Sum Fun

Venetian start

2012-01-24T07:47:00.001-06:00

Underpainting for next canvas, a 36 x 28. Photo by Phil Berg, my nephew, on his visit to Venice. Laundry hanging, stucco, old windows, shaded interiors.

Sundays

2012-01-24T07:39:00.002-06:00

Sunday at Bates, 1975 and The Sunday Paper, 2010. Both are my dad, painted by me. Finally finished the latter, over a year after I started. He's my inspiration to keep going, no matter what the roadblocks, bypasses or heavy traffic life throws at you. He also has taught me to not hurry, enjoy the quiet moments, always read the funny pages.

Sum Fun, Again

2011-11-13T10:29:00.001-06:00

It was time to move. This time, the studio. I've been very comfortable in the new apartment since February - so much so that I don't want to leave it. It was always my plan to use the second bedroom as a studio. It took me 8 months to recover from packing and moving my personal belongings - and artwork that was in a storage unit. Now it'll all be under one roof and rent check.

This photo should be titled "Before". I've moved only the "good stuff" - what I need to work. Still to come is all the artwork on the walls at the Hot Shops studio.

The downside is leaving my studiomate, Valerie. We've shared much more than space the past 4 1/2 years. She's a wonderful person and I will miss her stories, wise advice and sympathetic ear. Also her awesome organization skills! The studio always looked good because of her boundless energy and unerring Virgo eye for visual balance.

Now, I can paint thru the winter with my car snug in the garage, coffee, computer and fireplace only a few steps away. Sum Fun Studio is open.

My Five

2011-07-30T04:41:00.002-05:00

Well this was exciting. My Five: Jennifer Moody - Omaha.com

Also a very difficult mental exercise for an inveterate junk collector. The painting in back of me was done in art school. Probably the only appropriate one I have for a dining room.

The Sunday Paper

2011-04-17T10:39:00.002-05:00

Six months is too long an absence from blogging! I was unfortunately very busy with my Mom's passing last fall. I don't have words adequate to express what she meant to me, and how much I still miss her. I post this from her home, in her former studio room, where we all said good-bye to her,

surrounded by her amazing artwork. During the Christmas break I helped my Dad catalog her paintings. I photographed and dusted it all: watercolors, oils, acrylics, and countless decorative pieces from tables and chairs to ceilings.

She and I had good discussions about art thru the years, both the practical aspects and the emotional challenges. From her I learned two things most important now: paint what you love, and paint any damn thing you want. Dont't get caught up in others' expectations or even your own habits and insecurities. Try the scary stuff, where failure looms. It's only paint.

Her memorial service was held in Rhode Island, where the family gathered. Most of us stayed at sister Anne's house, camped out on couches and beds. Dad came up from SC and delivered his "Thanks for the Memories" eulogy. Anne and brother Jeff said what I could not. So many old friends came, and I was overwhelmed. I'll never forget those generous hearts.

The next morning we were relaxing and recovering. I spied Dad reading the Sunday paper and found my next painting subject. I wanted it to be a surprise for him, but it has taken me a long time to actually get back into the painting groove. I started this at the last Hot Shops Open House and here we are with the next one coming up, and I'm still painting it. Perhaps a little motivation to finish.

This is a terrible photograph from my phone, but a better image is on the home computer. Since it's just a progress photo I won't sweat it. I've done some work on it since this shot, so at least I know it looks better. Next post will be the finish for "The Sunday Paper."

Honeymoon's Over

2010-09-26T17:25:00.003-05:00

After a Summer of too much fun, I settled in for an afternoon of work at the studio. I knew it would only take about 4 hrs to finish this canvas, and I was right. OK, so there's still a few niggling details to work on, but I cheated and signed it anyways.

I didn't know I could get so involved in a scene I've never seen. I know it's the cerulean blue door that roped me in, but it's the distant shores that kept me once I started. You never know where a painting will take you.

Close-Ups

2010-07-19T11:29:00.003-05:00

When I choose a photo to upload here I zoom in to make sure it's in focus. That's when I find abstraction created by the brushstrokes, and reminders to stay loose and quick. Above are three crops from Honeymoon View.

Honeymoon View

2010-07-19T06:16:00.003-05:00

I declared Andy's Shoe Repair finished last weekend. The previous post's photo is its final state except for a signature and a few swipes of paint.

I've been away from the studio for weeks at a time, enjoying summer, biking and friends. A mental vacation. Now that the heat has set in, and lacking AC at home, I needed a reason to spend time in 204, so started a new canvas.

This is the third image that my daughter Laura has photographed and I feel compelled to paint. Taken on their honeymoon in Greece 5 years ago, she will have to enlighten me as to the exact location.

It is a 16x20 canvas. I drew in the scene fairly loosely and started laying in some color yesterday. Realized once again how much I love painting wet-in-wet and found it difficult to stop for the day!

I haven't painted a scenic like this for many years, and it is perhaps more suited for watercolor, but I'm way out of practice in that medium and it's best left to the pros. Oil paint is enough of a challenge for me. I hope to have the "damn canvas covered" next time, then start on refining the values and colors. For instance, that door will be cerulean blue! The green blobs will be cacti. There is a lot to paint in this one and should keep me out of trouble for a month or so.

Covered

2010-05-16T18:06:00.002-05:00

As a friend once advised me, "Cover the damn canvas!" It is unwise to get hung up on details while "bare" canvas remains unpainted. So today's effort was focused on laying in the rest of the color. Every time a section was added, it made a huge difference. I'm still trying to make even initial color strokes matter. It's a good scale to work at - I can leave things sketchy or go at them with smaller brushes.

What I am trying to capture with this painting is the contrast of the brightly painted building with its dull colored, mundane surroundings, compounded by what I recall as a chilly, overcast day. I think that is what I miss most about this building.

Mother's Day at the Studio

2010-05-09T22:15:00.002-05:00

It was a more solid 4 hrs of painting late this afternoon. There was to be no going home in the middle of lettering. Wet-in-wet painting is the only way to go so that edges are a little soft. This is the "easy" stuff so far. Background and foreground detail will be what grounds this bldg. Guess I find out next weekend if that happens.

Andy's Shoe Repair

2010-05-08T21:58:00.001-05:00

Over a year ago I mentioned wanting to paint this little place. With no more than a few seconds thought, needing something to work on during Open House weekend, I picked up a small prepared, textured canvas and drew it in. This time no grid, so it took much longer to draw, but I feel I was more careful with it.

The pace of my painting has slowed, even though I spend more time doing it. It feels more deliberate, more time mixing paint even with this small canvas. The image above represents One weekend drawing (with countless interruptions), a very quick evening after work to tone the canvas, and then 4 hrs today mixing and painting. I'll put in another 4 hrs tomorrow and try to post again.

People often ask how long it takes to paint. I've never kept track, and it's very difficult to. Part of the time in the studio is spent getting mentally ready - watering plants, choosing music, getting all the distractions and procrastinations out of the way. At the other end is clean-up, just plain looking at the work to see where it's at, where I might want to go, and of course photographing it.

Larger works seem to take more time to simply get enough paint on the canvas. Smaller works require a lot of judgement about detail, what to include, what to exclude. Each brush stroke becomes more important the smaller the canvas gets, so that's how small canvases become big jobs. So far, I'm enjoying this one even more than I thought I would.

The Nap

2010-04-25T21:41:00.003-05:00

I finished The Nap today. It will be on display for the Spring Open House next weekend, May 1 & 2, Studio 204. A bit of glare hits the lower right of the canvas - that area is actually darker than the photo shows, and this image is cropped in a little. I will try to re-photograph it another day.

This painting has meant so much to me I am at a loss as to what to paint next. Time to peruse the archives and listen to my heart again.

