The Lonely Palette

"The deeper you go, the less indulgent it will be.” - Helena's stickie note Helena De Groot is an audio maker, but, really, she’s an audio artist. Her series, Creation Myth, just dropped in full as part of the CBC’s show, Personally. Personally is about the most personal experiences that audio makers that probe within themselves, laying themselves bare, for our benefit, as the best memoirs do. Creation Myth is, ostensibly, about the question whether or not to have kids. But as you’ll hear, both in listening to the series, and to my conversation with Helena today, it’s about craft and memoir, parenting yourself and parenting others, care and compassion. It’s a masterclass in the creative process itself - that is, creating. Creating life, both your own and another person’s. Creating stories. And creating art that reaches people, sometimes in surprising places. Music used: The Blue Dot Sessions, "Aourourou," "Lina My Queen," "On Top of It" Episode webpage Support the show by becoming a patron or by just sending us a tip. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Earlier this year, I had a really, really great conversation with Dr. Lara Ayad, host of the podcast The Cheeky Scholar - and I'm proud to share it today. We cast our net really wide, talking at first about the role of artists in society, my favorite museums, but then we got into it. We got into it. Because Lara and I are both, in the parlance of the moment, free speech bros. And if you’re going to be a good artist, or a good art critic, you can’t be afraid of censorship, and you sure as hell can’t practice it. Lara and I talk everything from Anselm Kiefer to Dr. Seuss, and what we came to realize is this: you have to open your mouth. You have to look at world with open eyes and an open mind. And nothing shuts all those things – mouth, eyes, and mind – more than fear. Fear of offending. Fear of saying the wrong thing even when you’re trying to say the right thing. Or fear that full-on disagreeing will put the whole of your values, your entire moral compass, in question. What will people think of me? Am I still allowed in the club? Am I still a good person? Full disclosure: it’s this fear, and these questions, that made me almost not share this conversation. But that’s nuts. And when you listen, you’ll hear why. Freedom of speech is one of the most foundational tenets we have in a liberal society – and this has always been the case, regardless of who had the cultural power to cancel whom.Support the show by becoming a patron or by just sending us a tip. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

It's September, and time to get back to work. That means defending public radio against federal defunding, exploring its core values, and taking an honest look at how we got here. I'm proud to share this conversation between my Hub & Spoke colleague Erica Heilman, host of the exquisite and unflinching Rumble Strip, and her buddy Jay Allison, founder of Transom, producer of The Moth Radio Hour, and generally one of the most stalwart producers in the industry, about why public radio matters.Episode webpage.Support the show by becoming a patron or by just sending us a tip. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

"You don't go look at a Rothko; you go inside a Rothko." - Claire, visitor, National Gallery of ArtModern art. Two little words that strike so much fear in the heart of the average museum goer. When you're used to straightforward, legible paintings and sculptures, Modernism can be pretty destabilizing. Pretty weird. Canvases are now spattered with paint, or lined with grids, or barely containing the shapes that seem to want to float away. A car tire is cut apart and reassembled. A giant mobile floats in the air, catching the breeze. And it's natural to ask, well, what does this mean? What is this piece about? How did I just go from Post-Impressionism to Fauvism to Cubism to Futurism, when the subject matter of these paintings all kind of look similarly shattered and rebuilt and hastily glued back together again? How could I ever understand the nuances of this stuff without a graduate degree? But I promise you, you can.Learn more.See the images.Music Used:The Blue Dot Session, “Tall Harvey,” “Highway 430,” “Ranch Hand,” “Cornicob,” “The Melt,” “A Common Pause,” “Within the Garden Walls,” “Basketliner” Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

"Questions and the search for answers, and the appreciation of beauty, and then wanting to share it with other people, to go look at it closely together. Then you realize you've got something that can feed you for the rest of your life as a career." - Emily Pegues, curator, National Gallery of Art.Museum curators are an intimidating species. Those experts with their degrees. How could they possibly remember what it was like to walk into a museum for the first time and feel overwhelmed by the sheer volume of history on display? How could they imagine what it’s like to be a visitor who doesn’t care about a landscape with cows? After all, we’re not born knowing the stories these paintings tell, or how to seek them out.In the second episode in our series, we’re going to explore how a long look into an artwork can inadvertently engage another sense: hearing. Hearing the stories that a painting can tell. And the curators at the National Gallery are here to help. Help put us in the best possible position to receive these stories; help us listen to what these paintings are saying to us. And how to imagine these stories moving through the centuries, embracing us the way they once embraced them for the first time, and making them want to do what they do.Learn more.See the images.Music Used:The Blue Dot Sessions, “Gentle Son,” “Pinky,” “Origami Guitar,” “Arizona Moon,” “Tangeudo,” “The Melt,” “Lina My Queen,” “Brer Rhetta,” “Georgia Overdrive” Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

