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Archive for August, 2019

Next Saturday–Win This Painting!

Posted in Event, Favorite Things, tagged , , on August 10, 2019| 2 Comments »

My annual Gallery Talk at the West End Gallery is a week away. It takes place next Saturday, August 17, beginning at 1 PM. It’s an hour of conversation about art and often much more that comes to an end with what has become a tradition– the drawing for an original painting to awarded to someone in attendance.

I have written in the past about how I sweat over the selection of the paintings for these drawings. I really want these paintings to be meaningful for myself so that it feels like I am actually making a sacrifice in letting go of the piece. To be honest, I have given away paintings in the past that I kind of regret having done so now and wish I had held on to them.

But I know that by giving those paintings away that I cherish, they most likely will have more meaning to those who receive them. And that is important to me.

Take for example the choice I have made to give away next Saturday, shown at the top. It is a painting called Night Oath from 2007. It was shown only once for a short time in a gallery before coming home to me. Never showed it again.

It always felt special to me but I knew that in its original form it was much too dark. It had great color but it didn’t pop off the surface. Over the years I have always planned to rework the painting but something always came up and the painting shuffled from spot to spot in my studio, patiently awaiting its time.

Recently, that time came. I added a lot of light and highlights to the surfaces and was smitten with the finished piece. It was the painting I always thought it should be, so much more vibrant and alive than it was for all those years in waiting.

It deserved to be seen, deserved to be part of someone’s life.

Maybe part of your life.

Next Saturday I will part with it and it will begin a new life somewhere outside my studio. I am excited by the thought that this painting might take on new meaning for someone else. I make my living  and get great gratification in selling my work but the simple act of transferring a meaningful painting in these events is a special moment for me. There’s a certain freedom that comes in letting things go. That may be what defines the spirit of generosity. I don’t know.

Whatever the case, please come on out to the West End Gallery next Saturday, August 17 for the Gallery Talk and a chance to make Night Oath part of your life. Plus, there are some other little surprises so definitely try to make it.The Talk begins at 1 PM and, as I’ve noted before here, try to get there a bit early to get a seat– it fills up pretty quickly! Maybe we can have a pre-Talk chat.

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Place of Sanctuary

Posted in Influences, tagged , , , , , on August 9, 2019| 3 Comments »

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“The whole value of solitude depends upon oneself; it may be a sanctuary or a prison, a haven of repose or a place of punishment, a heaven or a hell, as we ourselves make it.” 

― John Lubbock, Peace and Happiness

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I had never heard of John Lubbock before coming across the short quote above. He was one of those interesting 19th century British characters, a titled member (1st Baron Avebury) of a wealthy banking family who made great contributions to the advancement of the sciences and math as well as to many liberal causes.

For example, it was John Lubbock who coined the terms Paleolithic and Neolithic in describing the Old and New Stone Ages, as well as helping to make archaeology a recognized scientific discipline. As a youth he was a neighbor to Charles Darwin and was heavily influenced by the older scientist, who he befriended. He also worked with Darwin as a young man and championed his evolutionary theories in his later adulthood. He was obviously a man who used his position and access to higher knowledge to add to both his own intellect and that of our our collective body.

That being said, his words this morning gave me pause.

I have generally viewed solitude as a sanctuary, even in the troubled times of my life. It was a place to calm myself, to gather my thoughts and clearly examine what was before me.

I crave solitude so the idea that for some this same solitude could feel like a hell or a prison seemed foreign to me. What differentiates one’s perception of such a basic thing as the solitude in being alone? How could my place of sanctuary be someone else’s chamber of horrors?

If you’re expecting me to answer, you’re going to be disappointed because I can’t really say.  I would say it might have to do with insecurity but I have as much, if not more, uncertainty and insecurity than most people. We all have unique psychological makeups and every situation, including that of solitude, is seen from a unique perspective.

This is also the basis for all art. What else could explain how one person can look at a painting and see an idyllic scene while another can feel uneasy or even offended by the same scene?

Now, the painting at the top, titled A Place of Sanctuary, is a piece that very much reflects this sense of finding haven in solitude. For me, it is calming and centering, a place and time that appeals to my need for sanctuary.

Someone else might see it otherwise. They might see something remote, alien and unsettling in it.