Patience

2010-04-04T21:53:00.002-05:00

I've had a couple of good weekends painting. It seems most of my time is spent mixing paint, then I concentrate on finishing a small area, which takes less time than it did to mix the paint for it. Still working on covering underpainting and correcting some values, especially in the fabric folds.

Spade Work

2010-03-14T21:00:00.002-05:00

Still working on some underpainting and "finish" painting simultaneously. This is a "detail" photo of the painting. I worked mainly on David's face and ear. Fascinating how much individuality there is in ears! I needed more underpainting to work with, since so much of the flesh tones are in shadow, and much courage is needed to final paint those large areas.

Be Not Afraid

2010-02-28T19:45:00.007-06:00

New Canvas Energy. Stretched, gessoed and drew last weekend, painted this weekend. The underpainting is kinda scary to look at. But don't worry folks, it'll all turn out well. We hope. Progression above, ending with today's effort, a more "solid" underpainting. This will need to dry. I get to see the subjects next weekend. Yay!

Central Park Pharmacy

2010-02-14T19:30:00.003-06:00

Winter isn't a great time in the studio for me, until it is nearly over. The days are getting longer now and the heat is blasting from the huge radiator, making it the best place to be in snowy, blowy February.

Central Park Pharmacy was finished and signed this weekend. It took a bit of patience to stick with it to the end, having started the canvas months ago, before catalogs took over my life.

A surprising number of visitors wander into the studio on these winter weekends. I'm grateful for the company and conversation, but also find myself closing the door more often as I work, needing to focus. Even the tunes run out, and I listen to the rattles and hisses of the radiator.

Need to order a new stretcher frame for the next canvas. It will be another departure from signs, but a revisit of sorts to a beloved subject. Stay tuned!

Time to Buckle Down

2009-11-29T07:24:00.007-06:00

It has been a busy few months in Studio 204. We dismantled the place and repainted. Adding a third artist meant rearranging a few things, also. I rented some hall wall for two months this fall and sold a painting that was displayed there. "Easy Terms" found a new home.

Another artist in the studio meant rearranging wall space, too. This entailed some new framing, re-hanging everything, which takes me forever. As my rental of the wall space ended, another wall space began, on the second floor landing for the months of November and December - Open House time! More art inventory management. I finally settled in and started painting again.

"Central Park Pharmacy" is well underway. It is larger than my previous paintings this year, and I was ready to return to my favorite subject - signs. This one is from North Omaha. I'd found it years ago, and it took some searching to find it again. I actually wanted to paint some of the words on the side which spelled out "Snacks" and other tasty things, but the broken neon and peeling paint of the main sign were perfectly lit in the late day sun. This one should be done by the end of the year, unless the day job gets crazier than it should.

Other art-related activities that have kept me busy are the many area gallery openings this season and more framing. "The Nonno" was framed and shipped to Long Island, and I am having a painting by my mother restretched and reframed. It is ready for pick-up, so I will post it here soon. It will hang in my new office at work.

Looking forward to the Hot Shops Open House next weekend. Stop by and say hello!

Cloud 9 Final

2009-09-09T10:57:00.002-05:00

Cloud 9

2009-07-26T15:05:00.003-05:00

I have a new series started - Odd Cloud/Cloud 9. It is a grid of nine 10 x 10 canvases, each containing one "odd" cloud. These are the clouds that I see in the Nebraska skies on otherwise cloudless days. Small bits of white that disappear in minutes in the dry air. They fascinate and tease me while I am driving to and fro.

I am not able to correct the photos well enough for the white clouds to show as well as they do on the canvases, but I think you can get the idea from these.

The Secrets Between Us

2009-07-26T14:59:00.005-05:00

Top image is the final. Not much of the lighter blue detail is visible in the photograph, and the darker blue isn't as contrasty as it appears here. The edge colors have muted since the progress photo, lower. Earlier progress photos show it the other way around, darker blue on the left, but this is the correct orientation.

Fool's Moon

2009-07-26T14:54:00.003-05:00

A little dark and mysterious, but not totally serious. A Fool more along the lines of a Shakespeare character, more like Nobody's, leading down a path, but is it the right one?

Wedding Moon

2009-07-26T14:47:00.001-05:00

I didn't realize I hadn't posted a progress photo of Wedding Moon. Here it is, completed, along with a progress showing the edge colors, which have softened a bit.

Progress and a Final

2009-06-27T17:33:00.006-05:00

From top to bottom: the final image of "Between Heaven and Earth", progress on "V Series I" and progress on "The Secrets Between Us".

"Between Heaven and Earth" is inspired by the "Linea Nigra" - the darkening of skin pigmentation in a line down a pregnant woman's abdomen. I think of the human gestation period as a time between Heaven and Earth - a gift from God, not quite ready for life on Earth, and while a woman's expanding girth is a clear public sign of that time, the pigmentation line is a more personal reminder of the changes and miracle happening within.

The "V Series" is more abstract thought, no representation is intended. The "V" stands for my birth surname and for the Roman numeral 5. There will be 5 in the series, all based on a circle, at least as it stands now.

The third image is called "The Secrets Between Us", which I like simply for its mystery. Underlying the composition is the inequality of power when one person knows another's secrets, or even when each knows the other's secrets. I see the blue as a calming, peaceful, trusting color (think Immaculate Mary holy medals!) and the orange an indication of power and force, forever unbalanced somewhere between red and yellow. This painting is showing the least amount of change since the last post because I am more slowly building up layers of glaze. I swear I worked on it this week and this is a new photo!

This is the stuff I think of while painting, or driving, or falling asleep at night. You may have other thoughts on these images -in fact I hope you do. Thought you would like to hear the ideas and feelings behind them.

Secrets & More

2009-06-02T19:06:00.003-05:00

I've started three small abstracts. From the top: The Secrets Between Us, The V Series (1), and Between Heaven & Earth.

These are all concepts and thoughts that I've been collecting for a while. I bought five 12 x 12 canvases with the intention of doing the V (5) Series, but when I started the first one, realized I would need mental separation between each one. Since these are small, I can easily work on three at a time, but would rather have different concepts going on.

Pictured here are progress photos, after two sessions - a lot of underpainting and glazing. I wish I could show the edges, since they are at least as interesting to me and are an important part of these paintings.

All were started with only the barest of ideas of where they were going, and have continued with the promise to myself that I will paint what pleases me. So far I have succeeded.

I will comment further on the concepts as they progress.

Drying Time

2009-05-10T17:42:00.004-05:00

The Nonno is very nearly done. I thought perhaps it would be this weekend, but some things need glazing and are too wet. Finishing touches are unlikely to make a difference in how it appears in pixels, so I am posting the last picture of this now.

Whatever there is to say about it was said last weekend at the Hot Shops Open House, many times over. Hundreds of visitors stopped by the studio Saturday and Sunday and most made comments about this one - mostly that they have a cat like Sushi here. One can never overestimate the appeal of painted pets.

Little Jon is now 9 months old and I am going to see him this week. I'll see the Nonno, too! I hope he likes this. Nice cat. ;-)

The Nonno Progress

2009-04-07T21:36:00.005-05:00

This is three sessions (roughly 12 hrs) after the underpainting. I'm pleased with how it's going. It's about 75% done. I have a couple of new brushes, new medium, a few new paints and a new posture - standing for this one. Tougher on the feet and legs, better for the painting.

The Nonno

2009-03-22T09:48:00.002-05:00

When I first saw the photo reference for this, taken shortly after my grandson's birth last year, I knew I had to paint it. This is Jon Christopher and his nonno (Italian grandfather) at Eastport, Long Island. The setting is the elder Valentini's lovely, art-filled condo home. The huge window generously illuminates and back-lights. The cat is calmly claiming its ownership of the residents. Nono (I am told this is the family spelling) seems to be telling the sleeping baby important grandfatherly things. This is a moment I appreciate and thank my daughter, Laura for capturing.