"There are different levels of looking. And it's exciting to bring people to the different levels."  - Estelle Quain, docent, National Gallery of ArtHow do YOU feel when you walk into an art museum? Is it familiar? Intimidating? Do you have a guard trying to shush you, or an overly-enthusiastic friend trying to tell you what to like? Are you joyful? Are you sad? Are you… bored?You’re not alone. Whether it’s your first time in an art museum or your 10,000th, everyone’s going to respond differently. That’s why we made this podcast.In June of 2024, I was honored to be the Storyteller-in-Residence at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC. I spent a week in the museum talking to and recording as many people as I could: curators, museum staff, visitors. We talked about what brought them to the museum, and what keeps them there. We talked about what makes the museum experience transcendent, and, bluntly, what can get in the way of that - what stands in the way of connecting with an artwork, what makes them feel like they never learned the secret knock to access this world. After all, in order to make a space inviting, you have to understand why some people can feel left out.In this three-part series, a collaboration between the National Gallery of Art and The Lonely Palette, we’re going to explore the idea of what it means to open yourself up to an art museum, one artwork, or conversation, at a time. And how the tools to do this have been here for you all along, literally in plain sight, just waiting for you.Today, in the first episode of our series, I talked to various museum staff about preconceived notions of art that visitors bring with them to the museum. We discussed how their jobs are to meet visitors where they’re at, and to encourage them to go further. To look longer.Learn more.See the images.Music Used:The Blue Dot Sessions, “Brer Rhetta,” “Greylock,” “Alustrat,” Vela Vela,” “Caprese,” “Setting Pace,” “Our Fingers Cold” Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

“I was showing the America I knew and observed to others who might not have noticed.” - Norman RockwellWhether arguing for soft versus hard taco shells or the Neo-Nazi right to march in Skokie, freedom of speech is a fundamental right we all enjoy as Americans. But it turns out that telling people that is pretty complicated, actually. Thank goodness we have Norman Rockwell, virtuosic photorealistic painter and America's crown prince of nostalgia, to help us understand our fundamental freedoms from the intimacy of the magazines fanned across the coffee tables inside our homes.See the images.Music used:The Andrews Sisters, "Bei Mir Bist Du Schoen"The Blue Dot Sessions, “The Zeppelin,” “Lord Weasel,” “No Smoking,” “Transeless,” “Silver Lanyard,” “Ice Tumbler,” “Sino de Cobre,” “Georgia Overdrive,” “The Consulate”Support the show by becoming a patron or by just sending us a tip. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

"Walter, let's go for a walk."  - Judith Wechsler, in the arcades of Paris.Professor Judith Wechsler is an art historian, filmmaker, writer, researcher, Francophile, and leading expert on Paul Cezanne and Honoré Daumier. She’s the daughter of a major religious philosopher. Her resume reads like a who’s who of 20th century art historians – Meyer Shapiro, Linda Nochlin, Leo Steinberg, Gershom Sholem. Her films tell the story of 20th century Europe, image by image.She was also my grad school advisor. And she’s now a dear friend. Hers is the voice that lingers in my head, reminding me to show my work. Her background in dance and filmmaking speak to someone who, like me, sees art and art history as something that can be understood not just academically, but creatively, and interpreted creatively. You just need to make sure there’s a net below that cliff to catch you.We all have a mentor, and Judith is mine. This conversation is deeply personal. It’s the story of a student, and her teacher, and the questions and answers that craft our journeys.Episode webpageMusic used:The Blue Dot Sessions, "A Little Powder," "Basketliner"Support the show by becoming a patron or by just sending us a tip. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

“It is not about fixing or mending, but about celebrating the vulnerability of the object and ultimately myself.” - Yee SookyungShattered porcelain is impossible to repair. As impossible as fully, and accurately, reconstructing the past. But who needs that pressure? What if, instead of tossing those shards in the dustbin of history, we acknowledged that the thing will never be what it once was? Maybe then we appreciate the beauty, and the human resilience, of what new things it could be, in the now.See the images.Music used:Billy Joel, “You May Be Right”The Blue Dot Sessions, “Littl Jon,” “The Dustbin,” “BlueGarden,” “Nesting,” “A Rush of Clear Water,” “A Common Pause”Leonard Cohen, “Anthem”Support the show by becoming a patron or by just sending us a tip. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