I may not understand it but that’s okay, too. So long as they feel something…

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This post originally ran in 2018. The painting, A Place of Sanctuary, is currently on view at the West End Gallery as part of my solo exhibit, Moments and Color, which runs until August 30.

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Coming Up Fast! Icons & Exiles

Posted in Early Paintings, Event, tagged , , , , , , , , , on August 8, 2019| Leave a Comment »

I briefly mentioned a few weeks back, in a post about the discovery of some lost work in my crumbling old studio, that I was preparing some work for a small solo show at a public space in western New York, out near the shores of Lake Erie. Well, here’s a little more on that show.

Patterson Library, Westfield, NY

The show takes place at the Octagon Art Gallery located in the historic and beautiful Patterson Library in Westfield, NY, which is a village in Chautauqua County, not far from the well known lake with the same name and its famous Chautauqua Institution. It’s an area known for its vineyards filled with the Concord grapes that have been made into Welch’s Grape Juice at a plant there since 1897.

Exiles: Cain 1995

The library is a gorgeous Beaux Arts structure from the early 20th century and the gallery is, as its name implies, a large octagon shaped space. When I first agreed to this show last year, I wasn’t overly thrilled about doing a small show in a distant library. But visiting the space changed my mind. It’s a great space and environment with a history of some very fine exhibitions. I began to see it as an opportunity to display the work from some earlier series that have seldom, if ever, been displayed. There is a large group of pieces from my very early Exiles series, several from my later Outlaws series, and all my ancestral Icons from 2016 along with a number of other anomalies that I feel fit into place with these guys. There will also be a few examples of my trademark work as anchors.

The show is called Icons & Exiles and it opens Friday, August 23 and is on display there until September 20. There is an opening reception on the evening of Friday, August 23,that runs from 7-9 PM. There will be an Art Talk in support of the show on Thursday, September 12 beginning at 6 PM.

I’m actually kind of excited for this show now. It will be great to see these pieces fully presented together for the first time. So, if you find yourself out in Western NY near the shores of Lake Erie, stop in and take a look. I think it will be an interesting show.

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Bazonka

Posted in Favorite Things, Poetry, tagged , , on August 7, 2019| 3 Comments »

Hard to believe I’ve been doing this blog for nearly eleven years now. It’s just part of what I do now so I don’t really think about it much. I was going over some stats from the site and found that the entry below from ten years back, in late August of 2009, has the most views of any single post, well over a hundred thousand hits. It’s a silly bit of verse from the late British-Irish comedian Spike Milligan called Bazonka.

In a world where everyone is trying to tell you what you should do, saying Bazonka might not be the worst advice you’ll get today. So, let me be the first to say it. Bazonka!

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BAZONKA

Say Bazonka every day
That’s what my grandma used to say
It keeps at bay the Asian Flu’
And both your elbows free from glue.
So say Bazonka every day
(That’s what my grandma used to say)

Don’t say it if your socks are dry!
Or when the sun is in your eye!
Never say it in the dark
(The word you see emits a spark)
Only say it in the day
(That’s what my grandma used to say)

Young Tiny Tim took her advice
He said it once, he said it twice
he said it till the day he died
And even after that he tried
To say Bazonka! every day
Just like my grandma used to say.

Now folks around declare it’s true
That every night at half past two
If you’ll stand upon your head
And shout Bazonka! from your bed
You’ll hear the word as clear as day
Just like my grandma used to say! 

— Spike Milligan

 

 

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The Gallery Talk is Coming!!!

Posted in Event, tagged , , , on August 6, 2019| Leave a Comment »

Hey, my annual Gallery Talk at the West End Gallery in Corning is coming up in less than two weeks! It begins at 1 PM on Saturday, August 17 in the well known Gaffer District gallery that has shown my work for going on 25 years.

If past Gallery Talks are any indicator, this could be fun. There’s a lot to talk about this year with the new Multitudes series hanging in the gallery and other new work in the Moments and Color show. Or we can talk about whatever is on your mind. There’s usually a quick paced conversation with a lot of back and forth between those in attendance and myself. So come armed with questions and don’t be afraid to speak up.

