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Archive for September, 2010

Triptych

Posted in Recent Paintings, Technique/History, tagged on September 20, 2010| 4 Comments »

This is a small triptych that I recently completed.  I’ve done several triptychs over the years and really enjoy the challenge of composing the three separate panels into one cohesive piece.   There are obstacles to overcome in order to make the overall piece work well in attracting and holding the viewer’s attention over the width of the painting.

 This piece, done in the gray style with a dash of red that I’ve used a bit year, has panels that each measure approximately 4 1/2″ by 6″.  The smaller panels change the way I view each panel in composing this.  When doing a larger triptych, I try to make each panel completely autonomous, meaning that each panel has to stand alone as a painting.  Each has to have its own focal point and be complete as a self-contained scene.  However, with the smaller size of the panels I drop that criteria somewhat because the width of vision for the viewer is already condensed.  The side panels still are complete but they have little in the way of focal points in themself.

The overall feel for this piece has a real sense of completion.  The attention is all funneled to the central panel and while the side panels may not be exciting as individual paintings, they have a feeling of rightness in the whole. 

I’ll be working  on a larger triptych soon, perhaps with non-symetrical panels which changes again the way the composition comes together.  I will probably opt for color in the larger piece.  Maybe not.  Who knows?

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Big Old Goofy World

Posted in Opinion, tagged on September 19, 2010| 2 Comments »

I was going to write about other things today.  Things that bother me.  Like Mike Huckabee’s comments at the Value Voters Summit the other day, where he equated those with pre-existing conditions seeking health insurance coverage to people with burned down home or wrecked cars trying to obtain insurance after the fact.  Comments that seem to be lacking in compassion, not ot mention the pure idiocy of finding equivalency in a living human with a medical history of any sort with a destroyed house or car.  Or lacking in intelligence for attacking the one aspect of the Healthcare bill that is by far the most popular and widely accepted by the general public.

The comments bothered me as did the lack of coverage they received in the mainstream press.

Or there was Republican strategist Jack Burkman who caused a minor buzz on a Fox News broadcast when he made comments about closing down the US Postal Service while somehow bringing in the subject of Nigerian and Ethiopian cabdrivers.  It drew the ire of  Ex- Senator Al D’Amato who called Burkman’s comments “rascist bullshit’.  But it wasn’t the comments about the cabdrivers or even the closing the Postal Service that caught my ear.  It was the last line Burkman uttered in parting, where he stated that Postal workers, like much of the middle class, were basically unskilled and needed to be pushed down.  I assume he was talking about pushing them down the economic ladder.  A telling little comment, if that is the case, for a so-called strategist of any political party.  Read into it what you will.

But that is all I can write about these people.  And I use that term loosely.  I need something to keep my head from exploding so I’ll turn to a tune from John Prine.  I think this song pretty much sums it all up…  It’s a Big Old Goofy World.

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Toward Possibility

Posted in Painting, Technique/History, tagged , on September 18, 2010| Leave a Comment »

Well,  I am well into preparations for an upcoming show at the Kada Gallery in Erie, Pennsylvania.  The show opens October 16.  I have decided to call the show Toward Possibility which is the name of the painting above.  It is a 24″ by 48″ painting on canvas and has been a favorite of mine for some time.

The title of the show refers to the possibility offered in the paintings, the pure chance of existence and imagination.  These landscapes that I paint are not pure products of this world.  I can stop and step back to analyze them with a cool eye  and say this or that element in the painting doesn’t or couldn’t exist in the real world.  But my goal and hope is to make them possible in the eyes and minds of the viewers, to create a harmony in the elements that allows the viewer to comfortably assume the reality of the landscape.  To create a vocabulary of elements that speak of the possibility of this other world.  That is the possibility to which I refer in the title.

Hopefully, I am moving more and more toward that possibility.

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A Rally I Might Actually Attend

Posted in Current Events, tagged , , on September 17, 2010| 1 Comment »

I’ve written here about the incivility of political discourse, about how maddening it is to see disagreement spiral out of control into shoutfests.  Instead of debating a side of an argument  based on common sense, our public political conversation has become debasing those who oppose our viewpoints with slurs.  Fear-mongers have spurred us to the furthest poles, leaving our political system stalled and  ineffective.

The vast majority of us don’t want this.  Most of us don’t see our president as a reincarnation of Hitler.  Most of us want our government to act quickly and responsibly on behalf of what is best for the majority, with all our interests kept in mind.  Most of us have the common sense to understand that while we may not like it, we have to expect to pay taxes to maintain our country and the life it provides for us.  Most of us just want calm discussion where each side actively listens to the other’s point of view and  compromise is not considered defeat.  Most of us just want to live our lives quietly and safely, free to go about our days free from fear.

 Most rallies are bent on stirring anger or passion in the attendees, to spur them to movement.  There aren’t rallies to ask us to take a breath and calm down.

Until now.