I started right after I finished Wyoming Motel. There was still paint on my palette, so with a lot of turpentine I mixed it all together for a medium dark neutral toning. No drawing. I see I have some corrections to make, but I am determined to keep this fresh and loose.

Wyoming Motel and Cafe

2009-03-22T09:37:00.003-05:00

The last (for now) of three paintings from a one-time visit to Cheyenne, WY was finished yesterday. Painted in fewer than 6 sessions, it was a satisfying effort. Preparation (drawing and toning the canvas) were key. The pace was also helped by the lack of perspective and detail. I still consider this a study, but enjoy it as much as more difficult and labored subjects.

Detour

2009-03-03T21:00:00.005-06:00

Pearly Whites is almost done - and has been for some time now. It needs a rest. I started painting Wyoming Motel, the third and possibly last of the Cheyenne series. This canvas is the same size as Firebird Motel - small! 8" x 16" means small brushes, but also quick painting when there isn't a lot of detail. The image above is in progress after 2 sessions of painting over 2 layers of canvas-toning and a day of drawing. It was a rare experience of being in the groove, the paint flowed and I had a steady hand. The only neon is the word "Wyoming" and in the small square below the word MOTEL that reads "CAFE" and is barely visible. Minor challenges. The overall sky and detail and structure in the shadows lower right are very similar to that in Red Wood Bar & Lounge, and I know I will enjoy that part.

The streak of white in the upper left? It's a jet trail, something I found in the photo when I enlarged it to check for details.

Too Good to Die

2009-02-23T06:32:00.005-06:00

I made a weekend trip to Missouri to see my friend in Macon. Left too late on Friday to make a sign stop in St Jospeph, but hit it on the way home. I took the route that would get me downtown more directly than my usual Dunkin Donuts one. This exit took me to an old industrial area, the one where I'd found Yellow Cab. Forever the optimist, (no, really!) I started cruising the blocks looking for more signs. Maybe even revisiting Yellow Cab. Looking left at the first stop light, I couldn't believe my eyes. Pony Express lives on! In this drab and deserted area it stands bright, tall and totally incongruous to help promote the history of St Joseph. It is an official icon now.

I pulled up and took a few shots of my old friend. It felt just a little surreal. I got back into the car and continued my hunt, now looking for Yellow Cab, since it was the same neighborhood, but no dice. It looks like that one is gone, although it's no surprise since it was in poor condition when I shot it a few years ago.

Hoping to find new treasures, I drove around downtown, but all I saw was Wright's Jewelry, still hanging on the corner, just as I left it. No new photo necessary.

I headed out of town by Frederick St, swinging by the Trail theater sign, but again, I have the photos and nothing has changed. Frederick St. was another story. It's a motherlode of old neon signs. The sun was setting and I was losing light fast, so I parked the car and hoofed it, snapping about 2 dozen shots of various signs and buildings. Some are rusted, some are restored. My favorite was the GoldNGlaze Donut shop, for obvious reasons.

Back to painting now! Finish buttons, resume signs! I have another small Cheyenne hotel sign started. I hope it goes quickly. I have so much in the pipeline.

At Last

2009-01-29T11:30:00.003-06:00

Yes, it's been quite a while since I posted here - over 4 months! That coincides with "catalog season" at work. About all I have mental energy for after a day at the salt mine is visiting the studio to remind myself what I will be doing when all the pages of sunglasses and Santas are printed.

I hear from my "fans" out there who look for updates, and I hate to disappoint you. The button painting is still going on. One of these days it will be done. I have so much waiting to be painted that I've had to start a notebook with the ideas so I don't forget.

One of the images that I've been waiting to paint is this quirky little shoe repair shop. It is no more, replaced by a gas station/convenience store that contributes to the light pollution on that corner every night.

I heard from my nephew (and birthday buddy) Andy this week, who begged me to update the blog. He enjoys my paintings and would like to have one someday when he gets more settled. I think by that time I will have the perfect painting for him... ;-)

Pearly Whites

2008-09-10T06:50:00.006-05:00

To-date progress on the button painting. Painting a button collection is like painting faces in a crowd. Kinda reminds me of working on "Soho Wigs".

Firebird Motor Hotel

2008-09-10T06:48:00.003-05:00

C'est fini. One more Cheyenne sign to go, same small "study" size. This one will be visited again, "full size".

Now & Next

2008-08-04T06:25:00.005-05:00

I've put an awful lot of hours on the Firebird Motor Hotel canvas. It's just a "study", a term which I hope excuses all the painting's shortcomings. It's only 8" x 16", not at all conducive to painting neon tubing and lettering. Most of this has been worked on off the easel, holding the canvas in one hand, turning it as needed for detail. Basically, it's all detail except for the sky.

Anyways, enough is enough, and I'm giving it only two more sessions. the image above was before I worked on it yesterday, so it's more finished than that. What remains is the lettering in the white sign, neon at the top on the bird and the clutter at the bottom.

Next up is "Pearly Whites", a composition of a white button collection. I've had to wait on this one until I thought it wouldn't drive me crazy. I took this photo of it several years ago for a commission proposal that never happened. I had to wait for that bad taste to leave my mouth, too.

This will also be a small-ish canvas, 12" x 16". At least it's larger than life-size for the buttons!

Meanwhile, I am giving the life-drawing group a break. I'm sure I'll get back to it later.

Friday night is the "8-Ate-08" show opening at the Hot Shops for the previously posted smalls. I fly out then next morning to NY to be a new Nana.

Woman with a Pearl Earring

2008-07-14T05:23:00.002-05:00

The portrait of Kieran is "done." I can't work on it anymore, even though we have one more session with her this week. I will likely drag out the charcoals for the final 2.5 hrs.

I haven't totally succeeded in a likeness, at least not enough to satisfy myself. Thank God for the earring. Kieran is a jewelry designer. That little personal touch was no accident for her, and she remembered to wear it every week, bless her heart.

This reminded me of the importance of "props" with portraits, even when the subject is nude! While I consider the unadorned human a thing of beauty in itself, what else is in a portrait or figure study can make or break a painting, and it is always the decision of the artist what to include.

It's not always a separate prop, such as a chair or fabric drape. It can also be part of the model herself, such as hands. The very individual attitude of the hands can go a long way towards lending personality to a portrait. Perhaps next session I will make a point of including them What fun!! More to paint...

Kieran Unfinished

2008-07-02T20:49:00.003-05:00

I'm a glutton for punishment. At the same time I paint two tiny canvases, I'm painting beautiful Kieran's portrait Tuesday nights. It's still not done, and I'm almost certain it will never be to my satisfaction. I'll chalk it up to the learning experience.

I have great difficulty mixing white flesh, always have. That's why I've done charcoal for 33 years. But I'm not discouraged. Nothing like a fresh, meaningful challenge (I don't consider the previous small canvases meaningful enough for my satisfaction)

We have one more session with Kieran, and that will have to suffice. I have structural adjustments to make, which is criminal at this late stage, but I must try to make her less tired looking, and hopefully a little more attractive.

Too Smalls

2008-07-02T20:34:00.003-05:00

I'm glad these are done: Eskimo King and Happy Chef. I do not enjoy working this small. Good thing the subjects were "fun". They will be for sale at the Hot Shops Friday, August 8 thru Wednesday, August 27 in the Hallway Gallery. Each are priced $80 for the show. They will be much more than that after the show.

