coming right up. It's just a wonderful book. That's a wonderful project. Oh, absolutely. He's been working on it about six or seven years now. And he's kind of reached the point where he could put everything together and have it put in book form. And it's about done. Excellent. So just to kind of recap your early childhood, while you were born in Mississippi, you at a very young age came to Chicago. What was that like, Chicago, for you as a child? Well, it was pretty nice. It just happened that all of our relatives lived on the same street, a lot of them. And I could go from one relative house to the next relative house and play. There were a lot of people looking after me and my brothers. So it was good around a lot of uncles and aunts. You could eat at anyone's house. So it was good. And life back then was a lot different than it is now. So, yeah, I remember my childhood being nice. We were a large family. My mother was having a kid almost every year. So as the family grew, I had to become a little more responsible. So my outlet was drawing and competing with my older brother. And he was just totally intelligent. I thought he was the smartest person in the world. And we challenged each other all the time. And back then, we read a lot. You know, that was our entertainment. So we challenged each other with knowledge. Tell us a little bit about what things are different now, as you see it, from when you were growing up. Well, family lives far apart now. We don't see or talk as much. Everybody is into their own thing. Well, of course, all of the old folks are gone now. But the cousins and all those people, you know, we're more distant. We still get together for special occasions and generals and weddings and all that. But we're more distant. We live further apart. People will communicate more by way of messaging and Internet now. You don't see their faces a lot. Nobody writes anymore. You know, it's text, text, text, text, text, text and e-mails. It's just different. It's not bad. It's just different. And I don't like to do a lot of e-mailing. So when we were talking before, you had mentioned Copernicus. So how did Copernicus, was it the stars you were interested in, or what about Copernicus did you find so fascinating? Well, I didn't really study it that much. It was the fact that my brother knew a lot about it, knew more about it than I did. So when he introduced the name Copernicus to me, it was mostly to see if I knew Copernicus, because he did. He found that information somewhere. So he was always trying to stump me with questions and things so he could say he was smarter than I was. So, yeah, so that was how that came up. And now I was more interested in Nostradamus. So I would come back and hit him with that. And, you know, we were kind of like back and forth, back and forth with stuff like that. But we were young, and I'm surprised that, you know, that we could talk about things like that, like seven, eight, maybe nine sometimes. So it just shows how the world has changed, because reading was pretty much our world back then. Well, thinking about the large family you just described, there must have been so much storytelling going on. And I remember from before you talking about writing stories. And that comes from hearing stories too, I think. Do you still write as well as paint? Is writing stories still a part of your practice? No, I really don't have time for writing now, because I'm all in with painting. But normally when I give an artist talk, I will always tell a story about one of the paintings. I would turn one of the paintings into a story, because something about a particular painting will inspire me to see something about it that would make me tell a story about it. So when I start talking about the various paintings, I won't talk about all of them. I will take one painting and I will tell a story about that one painting. So that kind of gets me back into the storytelling mold, and it holds the audience's interest more than just saying general things about a painting, you know. So how much can you say about an abstract painting? But sometimes I'll paint something that will hit me a little differently, and I feel that there's a story there. So when I start talking, I'll talk about that particular painting will have a story. Well, that's so wonderful, because, you know, there's two paintings in particular. I would love to know if there's a story behind them. And it comes from the titles that you choose as well. There's one painting, Deep Down in My Soul, I think from your current work. And we'll talk about how your current work is two years different now from what it was when we spoke before. So we'll go through, because I remember in that conversation, you talked about, you know, there is a change coming. It's going to be, I don't know whether it's going to be collage or oils or, you know, you felt a shift on the way. So I want to talk about that, but also Deep Down in My Soul. That's a black and white painting, if I recall. Yes, I mean, you've gone kind of, even though it was your abstracts are minimalist in feeling in general, these take it to a different level, I think. Yeah. You know, with that particular painting, you know, I'm different every day. And that's the way I approach my titles. Whatever I feel that day and how I feel about something, somehow it'll become a title of a painting. Because I never paint one painting at a time. I always paint several. There are at least three or four paintings happening all at once. And it depends on the amount of space I have and the size of the paintings. So that particular painting on paper, wherever I was in my head that day, probably pointed me toward that particular painting because it was something