Jon Stewart announced last night on The Daily Show that they are holding a Rally To Restore Sanity on the Mall in Washington, DC on October 30, 2010.  They’re a little short on details but if you go to their website you can be put on their e-mail list for upcoming details.  Stewart has gained a reputation for his respectful treatment of  his guests, even those whose views are completely opposite his.  His interviews have a light tone but  have insightful direct questions and often reveal more information than those conducted by the supposed real press.  He’s providing a much-needed service to our country in these polarized times.

Of course, there must be an opposing movement for all rallies and this is no exception.  This comes in the form of Stephen Colbert’s March to Keep Fear Alive, also in DC on October 30.  I have no idea how these two rallies will coincide but I’m sure there will be something for everybody and, unless you viewpoint is at one of the far ends of the political spectrum, it will be provide more than a few laughs.

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Come To Light

Posted in Recent Paintings, tagged , , on September 16, 2010| 2 Comments »

This is a painting that I recently completed (now at the Haen Gallery, Asheville) that is another example of a piece that evolved as I worked into something that I didn’t originally envision for it.

This 20″ by 30″ canvas was started at the end of 2009 and I thought at first that it would be a piece with my typical Red Tree at the front of the picture plane.  But as I painted, the composition began to shift and where I thought the tree might be n longer seemed feasible.  It would be awkward and out of rhythm.  I had painted myself out of what I had first imagined. 

And I couldn’t see where it would go from there.  No matter how I looked at it, I couldn’t see where it could possibly go.  I liked very much what I had painted thus far.  The layers of earth were sharp and organic in feel.  The color was right on– rich and complex with many layers.  But it seemed to have reached a dead-end.

So it sat for a long time.  About nine monthes. I would look and look at it yet it stumped me.  It was a puzzle and I couldn’t figure out a solution.

But one day I took the canvas from where it had been sitting, just to the right of my work table.  I began to see an answer to the question and began to work feverishly on the background and the sky, adding the water, tree and sun.  I changed the whole focus of the piece and began to see it come it together.  It could work and,  in the end, it did work for me.  It went from being a conunmdrum to being what I see as a strong and bold piece.

It just took a little time for the answers to come to light.  The title of the piece is, by the way, Come To Light.

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Sweet Home Helsinki

Posted in Neat Stuff, Video, tagged on September 15, 2010| Leave a Comment »

I was feeling like something light and perhaps musical this morning when I came across this.

The Leningrad Cowboys.  From Finland.

With the Russian Red Army Ensemble and Choir.

Singing “Sweet Home Alabama.”

What could be better?

The Leningrad Cowboys are actually a sort of Spinal Tap-like creation that starred in a couple of Finnish films a number of years back and evolved into a real band.  Of sorts.  Whatever the case, it’s fun to watch.  Where can I get some of those shoes?

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Off the Coast

Posted in Neat Stuff, tagged , on September 14, 2010| 1 Comment »

Another one of the interesting things that came from Saturday’s talk at the Principle Gallery was a photo that was given to me by one of the audience members.  After the talk a young man named Nathan approached me and told me he had been on a boat off the coast of Venezuela when he saw this sight.  He immediately thought that this was one of my trees and snapped a shot with the disposable camera he had at hand. 

I’m glad he did.

I’ve always maintained that the locales of my landscapes are imagined.  It’s really interesting to see a photo that shows that there are trees and places like those represented in my work, that they are possible.  I wonder if there’s room on that tiny island for me?

Thanks for the photo, Nathan.

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Greed

Posted in Opinion, tagged on September 13, 2010| 4 Comments »

Earth provides enough to satisfy every man’s need, but not every man’s greed.

——Mahatma Gandhi

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There was another thing that Styx said to me at the Cracker Barrel restaurant the other day that surprised me.  He asked if I had seen an interview with  Stephen Hawking where Hawking had said that man’s existence on Earth was doomed because of his greed. 

“Ain’t that the truth!’ he had exclaimed in that Virginian  country twang.   Maybe I was surprised to hear the Hawking reference or just the thought about greed which pretty much jibed with my own.  Whatever, it made me think this morning.

Throughout history, from the Greeks onward, we have been warned of the dangers of our own greed.  It has been the cause of most if not all wars and many of the great injustices of history.  Our history of slavery here in the US was the result of greed. 

Yet, greed never ceases, never slows a bit in our species.  We fail to see it in ourselves, blinded by our own rationalizations about our perceived need for more and more.  I remember at the height of the financial disaster of 2008, hearing an interview with an anonymous hedge fund trader.  Just a trader and not a manager, he was pulling in about $10 million a year.  Had been making it for quite a few years.  He said he had more money now than he could spend, perhaps for all the rest of his life.  But when asked if it was enough, he very coldly answered that no, it was not.  He needed more money.

That interview scared me more than all the other revelations about the abuses in the financial world that were coming out every day at the time.  It wasn’t an action that could be simply corrected but an entrenched mindset, one filled with a greed that can’t be swayed and one that trumps all virtue.  It was a mindset that took the human need to better one’s self to the furthest most extreme excess.  And we had started to accept this mindset as the norm. 