Second breakfasts

2008-06-07T17:50:00.005-05:00

As often as possible, three of us from the drawing group meet for breakfast on Saturdays (along with a very welcome spouse). Since a decent hour means mid-morning, it also means Second Breakfast for this early-bird. Usually we meet at the local diner, but when it's just Virginia and myself, we enjoy the fare at Delice's in Old Market.

I met Virginia this morning, a hot, humid, windy one. She brought along a re-work, pictured above, a canvas she wasn't happy with previously, so she added a few more layers to it. It reminds me very much of the book I am reading, In A Sunburned Country, which is about Australia. Big sun, big heat. Very apropo for the day.

Virginia has been a godsend for me, filling the position of local friend since we met a few years ago at life drawing group. A retired teacher, she enjoys her way of life Way Too Much for my work-a-day self. Seriously, I love to see my friends enjoy life, and Virginia is a most generous soul.

At our breakfasts - which should be tax-deductible - we discuss art just as I do here: mine, yours, theirs. It's not difficult to find common ground, with struggles, successes and failures. My breakfast buddies are my therapy and support group.

Art-making tends to be a very solitary pursuit, so when we find kindered spirits, we find peace of heart and mind. I wish my art friends all the success in the world, and will feature them more in the future.

Another Try

2008-06-05T19:02:00.002-05:00

After a week off visiting relatives in RI and NYC, I returned for the last session night of Figure Drawing/Painting. I picked up another textured canvas and trotted down the hall to Studio 208, late as usual. A good spot was open front and center, so I plopped down and started another portrait of TG.

The drawing took hardly any time at all. I put the same limited palette out, with an addition of red and orange for accent lights. This one felt rather easy, but I thought, at the time, not as good as the first. When we finished, I took it back to 204 and put it next to the other. Huh. I liked it much better.

I'm easily bored, and get real lazy in the summer heat. I thought I'd give the weeklies a rest for a couple or few months, but now I'm jazzed again. Our model next session is the long and lithe Kieran, so sign me up. I'll just have to figure out a new palette...

After 33 years...

2008-05-22T21:39:00.003-05:00

I finally paint from the figure. First time since art school. This is a 2.5 hr study. 50 mins of drawing, the rest of the time painting, with breaks. I used a canvas brought back from Summerville, SC, one of my mother's unused. It's about 11x14, and was "pre-textured." Lazy-bones that I am, I used only a few browns and an indigo for paint. On a second trip back to the studio I squirted some white on a business card and brought that back to the session studio. I used that very sparingly.
TG is a the model and a good friend.

In Progress

2008-05-22T21:35:00.001-05:00

Just a couple of cheap shots (one rather blurry, sorry) of the two 8x8s. I figure one session more on each.

Complementary Study

2008-05-08T11:01:00.003-05:00

In the same vein as last year's Red Wood Bar & Lounge, I am also painting the Firebird Motor Hotel. The photo was taken that same December day in Cheyenne, WY, with a polarizing lens that makes for an awesome blue sky. The orange of the sign is a perfect complement to it. This is the subject for the 8" x 16" canvas, which will be a study for a much larger (4' tall) canvas.

I'm a glutton for punishment with not only all the straight lines and mild perspective, but also all those letters! I'll need some "Quiet Rest" after this one!

8/8/08/ate

2008-05-07T15:48:00.003-05:00

Next up on the easel are a few small paintings. A show sponsored by the Nebraska Women's Art Caucus, scheduled to open 8/8/08 with a food theme (thus the "ate"), is the reason for the latest challenge. All art is to be 8" x 8". That's small, folks! My hand was cramping stretching the canvases (I'm doing two) and sketching them.

My subjects will be from two toy camera images: Happy Chef in Mitchell, SD (home of the Corn Palace) and Eskimo King in Swansea, MA. The former is history, the latter still in operation. After some listless sky painting, the next session on the canvases was much more fun and productive. I found the groove for the little buggers.

Since all the art in the show will be priced at $80 (gee, thanks, guys, for not picking $8, but could we at least have made it $88.08??) I need to not spend a lot of time on these, but it's difficult. I need a timer.

Since I had a scrap of canvas left over after stretching those two, I made a canvas 8" x 16", and found another sign to do a "study" of. I was drawing and painting that sign during the Hot Shops Spring Open House this past weekend. I've made good progress on that one, too, and will post a pic next time.

I've switched from the Wednesday night drawing group to the Tuesday night painting group. It has long poses. So far I am drawing for the 1.5 hrs that I'm there, the same pose. Others paint or sculpt or also draw. I needed some longer studies for finished drawings. I miss my buddies, Virginia and Larry, but I'll probably see them anyways when I paint in my own studio Wednesday nights.

Recent Developments

2008-04-13T13:12:00.006-05:00

I'm not sure anyone can tell from this photo, but my painting has progressed, and in fact is nearly finished. I've been glazing, which means adding layers of transparent color. Certain color paints lend themselves well to this technique, and Liquin medium makes it a lot easier. So, although it may not be apparent in pixels, the canvas has more depth of color than in the previous posting.

Also coming along is my experiment with the watercolor pencils. I'm trying different brands, types and colors, some of which may not lend themselves to my current size and subject matter. I try out three more this week. So far, the Inktense pencils are living up to their name and did not fare well in my application. No subtlety at all. They'd do better in a larger format, at least. When water is added to the pencil marks, the color is dark and travels a long way with the brush. Longer than I need it on a smallish figure drawing.

I've posted my favorites from the past few weeks. I hope you like them, too.

A Departure

2008-03-30T21:28:00.005-05:00

After a long and ambitious painting such as Pony Express, I was not eager or ready to start yet another sign canvas. I had no specific plans for what I would paint next. But plans found me.

When I was photographing Pony Express I had a shutter misfire. When I downloaded the images to my computer I hit delete for the blurred image, and it did not delete. I hit delete again.... almost. Wait. I like that image! The colors, the shapes, the textures! I must paint it.

So my newest canvas, still in progress, is that moment caught by accident. I will not explain it any further, since I don't believe abstracts need such explanations. Unlike my first attempt, a year ago almost to the day, I am quite comfortable with this present process. And it is indeed a learning process. The image above is the work in-progress.

I am finding it closer to the feeling of life drawing than my usual subject painting. I mix and paint more "in the moment." The colors are more organic than the manufactured signs. It feels comfortable, even as I experiment and develop.

I have not abandoned my regular subject matter, but I have found a relief from it. I look forward to both my next, undetermined as yet sign, and to future non-representational discoveries.

Just Add Water

2008-03-05T14:07:00.005-06:00

A two-fer today. First, Pony Express Motel (Best Rate) is finally finito. I'm reasonably satisfied with it, which is surprising considering how grouchy all the long, straight lines and mild perspective made me. There was also the usual crankiness caused by the final edge painting. Especially with this painting I kept up with them all along, since it's such a large canvas, and the colors need to match, but as always, I was finishing up edge detail last night. If I could hire someone to do that, I would. I'll deliver it to Louisville Saturday. Show opening is the following Sunday, March 16.

Meanwhile, figure drawing continues weekly. I've gotten a little bored with the relatively short poses. I don't have any finished drawings "suitable for framing." So I switched gears and started some deliberately sketchier drawings, using gray wash pencils on watercolor paper. I sketch as normal, using three value pencils, just add water, and the fun begins. It's like the kid's coloring books where the invisible color dots are activated with water. It's rather delightful. The drawings above are from last week. The lovely Kieran modeled for us. Her poses were so good it felt like the drawings drew themselves, and I noticed she brought out the best in everyone.

A new session starts tonight, and while I'd been thinking of giving it a rest, last week's enjoyment changed my mind.

I'll be starting a new painting soon, of course, so stay tuned!

Old and New

2008-02-11T09:11:00.000-06:00

It's about time!

Work takes over my life in December, so not much painting went on for a month or so.

