Category Archives: Arts

Immersing oneself in the world of the art to be inspired

Family vacation in France: Day 4 in Paris

Posted on by

Eiffel Tower
Aviary of the world
Sing Sing
Chimes of Paris
 – Vicente Huidobro, Chilean poet, from “Eiffel Tower,” The Cubist Poets in Paris: An Anthology

Today was another day of giving the ghost Fitbit a workout. Given that we didn’t get tickets ahead of our jaunt to the Eiffel Tower, we got up early Monday morning and took a cab to the Eiffel Tower. How many pictures can a family take of one of the most iconic monuments in the world? A lot, especially if two of us have an artistic eye, with David’s leaning toward the architectural appreciation of this famous structure.

The Eiffel Tower from below, with Jacob.

David’s architectural shot of the Eiffel Tower.

Another artsy shot from David of the Eiffel Tower base.

David’s shot of one of the legs of the Eiffel Tower.

Just a short history on the Eiffel Tower. Architect, bridge builder, and metals expert Gustave Eiffel and his company built the monument for the 1889 World’s Fair or Exposition Universelle to mark the 100th anniversary of the French Revolution. I’m not surprised that it is the most visited paid tourist attraction in the world – an estimated 7 million visitors per year – although at the time Parisians considered it an eyesore. The structure was intended to be temporary, and it was almost torn down in 1909. City officials intervened, recognizing its value as a radiotelegraph station. During WWI, the Eiffel Tower was used to intercept enemy radio communications, relay zeppelin alerts, and help dispatch emergency troop reinforcements. During WWII, Hitler initially ordered demolition of the tower, but the order was never carried out. In addition, during the German occupation of Paris, French resistance fighters cut the tower’s elevator cables so the Nazis were forced to climb the stairs.

A selfie with Isabella and me at the base of the Eiffel Tower.

Indulging myself because here we are laughing.

On our way to the sommet!

From the summit of the Eiffel Tower, a view of the Architecture and Monuments Museum across the Seine River.

Another view of Paris from the summit of the Eiffel Tower, with the Seine River in the background.

The other side of the summit, a view of the Ecole Militaire and more of Paris.

From the Eiffel Tower summit, a view of the Seine River and Paris.

Of course, it rained lightly and was windy that morning. We were freezing, but as the day wore on, the sun came out here and there. We would return later to catch the Eiffel Tower at night. Once we exhausted our picture-taking and looking at the city from the summit (I admit that I was nervous going to the top, as I have fear of heights, I realized as we ascended!), we began our trek across the Seine River. We walked through the plaza of the Architecture and Monuments Museum. Every time we turned around, we had great views of the Eiffel Tower, so more photos were snapped.

The Eiffel Tower across the Seine River, taken from the plaza of the Architecture and Monuments Museum.

Seriously, I don’t do many selfies, but I couldn’t resist with the Eiffel Tower behind me….

Family selfie with the Eiffel Tower across the Seine River.

We walked down the Champs-Elysées, stopping at Café Belloy (37 Avenue Kléber, 75116 Paris) for lunch, on our way to the Arc de Triomphe. There I had my first confit de canard (duck confit) with potatoes au gratin. Tender duck and fluffy potatoes. Isabella was sold after taking a bite. She and I would order it at various restaurants to compare which restaurant had the best duck confit. Sometimes the first time is the best. Our waiter knew limited English, which was actually a good sign. Also, many business people were dining there, so we knew we weren’t at a tourist place, another good sign. After our hearty lunch, we made our way to the Arc de Triomphe.

My first duck confit in Paris! The meat was melting off the bone.

We climbed the 284 steps to the observation deck of the Arc de Triomphe. The height wasn’t as great as the Eiffel Tower, but we got great views of the Eiffel Tower. You can also see all the way down the Champs-Elysées A word about this other iconic monument: Napoleon had the Arc de Triomphe commissioned to commemorate his victory at the battle of Austerlitz in 1805. The Arc has seen a lot in its day – the funeral of Napoleon, the occupation by the Nazis, and the triumphant return of Charles de Gaulle after the Allies liberated France. The tomb of the Unknown Soldier is also buried here.

Across the street from the Arc de Triomphe.

French flag waving over the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier beneath the Arc de Triomphe.

A sculpture on the Arc de Triomph: Le Départ de 1792 (or La Marseillaise), by François Rude. The sculptural group celebrates the cause of the French First Republic during the 10 August uprising. Above the volunteers is the winged personification of Liberty.

Another close-up of the same sculpture.

Another close-up of the same sculpture on the Arc de Triomphe.

View from the top of the Arc de Triomphe.

The Eiffel Tower from the top of the Arc de Triomphe.

Looking down on the Champs-Elysées from the top of the Arc de Triomphe.