"It's the close focus that draws me into a sound. And then it sort of spreads out and spreads through my body. And I let that happen, and I'm listening in a different way." - Annea LockwoodThe artist and composer Annea Lockwood is not just any musician. She is an artist of sound. She is a composer of art. Her music is performance art, and her art is always, always audio-rich and musical. She sends her microphones into the elements – fire, here, and rivers, in a recent series called Sound Maps, where she captures, among other things, the tonality of the different depths of the water. She loves chanting, tones, drones. She loves what sound does to our body, how we respond to it, how we visualize it. How sound breathes. How we breathe differently around different sounds.And for me, as an art historian who fell in love with sound, I get it. I think I get it. And this is what today’s conversation is about. Annea joined me to talk about what it means to listen with your body, to experience the silence in all the noise, and the noise in the silence. We talk about the value of musical training versus musical instinct. We talk about how rivers sound different from one another (they really do!). And we explore what an artist from New Zealand who gained prominence in the 1960s burning pianos can teach us about the art of sound, and what she can learn from her 85-year-old self, today.Episode webpageMusic used:The Blue Dot Sessions, "Brer Rhetta," “A Common Pause,” "Tanguedo"Episode sponsors:Art of CrimeThe Seattle PrizeVisual Arts PassageSupport the show by becoming a patron or by just sending us a tip. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

"The only thing permanent is change." - Felix Gonzalez-TorresThere is no way around it. The work of Felix Gonzalez-Torres, a gay, Cuban-American artist who responded to - and died during - the AIDS crisis of the 1980s and 90s, is sad. His work is a memorial, both to a lost generation and to his own partner, Ross. Yet it is through these seemingly banal, industrial, or every day materials, and the powerful metaphor that they represent, that we can best get to the root of what loss can mean. And, maybe, healing as well.See the images.Music used:The Blue Dot Sessions, “A Little Powder,” “Lerennis,” “Taoudella,” “The Melt,” “Rafter”Open Book, “Second Chance”Episode sponsors:Art of CrimeThe Seattle PrizeVisual Arts PassageSmartist AppWith extra special thanks to Martin Young.Support the show by becoming a patron or by just sending us a tip. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

“In the end, what interests me is the way art connects with life. Because otherwise, I don’t quite understand what it’s for.” - Sebastian SmeeSebastian Smee has been the art critic for the Washington Post since 2018, but has written extensively about art for every publication you can think of, from here to his native Australia, and winning a Pulitzer prize for criticism along the way. Both his prose and his love of the work leaps off the page and into your lap, offering a guiding hand past the velvet rope, not just for his readers, but for himself: he’s a critic who is constantly looking inward, curious about his own responses to artworks, and what it can teach him about teaching us.Sebastian joined me to discuss his latest book, “Paris in Ruins: Love, War, and the Birth of Impressionism,” as well as writers on writing, becoming an expert about a movement on deadline, how looking back at the muddiness of a historical moment can help us understand the muddiness of ours, and what happens when art critics are themselves at a loss for the words to express why they just love this or that painting so darn much.See the images.Music used:The Blue Dot Sessions, “Town Market,” “Night Light,” “Brass Buttons”Episode sponsor:The Art of Crime PodcastSupport the show by becoming a patron or by just sending us a tip. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

"My line does not illustrate. It is the sensation of its own realization." - Cy TwomblyCritics have described the work of consummate scribbler Cy Twombly as at once "barely there" and overly academic, but what about us art civilians? What is it about these half-baked scraps, scratch, and scrawl that speaks to our own creative impulses, our own inner children dying to grab the crayon and crush the tip in an ecstatic series of fat, juicy loopdeloops?See the images.Music used:The Andrews Sisters, "Bei Mir Bist Du Schoen"The Blue Dot Sessions, “Inessential,” “Tiny Putty,” “A Burst of Light,” Palms Down,” “Parade Shoes,” “City Limits”Episode sponsor:The Art of Crime PodcastSupport the show by becoming a patron or by just sending us a tip. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

This season, we've got a stellar line-up: Cy Twombly, Lawren Harris, Käthe Kollwitz, and Felix Gonzalez-Torres, to name just a few. We've got interviews with the Washington Post's Sebastian Smee, the artist and composer Annea Lockwood, and more. We've got a whole National Gallery residency! So listen and subscribe, rate and review, and fire up your earbuds for another season of looking with your ears.If you support the work we do, consider becoming a patron, or simply leaving us a tip. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Tamar is alive! The Lonely Palette is alive! But in the year since we last spoke, she's been elbow-deep in audio projects galore - good for the pocketbook, but bad for independent art history podcast productivity. But your patience will be rewarded! And in the meantime, a few announcements:- Join me and my fellow H&S colleagues at the PRX Podcast Garage in Allson, MA on Wednesday, November 6 for an evening of audio camaraderie. Register here.- Explore our Hub & Spoke Expo showcase, starting with the first episode of our very first exclusive Expo series, "The Rabbis Go South." (All episodes now available!)Imagine 16 American rabbis jailed for acting on their beliefs. The Rabbis Go South is a thrilling seven-part narrative podcast that uncovers a true story of Jewish-Black solidarity in St. Augustine, Florida during the Civil Rights Movement. An inspiring tale of hope for a divided world.The Rabbis Go South was created by documentary filmmakers Amy Geller and Gerald Peary. It’s a presentation of the Hub & Spoke Expo. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

