I had this great idea after posting on Victoria's Horse Wisdom site.

Follow her example and make a post about my work space. Hers' is

serene, mine chaos. I thought what a great counterpoint. So, of 

course the blogging demon has been screwing with my attempts to 

post. I just hope this is the last time I'm going to reconstruct this

train of thought. My studio-just a computer and a window to

stare out of. A printer, scanner, a slide to digital converter and 

a chair. But, I'm out of control in the picking up after projects

department. Just scroll down and you will see that all is not 

serene with the guy who loves a great zen meditation.

Now, the table is an heirloom.  Made by my great-great

grandfather. Passed down and restored when my son and I 

stripped the original finish which turned very soft in the 

summer humidity and exposed the wonderful chestnut

underneath. But, I confess when I run out of space I

turn to the dining room table. This time to make a quick 

sign for a friend. I can't paint letters to save my life.

My shop is no better-total chaos after two back to back

projects; there is no time to clean and pick up.

A further example of my lack of discipline, the basement.

I haven't picked up my workspace here since getting ready 

for the art fair. This is the area I use for matting and shrink-wrapping.

Falling Monks

Yes there are falling leaves and there are falling Monks.  In Zen tradition

 there are many Monks who fail to understand. I only pick upon 

this due to my commitment to understand the differences in religious 

traditions.   

Maze

First off - Thanks to everyone for holding my hand through my own hand wringing

of late.  "Art Contemplations" took a back seat for awhile.  I was wrestling with

some thorny personal preferences.  I should know better.  I've made the decisions

that place me here and now.  I pursued art; gave up on it once and am back for 

a second round.  Trouble is, these rounds last years.  If you have followed this blog

for awhile you must realize my infatuation with Zen koans.  Of late my life 

seems to encompass "The great way is not difficult if you just don't pick and

choose." (Sengcan)  It's difficult to accept where you are, especially if it's 

not where you want to be.  If I look back, I realize I am here.  Everything

leads to this place. Every decision from the time I was able to make decisions.

I link to Horse Wisdom  because whether we are talking horses, art or life; we 

are speaking about a mindful life - full of the unexpected - full of love.

My work today is far removed from this picture.  This is an installation piece

where I created  a maze to follow to the main gallery.   Thank you for curators

who are open to the new. I need to find a few more.

Over the Top

So how did it go you ask?  Was it worthwhile?  I'm not  sure.

The set up went well and I had a location that was near the entrance.

I was next to one of our towns treasures - Elizabeth Sennentt. (sorry no web presence)  Gorgeous works in oil and watercolor - a local legend and a very gratuitous 

woman.  I didn't sell a single piece.  Yet, I have this nice third place ribbon and

a check for $50.  I had so many people pass asking how these images were 

produced and after explaining - there was still - is that possible look.   Why

should I be afraid?  I've spent eight years learning Photoshop, plus I still 

continue my sumi-e and other traditional techniques.  We went from the 

60's yesterday to over 90 and humid today.  K and I are melted. Time for

some extreme iced wine.

This is my set up.  Praise be to having worked as a framer for so many years.  If I

 had to pay someone to frame all this stuff I'd be in deep crap.  I've been framing,

cutting mats, shrink wrapping and generally not sleeping for the last couple of weeks.  I'm not 

sure if this will pay off, but todays experience was positive.  Even people I'm 

friends with were amazed with the depth of my work (frankly some were unaware

of what I'm up to)  Yieks - I'm so bad at marketing.  The big bright side was my

friend Teri  coming over last night to share some wine and distract K and I for an hour.

• 
  
• The piece that caught the judge's eye was my work 'Meltdown' : I don't 
  
• think I've published this on my blog to date.  I use elements of this 
  
• piece as my logo in the blog world.  The piece derives from a difficult
  
• period in my art life.  Art life - what is that?  Thats the point where
  
•  art can't possibly pay bills and all the nay sayers are pointing fingers
  
• at your decisions.  It was a period in NYC that Karen and I lost three
  
• great artist friends within a year.  Leukemia, heroin overdose and a 
  
• highway fatality.  Yes, NYC seems the art capitol of the world, but we
  
• had to retreat - too much pain.  My piece 'Meltdown' remains a 
  
• reflection on these emotions.
  

