Drawing of Amelia Earhart sitting on her plane at Oakland, California after her solo flight from Hawaii in 1935 by KBS student Autumn Stever, aged 14

So far this season in the young artist division, only girls have signed up for art classes at KBS (Kristy Bishop Studio.) Amazing – since our first show will be at the Kingston-Ulster Airport on Sunday, Oct. 5 at 9 am – 1 pm. Our young girls may be “daring” and one day, become pilots like Amelia; but for now, they will get a free ride in an airplane over our beautiful Hudson Valley. All nine girls will have two drawings of airplanes on exhibit in the Richmor Aviation’s Pilot Lounge: Stella Kamrass (8), Cassidi Vedder (9), Sage Fanelli (10), Sydney Henson (10), Sophia Kamrass (11) Anna Sweeney (11), Etoli Steinlage (11), Kyla Misasi (12) and Autumn Stever (14). The following adults will have paintings on display: Agnes Barber, Ruth Bach-Dhondy, Donna Newkirk, Teresa Herzog and Instructor, Kristy Bishop.

During the 1920’s and 1930’s, Amelia Earhart was the most famous woman aviator. One line in her poem reads, “Courage is the price that life exacts for granting peace.” I suppose we could say that about being an artist, too. I am thrilled that several girls are flocking to my studio to learn about art with courage and curiosity.

Amelia was all for women making a mark in history when she said…”…with these activities [ ex. first woman to cross the Atlantic twice by air] came opportunity to know women everywhere who shared my conviction that there is so much women can do in the modern world and should be permitted to do irrespective of their sex. Probably my greatest satisfaction was to indicate by example now and then, that women can sometimes do things themselves if given the chance.” While earning several awards, Earhart was named “Outstanding American Woman of the Year” in 1932.

I must say that she inspired me to take a flying lesson back in the year 2000 at River Aviation. In the beginning Amelia flew by sight and of course, that is what I wanted to do as an artist. As I was watching the horizon from the single engine, two-seater Cessna 152 II my instructor, Drew Marian informed me that we were descending and that I should keep my eyes on the instrument panel. At the speed of 110 m.p.h. – dials were the last thing that I wanted to watch!

I continued to hire flights for aerial photographs from which I would paint beautiful scenes of the Hudson Valley. I didn’t have the time nor money to continue with flying lessons, but I thoroughly enjoyed being a passenger with a camera.

I would like to thank EEA Young Eagles for the opportunity of free flights for children ages 8 – 17 on 10/5 and Richmor Aviation.  This is a wonderful opportunity for all children to exercise their imaginations and creativity at the altitude 3000 feet above sea level. Bring your cameras! Location- location-location: Kingston-Ulster Airport, 1161 Flatbush Road, Kingston, NY   (Phone: 845-336-8401) See you there!

“You will know by your happiness,” Mother Teresa was told when she asked the question of what, where, why and when concerning her major decisions in life. Profound joy of the heart is like a magnet in finding our “calling” or the right path for us to take.

We all have fleeting joy over certain aspects of our lives, but the enduring type of real joy will stay with us when we are doing something very worthwhile and purposeful. This is how I feel about teaching art at KBS, whether we are indoor or outdoor.

The children, (L-R) Stella Kamrass, aged 8, Cassidi Vedder, 9 and Sage Fanelli, 10 enjoyed our outing to the park and the creation of their paintings (in progress) on pre-treated canvases with black gesso while I demonstrated “step-by-step” with acrylic paint. The Chrysanthemums were in full bloom – ready for the “Mum Festival” art show this Sunday, Oct. 5 – noon – 5 pm. Their vibrant colors beckon us to paint them, even though we will be displaying drawings at the show (weather permitting.)

Painting “en plein-air” is a discipline that requires focus and adherence to the general rules of painting .  On that hot afternoon, the girls experienced a light shower from the sprinkler system during a break from the regimen.  Other times, they may play tag on the lawn. It is a balancing act to keep very young artists interested in the process of creation which is a journey…not a destination. Every step of the way needs to be fun!

My adult students and I painted “en plein-air” (outdoors) morning, noon and night – all through the spring and summer of 2014. We look forward to what the autumn season will provide for us in the manner of color and scope.

In a article written by Kelly Compton “Highlighting Women Artists” in Fine Art Connoisseur October 2014 issue, we read “Until the 1960’s, society expected most women who were trained professionally in the visual arts to teach, rather than to exhibit actively. Those who did successfully pursue a public career often started out with an independent income or privileged access to the system.”