In this special episode of The Lonely Palette, I’m sharing the episode I made for the PRX limited-run podcast series "Monumental," which interrogates the state of monuments across the greater U.S. and what their future says about where we are now and where we’re going.This was the concluding episode, exploring how some monuments are larger than life, dwarfing us, making us feel small relative to the grandness of history. But what if a monument was human-scaled? What if it made us aware of our bodies in space? We don’t often think about the design choices that go into making a monument, but more and more, a new generation of artists and designers are reimagining what a monument can look and feel like, and the kinds of stories they can hold.This episode takes us to Montgomery, Alabama to the National Memorial for Peace and Justice, to Shreveport, Louisiana, to the South Side of Chicago, to Navajo Nation in Arizona. It explores how many American monuments to slavery took inspiration from Holocaust memorials in Germany. And it looks at decentralized memorials that are using technology to help bring monuments to the past into the future. Listen to the Monumental podcast series. See the images. Support the show by becoming a patron or by just sending us a tip. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

The Lonely Palette, as you've heard so often, is an enormously proud founding member of the Hub the poignancy of memory. Here at Hub & Spoke, we want to stretch our arms, and ears, around it all.This episode is hosted by Lori Mortimer and edited by Tamar Avishai. Production assistance from Nick Andersen. Music by Evalyn Parry, The Blue Dot Sessions, and a kiss of Dionne Warwick.Listen to the full episodes:- Rumble Strip, “Forrest Foster Lays Karen to Rest”- Mementos “Cherie’s Letters”- Ministry of Ideas, “Consumed”- The Lonely Palette, “Jean-Honoré Fragonard's The Desired Moment (c. 1770)”You can also share the love by supporting our Valentine’s Day fundraiser: www.hubspokeaudio.org/love Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Since her arrival on the art scene in the 1960s, legendary art writer Lucy Lippard’s work - searing, novelistic, crisp, and endlessly curious - as well as her insights, activism, entrenchment in the art world, and friendships have secured her role as one of the most important minds in art criticism of her generation.Now, at 86 years old, all of the stuff that she’s collected along the way – photographs, drawings, relationships, grandchildren – is the subject of her new memoir, or, actually, what she calls “Stuff (Instead of a Memoir).” She joined me to talk about the book, but also more than 60 years of writing about art in the way that centered life. After all, “art,” she often quotes, “is what makes life more interesting than art.” Art is the artists, the world they inhabit, their shared cultural references, their shared understanding of the art world and art history. Their human experiences rendered in paint. The stuff they leave behind. Music Used:The Blue Dot Sessions, “Lacquer Groove,” “Hardwood Lullaby” Episode Webpage Support the show by becoming a patron or by just sending us a tip. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

In the 1950s and 60s, Coenties Slip—an obscure street on the lower tip of Manhattan overlooking the East River—was home to some of the most iconic artists in history, and who would define American Art during their time there: Robert Indiana, Ellsworth Kelly, Agnes Martin, James Rosenquist, Delphine Seyrig, Lenore Tawney, and Jack Youngerman. As friends and inspirations to one another, these artists created a unique community for unbridled creative expression and experimentation.Prudence Peiffer is the kind of art historian who understands the importance of context and place, and her book, “The Slip: The New York City Street that Changed American Art Forever” provides the kind of rich context and human detail that textbooks could only dream of. She joined me to discuss the history of these artists, why we have such a hard time seeing artists as people, the friction between accessible artists and their inaccessible art, why watching Robert Indiana eat a mushroom for 39 minutes is actually totally beautiful, and what it means to authentically nudge art history towards inclusion. See the images Music used:The Blue Dot Session, “Skyforager”Rufus Wainwright, “11:11” Support the show by becoming a patron or by just sending us a tip. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

www.patreon.com/lonelypaletteMusic used:Glenn Miller, “Tuxedo Junction”The Blue Dot Sessions, "No Smoking," "Mercurial Vision"Our website:www.thelonelypalette.com Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