I can't wait until next Saturday - My Art Fair debut.  I've been scrambling.  I thought I had a fair number of works framed, but of course I needed twice to make a display.  Then I thought people may not be interested in framed work. So I started to just mat and shrink wrap. I thought the worst years of my life were spent at Brewster Gallery in NYC as the framer, but now I'm cutting my own mats and building my own frames.  So, you never know.  Despite my initial reservations, this seems to be a good exercise. Yet I have one mental obstacle.  Help me think this though.  It concerns limited editions.  On the one hand these types of shows demand limited editions if you are in the "graphics" media - yet digital imagery is new enough to wonder if an artist should limit his/her best efforts to an edition of 100 or whatever.  Plus - you will see elements of my art repeating in works in years to come.  The way I work is to compile a digital library of sky, textures, plants, people, writing and everything I can imagine.  I combine these, and if you compare the works you will see similar elements reappear.  So any comments on the idea of limited edition prints?

May Madness

Oh dear! Oh dear!  I shall be too late!  Yes, I'm feeling a little like 

the White Rabbit from Alice in Wonderland.  So much to do

and so little time.  I realized this morning that a whole week

has passed since I last blogged. (forgive me father for I have 

sinned?)  Oh well, by the end of this month I'll probably resemble

the other rabbit in Alice's story, the March Hare or sometimes 

referred to as the Mad March Hare from the tea party.  I'm 

not quite sure why March is mad, to me things seem particularly

unreal every May.  Probably because our gardens need so much

attention plus the various groups we volunteer for all seem to

love May for some endeavor or another.  Plus throw in a job, well

at least I know I'm not alone.   In any event, the image I'm

presenting is another of my 'Reflection' series.  I keep adding

to this group if I'm lucky enough to first remember to keep the

camera handy, then have the good fortune to stumble across the

 right light and reflection.

Thank You

My last post had some great comments by some people doing 

great art.  Art that I respect, otherwise I wouldn't return to their blogs.

I think that now that I have gone ahead and signed up for a few shows,

I'll just let it play out for what it is.  I've have to lay out some cash

for tent and display system but I'll try to live up to Sarahs expectation

that I'll do a good job - Get some contacts, sell a few, perhaps uplift

my marketing brain. Already, I'm printing, matting, cutting frames,

creating a new biography. This might be a journey that reminds me

why I hate art fairs.  For now I'll go with it this summer and see if 

it leads to a more promising land.  I'm posting an older work created

four years ago.  The strange thing about this is that I have used digital

pieces of this work to create others

Sleepless

This always happens when I become my worst enemy.  Sleepless

in Connecticut.  I've always hated art fairs but I've decided to do

several this summer.  I've been to a number of them and want to

shove my finger down my throat. The work seems all the same,

boats and flowers and beach scenes.  All very nice, but not the 

kind of art that inspires me.  But the artists do seem to be selling

some work.  I really need to be selling more.  Exact same problem when

I lived in NYC for ten years after grad school.  I'm an artist but don't 

have a clue on how to really market what I produce.  I'm probably

on another fools mission  Damn, I really need to make the transition

from woodworker back to artist. Plus find some success, humor and grace.

 

Rock Art

One of the art fascinations I have concerns rock art; whether petroglyphs

 pictographs, assemblages etc.  The idea of the artist working rock to

record, evoke magic or express is a powerful stimulation.  Mostly

we don't know the why of the creation; in many instances the artist 

and his/her culture has faded.  We are left with a mystery and speculation.

I decided to create my own petroglyph after taking some photos of rock

formations overlooking the Connecticut river.  I combined one of those 

images with a photo of old machinery that I reduced to line drawings.

I hope there is some magic in deciphering the image.  I printed this on

13x19 Canon Photo Pro paper.

Koan

Sometimes, I throw self portraiture into the mix.  What is it like to put your work 

on display?  Artists open up and lay down plenty of emotions that many people

bottle up.  I think our audience likes to distance themselves and perhaps prefers 

to view this on a canvas as a way of expressing themselves when they display

 our works.  My photo here is something I shot when contemplating a Zen koan. I still 

haven't thought of a way to bring this image to a final concept.  Any suggestions? 

"Master Xiangyan said, suppose someone is up in a tree, holding on to the branches

by his teeth, his hands without a grip on a limb, his feet without a toehold on the 

trunk.  Someone under the tree asks about the meaning of Zen.  If he does not 

answer, he is avoiding the question; but but if he answers, he loses his life.  At 

just such a time , how would you reply?"