about the way I felt. And I think the image in that is almost like an abstract form bending over or something. And it's hard to bring it back now to talk about it. It was something deep with me going on that particular day to make me give it that title. So it's kind of hard to, you know, remember exactly what that was. You feel the movement in that one so strong. It's just a very provocative image. At least for me, it elicited, you know, kind of made me tingle, I guess, you know, because you could feel the energy of it. So I was reacting to the energy of those particular strokes. Yes. You're listening to Art on the Air on Lakeshore Public Media 89.1 FM on WVLP 103.1 FM. And in this new exhibit, there are a couple of paintings that had stories. And for me, they were my personal stories. One was a painting that was, I think, entitled For Love of a Tree. And that painting, that title came about because as I was working that painting and the way the painting was running, and somehow it seemed there were branches coming through the painting somehow. And I see this when I step back from the painting a little bit. It's not that I'm intentionally trying to do this. And when I saw the lines that looked like paintings, I just dropped a little green paint on one of them just to see what that would do. And immediately it made me think of the tree that we had cut down last year, a big old beautiful tree that was in my backyard. And my husband decided to put solar panels on the house. And we debated about those solar panels for almost a year because it would have entailed cutting down the tree because the tree put so much shade on the house. So we went through that. At first it was yes, it was no. So in the end, I gave in for the solar panels. So, of course, the tree had to come down. I had nurtured that tree. I always planted tree spikes to keep it healthy and looking good and watered it. And I had hostas underneath the tree. Well, I had resigned myself, okay, the tree is going to go. But I didn't realize how much attachment I had to the tree until they started cutting the tree down. And the tears started flowing. I had to be consoled. And my husband, he was shocked because he didn't realize how deeply, you know, I was so emotional about the tree. And I was surprised because I didn't know that that was going to happen, you know. So, of course, the tree got cut down and taken away and all that. And there was this big, ugly spot, you know, this hole that they had filled in. So during the course of doing the paintings, and I started seeing the way that painting was shaping up. When I dropped that little green paint, well, actually I took a palette knife and just touched it a little bit, and the tree came to life. And so that became For Love of a Tree. Wow. I feel the same way about my trees. I know. I didn't know I was so deeply emotionally attached to that tree. But I had nurtured that tree for so long. I loved it. The birds, the squirrels, we could sit at the patio windows, look out and see the squirrels playing, running up and down the tree. The birds loved the tree. So it was really, it meant a lot more than I thought at the time. I mean, I even become attached to the patterns on the bark. You know, everything about the tree is familiar. Absolutely. Absolutely. Absolutely. But, you know, that's the way it happened. You know, I see in some of your work, and you name it Jenny, Sue, Gertie, and Clara, they're very much like floral inspirations. So tell us a little bit about working in those. Well, they are. I love flowers, and I have flowers in my yard as well. And flowers have personalities in my mind. So I give them names like people. You know, it was kind of like if I was put in charge of naming flowers, you know, if Almighty had given me that privilege. Even if a rose is a rose, but why couldn't it not be a rose? Why couldn't it be a Gertie? Why couldn't it be something else, you know? So I kind of named them the way I feel. When I finish the floral, I will look at the floral, and it will give me its name. And that's why I get these old names, I guess. That's so sweet. So the opposite of the floral would be when you saturate with, like, a monocolor, and you saturate the whole canvas with that color range. So what are your feelings as you're painting that? Like, where are you in your spirit, I guess, when you cover the canvas so completely with one color? You know, it's hard to explain that. Because you're in a place, and you're moving around in that place, but you're doing things like you're on automatic pilot. So I'm not saying that I'm going to put down this color, and then after this I'm going to do something else in my head. It's not like that. It's just like when I put down one color, and it automatically calls for another color, but it's not like it's telling me exactly what. It's like I already know. So I'm continually working around that painting, and the painting itself is telling me where to go next. So I don't stop and contemplate colors like that. I'll choose the color that I'm going to use, and once I start the painting, it just flows. You know, it just takes me along with it, I guess you could say. I know you are truly like a completely intuitive painter, you know, as you describe your process. And, you know, when I look at your paintings, I always imagine you with that big broom, you know, and contemplating those strokes. You know, there was one painting, actually, and this is, it's I Can Walk and Chew Gum. You know, where you have a variety of colors, and you stop just at the point where it's going to go off, you know, because where you have the mixture of like all those extra colors, it feels like it's on the verge, like just a little bit more pressure, and you