THOMAS MATHIES' CARVINGS OF CRUCIFIXES AND SKULLS (LAURIE ZUCKERMAN'S HUSBAND)

Thomas Mathies' carving of Jesus Christ on the cross is hand-hewn from
cottonwood roots he found along the Poudre River outside of Fort Collins.
Traditional egg tempera and gesso, typical of colonial New Mexican
religious folk art, were used for painting and antiquing the forms.

Thomas Mathies' cross carving with skulls is handmade from cottonwood roots.
Below is an authentic wood carving of San Jose (Saint Joseph) by the
famous 19th century New Mexican woodcarver, José Benito Ortega.

Closeup of Thomas Mathies' wooden cross with skulls 

Closeup of Thomas Mathies' wooden skulls 

I am so lucky to have a husband who is an amazing artist. Tom Mathies has been creating several amazing carvings this past year from found cottonwood in the style of Colonial New Mexican religious folk art. These are my birthday and Christmas presents!!!

Tom is professional a research animal biologist, but he has always had an artistic side. On the other hand, I have always been an artist with a biologist bent. We met on a nature adventure to Costa Rica in 1985 and just celebrated our 23rd wedding anniversary. While on our honeymoon to the Southwest, I bought the San Jose carving at an American Indian jewelry shop in Moab, thinking it had been made in Mexico. Shortly afterwards we discovered that our San Jose was made in the late 1900s by a famous New Mexican santero, José Benito Ortega. 

We have spent our entire married life researching the works of Ortega and other colonial santeros showcased in museums around New Mexico and Colorado. We own a stack of books on the topic, and have collections numerous crucifixes from Mexico and the Phillipines. Tom's carvings fit perfectly into our religious folk art obsession.

Here is a photo of Tom's creation for my birthday last year. This cross is based on the Colonial New Mexican tradition of straw appliqué, still practiced today. Read more about Tom's cross at my earlier post from 2011.

Thomas Mathies' straw appliqué wooden cross 2011

LAURIE BETH ZUCKERMAN'S HOME ALTAR TO HER LATE FATHER, GEORGE ZUCKERMAN

Closeup of "My Father's Altar" by Laurie Beth Zuckerman, 12-12-12

"My Father's Altar" by Laurie Beth Zuckerman, 12-12-12

For comparison sake, here are two additional photos
that I took from back in 2003.

Closeup of "My Father's Altar" by Laurie Beth Zuckerman, 2003

"My Father's Altar" by Laurie Beth Zuckerman, 2003

12-12-12. Finally had a chance to photograph "My Father's Altar" this morning. My birthday, and the birthday of the Virgin of Guadalupe. I hadn't taken any recent pictures of the altar since it was out on display at the Loveland Museum Gallery during my "Memento Mori" solo retrospective in fall of 2009. It has really filled in, especially on the bust of Jesus. The other day I promised on this blog that I would post a completely up-to-date picture, dust and all!! So fun to see all of the changes. 

I love the pair of old Mary and Jesus photos on the wall, especially because the Mary is my favorite Mother of Sorrows image. Some of the Mary's have come and gone to other altars, but essentially it is the same altar I wake up to every morning and say goodnight to every evening. I built this altar beginning in October of 1996 when my father first passed away. Sixteen years of collecting the perfect pieces to maintain the look and coloration of this altar. That is a long time to work on one altar. Yet, what seems even longer is the last time I saw my father alive. That seems like a lifetime ago.

Wondering about the Teddy Bear on the altar. My father gave me that Teddy Bear when I was five years old. Still have it after 56 years and have never had to mend it!! The small framed photos are pictures of my mother and father during the first happy years of their marriage.

Post from the other day:

While looking through my photo files of my home altars, I came across these two 2003 shots of "My Father's Altar." At the top of this blog in my banner image is a more recent version of the altar. It is fun to compare the changes that I have made over the years. There are several small statues and frames depicting the Sacred Heart of Mary, although the headliner of this altar is the chalkware bust of Jesus, which came out of an old church in Montana before being sold on the antique market. 

Sadly the vintage glass Christmas bulb rose in the bottom middle was broken by my last male cat, Mr. Munchkie, who I frequently referred to as my little Altar Boy. After one hop up on this altar cabinet, the rose rolled off onto the hardwood floor. End of rose.

Please join my dear friend, Rebecca Brooks at her blog for the 12 days of Mary sharing by artists around the world: Recuerda Mi Corazon. I have linked this post to Rebecca's site on this, Day 12, and previously Day 9 of Mornings with Mary.