This is a free edition of The Lonely Palette Reads, a perk that will be going out exclusively to Patreon patrons in the future. To become a patron, go to patreon.com/lonelypalette and sign up at any level of support. Thank you!Got suggestions for other intimidating-until-read-aloud-texts for future episodes of The Lonely Palette Reads? Email the show at [email protected] used:Glenn Miller, “Tuxedo Junction”The Blue Dot Sessions, “Belle Anette”Our website:www.thelonelypalette.comSupport the show:www.patreon.com/lonelypalette Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

I can't help the way I'm feeling/Goddess of love, please take me to your leader/I can't help, I keep on dancing. - Lady GagaThe neoplatonic ideal of beauty, the girl on the half-shell, the naked chick riding a clam. Her tilted head and fluttery hair are recognized by everyone and their grandma, but no one - experts included - can explain just why in the heck this painting is so iconic. Shell we take on the challenge?See the images.Music used:Django Reinhardt, “Django’s Tiger”Joan Baez, “Diamonds and Rust”The Blue Dot Sessions, “TwoPound,” “Coulis Coulis,” “Delmendra,” “No Smoking,” “Belle Anette,” “Rue Severine,” “Ranch Hand,” “Pastel de Nata,” “Khfett”Lady Gaga, “Venus”Episode sponsor:The Art of Crime PodcastSupport the show by becoming a patron or by just sending us a tip. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

See the images:bit.ly/45wNrSbMusic used:Django Reinhardt, “Django’s Tiger”The Blue Dot Sessions, “Thread Indigo,” “Monder,” “Tall Journey,” “Stephi,” “Morning Glare”Helen Reddy, “I Am Woman” (performed at the Mobilize for Women's Lives Rally in Washington in 1989)Support the show:www.patreon.com/lonelypaletteEpisode sponsors:Jay Handy Financial Services (for artists!)www.signalpointinvest.com/team/jay-handy/Altenewwww.altenew.comDiscount code: TAMAR10%OFF Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

See the Images:bit.ly/3PMpK3oMusic Used:Django Reinhardt, “Django’s Tiger”The Andrews Sisters, "Bei Mir Bist Du Schoen"The Blue Dot Sessions, “Slate Tracker,” “Laser Focus,” “The Griffiths,” “Crumbtown,” “Discovery Harbor,” “Leave the TV On,” “Pickers,” “Caraval, “Lady Marie”Support Hub & Spoke's Independence Fundraiser:www.hubspokeaudio.org/july4 Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

See the images:bit.ly/3ChhuAE Music used:Django Reinhardt, “Django’s Tiger”The Andrews Sisters, "Bei Mir Bist Du Schoen"The Blue Dot Sessions, “Bedroll,” “A Common Pause,” “Palms Down,” “Desmontes,” “Delamine,” “Greylock,” “Angel Tooth,” “Dear Myrtle”Joe Dassin, “Les Champs-Elysees" Episode sponsor:The Art of Colour: The History of Art in 39 Pigments: bit.ly/43Qp1SJ Support the show!www.patreon.com/lonelypalette Register for our Hub & Spoke live show in Woodstock, VT on June 15:normanwilliams.org/events/podcasts…istening-event/ Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Today's episode: "The Museum of Everyday Life" by Rumble StripThe mission of The Museum of Everyday Life is "a heroic, slow-motion cataloguing of the quotidian–a detailed, theatrical expression of gratitude and love for the miniscule and unglamorous experience of daily life in all its forms." The museum's home is in a barn on Route 16 in the Northeast Kingdom. It is Erica Heilman's favorite museum. This is a show featuring the museum's creator, Clare Dolan.This show is co-produced by Erica Heilman and Mark Davis. Episode webpage: https://bit.ly/3oz1CGhSupport The Lonely Palette:www.patreon.com/lonelypalette

Today's episode: "Rekindling Hope" by Out ThereCarolyn McDonald was struggling — hard. The depression had gotten so bad that she couldn’t see a way forward. Then, one day, she went to the beach.Story and sound design by Willow Belden.  Script editing by Corinne Ruff. Special thanks to Lori Mortimer for sound-design feedback. Music includes works from StoryBlocks and Blue Dot Sessions.  Episode webpage: https://www.outtherepodcast.com/episodes/rekindlinghopeSupport The Lonely Palette:www.patreon.com/lonelypalette

Happy 7th birthday, The Lonely Palette! We're ringing in our itch with an quick update on next season, which starts in June, and a recording of our live show at On Air Fest, which was held in Brooklyn this past February.Please enjoy this revamped and refreshed episode of Mary Kelly's "Post-Partum Document," smash that subscribe button, and we'll see you next month.See the episode images:bit.ly/411KA0FSupport the show:www.patreon.com/lonelypalette Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