The Champs-Elysées and the Eiffel Tower from the top of the Arc de Triomphe.

From there, we walked the Champs- Elysées all the way to the Place de la Concorde, past the Orangerie Museum, to the beautiful and never-ending Tuileries Garden, home to fountains, pools, statues, flower gardens, and plenty of my favorite green park chairs.

The Place de la Concorde near the Orangerie Museum.

A fountain at the Tuileries Garden.

Statues adorn Tuileries Garden.

Light through the trees at Tuileries Garden.

People enjoying the day at the pool at Tuileries Garden, reclining in my favorite green park chairs.

And here are those beloved chairs in Tuileries Garden. We ended up getting an etching by a local artist of these chairs to remember our time in Paris’s gardens.

Birds and statues go together, Tuileries Garden.

Statue in a manicured part of the Tuileries Garden.

Close-up of a statue in Tuileries Garden.

All that walking meant that we had to find one of my friend’s favorite patisseries – Au Petit Versailles du Marais (27 Rue Francois Miron, 75004 Paris). Laura has given five-star recommendations for us in Paris. Her favorite dessert is the religieuse, so David and I had to try it, even though it looked very big and filling. However, it was light and fluffy, so that made it okay to eat every last crumb. Satiated, we walked all the way back to our apartment. Good thing I had sturdy, comfortable shoes with me. We rested up before heading out for dinner.

Enjoying a well-earned dessert stop at Au Petit Versailles du Marais (27 rue Francois Miron, 75004 Paris).

Rainbow colors for dessert at Au Petit Versailles du Marais, Paris.

We chose the chocolate religieuse. Hard to believe, but it’s not as heavy as it looks!

One of David’s colleagues who used to live in Paris recommended a restaurant, Brasserie Balzar (49, rue des Ecoles, 75005 Paris), that was a short walk from our apartment. As you can see, it was a delicious meal. Another full day with lots of sightseeing under our belt, monuments crossed off our bucket list (the kids said that the Eiffel Tower was one of the highlights of their France vacation), and good food consumed along the way.

Brasserie Balzar, 49, rue des Ecoles, 75005 Paris.

Our seafood starter.

Everything is tasty with a good bottle of rosé!

My Bar Meuniere, a lightly floured sole sauteed in butter with a bowl of potatoes. Jacob had rum steak, in the background.

I don’t remember what I ordered for dessert, but it was good. Isabella got her usual fondant chocolate cake.

Family vacation in France: Day 3 in Paris

Posted on by

I am only good at two things, and those are: gardening and painting.
– Claude Monet, French Impressionist painter

Statues and architecture at the Orsay Museum, Paris.

The expansive railway station-turned-museum, inside the Orsay Museum.

More statues and the ever-present clock at the Orsay Museum.

We reserved our Sunday for more museums – Musée d’Orsay, Musée de l’Orangerie, and the Musée Rodin. While the Louvre obviously is impressive, the three museums we visited today were my favorites, with the Orsay Museum being my absolute favorite. This museum, a former railway station which boasts Beaux Arts architecture, takes up where the Louvre’s art collection ends, namely the Impressionist era. I can imagine coming to this museum on a daily basis for a month or more, just to enjoy and savor every painting, every detail. This museum is full of Impressionist (including post-Impressionist) big names, the ones I’ve learned about when I took an art history class in college – Monet, Manet, Renoir, Van Gogh, Degas, Cézanne, Gauguin. There also a great many wonderful sculptures.

I love the rendering of the plaid textile in Renoir’s Jeune femme a la voilette (1870), Orsay Museum, Paris.

Manet’s Berthe Morisot a l’eventail (1872), Orsay Museum, Paris.

Henri Fantin-Latour’s Narcisses et tulipes (1862), Orsay Museum, Paris.

Monet’s Madame Louis Joachim (1868), Orsay Museum, Paris. Look at how luxurious the fabric is rendered.

Detail of a sculpture, Orsay Museum, Paris.

Close-up of sculpture, Orsay Museum, Paris.

Detail of Rodin’s Gates of Hell, Orsay Museum, Paris.

Another detail of Rodin’s The Gates of Hell, Orsay Museum, Paris.

But I also saw some painters whose names are new to me – Pierre Bonnard, Maurice Denis, Edouard Vuillard, Felix Vallotton – and whose paintings drew from me astonishment, delight, and great appreciation.

The Muses by Maurice Denis (1893), Orsay Museum, Paris.

I love the textiles in Pierre Bonnard’s paintings, including The Game of Croquet (1892), Orsay Museum, Paris.

Winslow Homer’s Summer Night (1890), Orsay Museum, Paris.

Alexander Harrison’s La Solitude (1893), Orsay Museum, Paris.