LAURIE BETH ZUCKERMAN "MOTHER OF SORROWS" HOME ALTAR INSTALLATION

Here is the photo of my late mother, Blanche Kleid Zuckerman that I shared in yesterday's post, December 8, 2013. This is a detail shot of my mother's permanent altar in my home. I choose a variety of reds for this shrine, based on the types of colors my mother enjoyed wearing. The fabrics are vintage velvets, and the antique glassware is known as Goofus glass. It is almost always painted in metallic tones of golds and reds. Several of the small containers hold my mother's jewelry. Even some of the dried roses and other petals on the front of the altar table were saved from the flowers that were given to us when our mother passed away in 2001. Several of Blanche's favorite belongings are also on her altar, including her candelabra, candlesticks, and monogramed pitcher. Everytime I look at the colors and textures, I feel that my mother would approve!!

I have collected many vintage/antique santos from Mexico for this altar. Pictured above is the featured wooden Madonna from Mexico wearing a silver resplendor crown that I purchased especially for her.  Some of my mother's jewelry is hanging from the Madonna's neck, and a tin Sacred Heard of Jesus is just above her head.

Please join my dear friend, Rebecca Brooks at her blog for the 12 days of Mary sharing by artists around the world: Recuerda Mi Corazon. I have linked this post to Rebecca's site on Day 9 and Day 11 of Mornings with Mary.

LAURIE BETH ZUCKERMAN DIA DE LOS MUERTOS OFRENDA TO BLANCHE KLEID ZUCKERMAN

I am reintroducing this Day of the Dead altar that I created for the Loveland Museum Gallery's "Grave Matters Exhibition" in 2006 in Northern Colorado. I had framed this old photo of my mother, Blanche Kleid Zuckerman (who my altar was dedicated to) to resemble an iconic religious print of the Virgin Mary. I turned a digital copy of the old photo into a sepia tone and placed it into an old velvet frame. Día de los Muertos ofrenda altars typically employ pictures of one's loved ones who have passed, alongside religious prints and paintings. My photo of my mother served double-duty on my own altar.

I have reposted these pictures in honor of what would have been Blanche's 90th birthday earlier this week. Blanche was born December 4, 1922 in New York City and passed away from ovarian cancer on June 14, 2001 in her home in Santa Monica, California. I am so fortunate to have been with her at her bedside, holding her hand, while she slipped into the great beyond. Happy Birthday, Blanchie!!

Please join my dear friend, Rebecca Brooks at her blog for the 12 days of Mary sharing by artists around the world: Recuerda Mi Corazon. I have linked this post to Rebecca's site.

Laurie Beth Zuckerman's "Forbidden Fruit" ofrenda installation
was created at the Loveland Museum Gallery
as the focal piece of the 2006 Grave Matters Exhibition

LAURIE BETH ZUCKERMAN'S MEMORY JUG ARTWORK WITH BROKEN MADONNA HEAD

Today I am sharing a detail of one of my Memory Jug creations entitled, "A Bone to Pick." The porcelain head of the Madonna was a piece I found in a trashcan at a roadside shrine. Yes, the statue had broken and the shrine cleaned up, but this was my lucky day to find this "shard". This Madonna face made the most perfect centerpiece to my memory jug, and I used other found items to construct her body and surround her with antique doll parts. 

Do you want to learn how to make a Memory Jug? On February 16-17, 2013, I am offering a two-day weekend workshop making small memory jugs using one of the traditional styles popular during the Victorian Era, when making memorial jugs and other forms came into vogue in the Eastern and Southern regions of the United States. It has remained one of the most enigmatic folk art forms since the 1800s.

My special guest workshop will be held at the art studio of popular mosaic artist, Susan Wechsler, in Boulder, Colorado. We are planning a limited series of Memory Jug / Memoryware workshops at Susan's studio in 2013.

To sign up for this special workshop, or to learn more about the details, contact Susan Wechsler at: susan.wechsler@gmail.com or 303-485-0636. You can also write directly to me at: lauriebethzuckerman@gmail.com

If you can't make it to my live workshop in February, I always offer my instructional  MEMORY JUG BOOK CD for sale from my blog. Click on the photo or link, or email me to receive your copy for $20 plus shipping/handling.