I'm back in the groove now and have made progress on the Pony Express Motel. Despite the large size, the lettering has not been easy. And I hate painting horses! Even simple ones like this. There's a lot of white in this painting, and it's not easy to settle on which shade of white will work. I have several going on. It will be resolved eventually. This one needs to be done for a March show in Louisville, so I have to keep up the pace.

The Hot Shops has a Potluck show right now, to benefit one of the city's food pantries. I decided to give an old one an airing, so Pella 2 was entered. It was a companion painting to Pella Shoes, painted almost 10 years ago (and which was sold to a good home several years ago). As far as I was concerned, Pella 2 was never finished, but I came to realize, after many comments about it in my studio, that no one else could tell that.

We have added a Monday night figure drawing session, for training new models. Poses are shorter, the session is only two hours, and it is a chance to just do quick sketches, practice something new, perhaps, and enjoy the company. It takes the curse off Mondays, too. I'll post one of these next time.

Dashing off a new one

2007-11-26T06:59:00.000-06:00

The Pony Express Motel is well underway. It is a large canvas, roughly 3' x 4', much better for any and all lettering I have to do, although I have managed same on even an 11" x 14" canvas before.

This is another sign from St. Joseph, Missouri, the starting point of the Pony Express mail service, (the city, not the motel) which lasted only a year and a half in the mid-1800s. (the terminus was Sacramento, CA)

The motel is gone now, demolished sometime in the past year, replaced by an office building. It was located next to the Dunkin Donuts, my regular stop. I'd sit in the parking lot enjoying my plain cake donut and coffee, gazing at this huge sign towering over me. I don't think the business was in operation recently, so it wasn't really a surprise to see it gone last time.

The photos I took, some of the last on film, rather than digital, weren't in sufficient detail of the horse and rider, so I was fumbling with the details while drawing. I Googled Pony Express Motel and found not only some old post cards of the motel, but a very large close-up of the horse and rider! I now have all the visual information I'll need, thanks to some neon freaks on the internet.

What I discovered on the old post card, from the early 60s, was an earlier version of the sign. It was much simpler and shorter, yet included the very same horse and rider in neon. Such a find! The sign I am painting is from two eras, but the horse and rider had survived over 50 years of visual marketing trends, hail storms and real estate development.

It's a lot of fun to paint, it's staying loose, a lot of wet-on wet, and won't take too long. I'll be painting it while the hordes of people troop thru next weekend at the Hot Shops Holiday Open House.

Easy Terms

2007-11-03T19:35:00.000-05:00

Completed this week is the painting of the jewelry store in St Joseph, Mo. It has taken me quite a while to finish it because of the two thyroid surgeries since I started it. I am all healed and getting my energy back (at least in the mornings after my thyroid replacement med).

Even when I didn't have much energy I went to the studio to paint for a couple of hours, mostly doing the seemingly endless neon detail. I'd set a realistic goal for the time I had and eventually it all got done.

The title comes from the barely readable clear (OMG) neon underneath the clock face.

Last month my drawing group had a show at the Hot Shops. It was a wonderful opportunity of free space for us to show our sketches. About 9 of us participated. It gave us a chance to "air" the work that doesn't often see the public light of day. Judging by the comments in the guest book, it was well-received. If and when I get some photos from the opening night I will post them here.

Easy Terms gets delivered to the Louisville Art Gallery next weekend for the 6th Anniversary Show, which opens November 17th. Next up is another sign fr0m St Joseph, MO, one that is now history. After all the picky detail in Easy Terms I look forward to some looser painting, much like Red Wood Bar & Lounge.

Speed Drawing

2007-09-02T18:11:00.000-05:00

Our lovely, troubled model, Elizabeth, failed to show up for her scheduled time this week. We considered calling a replacement, but decided it was simply too late. We agreed to draw each other again. This is not my favorite thing to do, either as an artist or a model. However, I was eager to draw after a week's absence. I volunteered to model first (we remain clothed for these impromptu sessions, needless to say!) to get it out of the way. I dread these things....

Ten minutes passed quickly enough, and I was able to concentrate for the rest of the evening. We had a "full house" of regulars, and we all posed for 10 minutes, plus a few if we could stand it, and most of us could. We all know how much a few extra minutes can mean to a drawing!

I hate admit it, because I so thoroughly dislike drawing clothing, but I had a great time drawing my fellow artists with whom I share the best of times. I was very pleased with the portraits I completed in so short a time. I gave several of them to their subjects. Above is a drawing of "W". I know him least of all the group, but I was still able to capture his likeness, and thru the process of drawing so intently, get to know him a little bit more.

We are a very supportive group. Everyone is informed of their attractive physical attributes to make them feel more comfortable, and it is remarkable how we are able to newly appreciate our friends when they pose for us. It's a very bonding experience for the group.

On a sad note, it appears Elizabeth is no longer available to us for modeling. It is a great loss. She became my favorite, and I will miss her most expressive poses. Posted above is my favorite portrait of her.

The St Joe Project

2007-09-02T17:49:00.001-05:00

I seems I am creating a body of work from my photos of St Joseph, MO signs.

On my very first visit to the city, some 8 years ago, on a dark and dreary (and very un-photogenic) day, I saw possibilities galore. I have since returned many times, having to search harder each visit to find old signs.

I feel time is running out for many of the signs I have photographed. Indeed, a large motel sign which I plan to paint next is gone. Yellow Cab Co. is still there as of my last trip this summer. My present canvas, Wright's Jewelry Co., was an open business last year, but has since closed. I had the opportunity to photograph it to my heart's content - not a soul on the streets on a Sunday afternoon, except for a police car - and ended up with a paintable view or two. Above is a progress photo. Note that the clock is the same style as on the Yellow Cab Co.

My next painting deadline is November, the anniversary show at the Louisville Gallery. I will have this painting and the next, along with a deserving figure drawing or two.

Madame X

2007-08-29T07:41:00.001-05:00

I recently finished reading a fascinating book, Strapless.
It is a detailed account of the circumstances of John Singer Sargent's most (in)famous portrait of Madame X.

I have long held Sargent's artwork in high regard. Both his paintings and lesser known figure studies were familiar to me, but I knew little of the details of his life. "Strapless" describes not only Sargent's early years as an artist, but also the European society he chose quite deliberately to work and live in.

I've read many fiction books set in his time period, but none from this more privileged perspective. For sheer enlightenment, I enthusiastically recommend this book.

Soon after I started reading it (and it is a quick read) I realized I needed even more picture references than the book provided. So I borrowed two luscious monographs from the library and had both opened at my feet while I finished reading.

Sargent is, simply put, my artistic god. He was a very private man, yet courted the famous and wealthy for business, mostly portraits. For his own pleasure he painted scenes from his frequent travels and drew awesomely strong figure studies, mostly of male nudes. The latter were generally unknown to the world until much later in the 20th century. The drawings were his pleasure, not for sale, not for public viewing. I can relate to this easily.

The portrait of Madame X caused a scandal at the Paris Salon when it debuted. Its subject was horrified by the public's reaction to what they felt was an overexposure of a society woman's charms. She and her mother threatened Sargent with a duel. It never came to that, but when the show ended the painting returned to his studio for repainting: repositioning of the scandalous fallen strap. The huge portrait remained in his studio for decades, until it was sold to the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, where it is today.

I am freshly inspired by his work and his life. What he left for the world to know about him was put almost entirely on canvas and paper. He was so proficient at communicating what transpired between himself and his subjects that one never feels it wasn't enough. In fact, I can feel sensory overload viewing just one of his paintings, the brushwork is so lush and alive.