Le Dejeuner en famille by Edouard Vuillard (1899), Orsay Museum, Paris.

Baigneuse rose by Felix Vallotton (1893), Orsay Museum, Paris.

Femme se coiffant dit aussi interieur by Felix Vallotton (1900), Orsay Museum, Paris.

Interieur, femme et enfants by Pierre Bonnard (1899), Orsay Museum, Paris.

A current exhibit is called Ames sauvages: Le symbolisme dans les pays baltes, featuring artists from Estonia, Lithuania, and Latvia whose works dated back 100 years or so. These artists embraced the Symbolist movement at a time when the Russian Empire was faltering.

Princess with a Monkey (1913) by Janis Rozentals of Latvia, Orsay Museum, Paris.

Nu (1906) by Janis Rozentals of Latvia, Orsay Museum, Paris.

Close-up of Estonian painter Peet Aren’s Aupres du lit du malade (1920), Orsay Museum, Paris.

Hiver (1908) by Vilhelms Purvitis of Latvia, Orsay Museum, Paris.

The upper floor houses the greats, and you have to get there early to avoid the big crowds that surround each masterpiece. We got there at the beginning, but by the time we reached the top floor, we had to share the paintings with a mass of art enthusiasts.

Monet’s The Garden at Giverny, Orsay Museum, Paris.

Renoir’s Girls at the Piano, Orsay Museum, Paris.

Monet’s Notre-Dame Cathedral at Rouen, our next stop after Paris.

One of the most memorable paintings that I remember from my college art history class – Gustave Caillebotte’s Floor Planers (1875), Orsay Museum, Paris.

Renoir’s Dance at Le Moulin de la Galette (1876), Orsay Museum, Paris.

Isabella and Jacob deeply engrossed discussing Impressionism. Not. Orsay Museum, Paris.

The rooftop view of the Seine River from the Orsay Museum, Paris.

I was going to post a self-portrait or Starry Night, but I really liked this painting by Van Gogh of two farm workers taking a rest, Orsay Museum, Paris.

Gauguin’s Tahitian Women (1891), Orsay Museum, Paris.

After lunch at the Orsay cafe, which was behind the massive clock that you see in and outside of the museum, we continued our walk down to the Orangerie Museum. This museum is located in the Tuileries Garden. Monet’s Water Lilies rightfully dominate large sparse rooms. You have to just stand there and take in all that saturated color under natural light from the eight huge curved panels, which Monet worked on “obsessively” for 12 years (1914-1926). Then you work your way downstairs to a collection of paintings that include Cézanne, Matisse, Picasso, and Renoir. This is a very manageable museum, likely best appreciated early in the morning before the tourists come in.

Monet’s Setting Sun, 1914-1918, Orangerie Museum, Paris.

Monet’s Clouds, 1914-1918, Orangerie Museum, Paris.

Monet’s Green Reflections, 1914-1918, Orangerie Museum, Paris.

Jacob and Isabella with an incredible backdrop in the Orangerie Museum, Paris.

Monet’s Morning no. 2, 1914-1918, Orangerie Museum, Paris.

Monet’s Reflections of Trees, 1914-1918, Orangerie Museum, Paris.

Detail of Monet’s Morning, 1914-1918, Orangerie Museum, Paris.

One of my favorite photos from our France trip – with Jacob doing selfie duties at the Orangerie Museum, Paris.

Bouquet of flowers by Renoir, Orangerie Museum, Paris.

Monet’s Morning no. 1, 1914-1918, Orangerie Museum, Paris.

We reversed direction and headed to the Rodin Museum, which is a mansion with an outdoor sculpture garden. The museum’s permanent collections reside in the Hȏtel Biron, built in the early 18th century, where Auguste Rodin lived as a tenant. The museum was created in 1916, a year before Rodin died, on his initiative when he donated his works, personal collections, and copyrights to the French state, and was inaugurated in 1919. The poet Rainer Maria Rilke first told Rodin about the estate. When Rodin saw the hotel, he rented four rooms on the ground floor in 1908. At that time, the writer Jean Cocteau, painter Henri Matisse, and dancer Isadora Duncan also rented, but from 1911 on, Rodin was the sole occupant.

Rodin’s The Thinker under a brilliant-blue sky with equally brilliant-white clouds, Rodin Museum, Paris.

Up close with an outdoor sculpture, Rodin Museum, Paris.

Rodin has a way with imbuing such strong emotions in his sculptures, Rodin Museum, Paris.

Rodin is one of my favorite sculptors, so I was excited to see his works in France, especially as I’d seen a very nice collection of Rodin sculptures in North Carolina a few years ago. We were not to be disappointed, with the likes of The Kiss, The Thinker, and The Gates of Hell on display.

Bust of Victor Hugo by Rodin, Rodin Museum, Paris.