The “greed is good” mantra of Gordon Gecko had become gospel.  I’ll get mine and damn the consequences.

Think about it.  What awful thing hasn’t been the result of greed of some sort?   And what are we doing to avert this tidal wave of greed that is swallowing us whole?

Nothing.  If you aren’t grabbing all you can, you’re considered a sucker and if you try to do something about other’s lust for more, you’re considered anti-capitalist.  Socialist. Commie.

There has to be  middle ground somewhere, where common sense and moderation prevails.  Where it is and how to get there, I haven’t a clue except to try to keep my wants to a minimum and savor what I do have.  My grass is green enough here on my side of the fence, thank you.

Thanks for the thought provocation, Styx. 

 

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Fortunate One

Posted in Biographical, tagged on September 12, 2010| 1 Comment »

Yesterday was a fortunate day.

It started with a reminder of my own good fortune in this world.  Early in the morning, I stopped at a restaurant in the Staunton, VA area.  I was craving pancakes.  I made my way to a table to drink my coffee and quietly read my newsapaper.  As I sat, a short balding middle-aged man with a thick gray-white beard hobbled by on crutches to sit three or four tables away.  He sat facing me.

We both ordered and after a bit, as I read the paper.  I heard a voice  directed at me.  It was the man.  His voice  had that southern Virginia twang in a heavy dose.

“You hear if that crazy preacher’s gonna burn those books?”

At first, I dreaded the thought of getting in a public conversation, especially one that started with a question about anything to do with religion.  So I shrugged that I didn’t know and hoped that be the end of it but he persisted, saying that we all just got to get along together.  Finally, his good-natured voice got the better of me and we began talking across the tables.  I ended up taking my pancakes to his table to better hear his story.

He was called Styx for the crutches (sticks) that had been his companion his whole life as a result of cerebral palsy.  He was born prematurely and had weighed less than a pound at birth.  He had a tough childhood and ended up on his own at age 12.  He had  problems as a teen that ended up in trouble with the law ( “I wasn’t like president Clinton.  I smoked pot and, man, did I inhale!”) and a mention of some time spent behind bars.  He had been through 39 surgeries as a result of his affliction and a number of speed-related car crashes (“They had to cut me out of my car four different times”), leaving his witht he claim that he should have been dead at least seven different times in his life.

Yet, through this all,  he kept an upbeat spirit, speaking of his work and his ailing wife.  He did custom car interiors and obviously loved his work and family.  He said that there had been times when he had wished he could walk without the sticks but looking back, he wouldn’t trade his life.  He was a good man with a good outlook and as I left with his business card, I felt I was really fortunate both for having met him and for the relative ease of my own life.  I was glad he had pulled me from my breakfast shell.

A bit later, as I sped along, getting my kicks on Route 66 going into the DC area I came around a bend in the road.  I looked down at the speedometer to see I was going over 80 and as my eyes came back to the road there he was.  A Virginia state trooper.  He had me dead to rights and pulled me over within a very short distance.  I knew I was wrong and was going to take my medicine so when he came to the window, I had my papers at the ready and when he asked how fast I thought I was going I told the truth.  He smiled and said that my speedo must be off a few clicks because he had me at 79 MPH.  He asked where I was going and why I was going there.  Then he calmly handed back my license and asked me to do him a favor and slow down.  And have a good day.

As he walked back to the cruiser, I thought that this really was a good day.  Maybe it was the fact that it was September 11 and it was beautiful sun-filled day that made the trooper be so kind to me.  I don’t know.  I just felt fortunate once more.

So I drove– much more slowly– into Alexandria where I was giving a gallery talk at the Principle Gallery.  There was  a great turnout for the talk and the audience was wonderful and fully engaged, making my job very easy.  They asked insightful questions and we established a nice dialogue,  the talk ending at a point when I had said enough but hadn’t started testing their will to be there.  As I left the gallery later, I commented that I was so fortunate to have the folks who collect my work.  As a group, they collect the work for all ther right reasons– for the relationship they establish with the work itself and for how it makes them feel.  Their’s is not conspicuous consumption.  It is the opposite.  They obtain the work for themselves alone, not to impress others or to make a public statement about their taste.

They are the best. 

I thought about that as I headed north towards the comfort of home.  Once again on this day, I was reminded of how fortunate I truly was.  What a wonderful thought for a beautiful day in September.  Thanks to everyone who allowed me to feel this way.

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Road to Nowhere

Posted in Video, tagged on September 11, 2010| Leave a Comment »

I have a gallery talk today at 1 PM at the Principle Gallery, so I’m probably on the road at the moment.  I spend some time trying to think of something interesting to talk about and hope that when I’m standing there, in front of a group, it doesn’t completely fly away before I can remember it.  Don’t want a Jan Brewer-at-the- debate moment.

Anyway, I’ll be there with a few surprises.  For now, I’m driving  so here’s some Talking Heads from about 25 years back.  Hard to think of this as a “Golden Oldie”!

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