And, of course, there are PRIZES. If you’ve come to my talks in the past, you know that I am not above bribing you to come to this talk. That being said, I am prepared once more to offer a multitude of prizes including a chance to win an original painting of mine. I am currently in the process of picking out a suitable painting to be The One Grand Prize.  I haven’t settled on The One yet but rest assured, it will be a worthy choice.

Stay tuned to see which painting will be The One.

So, mark your calendars and get down to the West End Gallery on Saturday, August 17, at 1 PM. Actually, get there a bit early to claim your seat– it fills up very quickly! Maybe we’ll even get to have a Pre-Talk Chat. I think that’s a real thing.

It’ll be fun, I promise!

Hope you can make it.

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Revolver

Posted in Favorite Things, Music, tagged , , on August 5, 2019| 6 Comments »

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Each day just goes so fast

I turn around, it’s past

You don’t get time to hang a sign on me

 

Love me while you can

Before I’m a dead old man

 

–Beatles, Love You To

 

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Running late but wanted to share this little bit. On this date, August 5, back in 1966, a favorite album of mine, the groundbreaking Revolver from the Beatles, was released. With its daring technical innovations, it set the tone for pop and rock music then, bringing the psychedelic era to the wider audience of pop music. It was like they kicked their machine into a higher gear that challenged every other musician to follow them.

It’s good stuff.

I have quite a few favorites on this album but the two that jump out at me are Tomorrow Never Knows and Love You To, both heavily influenced by George Harrison‘s affinity for the music and rhythms of India. I’ve never played Love You To here and thought today would be appropriate.

Give a listen and have a decent day.

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Darkness Continued/ 29 in 13 Hours

Posted in Current Events, Music, Opinion on August 4, 2019| 3 Comments »

13 hours yesterday. 29 dead.

You don’t have to be a psychic to see that this was coming.

No, any thinking, feeling person with a lick of sense and their eyes open could see this.

Let’s see, we have:

A nation that was built on immigration based on the lure of opportunity, religious and political freedom for all.

An almost unlimited access to every known type of firearm, protected by a wealthy lobby ( propped up in recent years by an influx of foreign money) that seeks to sell more and more weapons with even fewer restrictions. They have bought the silence of lawmakers for decades.

A growing white supremacy movement that, according to the FBI in a report from over a decade ago, has infiltrated local law enforcement agencies throughout the nation. The vast majority of acts of domestic terrorism in this country come from white supremacists.

An economy that is becoming more and more unbalanced. Wage growth for the lower and middle classes has been sluggish at best while there has been tremendous increase in wealth for the the higher end. The poor are getting poorer and the rich getting richer.

An online social media culture that allows people to live in insular bubbles that allow their worst inclination to fester unabated. It is a world often filled with paranoia, conspiracy and unfettered hatred.

A president** who uses the rhetoric of racism on a level never seen in this nation. I believe, based on thirty plus years of evidence, that he is racist but it doesn’t matter at this point. Either he is a racist or he isn’t and is using racism as a divisive political tool to maintain power. Both are equally repugnant and evil as well as being disqualifying for him as the leader of this nation.

He uses racism that plays to the sense of grievance that resides in much of the less affluent, less educated white population of his base, putting the blame for the shortcomings in these people’s lives squarely on the shoulders of “the others.” The way they see it, they are poor because every job that should be their’s is being stolen by an immigrant. They’re afraid because they believe black people want to rob and assault them while murderous latino gangs run wild on every street. They see every person of Middle Eastern descent as seeking to destroy the white nation they love so that sharia law can be established here. White opioid abusers in poor states are victims in their eyes who need help while black drug users in cities are criminals who deserve severe legal punishment.

I am going to leave it right there. I could go on but what does it do? Yesterday, we had 29 dead in two separate shootings in El Paso and Dayton within 13 hours. Unsurprisingly, the El Paso shooter is linked with white supremacy. Don’t know about the Dayton assailant yet. Though in body armor, he was killed by the police within a minute of the beginning of his killing spree. Yet, with a military style weapon, he still managed to kill 9 people in that short time.