Detail of The Gates of Hell, Rodin Museum, Paris.

An outdoor statue at the Rodin Museum, Paris.

We did a lot of walking that day. It was Father’s Day, and is usually the case (family joke), we had to find a bad dinner to celebrate David. Two years ago it was a Subway sandwich shop in New York City. This year, a bad creperie place. The tradition continues….

As dusk falls, Jacob in front of Notre-Dame Cathedral in Paris.

Riding in the El Cerrito Centennial parade

Posted on by

It’s been my belief that learning how to do something in your hometown is the most important thing.
– Pete Seeger, American folk singer and social activist

My town of El Cerrito, Calif., where I’ve lived since 1996, is celebrating its centennial this year. One of the major events for the celebration was the Showcase Parade, which featured 59 groups or distinguished individuals. I was invited to participate as a local award-winning writer. But the biggest honor was sharing the red convertible with Gail Tsukiyama, award-winning writer of eight novels and resident of El Cerrito.

Pictures say it all, so I will let them do the talking.

Everyone is getting ready for the start of the parade at the staging grounds. Lots of convertibles and jeeps.

Ruth, our driver and owner of the red convertible, took a picture of Gail and me before the parade started.

And we’re off! That’s Nathan the Magician behind us, who unicycled and juggled all the way to the end of the parade – and wearing a dress shirt and tie! Nathan is an El Cerrito High School grad who, after college, became a full-time magician.

The parade in front of us. We turned right onto Richmond Street, which is a major street in El Cerrito. The ECHS marching band was in front of us, too.

We’ve got our signs up!

Looking behind us. Keeping Nathan honest.

My sad attempt at a selfie with Gail as we enjoy the 70s music that the El Cerrito High School dance group was dancing to.

The energetic ECHS dance troupe entertaining us all.

Residents waved from their picture windows of their homes on residential Richmond Street, and many pulled up their chairs and waved from the curbside.

I recognized a number of families from our schools, and was pleasantly surprised to see our long-time friends Yoko and Bruce at one of the street corners.

Coming up Moeser Street and getting closer to Cerrito Vista Park, our destination.

More crowd shots.

We have an active El Cerrito Arts and Culture Committee, thanks to parent and San Francisco State professor Chris Sterba. Marching in the parade is Maw Shein Win, El Cerrito’s Poet Laureate, in the red with the hat.

David, my husband, was near the park entrance and took this picture of Gail and me. And that’s Chris Sterba on the left, handing out leaflets on the Arts and Culture Committee.

A close-up as we drove by.

And I had to include this photo of Ernie Broglio, who is an ECHS alum who also pitched for the St. Louis Cardinals and the Chicago Cubs. Best known as the player who was traded to the Cubs from the Cardinals in exchange for Lou Brock. Yep, you know which team made out big. But the other big thing is that our house is Ernie’s childhood home. His family was the first owners of our current house. We are the second owners. After the parade, David went up to tell him we own his house. What a pleasant surprise that was for him!

The end of the road for us, while more townspeople gather at Cerrito Vista Park. What a great event.

Second home in summer – Portland Maine

Posted on by

We sat bathed in luscious darkness, Casco Bay’s thousand islands spread out before us like a diamond quilt. ‘I don’t get enough of this,’ she said.
– Mike Bond, novelist, environmental activist, poet, war and human rights correspondent, and international energy expert

Every summer, I am treated to a week in Maine, thanks to the fact that my company is based in Portland, Maine. Every summer, I fly into Portland, and I immediately fall in love all over again. The bay, the islands with the homes dotting the shore, the billowy clouds floating across a brilliant blue sky, the fresh air, the fantastic restaurants, the cute shops. I gush about moving to Maine. Or at least summer in Maine.

This year, the out-of-towners at my company got to stay at the Press Hotel, which is a boutique hotel that was once home to the Portland Press-Herald newspaper. But not only is the building an historic building, but the owners got it right by decorating the interior of the hotel with a newspaper theme. The sales team at my company, who are just great to work with and for, thanked me for my service to them in a very sweet call-out before my boss’s presentation on our department. And they presented me with two Press Hotel mugs and ceramic tray, which now sit on my desk to remind me of my stay there and the wonderful memories from this year.

My picture of the building didn’t turn out because the sun wasn’t on my back. But here’s info on the history of the newspaper and building.

In the lobby, one of the walls displays typewriters from all eras.

In the lobby, an old-fashioned typewriter and complimentary stationery.

Mod carpeting and tables with enlarged old newspaper clippings.

In the hallways, the wall paper is taken from actual headlines found in old microfiche (yes, look up that word).

The room across the hall from me. I love the detail of the room number being illuminated.

The chair and its quote in my room.

