Artwala Road

Since my last post I’ve been hard at work in my new studio.  I set myself a goal of having 40 small paintings done by the first week of December and as with a lot of my goals my eyes are bigger than the hours of the day.  Still, they’ve kept me moving along at the rate of three or four little paintings over a two day period.  I’ve been experimenting with water-based oils on small cradled wood panels that are covered in a canvas-like surface that gives wondrous texture.  I’ve been a graphic artist for so long that my work tends to be flat and stylized, now it grows a little softer and more atmospheric.  I say ‘now’ because I think it will soon change again.  I now have about 25 of these small paintings done.  The series is called—”You Are Not Alone” and the paintings are intended to be meditations on the various ways in which we’re all connected.

This weekend I have 14 of them in a show at the Joy Street studio of my friend, the photographer, Mark Peterson.  It was bitter cold here yesterday in Boston, wintry and daunting.  The Open Studio event was sparsely attended and would have been disappointing had we had high expectations.  Somehow the weather seemed to prepare us for a slow and gentle day with, alas, no sales.  But today is another day!

The best part of yesterday was swanning around the Joy Street studios to see what other artists are doing.  I’m always happy if I find just one piece of inspiration and down the hall I met my man.  He’s a young artist named Michael Crockett and he had a bunch of “pocket drawings” for sale for $5. each.  His paintings were large, with a punky edge that I rather admire having grown soft and ever more gentle with age.  He paints the hard-edged underside of life with total acceptance.  A thousand tattoos are not too too much!  It sparked my inner rebel and reminded me of the need for total acceptance of the journeys we all take.  I bought 5 of the pocket drawings and am going to get 2 more today.

It may well be a good thing that we didn’t sell anything yesterday as we have our own open studios Thursday evening, December 4th, at the Arsenal Center for the Arts, home of my new studio.  I have enough work done now for that and can focus now on finishing my drawing book.  I can also begin my installation piece which must be done mid-February and will have 100 paintings.  Here’s hoping that time stretches out to accommodate all the great visions I’m having.  I do believe it does!

November 23rd, 2008 | Category: Dear Reader | Comments (6)

We have a new president and it seems now as if anything is possible.  I mostly thought it was though it’s been mighty hard to keep faith these last eight years.  It’s not always a popular belief but our Barack Obama knows the power of believing and staying on course, of having big vision.  I’m so thrilled that he’s going to be our next president.  It does make me wonder though what the rest of us can do or should be doing at this time when our planet is in such peril.  And it especially makes me wonder what we as artists should be doing because we spend so much of our time pondering, feeling, creating.  What should we create?

I think about these things sometimes but mostly I just show up at my new studio and put some music on and begin.  I know that whatever I do is not about making it into MOMA or some other place that sanctions art.  I really do art to know my true self and put out good vibes—for me that’s the purpose of this journey. I really believe that the best we can do for our planet is live good lives, be happy and do our best. Not always easy.

I’ve started a new series of paintings just six inches square.  It’s entitled You’re Not Alone, about all the connections in our lives, seen and unseen.  I have about sixteen now and you can see the first few at the top of the page here.  This shot was taken last week and there are more now but I haven’t had a chance to take another snapshot yet. We’ll have open studios on December 4th and I hope to have 30 or 40 paintings done by then.  Some will go to the Joy Street Open Studios next weekend, November 22nd, where I’ll show with my friend, the photographer, Mark Peterson.

Having the studio is absolutely fantastic—I’m getting twice as much done as I did before, maybe more.  But I’m also getting hooked into designing things for the art center like this poster for the upcoming members’ show which I did this afternoon.  No complaints.  The painting is by artist Alvina Lavdani and is wonderfully quirky.  I love that artists work away on their art and, if they’re lucky, they find something compelling to keep them going.  This painting is so full of charm and mystery.  It makes me wonder—a good thing.  I like paintings that leave something unsaid, something we have to fill in ourselves.

There were several choices for the poster.  I wish we could do two.  Susu Wing has done the most fantastic sculptures out of regular old packing tape.  Just brilliant.  One now graces the hallway and I’d love to put it into a poster but we didn’t get a chance to photograph it before the room behind it became filled with handcrafted items for the annual shop.  It took me by total surprise when I first saw it—just plain fun.  Art on the planet.

I’ll post more photos next week of my wall of paintings, better quality, I hope.  Meanwhile The Saturday Morning Drawing Club continues to meet.  We’ve been drawing upside down, a very good exercise for looking with care and developing a sharp eye—so necessary in art.  Try it—you’ll be surprised what emerges.  In my case the results are more fun and stronger than when I draw right side up.  I look more carefully, that’s why.  I’m beginning to see that art is really all around us.  We just need to see it.

November 12th, 2008 | Category: Dear Reader, Drawing Club, Spotted / Art on the Planet | Comments (3)

What a night!  President Obama!!  At our party there were quiet tears as well as champagne.  We were anxious all evening even when it just looked like he was sure to win.  At about eleven we decided we needed coffee to keep us alert and Dear A and I slipped out to get milk at the Walgreens down the street from my daughter Anna’s place where we were all gathered.  We were about ten yards from her building when Anna popped her head out of her third floor window and yelled at us—President Obama!  Then we heard some screams from another place and we screamed ourselves.  I know people were watching all over the world and hoping for what we were hoping for.  The people of this country rose up, all the people who’d been disturbed and angry at the disastrous last eight years.  They rose up in a truly dignified and powerful way, without violence, and this morning I have faith again in this country, in all the great people here, in what we all can do and that we really have entered a new age.

Hallelujah!  Onwards.

November 5th, 2008 | Category: Dear Reader | Comments (5)

We walked over to our polling station at 7:15 this morning and passed some neighbors on their way home.  When we arrived the line inside the building was huge, ten times longer than we’ve every experienced.  People were quiet, most of us hadn’t even had coffee yet, but anticipation hung in the air like a sweet perfume.  Someone said there were 50 people waiting outside to vote at six this morning, an hour before the polls opened and there’s never been any doubt that Massachusetts will go Democratic.  Tonight there will be tears—of joy.  For now, here’s a picture of what it looked like in one polling station in Boston.

Have to say I slept like a baby last night.  Trusting that is a good sign.

November 4th, 2008 | Category: Dear Reader, Interviews | Comments (4)