See the images:www.thelonelypalette.com/episodes/201…-restorationMusic used:The Andrews Sisters, "Bei Mir Bist Du Schoen"The Blue Dot Sessions, “Sylvestor”, “Mute Steps”, “Mr. Graves”, “Lobo Lobo”, “Lumber Down”, “Cloudy Cider”Tracie Potochnik, “Cecilia and the Saints”Support the show!www.patreon.com/lonelypalette

See the images:www.thelonelypalette.com/episodes/201…g-poker-1903Music used:The Andrews Sisters, "Bei Mir Bist Du Schoen"The Blue Dot Sessions, "Rose Ornamental," "Flattered," "Arizona Moon," "Laser Focus," "Alchemical," "Two in the Back," "Maisie Dreamer," "Gullwing Sailor," "Maldoc"Joe Dassin, “Les Champs-Elysees"Support the show!www.patreon.com/lonelypalette

Episode webpage:bit.ly/3jtcOBlMusic used:The Blue Dot Sessions, “Swapping Tubes”The Kinks, “Dedicated Follower of Fashion”Support our year-end fundraiser!bit.ly/3An5jSd Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

See the images:bit.ly/3FX0S3HMusic used:The Andrews Sisters, "Bei Mir Bist Du Schoen"The Blue Dot Sessions, “Lerennis,” “Lissa,” “Ice Tumbler,” “Mr. Graves,” “Throughput,” “A Rush of Clear Water,” “Pinky,” “The Green Room”Vivaldi, “Summer”Support our year-end fundraiser!bit.ly/3An5jSd Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

See the images:bit.ly/3iNqpTYMusic used:Django Reinhardt, “Django’s Tiger”The Andrews Sisters, "Bei Mir Bist Du Schoen"Charles Daab, “Irish and Scotch melodies (take 2)”The Blue Dot Sessions, “Highway 430,” “Angel Tooth,” “Di Breun,” “Rainy Day Drone,” “No Smoking,” “Cornicob,” “Tarte Tatin,” “Vernouillet,” “Thread of Clouds,” “Set the Tip Jar,” “Homin Brer”Joe Dassin, “Les Champs-Elysees"Support our year-end fundraiser!bit.ly/3An5jSdEpisode sponsor:www.visualartspassage.com/palette Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Dar Williams has been described by The New Yorker as “one of America’s very best singer-songwriters,” but to thirteen-year-old Tamar she was, quite simply, a personal hero: a songwriter whose poetry, poignancy, and humor could capture at once the authentic voices of an inner child, a searching young adult, and a wizened sage. We met in person in 2013 at Dar’s songwriting retreat, and our friendship has been evolving ever since, exploring together the rigors of writing and storytelling through sound and song, and what it means to dip in and out of a creative space as a way of simply getting through the day.Dar has recently published a book about songwriting that is chock full of philosophical wisdom and applicable nuggets, many of which borne from a decade of retreats. We sat down together to talk about songwriting, art museums, the art of writing songs about art, and specifically her evocative, ambivalent "Mark Rothko Song," which tackles it all head-on.[2:05] Dar’s relationship with museums and creating a space for poetic thinking.[8:40] Specific museums, exhibitions, paintings that have inspired Dar’s songs: Dia, “Made in America,” the Fogg.[11:45] Writing Mark Rothko Song.  Where did Dar go?  Where did Dar really go?[14:45] The difficulties inherent in writing about art.  What prompted the writing of this song?  Dar’s first encounter with Rothko’s “Untitled (Blue Green)” and the first verse.[20:15] Diving into the prosody of the song, how the music and lyrics support the voice of the song: finger picking, major to minor, chord to chord, key to key, mood to mood.[27:41] Return to the lyrics and narrative.  The way that Rothko encourages people to make subjective associations…but then comes the foil of the second verse, creating the contrast between subjective and objective.[33:52] The song’s dueling (or complementary?) aha moments in the bridge and final verse.  People both love Rothko and struggle to connect to him.  Following the narrator’s journey as she wrestles with seeing something versus knowing something.[45:47] Appreciating an honest song about art viewing that doesn’t flatten the characters.  Reflecting on the elements of the song that hold up as Dar has gotten older.[51:19] The similarities between art museums and songwriting retreats: opening up, engaging poetic thinking.[55:28] Also the hazards of living in a space of poetic thinking, especially as a parent.  The necessary objectivity of the caretaking space.[1:02:20] The “Five Things” Rule, and whether Mark Rothko might just be the exception that proves the rule.  Tamar meets her Rothko and gives hope to kind pedestrians everywhere.[1:09:14] Mark Rothko Song in full.Music Used:Dar Williams, “When I Was A Boy”; “Mark Rothko Song” (live); “The Beauty Of The Rain”; “Mark Rothko Song” (album version)Episode Webpage:<a href="https://gate.sc/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fb