My last night at the Press Hotel: lobster rolls and homemade potato chips.

My Press Hotel gifts and souvenirs….

Meals for the week! Portland is well known for its great restaurants. And I was lucky to hit a number of places. Some new, some welcomed me back.

Marcy’s Diner, if you want a hearty meal, with my colleague Julie.

Boats pointing to Casco Bay.

DeMillo’s on the Bay, Portland.

Branzino at Scales, with a great view of the Bay.

The tradition for dinner the last evening of our summer sales summit is taking the ferry to Peak’s Island and having a lobster dinner. Fun was had by all. And, of course, my colleague and partner in crime, Deb, accompanied me as we shopped in Old Port, the old part of town.

One of my favorite shops in Maine. From jewelry to unique clocks and other furniture to whimsy decorations like these bookish birdhouses.

I read about Flea-for-All in the local magazine in my hotel room. What a fun place to browse. This is where I discovered Michelle Estell jewelry.

Beautifully curated Flea-for-All on Congress Street.

The interior of Flea-for-All.

Maine Potters Market in Old Port has beautiful pottery made by artists from Maine.

Selfies on the ferry ride to Peak’s Island – with Erin and Claretha.

A mix of sales and editorial staff – with Jane, Kelly, Gus, Julie, and Deb.

Claretha and I bonded last summer with our love for big earrings. The pair that I’m wearing was given to me by Claretha on the first day of summer summit.

Peak’s Island lobster – a tradition.

On the way back to the ferry – a familiar sight of colorful hanging lobster floats.

Farewell, Peak’s Island!

After the summer sales summit concluded for me, I spent the weekend with my good friend Jack and his wife, Fay, and their daughter, Camille. But first, we walked around Portland, as I discovered for the first time since I’ve been coming here, that Henry Wadsworth-Longfellow lived here and his home is an historic landmark. We walked around the gardens.

Longfellow’s statue in Portland.

The lush Longfellow’s Garden.

Tranquil setting.

Vibrant greenery.

Colorful bouquet.

At the Portland Hunt and Alpine Club for drinks with Eric and Jack. Love the simple green bouquets on the table. This place is all scarred wood, clear glass, greenery, and old-time maps. And good drinks!

Still bad at doing selfies, but I guess that’s a good thing. With Eric and Jack.

First time at Empire – one of the favorites, Peking duck buns. To. Die. For. If you ever go to Portland, you must eat here. The hour wait is worth every second.

Jack and his family moved to Brunswick in 2015, but since we went directly from Portland to Stonington Island, where they have a home there, I never spent time in their new abode until this year. Brunswick is lovely, and I had a relaxing time exploring the historic town.

The picturesque Brunswick Inn, in the main street of town.

This is a great shop, though pricey and questionable customer service. But still a great place to browse.

Wyler’s of Brunswick, a charming shop with jewelry, clothes, housewares, toys, locally crafted gifts, and accessories. You can spend a lot of time browsing here.

Hatch on Maine is a cute vintage and antique shop. There are a few vintage/antique shops on the main street. This one was a favorite of mine.

The shores of Brunswick.

The Frank J. Wood Bridge, which spans the Androscoggin River between Topsham and Brunswick, at twilight.

Contemplating life, Fay and Jack overlook the Androscoggin River.

Can’t get enough of the clouds here.

Brunswick is home to Bowdoin College, a lovely private liberal arts college established in 1794 when Maine was still part of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.

Bowdoin College Chapel.

Inside the chapel.

Hubbard Hall.

Lovely white hydrangeas all over the campus.

The second majestic lion.

Illuminated clouds.

Along the way, we walked through the local cemetery, in which Joseph Chamberlain, hometown hero of the Civil War, is laid to rest.

Walking through the Brunswick cemetery.

Something about headstones in a cemetery that draws me, especially when the cemetery is an old one.

Joseph Chamberlain’s headstone.

A row of headstones.

A family of headstones like rows of old teeth.

Knowing that I love gardens, Jack took me to the Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens, where I took upwards of 200 photos at least. Here are just a few, though it was tough to narrow them down.

Adirondack chairs await visitors at the Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens.

A view of the Back River.

A field of daisies with monarch butterflies, if you look more closely.

Charlie’s bench.

Daisy.

One of the more inventive interpretations from a visitor to the Fairy House Village.

Gaillardia.

Rabbit sculpture by Lisa Becu.

Lush lime green greenery.

Petunias.

Slater Forest Pond.

Vayo Meditation Garden pool.

Close-up of the Basin sculpture by David Holmes.

Hostas.

Wind Orchard by George Sherwood.

Colorful hostas.

Windsound by Val Bertoia from Bertoia Studios.

Echinacea.

Ethereal plants.