According to a recent poll, 51% of American visual artists are women, yet only 5% of the artworks on view in this country’s museums are made by women.

Those of us who are “called” to paint, do it no matter what the circumstances are. The joy that results during the process cannot be described with words. Some of us use every bit of time and effort to develop the talent that we have been given by God. If it came down to a choice between “eating out” or buying art supplies and art lessons – the latter would always win.

Ruth Bach-Dhondy, who just celebrated her 70th birthday, does not need to make such choices. Her supportive husband Noshir understands the importance of his wife’s desire to create. He makes sure that she has everything that she needs and more. She has and does it all and I am very happy for this woman whom I have adopted as my “sister.”

We both grew up on farms; yet, Ruth continues to live on the farm on which she was raised. In front of the Bach-Dhondy home lies flat land where the horses can graze. Hay fields border the pastures. Rising abruptly behind the homestead is a giant range of mountains – part of the Catskills.  This type of farmland was not possible where I was raised in northern Maine. In Aroostook County, the land was flat with a few rolling hills. The contrast in land was what I first fell in love with after moving to Ulster County, New York in 1973.

Ruth doesn’t take the beauty of the land surrounding her for granted. She is often portraying it on canvas for the pleasure of everyone. Ruth has won many awards over the years.  Most recently, she won “Best of Show” at our KBS 24th Annual Art Show in May 2014 ( Art Judge: Carol Davis.)  She won “Grand Prize”  (Art Judge: Douglas James McGuire) at the Columbia-Greene Community College KBS art show in September 2013 with a scene that she painted of her property in winter. She said she did not have to look at it (paint it – en plein-air) …her memory has that scene recorded photographically in her mind.

Ruth is pictured here painting a scene in Teresa Herzog’s backyard one evening this summer…

It is like a melody which gets played over and over again – its tantalizing effect captures our hearts and minds. I remember Ruth’s award-winning paintings in my mind as I listen to the music of the nearby mountains.

At the beginning of summer 2014, Sydney,  Etolie Steinlage and I set up our easels on the property of Gyongyi and the late John Henson on the bank of the Hudson River. We had a gorgeous day for a class “en plein-air.”

Sydney won Best of Show in the “Oval Painting” division of the Kristy Bishop Studio Art Show at Columbia-Greene Community College in September 2013 (Scenes of the Hudson Valley Art – Art Judge: Douglas James McGuire) and Runner-Up to Best of Show in the children’s division at the 48th Annual Mum Festival Art Show in Saugerties, NY October 2013. (Art Judges: Jacquie Roland & Konnie Fatum)

In the reading the book “Horse Sense for People” by Monty Roberts, I found a similarity between gentling a horse and gentling an art student. The key for the art teacher is to be meek and humble in the approach and the student will want to learn more about creating artwork. In this fast-paced world that we live in – being gentle and meek are traits that are not associated with success. I contend that Jesus who was not marked by weakness had the right idea that the meek will inherit the earth. The Spirit of God can work on our inner character by gentling us and we, in turn, gentle those in our midst.

Sydney and Etolie are intelligent and sensitive young artists and they hold me accountable for my artistic decisions. I learn from them as they learn from me. Blessed is the person who when rebuked (with constructive criticism) can accept it humbly and with courtesy, always showing gentleness. Yet, I am still the leader who is setting values and gathering everyone to work together as a team. People watch what we do to see if we “walk the talk.” Our word is our bond and respect is earned when we can do this. Gentleness is strength under control.

Paul Strand wrote: “Where there is love and wisdom, there is neither fear nor ignorance. Where there is gentleness and humility, there is neither anger nor frustration. Where there is poverty with joy, there is neither greed nor covetousness.”

All of my young students (and older ones) are working on artwork for upcoming art shows. I will publish dates and times in the events section of this website. See you soon!

My dad was a busy man. George Bishop was known as one of the best farmers in Aroostook County, Maine. It seemed like he was always working and he worked at what he loved.

When he decided that it was time for me to ride my big new bicycle without training wheels – he removed them, put the bike on a slight hill and said, “Get on.” I was tall at age six, but not confident that I would do well. Of course, I ended up in the ditch. Dad had gone back to work in the barn. Had he seen my failure like the time I was studying the sky at the end of the wharf at our camp and in a few seconds I was gulping water?  My second try on the bike was a winner.