LAURIE BETH ZUCKERMAN "FORGET-ME-NOT" HOME ALTAR INSTALLATION

A jumble of Madonna and Marys populate my "Forget-Me-Not" altar which sits next to my office desk. I was inspired by the Santo Nino de Atocha altars that I have seen in Chimayo, New Mexico. It has a bright feeling in its coloration, but it holds a deeply sorrowful feeling at its core. After my mother, Blanche Kleid Zuckerman passed away, I was worried she would forget me. This home altar is my plea to her to please not forget me, to be my Guardian Angel always. It is also my statement back to her that I will not forget her either. That I will always be the keeper of her flame as long as I am alive to do so. These altars I have been sharing of my mother, whose 90th birthday would have been this week on December 4, hopefully give you an intimate glimpse into the world of my personal family altars.

Please join my dear friend, Rebecca Brooks at her blog for the 12 days of Mary sharing by artists around the world: Recuerda Mi Corazon. I have linked this post to Rebecca's site.

LAURIE BETH ZUCKERMAN "IN THE PINK" MADONNA AND CHILD ALTAR

For this fifth day of the "Twelve Days of Mary" celebrated by Rebecca Brooks and her friends at her Recuerda Mi Corazon site, I am reposting a detail of my 2006 altar installation, "In the Pink". This altar features two Italian chalkware Madonnas, one with child. This altar celebrates the loss of my own childhood. After my mother and father passed away leaving me "orphaned", I maniacally created this 7 x 9 foot shrine to my life as the daughter I once was. It took me two years to collect enough pink items to satisfy my sorrow. I built the altar in my downstairs studio, and often slept in the same room just to spend more of my time living with it while I constructed it.

I exhibited this altar at the Rocky Mountain Biennial, a multi-state competition that was held at the Fort Collins Museum of Contemporary Art. It took third prize in this show that filled two floors of the museum. What an honor!! Plus I was invited to lecture at the museum about this altar. Putting all of my deep feelings into words was a huge, huge challenge for me, but I was extremely pleased with how the talk was received.

Please visit other beautiful daily Virgin Marys at Rebecca Brooks' blog, from now until December 12th. I will be posting a different Virgin on my own altars each day, too.

LAURIE BETH ZUCKERMAN'S HOME ALTAR FOR HER FATHER, GEORGE ZUCKERMAN

Back in 1996, I began an altar for my father, George Zuckerman, who had passed away in September. This ancestor altar has grown in depth over the 16 years I have been adding to it. The altar, which permanently resides in my bedroom, thus qualifying it for home altar status, contains many lovely 20th Century Virgin Mary's made of chalkware from molds. Although they are typically generic images, they each take on a patina that renders them unique. You can see other details of this altar at the top of this blog in my banner. Altars are about the whole effect—the gestalt—but that whole is made up of myriad parts, each expressive and wonderful on their own. A good altar is one where everything gels together, because each item on the altar is beautiful and meaningful. I have carefully considered each and every element I collect and place on my father's altar.

I have posted this Mary photo in conjunction with my dear friend, Rebecca Brooks' "Mornings with Mary," an annual tradition that Rebecca hosts on her blog: Recuerda Mi Corazon. Please join in on the sharing of tradition and contemporary Virgin Marys posted by artists around the world, on each morning of December until the culmination of the Virgin of Guadalupe on December 12th, which just happens to be my birthday! This year the date will read: 12-12-12!! That won't happen for another 100 years!!!

LAURIE BETH ZUCKERMAN'S BELLA DONNA MEMORIAL ALTAR FEATURES THE VIRGIN MARY

Laurie Beth Zuckerman's "Bella Donna Memorial Altar"

installed at the Loveland Museum Gallery 2009

Laurie Beth Zuckerman's "Bella Donna Memorial Altar" displays vintage Madonnas and dozens of other Catholic and eclectic icons, all in bronze-gold tones. Pictured above is a detail of one of my encrusted Marys that honors and holds the memory of my cousin, Donna Zuckerman, who tragically died along with her husband on their honeymoon in 1973. This altar has been exhibited at my solo retrospective at the Loveland Museum Gallery, and the Durango Art Center in Southern Colorado. Please read the statement below that I wrote for the Loveland show.

I have posted this Mary photo in conjunction with my dear friend, Rebecca Brooks' "Mornings with Mary," an annual tradition that Rebecca hosts on her blog: Recuerda Mi Corazon. Please join in on the sharing of tradition and contemporary Virgin Marys posted by artists around the world, on each morning of December until the culmination of the Virgin of Guadalupe on December 12th, which just happens to be my birthday!