I had another great time in Portland and Brunswick. Thanks to my great friends and hosts, Jack and Fay. Looking forward to next year!

It looks like I’m wrestling with Holly, the Beaudoin Family dog, but I’m really awkwardly trying to do a selfie with her.

Last meal in Maine in Portland at, of course, Empire.

Fay and me at Empire.

Brunswick architecture. Love the homes here in Brunswick, in Maine.

My last attempt at a selfie with Jack and Fay in front of their lovely Brunswick home.

Joey Ally: making films with integrity

Posted on by

All any filmmaker can do is focus on creating something that has depth and resonance, and do whatever possible to get it seen by audiences and hope the word spreads.
– Megan Griffiths, American director, writer, and producer

As a child actor, who has appeared in such television shows as Sesame Street, Joey Ally pointedly noted, “I was not one of those kids who grew up with a camera in their hand – quite the contrary.” When the time came to attend college, however, the writer, director, actor, and producer opted not to go to a conservatory for acting. Instead, she attended Amherst College to study political science and French, with an eye toward entering law school later. “I wanted to work in the international criminal court,” she said. “I wanted to move to human rights law.” While at Amherst, Joey met a playwright who then wrote the lead part of his new play for her. As soon as she got back into acting, she realized how much she had missed it. “It got me back into acting,” Joey said, of the experience. “I just purely loved it so much, I realized I had to try to do this before I decide to go to law school. That changed my trajectory.”

Joey Ally

She returned to New York City, where she was born and raised – she also spent part of her childhood in Connecticut – and acted for a couple of years. But, she confessed, “I didn’t really love the business side of it. I didn’t love auditioning. I didn’t love what I was auditioning for.” She also didn’t love a lot of the scripts she was reading, so she started writing for herself. Although Joey was trying to avoid moving to Los Angeles when her apartment lease was up, it became her temporary destination when her best friend relocated there. Another friend who was going to volunteer at the Sundance Film Festival convinced her to join her in Park City, Utah. “I’d never been exposed to indie films much before that,” Joey admitted. At Sundance, she saw the film The Off Hours (2011) and loved it. When writer and director Megan Griffiths spoke to the audience after her screening, Joey said, “She was inspiring to me. The things she said, I thought, ‘I feel that I understand that person. I feel the same way as that person. I think I’d like to do those things.'” At that moment, the notion of being a director opened up to her. “It was such a revolutionary thought at the time,” she recalled. The Off Hours was the kind of film that she wanted to work on from behind the camera.

She got her first 9-to-5 job as an assistant for Whitewater Films, which, she says, was “the best decision I ever made to that point.” She met Megan on the job and asked if she could be her assistant to get hands-on learning on the set. Joey then moved to Seattle where Megan is based to assist her on the film Lucky Them. While there, Megan recommended Joey to director Lynn Shelton, and she stayed in Seattle to assist on Laggies as well.

Still from the film “Partners.”

From ‘Minimum Wage’ to ‘Partners’
After that experience, Joey made her first film. “It was very fast once I found it (directing),” Joey said. She wrote the script for “Minimum Wage,” a short film about a cocktail waitress who, at the end of a bad day, is walking home after her car is towed and is solicited by a man who thinks she is a prostitute. The inspiration for the “mixed-morality” film came from an incident that happened right after college – a man solicited her while she was on her mobile phone in front of a grocery store. She wondered what she could have done differently in that situation and what would have happened had she taken the guy’s money without having to do anything for it. The incident occurred during the financial crisis, and many of her friends were losing or had lost their jobs. “The world felt really dark and unfair,” she said, of the time. “This whole story came out of thinking about what morality means, purposefully choosing to do right over wrong, when the world itself isn’t reflecting those values to you.”

Although Joey admitted that she hated the process of writing, she said, “I think certain stories need to be told – I want the stories that I want to be told, to be told. So I keep doing it.” She started writing to create roles and scripts for herself, but by the time she had worked under Megan and Lynn, and started making her first film, she realized she wanted to write and direct even independent of acting. Although she wrote “Minimum Wage” with the intention of playing the lead role of “Kit,” she ultimately decided to cast the role. “It was a life-changing experience to work with Sarah (Ramos), and to really be able to focus on directing exclusively,” she said.

On the set of “Partners.”

One of the perks of directing is the ability to collaborate with others. An official selection of LUNAFEST this year, “Partners” was a collaboration between her and Jen Tullock and Hannah Pearl Utt, who both star in the short film. “I had been wanting to work with improv more heavily in my work,” Joey said, of the experience. They workshopped and rehearsed the script together, with filming and editing lasting two days. “Then we were done,” she said simply. “It really showed me that prep makes a difference.”

