Ixchel

Ixchel or as I call her 'my wife Karen' has been a little  distracted

from her current project.  I know this is very strange but Karen

is a true Goddess that indeed weaves the universe of many souls.

While I spend my time making cabinetry and art she spends her

day overseeing a state mental health program; on call 24/7 and 

tireless advocate for rights of the mentally incapable, as well as

 those that work in that capacity. I'm surprised she has any effort

at the end of the day; yet she sits down to the loom after work

and works for an hour or so. I'm sure I'll never know exactly

 what is going into this shadow weave; read hard to do, I think

it's weaving the universe. I thought maybe the blog was about 

me, but tonight it's more about art pain.

   

Reflections

I've been working on a new digital series based on reflections.

I've been looking out the kitchen window for years.  Looking at

the pond.  So many reflections, so many sunsets over the 

Connecticut river.

Why have I waited so long to make some reflection art.  It's right 

there in front of me.  

I think we forget to see the beauty in the everyday.  These everydays are printed at

 10.5 x 14 image size.

Wren

Wren on Bamboo : 12" x 19"

Having a hard time deciding what to post.  On one hand I've got this

photoshop collage of men in gas masks ascending a Times square 

subway, but it's two years old; on the other I got a wren perched in bamboo.  

Both nice works.  Just hard to believe that they are produced by the same 

artist. I went with the wren.  We have developed a rather large contingent

of wrens that populate our 1.5 acre plot of earth we call our 'own'.

Well, our usually well stocked bird feeder is the answer.  Complicated

little birds that I can observe at length as a day passes.  I'll return

to the photo collage work soon.  My best advisor, my wife Karen, thinks 

that I shouldn't publish older works, unless relevant to a new. Also, check 

out my friend Sarah - she has posted an interpretation of her children and a niece.  

I'm wondering with the Kids project whether we go off our usual art or keep our

artist eye. Are we sentimental?  Can we project personality? Perhaps

show what hasn't fallen far from the tree?

Son/Sun

After Jafabrit's 3/6 post, I thought I would share my version of 

Karen's and my son. I admit I photoshopped the hell out of him. I was 

thinking that it might be a great blog idea to have artists submit their 

versions of their kids.  Comments?

 

I started with a respectable photo.  It's a few years old and now those dreds

are gone.  Ian is finishing up a productive run at Berklee College of Music.

He's a bass player and a photographer/artist in his own right.  Ian got 

me to start blogging.  Due to his full time work and courses, he posts

infrequently. I did call to get his permission to use him in this post.

Hair Brush

I've only been blogging since the first of '08.  I'm new to 

sharing art online.  At first I was very concerned how

other bloggers would find the blog and what their perception

would be.  Jafrabrits latest post made me realize that I am 

putting myself out there and art is just in the genes.  It's 

after 6 and I haven't had a Frida, Vincent, Hockney 

moment all day.  I did get an email from my nephew

concerning sumi-e and want to share. Who knows

what tonight will bring?

Rooster

Taking a break on this piece.  Well,  it's a study, because I want to add

more elements.  I discovered this rooster on an old Chinese scroll.  I 

love the pose and have been trying to 'copy'  or reinterpret this rooster

in my own style.  I haven't quite thought out what I'm doing with him.

Just thought I'd share a partial composition.

Prisoner

Although my work tends toward digital, my training was in sculpture.

On occasion I return to feature some of these efforts.  Just as I 

return to the brush.  It's an impulse to maintain skills and to 

let each discipline inform the other.  Checks and Balance.

This work, about 2' x 3', features a scroll form with bloodwood

slats framing.  Word heavy, the scroll contains the Buddha's 

fire sermon.  'Everything is burning'.  The frame contains

engraved musings on being a prisoner.  these musings are 

obscured with gold leaf - hard to photo.

I'm still trying to decide whether to include 'hands'.  I constructed

the hands from a wire mesh, covered with paper and painted.

The hands are pierced with pins that have gold leaf attached.

A clawing gesture for the words and against the flimsy string

representing prison bars.

Prisoner

At first I was going to post an iris, another of the four gentlemen but as

I was scrolling through photos, this image caught my eye. 

A captive, a prisoner; I started to think about how we all become 

captives of our own self constructed realities.  While I love the digital 

world and believe that is where my creative muse lies; I am so

tuned to ink it brought me back to the brush. A prisoner of tradition.

I'm not sure how long this will last or if it should.  I think I just need

 a balance; perhaps a few days per week that contain brush and the 

remainder in digital.  Balance  

Bamboo

I love painting bamboo.  It's my favorite subject for sumi-e, at least of all

the four gentlemen.  The background looks a little mottled.  I happened

to experiment with a paper I usually reserve for woodcut; Gampi 

off white, that I found through McClains. It seems to photograph

that way because of the buff character of the paper.  Sometimes I

know that I'm back on track with this water/ink art by the sound

of brush on paper.  There seems to be a sweet sound when the paper

is accepting of the brush.  When an artist gets into that sweet spot it 

really seems like the paper is drawing nourishment from the brush.

Plum Blossom

It's hard to shift gears.  I finally came up with two additional digital

prints to add to my Winter series.  I'll post these soon.  In the meantime

I've switched gears a bit.  I've been viewing Laura's watercolors

lately and realized I've been neglecting sumi-e.  Time to get back

 in the saddle; but not so easy.  The ink drawings are coming

with great difficulty after so little practice over the last several weeks.

The subjects I wanted to work on just weren't coming and most

attempts ended in the trash.  In desperation I decided to return

to the 'Four Gentlemen'.  These are four traditional subjects that 

contain the brush loading and strokes that are fundamental to

more complex compositions.  The four gentlemen are plant forms.

Orchid, bamboo, chrysanthemum and plum blossom.  It is claimed that 

one can spend a lifetime on these forms.   The plants define the 

seasons. The orchid is spring, bamboo is summer, chrysanthemum

is fall, and plum blossom is winter.  I have finally fallen into working 

on plum blossoms.  First harbingers of spring.