I’d like to be optimistic here but I am afraid that we’re in for a lot more of this, folks. These young white males who feel they are somehow being screwed over by “the others” and are entitled to lash out at the world with violence are not going away anytime soon. They have the weapons, they have someone to blame, they have a community online that endorses their hatred, and they have a person at the helm of the most powerful country in the world who will never speak out against them, someone who will actually seek to rationalize away their deadly actions so that the blood doesn’t show on his tiny, spray tanned hands.

I wish I had answers. I do know that there are none on the horizon so long as we keep electing spineless, amoral slugs who only seek to help their biggest donors and themselves. We want courage and boldness in our leaders but when it is shown, we often seek to destroy those people because if they succeed, we might have to actually address the problems we face. So we settle for the mindless twats we have and the downward spiral they have enabled.

At some point, it has to come to a reckoning. What will it take before we rise up and demand a different outcome?

So, here’s my song for this Sunday. Fitting the day, it is I See a Darkness from Bonnie “Prince” Billy. I have played Johnny Cash’s cover of this song here before but the original feels right today.

On a dark day, I have no more thoughts and prayers to share. I used them up long ago.

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Saints and Sinners

Posted in Quote, Recent Paintings, tagged , , , , , on August 2, 2019| 2 Comments »

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The wind is blowing; those vessels whose sails are unfurled catch it, and go forward on their way, but those which have their sails furled do not catch the wind. Is that the fault of the wind? Is it the fault of the merciful Father, whose wind of mercy is blowing without ceasing, day and night, whose mercy knows no decay, is it His fault that some of us are happy and some unhappy? We make our own destiny. His sun shines for the weak as well as for the strong. His wind blows for saint and sinner alike. He is the Lord of all, the Father of all, merciful, and impartial.

–Swami Vivekananda

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This new painting in my Multitudes series is a 36″ by 24″ canvas and is titled Saints and Sinners. It’s headed out to the West End Gallery this weekend to be part of my solo show, Moments and Color, that hangs there until the end of August.

I came across the words above today from Swami Vivekananda, a 19th century Hindu monk/mystic, and they seemed an appropriate fit for this painting. Looking at this piece, the faces seem to form a sail of sorts, something I hadn’t noticed before this morning.

The imagery of our lives as being boats appeals to me. Like sailors on boats, our decisions set our course. Two boats on the same body of water may react differently on the water due to the actions of the sailor aboard each. Sometimes these are small and subtle actions. Similarly, the differences between the saint and the sinner are often small and subtle.

The saint may let go of anger where the sinner holds fast to it. The saint may see hope where the sinner sees despair. The saint may give mercy where the sinner might seek vengeance. The saint bears responsibility for their own decisions while the sinner places the blame on others for their own mistakes.

Written down, the differences seem greater than they do to the eye. The saint and the sinner may be indistinguishable at first glance. And maybe that is as it should be. We have the possibility of each– saint and sinner– within us. We have all made bad decisions but we live with the hope that we may make better ones in the future.

Like Oscar Wilde said: Every saint has a past, and every sinner has a future.

Or in the words of Nelson Mandela: I am not a saint, unless you think of a saint as a sinner who keeps on trying.

Or maybe there are neither saints nor sinners. Just simple sailors in boats, some running fast and some foundering in their wake.

Hope you’ll stop out and see this new piece.

You can see it if you come to my Gallery Talk at the West End Gallery on Saturday, August 17, beginning at 1 PM. I’m sure it will be part of he discussion and maybe you’ll take home a prize! Details coming soon!

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A Little Shore Leave

Posted in Favorite Things, Music, Painting, tagged , , , , on August 1, 2019| 2 Comments »

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and i had a cold one at the dragon
with some filipino floor show
and talked baseball with a lieutenant
over a singapore sling
and i wondered how the same moon outside
over this chinatown fair
could look down on illinois
and find you there

–Tom Waits, Shore Leave

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I have things to do today so I will keep this short. I just wanted to share the painting above, Navigator, that is part of my show, Moments and Color, that is hanging at the West End Gallery, along with an old favorite of mine, Shore Leave, from Tom Waits. They seem to go together well. I think the moon in the painting could very well be the same moon in the song. Okay, I know that it obviously would be the same moon since we only know our one moon. But I am talking metaphorically here, about it being in a particular moment in time and space.

Oh, forget it. I am off to work and wish you a good day.

 

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