Episode webpage:bit.ly/3COhnOpMusic used:The Blue Dot Sessions, “Balti”Mandy Patinkin, “Finishing the Hat” from Sunday in the Park with GeorgeSupport the show:www.patreon.com/lonelypalette Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Music used:The Blue Dot Sessions, "Spark"Rod Stewart, "Every Picture Tells A Story"Charlotte's book:amzn.to/3TksKDlEpisodes referenced:Anselm Kiefer: bit.ly/31gUSwWSarah Sze: bit.ly/3NRnGmrSupport the show:www.patreon.com/lonelypalette Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Today, the art world - and, as he would attest, the world world too - lost a giant, and we're re-releasing our episode from September 2020 in his honor. RIP, Claes Oldenburg, and thank you for plucking art from its spotless frame and returning it to our messy, magnificent plane. Hope you're enjoying that great big floor pie in the sky.See the images:bit.ly/3hcHjVqMusic used:Django Reinhardt, “Django’s Tiger”The Andrews Sisters, "Bei Mir Bist Du Schoen"The Blue Dot Sessions, “Cradle Rock,” “Sylvestor,” “A Little Powder,” “Our Only Lark,” “Town Market,” “Contrarian,” “The Rampart”Joe Dassin, “Les Champs-Elysees"Support the show:www.patreon.com/lonelypalette

What goes up into the sky must come down into the earth, and fortunately for us we’ve got Sarah Sze, mistress of materials, memory, and meaning, helming the journey.This episode was produced with support from Storm King Art Center.See the images:bit.ly/3NRnGmrMusic used:Django Reinhardt, “Django’s Tiger”The Andrews Sisters, "Bei Mir Bist Du Schoen"The Blue Dot Sessions, “Plate Glass,” “Leatherbound,” “The Onyx,” “Silent Ocean,” “ZigZag Heart,” “Curious Case,” “On Top of It”Evan Blanch, “Where The Streets Have No Name (Instrumental)” (U2 cover)Episode sponsor:www.visualartspassage.comSupport the show:www.patreon.com/lonelypalette Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Betcha never realized how deeply color colored your world - and the world - until you found yourself dancing down the diagonal of this showstopping print.This episode was produced in partnership with the Harvard Art Museums. The exhibition "Prints from the Brandywine Workshop and Archives: Creative Communities" is on view until July 31, 2022.Music used:The Andrews Sisters, "Bei Mir Bist Du Schoen"The Blue Dot Sessions, “Valley VX,” “Forgot His Jam,” “Dear Myrtle,” “Lakeside Path,” “Paramo Ocho,” “White Limit,” “Bivly”See the images:bit.ly/3MzWc47Support the show:www.patreon.com/lonelypalette Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

This episode was produced in partnership with the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.See the images:bit.ly/3tXx80oMusic used:The Andrews Sisters, "Bei Mir Bist Du Schoen"The Blue Dot Sessions, “Pigpaddle Creek,” “Temperance,” “Highway 94,” “Floating Whist,” “Danver County,” “Mr. Graves,” “Willow Belle”Joe Dassin, “Les Champs-Elysees"Support the show:www.patreon.com/lonelypalette Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

The Lonely Palette is on maternity leave until early March, which means that we've been turning to the archives to feature episodes specific to the many shades of motherhood. This episode, from March 2020, tackles the noble melons, jugs, and knockers that nourish the gazes and stomachs of the world. So why are we so disgusted when a woman – and specifically performance artist Patty Chang - saves a little bit for herself?See the images:bit.ly/33DsB4PMusic used:The Andrews Sisters, "Bei Mir Bist Du Schoen"The Blue Dot Sessions, “Flatlands 3rd,” “Louver,” “Sino de Cobre,” “Dorica Theme,” “The Dustbin,” “We Shall Know Speed”Support the show:www.patreon.com/lonelypalette

The Lonely Palette is on maternity leave until early March, which means that for the next few weeks, we'll be turning to the archives to feature episodes specific to the many shades of motherhood. This episode, from May 2018, looks at the Virgin Mary and her baby Jesus, and explores how their gentle, intimate relationship - as she gathers her diaphanous skirts to sit with her little nugget on the probably Cheerio-strewn floor of heaven - helps us understand the Renaissance.See the images:https://bit.ly/3rtNJIhMusic Used:The Andrews Sisters, "Bei Mir Bist Du Schoen"Lobo Loco, "Piano Cora Theme"The Blue Dot Sessions, "UpUpUp and Over", "Slow Line Stomp", "Lakeside Path", "Perspiration", "Threads and Veils", "Moon Bicycle Theme"Joe Dassin, “Les Champs-Elysees"Support the show:www.patreon.com/lonelypalette

