Repurposing A Relic from the Past

I remember how excited I was years ago when I finally found a slide cabinet that fit perfectly into this space on my bookshelf. And there it sat for over 15 years. Until today.

Since the house painters are coming next week and I need to empty the shelves anyway, I am taking this opportunity to say good bye to a system that helped organize my life when art galleries were still asking to see slides of your artwork.

I would walk into a gallery with 20 slides in a sleeve (typically gallery computers couldn’t even open CDs!). That’s how I got my first show at OK Harris in Soho. 

I used to make at least 10 slides made for each painting, and had hundreds of slides lying around in slide boxes. When the slide cabinet arrived, everything easily fit in, my slides took up less space, and I threw out a stack of slide boxes with tops that never stayed closed… For the first time, I could quickly find what I needed. Marie Kondo would have approved.

Each drawer was configured to hold 5 rows of slides, with movable custom tabs separating each section of identical slides.

In a labor of love, I bought mini labels (1/4″) for each slide so my presentation looked professional. It took me days to figure out how to squeeze the information on this little labels, print and adhere them to each slide.



With so much of myself invested in this slide cabinet, perhaps you can understand why I’m finding it hard to let it go – even though we live in a world where slides are obsolete and slide cabinets are a relic from the past.

Then I thought about repurposing the cabinet (15’W, 12 3/4″ H, 11 3/4 D). I’m hoping maybe someone can find an alternative use for it. I have been thinking that maybe another artist or craftsperson who does mosaics, beadwork, metalwork, or collage using little stones or charms, can use this as a storage cabinet for raw materials. The flexible divider system is a definite plus.

I would love to pass this on to you.  If you would like to have this cabinet as a gift, please contact me and it’s yours.

P.S. I’ll be hanging on to several slide sheets. When I lecture, I discovered that showing slides gets a good laugh when my audience is young. They know about downloads and clouds, but never slides! Ah, technology marches on.

Open Studio 2018

Welcome to my Virtual Studio Tour!

Thanks to popular demand, I am posting photos from my Open Studio. The original post never made it up since it was scheduled for 2019… (my bad).

It was a glorious weekend! The weather was great, as was the turnout. The week leading up to the Studio Tour was less hectic too than in previous years; we learned from past experience.

This year’s guests were greeted by this Oreo themed display, including oil paintings, pencil drawings and original giclée prints, covering a span of over 15 years. Thank you, Bonnie, for putting together this visually pleasing retrospective. It made quite a first impression, especially for first time visitors. 

My studio never looked so clean! I had plenty of room to show my latest vending machine paintings. I discovered I could fit eight 20 x 10 inch panels over the fireplace, which turned out to be the most requested spot for picture taking.

Vending Machine Series by Beverly Shipko

Husband Jay Sloofman, Beverly,our friend  Rhonda, Daughters Bonnie and Laura

My friend Linda

Annette and her students

Work was scattered all through the house. At times, it was really packed with visitors. We somehow never get photos of those moments since we’re all so busy… It would have been smart to ask other people to take photos. I guess there is always more to learn…

The Three Muskateers from Central School

Desserts waited in the dining room for guests who were craving sweets after looking at so many food paintings.

The dessert table from Riviera BakeHouse in Ardsley

The very first arrivals

A lot of the fun comes from being surprised by who walks through the door, from different times and places in all of our lives. I’m happy to say the Shipkos were represented by my first cousin Robert, who I grew up with in Detroit, and his son Harrison, who grew up in New York like my two daughters.


Every time I looked at Harrison, I kept seeing my brother Stuart in my minds eye at the same age. It’s funny how strong familial resemblances can be.

I was delighted that my Heart Shaped Box of Chocolates found a happy home with Sarah, who had been admiring it since first seeing the painting in the Hudson River Museum exhibit called  I Want Candy.

And I can’t end this blog without moving into the kitchen for the annual Oreo Cookie Contest – where we had the unexpected pleasure of being entertained by Samantha’s  amazing flexibility.



Finally, this year was a first when Charli and Jack brought their own work – and gave me an art show! That was just plain fun. I look forward to seeing more of their creations in the future.


As usual, I enjoyed Studio Tour weekend. Thank you all for coming!

Thank you to the team – my daughters, Bonnie and Laura, husband Jay Sloofman, and friend Maritza – for helping make this event a success. I could never do this without all of you! A special shout out to Doug Marouk-Coe and RiverArts® on the 25th Anniversary of the Studio Tour.

P.S. Despite our best efforts, there were several surprises that were out of our control, creating some concern in the weeks leading up to the Open Studio (an understatement…). I leave you with these two photos, when we were working on Plan B, just in case…