Both “Minimum Wage” and “Partners” are productions of SilverOx Pictures, a creative partnership between Joey and T.J. Williams, Jr., an award-winning cinematographer whom she was introduced to by Megan. The partnership allows them to create their own work but also to be involved in co-productions mostly brought to them by friends and their film community. While they won the 2014 MOFILM for Cannes Award for the first SilverOx commercial and won 2015 Video of the Year at WME|IMG, Joey noted that SilverOx Pictures is focused mostly on narratives.

Joey Ally giving direction on the set of “Partners.”

Changing the world – and the industry – with invested stories
“When I gave up the idea of being a human rights attorney, I didn’t give up the idea of working in the human rights sector,” Joey pointed out. “It’s really important to me that my work reflects that, on some level, every time.” The points needn’t be made emphatically. “It can be as simple as changing the gender, sexuality, or the race of a character – and say nothing about it,” she said. “I want to push on those things.”

Although Joey has experienced gender discrimination as an actor, she insisted, “I’ve had a really strangely easy experience entering the industry as a director. Although I’ve been lucky, I know a lot of people who haven’t. I’ve been treated like a normal human being, and that should be the status quo for everybody.”

Her two apprenticeships with diverse crews under two strong, well-respected female directors contributed to her positive experiences. She learned from Megan and Lynn to “treat each other fairly” as a director. “It’s really important to treat everyone around you with not only respect but respect for their position because as much as you are the film, they are the film,” she said. Joey strives to create a “crewtopia” – coined by Megan and Lynn – within her own projects and hopes that culture is embraced in the Los Angeles filmmaking industry. Just as she’s learned from the two veteran filmmakers, Joey says she’d advise young directors: “Don’t just make it because you think it will do well; make it because you really care about it. Otherwise, why are you making stories?” she said. “That’s the first thing. And then work on it until it’s good. When it’s good for you, then you’ve made your piece of art. But make what you want to make, with integrity. And surround yourself with people with integrity.”

Note: You can see Joey’s short film at LUNAFEST East Bay’s screening on Saturday, March 18th, 7:30pm, at the El Cerrito High School’s Performing Arts Theater. For more information, click here.

Laura Doggett: creating a space for girls to express their stories through film

Posted on by

The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes, but in having new eyes.
– Marcel Proust, French novelist

Community artist and educator Laura Doggett.

“Another Kind of Girl,” directed by Khaldiya Jibawi – which is a pseudonym to protect her identity – could not have been released at a more relevant time amid media attention on the Syrian refugee crisis and the hot-button topic of immigration. In this short film, an official selection of LUNAFEST Film Festival for 2016/2017, “a 17-year-old girl meditates on how her refugee camp (in Jordan) has opened up new horizons and given her a sense of courage that she lacked in Syria (her homeland).” The film was made in a workshop for teenaged girls run by Laura Doggett, a community artist and educator on a post-graduate fellowship from Duke University in 2014.

Khaldiya taking aim with her camera.

As a Felsman Documentary Fellow, Laura was paired with a Public Policy Fellow to conduct research for two months on girls’ access to education in Jordan – in Za’atari Refugee Camp. For her part, she was tasked with making a film. There was little time to do research on the topic before her arrival, but nevertheless Laura immersed herself in her new environment by giving the girls she was working with the opportunity to teach her through their perspective. “My natural instinct is to give them cameras,” she explained, of her teaching strategy but also her introduction to a new culture through her students.

Still from Another Kind of Girl.

Another kind of workshop
In her first workshop at the refugee camp, Laura and her translator and co-facilitator, Tasneem, taught photography to 20 girls, although two of them were more interested in video. When she returned later in the year (2015) through the International Rescue Committee, she worked in her preferred medium of video with five teenaged girls in Jordan’s northern city of Irbid. The camera became a way for the girls to develop a visual language to express their inner and outer worlds, according to Laura. “Since the first round of workshops, the girls expressed a desire to acquire deeper knowledge of the technical and artistic means to tell their community’s stories, as well as have a supportive community through which they can continue to create more work,” she explained. “From this desire grew the Another Kind of Girl Collective, an arts collective with their female peers that supports further learning, artistic production and social engagement.” As their producer, Laura entered their seven films in various youth film festivals around the world.

The young women in the collective share their work with one another.

To date, international festivals, such as Sundance, Cannes, and SXSW, have screened the films. Conferences focused on the refugee crisis, including the EU Conference on Women Refugees and Asylum Seekers, have showcased their films. The New York Times and National Public Radio’s Morning Edition, among other media outlets, have featured their works. The young women have also won numerous awards, which have included prizes such as a camera and computer, which the individual recipients have shared with the others in the Collective.

Laura, sharing her knowledge with the young women in the Collective.