Yet, it is not the brushwork that makes Madame X so intoxicating. It is the subject, the pose, the dress, the attitude, and how perfectly Sargent presents the entire package of the woman at the height of her physical glory. Breathtaking, haunting, powerful, and ineffably beautiful.

Two Months and a Couple of Brushes

2007-07-15T11:57:00.001-05:00

It has been a hectic few months since moving in to the new studio. First I had to get the place looking spiffy for the annual Open House extravaganza, which meant sorting, arranging and hanging a lot of artwork.

I started right in on my next painting, "Jan's Cleaners & Launderers", another image from my trip to Beatrice. Trying to paint while settling in to new space was difficult. It took two months to paint this one, much longer than it should have. It is the small painted sign on the left that caught my eye, but I also like the plastic Cleaners Launderers signs and the clean lines of the stucco building. The larger "Jan's" above the doorway was created by me. In reality, it was an "unacceptable" plain white plastic banner-like sign.

Meanwhile, I continued the weekly life drawing sessions in the studio next door (how convenient!) We've had Sarah, Sanford, Elizabeth and Darren model for us. A few times I bowed out of the session in order to devote more time to painting. I had a deadline - the "Cityscapes/Street Scenes" show at my gallery in Louisville, with art due July 8th.

By mid-June I'd finally found my comfort zone in the studio. I finished "Jan's" and started the last one I'd hoped to be able to show in Louisville, "Yellow Cab Co." This image was found in St. Joseph, MO on one of my many trips to see a friend in Macon, MO. St Joe is my regular stop because it is the closest Dunkin Donuts and I get to taste "home" in a regulah cawfee and plain cake donut. St Joseph is also home to many old buildings and signs. "Yellow Cab" was found in my usual way - I sniff these out by driving around and around blocks and likely areas. When I find signs like this I practically stop breathing.

I painted "Yellow Cab Co." in 2 weeks, a record time for the level of difficulty. Nothing like a deadline to make you paint with extreme focus and determination!

"Yellow Cab" sold last night at the gallery opening. I got enough money from it to pay 2 months rent and buy a couple of much needed brushes.

An End and A Beginning

2007-04-21T17:47:00.000-05:00

My extended time in the Residency studio was cut short last week. The incoming artist wanted to move in earlier than he'd expected, so I had to pack up and move out. It wasn't as bad as it could have been, because a neighboring artist needed a new studio-mate, and I have agreed to share space with her.

It is nowhere near as spacious as the Residency studio, but it has North light, and excellent wall space square footage. My painting work space never took up much room, so I should be fine. I will miss the "vistas" both inside and out, but they are part of the fond memories I will have of a winter spent reviving my art life.

At the moment I am busy setting up my working area, and I am antsy to continue painting. A canvas was started before I left the other studio, and I have another one firmly planned. The pipeline is full and I look forward to productive times.

My new studio mate, Valerie Light Anderson, is prolific. She continually paints for shows, so should be a good influence. That is her work at the top of this post.

(No, I have not given up on the abstract. It's "resting" and drying.)

The Art of Life

2007-04-11T08:09:00.000-05:00

Sol LeWitt (1928-2007) to Eva Hesse (1936-1970):

"Learn to say 'F You' to the world once in a while. You have every right to. Just stop thinking, worrying, looking over your shoulder, wondering, doubting, fearing, hurting, hoping for some easy way out, struggling, gasping, confusing, itching, scratching, mumbling, humbling, grumbling, tumbling, scumbling, hitching, hatching, bitching, moaning, groaning, honing, boning, horse-shitting, hair-splitting, nit-picking, piss-trickling, nose-sticking,as gouging, eyeball-poking, finger-pointing, alleyway-sneaking, long waiting, small stepping, evil-eyeing, back-scratching, searching, perching, besmirching, grinding grinding grinding away at yourself. Stop it and just DO.

Don't worry about cool. Make your own uncool. Make your own, your own world."

Sol LeWitt died this week, the day after I read an essay by Michael Kimmelman about him and Eva Hesse and others who make life their art and "vice versa."

I made the photo collage above, inspired by them and their enduring art.

From the Heart

2007-04-07T18:19:00.000-05:00

My first oil portrait since art school is completed. The experience was so enjoyable in a different way that I need to adjust how and what I will be painting in the future. Of course my heart was totally into this image. Papa was a strong memory and beloved person in my life. I love that this physically large and often gruff man would play the flute. Here I have him "playing for his lunch", food and music being elemental to everything I enjoy in life, and indeed I do not paint without either.

I need to find out if I can paint other people with as much interest and involvement as I did with this one.

Bur first, I will be switching gears yet again, and tackling some abstracts that came to me in a vivid dream. More about these as they develop, of course. Typical of my creative concept background, I have a whole series complete with titles in mind before I have a stroke of paint on the canvas. Ya gotta start somewhere, and this is how I work...

Nana & Papa and the Gift of Time

2007-03-25T21:38:00.000-05:00

I have started my first oil portrait in decades. Above, the top image is my work-in-progress after two sessions this weekend. This is my grandfather, circa 1960, playing the flute in our kitchen. The image below that is a portrait of my grandmother, painted by my mother. I consider it her masterpiece. My godfather, Uncle Frankie, took the photo of Papa, and I took the photo of my Nana, probably in the early 80s. These are dear relatives, all long gone from this life, but recalled often in thoughts and prayers.

I chose this image to paint as my alloted time in the residency studio was coming to an end. Either I'd paint it quickly or finish it at home. However, last Thursday I received some very good news - an incoming artist is unable to use the studio until May, and with the luck of a draw, I have been chosen to stay on an extra month. Needless to say, I am on Cloud Nine, and will not only be able to finish this painting, but will likely have yet another under my belt.

On the same day, within the same hour, I found out that a friend had passed away. Jane was diagnosed with a blood cancer last year. She had some radical treatments and the disease briefly went into remission. She traveled, and was given the gift of time for several months beyond the initial prognosis. She is gone now, but in a far better, peaceful place, leaving friends and relatives with good memories.

Vacation week has ended, it's back to the day job. I hope to use my gift of time well, perhaps with more portraits or figure painting.

Speed Painting

2007-03-22T06:21:00.000-05:00

I think this is the fastest I've painted since art school. Red Wood Bar & Lounge is completed, painted in about two weeks. My normal time is a month. It did not feel fast. Three days painting neon tubing and its shadows, then one session on 61 clear bulbs and their shadows made it seem like a much longer process.

I've been on vacation this week, which accelerated the progress considerably. While I don't feel the utter joy as I did during my week off in January at the start of this residency, it is because I must leave the studio next week, and have been preparing mentally for that. It has been a great week, nonetheless, painting nearly every possible moment. What I do feel, as I did in January, is that this is what real living feels like for me.

I leave all the sign painting thankfully behind for the moment; the next canvas is a portrait of my Papa. Stretchers, canvas and gesso await me at the studio this morning.

Ten Things

2007-03-16T11:45:00.000-05:00

For those of you who like lists (and you know who you are):
http://miltonglaser.com/pages/milton/mg_index.html

"I am a great advocate of drawing, not in order to become an illustrator, but because I believe drawing changes the brain in the same way as the search to create the right note changes the brain of a violinist. Drawing also makes you attentive. It makes you pay attention to what you are looking at, which is not so easy." Milton Glaser

A Clear Wyoming Sky

2007-03-13T06:28:00.000-05:00

It has been a very productive week in the studio. I got this canvas covered with underpainting and started in on the "final" layer(s). Some areas get painted more than twice. Less of that seems to be happening on "Red Wood" I think the sky is done, painted in one session. Needing that wetness for some edge work, I also got some final painting done on the orange and yellow stripes above "Drive In".

