Main Street Studio

100 Portraits

2011-03-29T09:13:00.000-04:00

I'm thinking about doing an new art project, 100 Portraits. Can I draw, paint or collage 100 portraits in 2011? That means at least 2 a week, and since we're almost through March, I'm starting at a deficit. Anyone who wants to help, please comment--maybe the way to do this is to open it up to several artists. Kye? Are you game? I'll start....

These are drawn in ArtStudio on the iPad...so now I can draw/doodle wherever I want!

MEC Quadrille Holiday Ride 2010

2010-12-20T20:39:00.000-05:00

This is a pas-de-trois performed by the Meridian EquiDance Company on December 19. This is our first ride in the dark, with the horses wearing electroluminescent wire from ears to tail! We're so impressed with our horses--all they could see was a light through the arena door, a scary light on the video camera in the corner, and their own spooky reflections in the arena mirrors. They trusted their riders, followed the patterns we've trained, and listened to the music in order to know where they were. We couldn't even see the arena walls!

Quadrille Classic Holiday Tunes

2010-12-02T01:20:00.000-05:00

Quadrille Holiday ride 2010 - practice

2010-11-22T18:19:00.000-05:00

Practice ride at Sheriffmuir Farm, Nov. 21. Here's the holiday mix for the party....

Student Work in Oil Painting at NOA Gallery School

2010-07-27T15:13:00.002-04:00

Photographs from Hood River, Oregon

2010-07-16T14:06:00.000-04:00

Opus 46 in Appleton Chapel, Memorial Church

2010-06-13T23:16:00.000-04:00

Just catching up with recent events: some photos from May 4, the last morning prayer service for Fisk's Opus 46, before it was removed from Appleton Chapel at Harvard's Memorial Church. This beautiful instrument will be reinstalled in a church in Texas, while C.B. Fisk builds a new organ, Opus 139, in Memorial Church's gallery.

EdGEArcadia: Climate Changers

2010-04-28T13:18:00.002-04:00

Climate Changers!

2010-04-28T13:10:00.000-04:00

The Climate Changers entry for the Digital Media and Learning Competition is up! This was a great project to work on--lots of laughs with the EdGE@TERC team! Taking place in the same virtual world as Martian Boneyards, Climate Changers is an interactive MMO game in which players can collaborate to collect data about the Arcadian environment and solve a climate change puzzle. The world is beautiful--kudos to the folks at VSE! Thanks also to Ramona and Larry for their voice acting skills! If you like the video, please go to the MacArthur competition site and leave a comment: http://www.dmlcompetition.net/pligg/search.php?search=climate+changers

Enjoy the Martian Boneyards Trailer!

2010-03-03T15:44:00.002-05:00

Martian Boneyards Game Trailer on YouTube!

2010-03-01T18:08:00.002-05:00

I'm very excited to announce that the Martian Boneyards game trailer is up on YouTube! EdGE@TERC and VSE have created an absolutely beautiful virtual terraformed environment for the Blue Mars project, and I was lucky enough to get to play a little in their world. I cut a movie style trailer to entice people to the Martian Boneyards, where players will be able to collaborate online to solve science mysteries. So cool. Check it out at www.youtube.com/user/EdGEArcadia . I'll post another announcement when the EdGE website goes live. I can't wait to play this game!

The Opus 139 Project goes live!

2010-02-18T14:00:00.002-05:00

The Opus 139 Project is steaming along. We've been accepted by Documentary Educational Resources of Watertown, MA for fiscal sponsorship. This is a huge step for us because it creates a network allowing foundations to give us grants for the project. Please check out their website at www.der.org , and look up our project bio on their Donate page.

Welcome also to our new intern, Carolyn Cruthirds. Carolyn has a background in journalism, and will be helping us meet our fund raising goals and keep our footage organized, among other production and post-production tasks. Thanks for your help, Carolyn!

Check out our new Facebook page, and become a fan of the project! The badge at the right will send you there quickly. Also, if you'd like to keep up with project news in quick bites, follow me on Twitter: add @LexRosoff .

Last, and best: check out our marketing trailer! We have a YouTube channel: www.youtube.com/user/tohearthemusic . It's brand new, but I'm sure I'll fill it up in no time. Tell us what you think!

To Hear the Music: Opus 139

2010-01-06T13:57:00.002-05:00

I've started a new and exciting project: an independent documentary film tentatively called To Hear the Music. It's the story of the Gloucester, MA pipe organ company, C.B. Fisk, Inc. Founded fifty years ago by physicist Charles B. Fisk, this very small company of talented artisans builds the largest musical instruments on earth. In 1967, they built an organ for Harvard's Appleton Chapel, and now they are under contract to replace that organ with a larger one that will sing through all of Memorial Church. We'll be following that process, from the design of the organ to its installation, voicing, and its first concert. I'll post here when the film website is up and running, and provide the link. Please follow!

Summer Art

2009-07-28T21:56:00.003-04:00

Hey all,

It's been a while since my last post, since as usual, I'm busy--better than being bored! Welcome to all my new drawing students at the NOA Gallery School...you folks just keep on reminding me to post to the blog!