See the images:bit.ly/3uaWHtaMusic used:The Blue Dot Sessions, “La Inglesa,” “Eggs and Powder,” “Paper Feather,” “Arizona Moon,” ”Lowball,” “Palladian,” “Simple Vale”Joe Dassin's “Les Champs-Elysees" via music box, ft. Calvin gigglesSupport the show:www.patreon.com/lonelypalette

Music Used:The Blue Dot Sessions, “Drone Pine,” “Taoudella,” “The Consulate,” “Our Fingers Cold,” “Slider”Silver Maple, “After the Rain”Megan Wofford, “Awake”Yi Nantiro, “Blue Lantern”Christian Nanzell, “Contraband”Gunnar Johnsen, “Documents 4”Fabien Tell, “Liaison”Arden Forest, “Monastral”Niclas Gustavsson, “My Kind of Illusion 1”Niclas Gustavsson, “Reflection 4”Episode webpage:bit.ly/3pkhoCISupport the show:www.patreon.com/lonelypalette Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

This episode was produced in partnership with the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. The exhibition, “Fabric of a Nation: American Quilt Stories” is on view until January 17, 2022.See the images:bit.ly/3jNT4FZMusic used:The Andrews Sisters, "Bei Mir Bist Du Schoen"Blue Dot Sessions, “Moon Bicycle Theme,” “Stucco Blue,” “Coronea,” “Lumber Down,” “Velvet Ladder,” “Gale”Get tickets to the exhibition:bit.ly/3GAli0MSupport the show:www.patreon.com/lonelypalette Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

See the images:bit.ly/2WuV2CQMusic used:Django Reinhardt, “Django’s Tiger”The Andrews Sisters, "Bei Mir Bist Du Schoen"The Blue Dot Sessions, “Long and Low Cloud,” “Hakodate Line,” “Cornicob,” “Sylvestor,” “Di Breun,” “The Silver Hatch,” “Speaker Joy”Joe Dassin, “Les Champs-Elysees"Support the show:www.patreon.com/lonelypalette Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

A year ago today, we released our most ambitious episode yet: an exploration of postwar German artist Anselm Kiefer's layered, dense, enormous canvases that themselves respond to the enormity of Holocaust survivor Paul Celan's layered, dense poem, "Todesfugue."In honor of this episode taking the gold in podcasting at the American Alliance of Museums' MuseWeb awards, we're re-releasing the episode, and with it the layers of metaphor and materials, texture and text, golden straw and blackened ash, that comprise the unimaginable.This episode was produced with support from the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. Learn more at www.sfmoma.com.See the images:bit.ly/31gUSwWMusic used:The Blue Dot Sessions, “The Bus at Dawn,” “Silky,” Drone Pine,” “Tiny Bottles,” “Inamorata,” “Tapoco,” “The Summit,” “Cirrus,” “Derailed,” “Insatiable Toad,” “Dolly and Pad,” “A Pleasant Strike”John Williams, performed by Itzhak Perlman & Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, “Theme from Schindler’s List”Support the show:www.patreon.com/lonelypaletteAAM MuseWeb award press release:bit.ly/37hItwi

See the images discussed:bit.ly/3kQbAiiMusic used:The Blue Dot Sessions, “One Little Triumph,” “Sage the Hunter”Tamar’s exhibition review in the New York Review of Books:bit.ly/36X64CgThe Lonely Palette episode on Painting Edo:bit.ly/3iEFl2QThe HAM page on Painting Edobit.ly/3zrYBY7Support the show!www.patreon.com/lonelypalette Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Artists Explored:Winslow Homer, Edward Hopper, Robert Frank, Berenice Abbott, Charles Sheeler, Martin WongSee the Images:bit.ly/34AE9XwMusic Used:The Blue Dot Sessions, “The Zeppelin,” “Towboat Theme,” “Cat’s Eye,” “PlainGrey,” “Dorica Theme,” “Tranceless”Further Listening:The Lonely Palette on Edward Hopper: bit.ly/3wyqg8YSupport the Show:www.patreon.com/lonelypalette Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

See the images:www.thelonelypalette.com/episodes/202…ost-pandemicMusic used:The Blue Dot Sessions, “Noe Noe,” “A Certain Lightness,” “Algea Trio,” “Kilkerrin,” “Gullwing Sailor,” “Two Dollar Token,” “Silent Flock”Billie Holiday, “Blue Moon”Support the show:www.patreon.com/lonelypalette Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.