This painting will be looser than I have ever been able to accomplish and still be satisfied with the look. I'm enjoying the sketchiness of the signs and building in the lower right and hope to retain that with the next and probably final layer on that section. There is a lot of neon tubing and cast shadows to paint on the sign and I look forward to that task.

This subject is in Cheyenne, Wyoming. The photograph was taken on a freezing December day. I'd driven out to Sidney, NE one weekend to visit Arthur, who was working at the Cabela's distribution center for the holiday shipping season. He was antsy to see something besides that small town, so we took a 100 mile drive west to Cheyenne, where I discovered a small treasure trove of old signs. Urban renewal moves slow out there.

I love both the "empty" western landscape and the towns that I find off the interstates. It was a very long, 500 mile drive back to Omaha that evening, dropping Arthur off in Sidney. This image lay forgotten on my hard drive until a few weeks ago.

Next week is vacation for me, and it will be spent finishing this canvas.

My New Crush

2007-03-06T06:54:00.000-06:00

Melody Motors is signed and drying. While I am never completely satisfied with my painting, I am at least glad for the accomplishment. I'd been waiting several years to paint that one, and looked forward to it. It was a relatively fun painting, mostly because of its simplicity and the speed with which it was done. I hope it sells as fast as Try Wayne's, which was very similar in look.

Next up is Red Wood Bar & Lounge, Cheyenne. It's a larger canvas with lots of harrowing straight lines and a huge circle. The colors in my photo reference are marvelous thanks to a polarizing lens, and I'm happy to be able to use some of my pthalo blue paint. I spent the day Sunday drawing it and will post a progress photo as soon as I get some paint on the canvas, which I hope is soon, because I am losing sleep over this one.

I have only 3.5 weeks left in the studio. I don't know yet if I will have someplace else to paint come April 1. The red tail hawks across the way are nesting on a fire escape. When they fly away for food or material they pass right by my window, quite diverting. I can see small birds building nests in the chinks of brick. Scruffy feral cats roam lower, and I can see all the comings and goings of other Hot Shops artists in the parking area below my window. The radiator blasts and knocks. Tunes and teas are my company. Life is real good right now.

Z Path

2007-02-18T17:02:00.000-06:00

For a period of about 7 years I had an interest in making images with Diana cameras, which I collected. (my best find was one for $.75 in a junk shop). The images, captured with a plastic lens and very limited focal range, are soft and dreamy. They have been the basis of more than one painting for me.

The photograph above was taken with a Diana camera one snowy Christmas morning at a local recreation area, Lake Zorinsky. The lake has a 7-mile path around it that my walking partner and I walked for many years during the warmer months. Needless to say, I know every inch of that path by now, but a few scenes have special appeal to me.

I call this one "Z Path", for its zig-zag. It comes after a brief passage through thick, fragrant pines. My walking partner and I would always breathe deeply here because one doesn't often get to enjoy that forest smell in Omaha.

I started the painting about 5 yrs ago, probably as a brief interlude between larger works. It measures 11x14, as small as I ever paint. It sat unfinished, but very nearly done, because I was unsure how to paint the pines. Yesterday, in between paintings again, I finished it. You learn a lot in a few years of painting. One of which is just get out the paints and paint.

This one is a gift for Stephanie, my walking partner for 8 years.

2007-02-10T08:42:00.000-06:00

Much cooler than the yarn art is this amazing carved wood sculpture.

Misbegotten Art

2007-02-06T09:25:00.000-06:00

Above is a detail from Ming-Yi Sung's Creation of the World, a crocheted sculpture. It is similar to what was installed at a Washington, DC office building and subsequently censored for "nudity."

Regardless of the possible retinal damage to unsuspecting office workers, caused by the misshapen forms and unfortunate choice of yarn remnant colors, I find the artist's surprise at the public's reaction either disingenuous, incredibly naive, or just plain stupid. The fact that she continues to include the fig leaves in a private gallery show is misplaced coyness.

"...her work includes male and female private parts of monkeys, humans and a goat." Please pass the mind bleach.

Group Show/Group Think

2007-01-31T10:24:00.000-06:00

The drawing group met Monday for a combination drawing session/mini group show/closing festivities. We drew for a couple of hours, socialized, and displayed our favorite drawings from the sessions. The gallery where we meet was emptied for a large show, so all the walls were strangely bare. We taped up our drawings and admired each other's efforts.

Amusingly apparent was the fact that several of us had drawings of the the same poses. Somehow, certain poses produced more successful (or at least satisfying to the artist) drawings. A sculptor, who more often works on his wax figures, included drawings from 4-5 yrs ago. One of them was from the same long-ago night as one of my own favorites, a night that the model has assured me was a one-time-only look for him (he'd worn a head scarf).

I saw drawings that were familiar to me not because of my own version of them, but because I know of other artists' versions, ones that have sold.

Questions come to mind, again: what goes on during a pose that allows several artists to draw better than usual, or at least make them think they do? We do not talk or listen to music for these sessions, so there isn't any audible communication or mood-altering experience. The similar drawings were not all of one model, and not all done by experienced artists.

I always knew that life drawing allowed me to experience another person in a totally different way, but now I realize that drawing as a group is yet another very real way to connect with several others, and there is always more going on than what we can see and hear.

Devil/Details

2007-01-28T15:39:00.000-06:00

Another week of painting. Some nights, Saturday and a little while on Sunday. I wish I painted better. I wish my subject matter had no straight lines, because I cannot paint straight. Maybe I ought to switch to abstract. This canvas is nearly done. I need to say that so I can move on soon. Perhaps if I give myself a deadline I will stop fussing with the architectural detail that is all over this image. I made some tonal correction to the whites since I shot this progress photo.

Mostly I worked on the left building this week. The sky got another layer. I'm much happier painting loose, and I think I need to lock up the small brushes.

The Monday night drawing group has its last evening of this session tomorrow night. Last week the model could not make it, so we drew each other. Clothed, of course. I like drawing clothing as much as I like painting architectural detail. But I warmed up to it, and ended with a pile of surprising 10 minute sketches. Wisely, I chose to be the last to model. We had only 6 minutes left. All the others had posed twice for 10-minutes each. It was painful! I'll stay on my side of the easel.

Progresso!

2007-01-20T08:50:00.000-06:00

It's been a wonderful week. On vacation, I got to spend daylight hours every day at the studio, painting. I met the studio-mate Wednesday, and we hit it off fine, chatting a little bit, working peacefully. She's brought in her CD player so we can enjoy non-radio music. I brought in a pile of art mags for the coffee table and she placed her wonderful Anatomy for Artists next to that pile. I got quite lost in it for a while yesterday.

Best news of the week: she has enthusiastically agreed to allow our drawing group to meet there for February and March, when we are losing our usual venue. And she'll be joining us! The space is perfect for it, with plenty of heat, light, free parking and comfy old wood floors to stand on (rather than the cold, brutal concrete). I'm thinking of keeping the long wall blank so that we can pin up our drawings there after each pose. No necessarily for critique, since we are not a class per se, but as an opportunity to see our work from a distance, on a wall.

Progress on the "Beatrice Row" painting is slow but sure, and improving as I reacquaint myself with the mixing and mechanics. My first use of Liquin medium is a revelation. I'd previously concoct my own with turp, linseed and varnish, but had a hard time keeping it fresh enough. The Liquin smoothes out the brush strokes, mixes the paints better, gives the surface a more uniform finish, and dries the paint faster, so that I can work the same area next day. This last benefit may be hastened by the huge, hot radiator that I park myself in front of.

I'm loving the east light. I don't get in there until the sun is no longer streaming in the windows, but still providing a warmish light. I am not fond of the traditional north light, it being so cold.