would have gone to some very odd place with the painting. Yes. You know, you stop just in time. Well, as you know, those are never planned. The planning is in choosing the colors I'm going to use, and that's it. Right. So, and usually I will put all the colors on the canvas all at once at the same time. Right. I'll just pour color onto color onto color. Then I'll take the broom, and I'll walk around the painting, I don't know how many times. I'll practice the sweeps, the motions I'm going to make without actually touching the canvas. So after I've done that for a while, and I've approached the canvas from all four corners, and I've made motion, the next time I do one, I'm going to have it filmed, because I imagine in my mind I probably look really strange. No, I would love to see that, because to me, like when I look at your paintings, and because I know what your process is, I think of it being like the painted version of like Qigong or something, you know, because, you know, you did describe before this dance of contemplating and going through the movements before you actually do it. So it's like this pre-visualization of how the paint is going to flow and interact. It's very dynamic. Yeah, well, I never know, and I only get two shots at it. If you're putting more than two strokes on that canvas, then you'll get mud. Right. And on that particular painting, when I got that big blob of orange that came out, and it's like a solid color orange, then somehow I felt there was everything else going on, and there's that one piece there that was just quiet. It was bright. So that was the Qigong part. Everything else is working. That's the work. A whole lot of things are going on there. But then there's that silence, that big blob of orange. And it didn't take me long to tangle that painting. I think I came back the next day, because it takes like maybe a couple days to dry. So when I came back to the studio to look at it that second day, that's what I saw. I saw all the work going on and the activity, and then there was the silence with that big piece of orange there. The title's very humorous. And in this new show that Andre has, there's a piece called The Moth. It's a diptych. And it was kind of, it almost haunted me a little bit, because I started it as I normally do. I put all the canvas, the paint on the canvas, the two canvases at once, and I took time with my two strokes. And then as I walked around the painting, viewing it from all sides to see which side is going to be up, which is going to be, you know, whether it's going to be vertical, horizontal, whatever, I saw this form in the painting. And this was the first time I'd ever done something extra after those two strokes, because I saw an image, and it flowed out almost like a butterfly. But then it looked like it had like nostril, well, you can't call it nostril. It's like a butterfly have these coming out from the face. There's these two long stems. It doesn't come to be what they're called. But anyway, it had that. And I took a paintbrush and just dipped it in a can of paint and just threw it on there, and it came alive. And it actually told me its name at that point. It's called the moth. And to me, it looks just like a moth. And it just, it was like it was just looking at me, just straight at me like a big moth, and it said its name. So, you know, it's really strange, and I don't really like to talk about the process all that much, because people probably think I'm just a little off. But, you know, I paint the way I understand it. I mean, I title the way I understand it. Right. Well, you know, unfortunately, we just ran out of time on this follow-up interview, and we're so glad to have you on. You can listen to our full interviews on July 29th at 2022 at Lakeshore Public Media. You can go to the website or our website, BREC.com. And that's Perlee Taylor, and you can find out all about her at PerleeTaylorArt.com. And you can also do a search on Facebook. And we appreciate you coming on Art of the Air, sharing your art journey, and a follow-up to your previous interview. Thank you so much. Thank you so much, Perlee. It's always a pleasure. Absolutely. Thank you. We'd like to thank our guests this week on Art of the Air, our weekly program covering the arts and arts events throughout northwest Indiana and beyond. Art of the Air is heard Sunday at 7 p.m. on Lakeshore Public Media, 89.1 FM, also streaming live at LakeshorePublicMedia.org, and is available on Lakeshore Public Media's website as a podcast. Art of the Air is also heard Friday at 11 a.m. and Monday at 5 p.m. on WVLP, 103.1 FM, streaming live at WVLP.org. If you have a smart speaker like Amazon Alexa, Google Assistant, or Apple Siri, just tell to play Art of the Air to hear the latest episode. Our spotlight interviews are heard every Wednesday on Lakeshore Public Media. Thanks to Tom Maloney, vice president of radio operation for Lakeshore Public Media, and Greg Kovach, WVLP's station manager. Our theme music is by Billy Foster with a vocal by Renee Foster. 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That's aotaatbrech, B-R-E-C-H, dot com, or contact us through our Facebook page. Your hosts were Larry Breckner and Esther Golden, and we invite you back next week for another episode of Art on the Air. Aloha, everyone. Have a splendid week. Express yourself you art, and show the world your heart. Express yourself you art, and show the world your heart. You're in the know with Esther and Larry, Art on the Air today. Stay in the know with Larry and Esther, Art on the Air our way. Express yourself you art, and show the world your heart. Express yourself you art, and show the world your heart. Express yourself you art, and show the world your heart.