Please check out the link I've posted here on the left, to a CNN video about a wonderful collaborative art project at the ArtHouse Cooperative. For a small fee, ArtHouse will send you a tiny sketchbook, which you can fill up with your own drawings, notes and other art forms. Send it back, and the book will be included in a traveling exhibition of sketchbooks from all over the world! ArtHouse sponsors fantastic community art projects, so please visit their website--the link is below.

Cheers!
Alexia

Drawing for Life!

2009-02-04T22:29:00.002-05:00

Hey, folks, thanks for a great first class at NOA Gallery! We had a fun time getting to know each other, talking about art and creative expression, looking at some drawings, and starting to limber up and learn about our materials. I hope everyone in the class will keep their sketchbooks close at hand in the coming week, try some mind maps, add some interesting clippings, and try some mark-making with your new materials. Please don't edit yourself--just add your thoughts and scribbles to the book, and see what happens! Remember to find a funky object and bring it to next week's class in a paper bag--top secret! I'll be sending around an email reminder with links to the class Google calendar. Happy drawing, and see you next week!

2009-01-25T14:39:00.000-05:00

Drawing for Life at NOA

2009-01-21T15:12:00.002-05:00

Hi there! Just announcing the Drawing for Life class that I'll be teaching at the NOA Gallery School in Groton, MA, starting February 4. The calendar in the left sidebar will show the class dates and topics. For more information, please visit the gallery website: www.noagallery.com , post here, or send me a message. I'll create a more detailed class blog as the course gets going. Happy drawing!

LinkedIn profile

2009-01-15T12:42:00.002-05:00

Hello, people! I want to establish a connection here between my profile at LinkedIn and my blog--formal and informal networking, combined. So, you can find my professional profile and good ways of contacting me here: http://www.linkedin.com/in/alexiarosoff . On this less formal site, I'll post updates about projects and general news.

Happy New Year

2009-01-11T12:38:00.002-05:00

2009 is here, and off to a good start, generally. Some notable exceptions, which I won't go into here, except to say: Clio, I'm going to miss you. Damn it. I'm going to miss the yoga workouts, yummy omelets, and funny emails. I don't understand the choice you made, but I hope it's brought you some peace, somehow.

An update on current projects: the Learning Ladder pilot episode is in pre-production. I'm going to post separately on it, but folks, it's pretty cool. Think Mr. Wizard in a Sesame Street universe. Thanks to all the people who are helping it move along: Jan, Ken, Deja, Tom, Teon, Sherrill, Betsy, Skip. We're aiming to shoot in late February, and deliver in April. Wow. Then my MA degree at Emerson will be complete, and the real world will have to deal with me.

Night of the Philosophers has been accepted to the Treasure Coast International Film Festival. Congrats, Dawn and Larry, cast and crew! I'm planning to go down to Palm City for the fun, never been a 'filmmaker' at a festival before. Must perfect my handshaking skills, and learn how to remember names.

The Nine Billion Names of God

2009-01-11T12:35:00.003-05:00

Well, it's been a while--I blinked, and lots of time passed. Happens occasionally. Also I'm busy. But anyway, 9BN was great! Thanks to the cast and crew for tremendous work. Everyone should have their DVDs and I'm going to try to post a compressed version either here or on the Facebook page I'm building. Between MySpace, Facebook, YouTube, and this blog, I can potentially waste a lot of time online.

The Peace Pagoda

2008-03-18T11:00:00.002-04:00

In keeping with a theme here at the Street, I wanted to let folks know about a special place in Leverett, Massachusetts. It's called the Peace Pagoda, and it was built in the late 80s and is maintained by a Buddhist order dedicated to peace, the Nipponzan Myohoji Sangha. I initially scouted it as a location for my short film; though that didn't work out, I am still very moved by the work and the dream of peace that these monks and nuns protect. Please take a look at their site, there's a link at the left of this page.

Current Project

2008-03-18T10:53:00.002-04:00

My current work-in-progress is a short student film for my Fiction Narrative Workshop at Emerson. I've written a short screenplay adapted from Arthur C. Clarke's short story, The Nine Billion Names of God. I've loved this story since I was a teenager; it has a little humor, a little twist, and a lot of heart--one of those stories that makes you think.

Welcome aboard to the cast and crew: Dawn Natalia, Larry Natalia, Michael Sol Pollens, Glenn Eglington, and Vincent Tranfaglia, the actors; and Nick Carlisle, Ash Hsie, Jeewon Choi, and Lee Houghtaling, the crew and my VM622 compatriots. We have a lot of work to do, but so far it's going great!

We had our first shooting day Sunday, March 16 in Groton, Massachusetts, atop a blustery hill with a great view. Take one crumbling ruin, add prayer flags and two guys in monks' robes, and presto! You're in Tibet, or somewhere thereabouts. I'll post some production stills as soon as I get them loaded.

Welcome to Main Street!

2008-03-18T10:19:00.000-04:00

Hi all!

Welcome to Main Street, home of pretty much everybody! I hope visitors here will feel welcome and comfy, and share thoughts about art, creativity, film, television, the world.... I'll be posting news about my projects, past and current; photos of cool stuff I see, links to other great art in my community, and so on. If you find something awesome that I HAVE to see, please post about it! Just a few rules: Be Kind. Be Positive. Don't try to sell anything. Break the rules, and I'll remove your posts. Simple.

See you on the Street!

LEX