I paint from my reference photos, printed out from a high-end Canon copier at work. Unfortunately, I don't think I used the highest resolution photo when I printed it over a year ago. When I checked the image on the computer at home, I found much more detail than I'll be able to attain with brushes, but it helps to know what is there. Some of the detail has surprised and delighted me. On the print, (top photo - click on image for slightly larger view) I was unable to read the first word of the disappearing lettering above the right doorway. Scrolling around the high-res image at home, I realized I could read it, and it has become the final title of the work:"Magazines Candy Cigars." The next day I was scrolling around the middle building and realized that letters were disappearing from the middle awning, which I thought was just a mess of crumbling wood and tar paper. The letters spell out L-A-N-G, the proprietor's name, I presume. The business was a Bryant air conditioning service, going by the decals still on the glass door.

The last discovery is still a mystery, and will likely remain so. Again on the right side building, at the top within the square panel recesses, are remnants of letters in each panel. I can barely make out only 2-3 letters, not enough to know what it spelled. Drives me nuts, but reminds me I cannot know everything!

This is a challenging and enjoyable painting for me, with all the flaking paint, the windows, and impossible brick. I'm satisfied with my progress (bottom photo) and more importantly, momentum I was able to accomplish this week. I am about half-way done, which is right on target for what I hope to accomplish in my 3 months. The devil will be in the last quarter, retaining enthusiasm without coming to hate the product of my labors as I more fully realize my limitations.

Back to the day job Monday, and life drawing, so I will make the most of my precious daylight hours this weekend.

New Digs

2007-01-04T06:43:00.000-06:00

With the New Year comes a new opportunity to create something besides knitted scarves and sunglass catalogs. I've been granted the use of a studio at the Hot Shops Art Center for 3 months. Move-in day was January 1st.

It didn't take much to move me in, so far. I had to leave the wooden easel (My mother's, vintage 1948) at home due to the snow in the truckbed. I'll also be bringing some drawings and paintings to display. The space is HUGE. One of the previous artists, a sculptor, had not moved his things out, and the other new artist, a painter, had yet to be seen. So I put my stuff where I wanted.

As you can see, the accommodations are quite adequate. The light is from the east. I haven't seen it at night yet, but there are enough fluorescents to keep me from stumbling around in the dark for now. There are many large work tables, even more than you see here in the photo. More are piled in the corner behind a hideous brown screen. There is a kiln for my use. (ha - I'm not about to squander my time learning how to make ashtrays or coffee mugs). The couch is reasonably comfortable, and there is a small bar refrigerator. A boombox comes with the room, but it doesn't have a CD player.

This is great space for planning out LARGE works. Not sure I will use it for that, but I have my readied canvas sitting on the portable easel I use for figure drawing. The heat is nearly suffocating. You can see the fan I found in the pile of stuff. I 'll be using it.

I'll be bringing my houseplants for the duration. There is hardly any room for them at home, and they will help soften then space a bit.

It ain't clean. In fact, it's filthy, and I need to go over the surfaces with industrial strength paper towels. I won't be touching the floor. It's old wood, at least more forgiving than the concrete we had in our old studio, but no better looking.

Anyways, I'm NOT there to clean - I'm there to paint.

There is also a computer there for internet connection - the whole building is wired for it, but I have no interest in looking at a monitor during my time there. Besides, it's an ugly old PC.

The Exit sign you see above the window indicates where a fire escape is, and the previous resident showed me how to prop it open for some cool air, but when I tried to open it (I had to stand on the metal desk to reach it) I realized it weighs a TON, and is propped 1/4 open by a flimsy board holding a vent for the kiln. I can't be dealing with that. I'll paint in my skivvies and run the fan....

It was a great New Years Day! I look forward to a more artistically productive 2007!

Festivus

2006-12-19T13:07:00.000-06:00

It's been a busy past month with drawing and a newfound addiction to knitting. There is much to learn with the latter.

The drawing group has ended one session and started another. We are a "subscription" group, where one can pre-pay and enjoy the 10-week session at very reasonable rates. Others may drop in at a higher rate. We combined the finale with a Christmas party, drawing the couple again for two hours, then enjoyed socializing for the rest of the evening. In my life, it doesn't get much better than that!

Our wise-cracking female model gets even funnier with a glass of wine in her. We all get to know each other a little better and trade stories, mostly about family. Since our group has a rule of silence while drawing, we have little opportunity for relaxing chit chat. We all enjoyed the adult beverages we brought. I noted there was not one soft drink option! Such is that bohemian lifestyle...

This week was more sobering. E, another female model, was late. When she arrived in the lobby I was there with the group's ringleader. E told us she'd had a rough day putting her teenaged daughter into a psychiatric facility. The daughter had attempted to stab E, and harm her other daughter. It was a dangerously escalating breakdown. E apologized for the bruises she'd be showing and requested that we not ask how she was with the others present since she was barely hanging on by a thread as it was.

She is a real professional, got down to the posing with no further ado. After we'd done the usual quick gesture studies, E settled into the longer poses. She generously gave me the face view most often. I gratefully drew what I saw and felt.

E was a hefty woman a few years ago. She has since lost 140 lbs, and it appears the emotional distress is causing even more weight loss. She is a young woman, only 33, but her body looks many decades older. As I drew last night I thought how difficult this Christmas will be for her, and I concentrated on capturing the reality of her life right now as I saw it on her face.

She probably doesn't feel very brave, but she is, and I have deep respect and sympathy for her.

E depends on public transportation, but last night she got offers from all of us to take her home, and she accepted. Her poses were solid, expressive and very much appreciated.

We have a two-week break and reconvene after the new year.

Fuzzy Art

2006-11-15T06:59:00.000-06:00

A recent gallery tour brought up a question: where lies the line between collaboration and autonomy in art? Many large scale artists, sculptors in particular, have unspoken and, by tradition it seems, often unattributed assistants of all sorts. We are all aware of Dale Chihuly's army of talented workers who fashion his concepts (and he gives them plenty of credit, IMO). Everyone understands Richard Serra's hand didn't pour the molten steel into his fabulous curves. I'm not sure I even comprehend the level of art business/creation that they operate in.

But on a more local level, I was surprised to see a sculpture that was obviously not fashioned by the artist to whom it was accredited. The gallery was full of pieces created out of the artist's customary natural materials: twigs and branches. A large sign at the door thanked the donors of materials, and I have to assume it was their bushes and twigs. OK, I thought, a little odd.

The largest piece was like the others (all female lower torsos) only instead of twigs and branches, it was exquisitely fashioned out of wrought iron made to look like the natural materials complete with wonderfully imitative twists and wraps and curlings. I asked a fellow gallery visitor if the artist had done the ironwork herself. It would be incredibly physical work unlike all her other delicate figurings. I was told the ironwork was done by local blacksmithing artisans, whose work is well known. Nowhere in any printed material at the gallery or on the exhibit's website is their name mentioned.

The piece has a pricetag in the mid-5 digits, it is surely stunning, and I hope the blacksmiths got well-paid for their work. But why no mention anywhere of whose hands actually made the sculpture what it is?

I'm filing this kind of art under "F" for Fuzzy. Will be reporting on further additions to the file as I find them.

Monday Night Drawing

2006-11-14T09:11:00.000-06:00

We had very few people at the drawing group last night. Five, with two models. Drawing the duo was as challenging as expected, but I requested and got a very long pose (50 mins) for the last. Unfortunately, no time was called, it ended without notice, and I thought only half the time had passed! We get them again in two weeks. Next week I’ll try the trois crayons again with a single model. I will need to work smaller, also, and with specific paper.

The models are, naturally, very close friends. As they posed, usually huddled, they whispered to each other. It’s so quiet while we draw, that it was interesting and welcome noise, even though we could not hear what they were saying. It added to the feeling of intimacy of the experience, which is a large part of what I enjoy about it.