At age 12, Dad decided it was time for me to learn how to drive a vehicle. By this time, I was 5′ 7″ tall and lanky. The clutch and the gas peddle on the new Jeep Wagoneer would be manipulated by my size 10 feet. I took my Dad for a few bumpy starts until I got the hang of the standard transmission. (Dad did not get angry or criticize my performance.) Away we went…behind the barn, I followed the dirt road to the back pasture. I had successfully maneuvered the three gears and after I stopped, Dad showed me how to put it in reverse.  Then, to my horror, he got out of the jeep and directed me to take it by myself around the field. I tried to argue that I was not ready for that. But I remembered the bicycle lesson and gave it a try. I drove back to pick him up and managed not to run over him.

My mom had given me a set of several art books about master painters for Christmas. In the one about Van Gogh, I learned that he painted “en plein-air”  meaning outdoors. So, I set up my new tall easel (as I wrote in an earlier blog) and produced my first plein-air pastel of our home (pictured here.) Next, I put the easel, a 16″ x 20″ canvas, my oil paints and brushes in a large wooden box in the jeep and headed for the back pasture.  By now, I was a good driver and since Dad drove a pick-up, I was free to use the Jeep anytime.  No one was  seen painting outdoors in northern Maine, not to mention, a twelve year old driving on 450 acres of farm land. I parked the jeep so that I could set up my easel at the rear of the vehicle and use the open tail gate as a seat. With the three horses, Dusty, Taffy and King in the pasture nearby – flying insects became an issue.  It annoyed me that  I had to keep removing them from the wet oil paint on my canvas.  Never-the-less, the painting on the right (pictured here) is the result of that painting excursion.

My mom started her own business of raising dogs in 1958. Her ingenuity and fearlessness was a great example for me. My Dad always gave me a push when the time was right. His love of the land inspired me to see the beauty in it which I tried to transcribe into my artwork.

There are some artists who paint while bandaged ( ie. Vincent van Gogh.) Teresa Herzog’s bandaged right hand is not the result of a self-inflicted wound – her doctor advised her to have an operation so that she could continue to produce beautiful paintings. She wastes no time getting back to the development of her talent.

Teresa is experimenting with a monochromatic version ( all shades and tints between black and white) of a stream in Palenville during one of my outdoor classes. We received permission from the Higgins family to set up our easels on their property and attempt to capture the essence of a late summer vision.

I am reminded of Vincent van Gogh  whenever we go outside the studio to paint. Vincent plied his craft even in windstorms; although, we are more mindful of the weather. The idea of tying my easel with canvas to a tree is not appealing to me. The point of the matter is that we must get out there (as long as it is not raining) as much as possible.

Lynn Woods wrote in a recent Saugerties Times issue about hearing one complaint concerning the Saugerties Art Tour…most of the artists were over sixty years old. Some would welcome  younger, more edgy artists to show their work. I would say that we older artists are still here because of our determination to stay with it- even when it is most difficult. Most of the artists have spouses or partners that help support their efforts, too.

I think of Vincent and how he longed to have an art colony at the “Yellow House” in Arles, France and how loneliness played a part in his emotional distress. To study, we have thousands of letters that were exchanged between him and his brother, Theo, who supported him financially. Theo believed in Vincent’s talent and suggested that Vincent become an artist when he lost his first job working for art dealers at age 16. As part of moral support, Theo made a business arrangement with Vincent. As payment for the loans, Theo would receive the best paintings that Vincent produced. As a result, his small apartment in Paris was filled with Vincent’s 200 paintings. During his lifetime, only one painting “Red Vineyard” was sold for 400 franks to a woman artist in France.

The letters written by Vincent show great intelligence and spirituality. It is said in an art film about the painter that he started to lose his faith when he returned to live with his father, a minister, and his family after holding jobs as an art dealer, school teacher, bookshop assistant, theology student and lay preacher to the poor. How does one measure another person’s spirituality? I suspect that only God can do that!

There have certainly been times in my life – looking in from the outside- that someone might think that I lost my faith – but I didn’t. Just my actions were out of line with my beliefs. My spirit was and is firmly held by my Loving Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

Vincent’s sermons were criticized because he wrote them and read them from the pulpit. Some people require time to practice public speaking and Vincent’s authorities in the church decided not to give him that time when they found that he took his charity work to the greatest extent – he gave away most of his possessions to people who needed them.

His artwork became his spiritual language and his letters. To his brother he wrote: “What I want and aim at is confoundedly difficult, and yet, I do not think I aim too high. I want to do drawings which touch some people.” (1882)

Isn’t that what we all want to do? We want to connect with others with our work and teaching. We are all teachers and learners at the same time.

Thank you, Teresa, for what I have learned from you, your life and your work!