Khaldiya fled from her hometown of Dara’a four years ago after Syria’s civil war broke out and now lives in Za’atari Refugee Camp. In a post from the Another Kind of Girl Collective website, she explained what filmmaking brought to her life: “In Syria, I didn’t even know how to hold a cell phone and film. Here I fell in love with filming. When I film I just feel at ease. It never crossed my mind that I would become a filmmaker, but when we took the course, I had it in my head that I wanted to be a filmmaker. When I film, I feel like I am someone very important.” Khaldiya wants to take become a leader in continuing the workshops – helping other girls in the camp to give voice to their stories through the arts and to drive change in her community through storytelling. In the meantime, Khaldiya is awaiting Laura’s arrival this month, so that Laura can attend her wedding. Laura keeps in touch with the young women from the workshops, and shared that a few of them have married “amazing” husbands who have supported their wives’ artistic endeavors. Khalidiya’s husband-to-be, too, supports her dreams.

Still from Another Kind of Girl.

Laura and Tasneem began the second round of workshops in November and December 2016, and will return this month to work with them on editing skills. “The workshop gives them a space where they continually create and and speak about being aware that they are providing something really valuable for their community – a collective of passionate, creative, vocal, compassionate, civic-minded young women – and to the world – a new perspective on the lives of refugees,” she said, of the young women. “They are looking for ways to make their day-to-day lives meaningful.”

Sharing and bonding time.

The power of storytelling
Laura has been helping young people – mostly young women – tell their stories and thus become empowered through creative expression for more than two decades. “I’ve always loved stories,” she noted, citing her father as “the first master storyteller in my life.” Laura, who earned her BA in English, Creative Writing, from Wesleyan University, was also inspired by Eudora Welty, the Pulitzer Prize-winning American short story writer and novelist. In a 2013 profile, Laura said of Welty, who wrote about the American South, “She made me want to write characters and stories just like hers, but before she even made me want to write, she made me want to observe.” The power of observation serves the artist well, but it also can inspire greater understanding of and compassion for communities outside of our own.

Capturing one of her students, Stacie, in Appalachia.

As an intern for the public radio documentary show, This American Life, Laura worked on a piece about Mexican-American teenagers and cruising. When she returned to her hometown of Washington, D.C., she ran a youth radio program. Laura spent many years in Appalachia, first directing a program in Kentucky called the Appalachian Media Institute, which trained young people to create documentaries about their own communities, and then later doing the same at High Rocks, a girls’ leadership organization in West Virginia. Laura worked with them to express themselves through media, particularly photography, video, and creative writing.

Filming her student Lauren in a program that she led while in her MFA program.

After her experiences in these various experiences, she decided to go back to school and earned her MFA in Experimental and Documentary Arts from Duke University. “It was an opportunity to continue to do storytelling with girls and young women, but to develop a more personal style of collaborating with them in ways that responded to individually their artistic voice and strengths, and the multitude of ways they chose to articulate their visions for themselves,” she said. In between the workshops in Jordan, as a Lewis Hine Fellow, Laura worked with young women aging out of the foster care system in the Bronx.

One of Laura’s students, Etta, imagines nature in the Bronx.

Nurturing Another Kind of Girl Collective
Laura’s visit to Jordan this month won’t be her last. She’s hoping to secure more funding to continue conducting workshops in Jordan, as well as to find the next community to share her passion for storytelling and to create more opportunities for young women to be heard and become empowered through film. Thus far, she’s been “running to keep up with the project,” but at some point she wants to take time out to strategize with the members of the Another Kind of Girl Collective. “The next step is to move towards making it self-sustainable, where they can continue to create media on their own, learn the various platforms and venues to share their stories and create dialogue, and then ideally also earn income for their media pieces,” she explained. She’s hoping that the women can build on their skills, get their own media out into the market, and create a successful business.

A lighthearted moment between Laura and her Syrian student.

“My desire for the films is what the girls’ desires are for their films as they’re being shown around the world,” Laura said, speaking as the Collective’s creative director. “They are smart, creative young women who have a unique perspective and a lot to say They are not passive or tragic beings, as mainstream media often present them. They are very vocal about wanting to be understood and heard as hard-working, motivated, creative visionaries. They also want their stories to encourage other girls and young women in difficult circumstances to express their most important stories.” Laura shared the sentiments of one young woman in the Collective, Walaa: “It’s important for girls to bring things from inside to the outside. Writing and filmmaking helped me not be afraid to tell my story. I hope that each young woman is able to express her inner-self directly and indirectly, and that she can just break the world. It doesn’t matter, just break it all over the place.…” Such passion and conviction are testaments to the value of artistic expression Laura has brought to these young women and our communities.

Note: You can see Laura’s short film at LUNAFEST East Bay’s screening on Saturday, March 18th, 7:30pm, at the El Cerrito High School’s Performing Arts Theater. For more information, click here.