on the road

This one started as a landscape with a road.  Sometimes I think of compositions like this as snapshots......the red figure is somewhat different than the others which are more nondescript.  Later today I will continue with the yellow road theme......post them tomorrow.

I think I need to push the background back further.......I will try to add white to sit this stuff back.  I am thinking of creating some kind of narrative between the characters.......hoping this will happen organically.

This print is from yesterday evening........

These 2 are from this morning.  I am not sure if they are as strong as the one from yesterday.......I think perhaps these are repeating familiar territory.

There is a lesson to learn from this I guess.........once you get to a certain sophistication it is hard to figure out where to go next.......I do not want to stifle or contstrain the imagery.......

Friendship?

When do we really understand the meaning of our lives?  Is it at the moment of death, when all the truths are revealed to us and we finally comprehend all of our decisions?  I am sitting at the computer and just saw two morning doves side by side on a branch.......didn't last long, they both flew off in different directions.  For a moment they were friends.....side by side......

outdoors indoors

 These two images were created yesterday and this morning.  They are made on Arches 88 large sheet size........30"x40".  The larger paper size inspired me to create space first, figures second. The top image is an interior space.  The piece below takes the central figure outdoors..........here I wanted to push the figure forward and create an opposing background like construction to offset the portal at right.  It is a challenge in that I have to print before the paint drys in that I do not have a press to work with.

I have noticed a definite evolution of this imagery.........have to save some money to get more large paper sheets!

Change......

Originally I had this piece 180 degrees around, but thought the figure on the left floating was more interesting.  Looking at it as I post it I think I could have done more with the color........like flames coming from the wall at left or something.  Makes me think of the horrible fire in Brazil last evening which killed so many.

I watched a piece about WeiWei......the Chinese dissident artist this morning.  The works are about protest of a repressive country and regime.  I admire this type of work, but wonder about its effects.  If you challenge a bully doesn't it harden their positions......the final outcome can only be the survivor of one or the other it seems.

What I am thinking about is changing the psychological perceptions of your opponent through the creation of art instead of provoking their anger.  Art can be subversive in that way, if the context of the repressor is challenged in their own minds, they will be converted organically.  Maybe I am just naive to think this kind of change can be manifest, perhaps the oppressor will use the creative process to further manifest their own justifications for their behavior.......

indoor/outdoor

Today I started with the interior space near a window to begin.  I came up with the two interactive figures, one in red one in leaf greet for contrast.  I think this is another direction which has a lot of narrative possibilities.........interior/exterior as a metaphor for internal contradictions.

todays prints and painting status........

Two new images from this morning...........

Working on this painting today..........after laying in the lights with the yellow pigment I go back through it adding darks......shadows.  Then I will redo the lights with transparent white and let that sit till dry.........then the color layers begin.

Living Trees........

 This piece I was working with the idea of a border, but after printing noticed that the border had the effect of creating perspective to the back of the space.  The objects float in front.........I think this could be a cool thing to explore more on a conscious level..........

 For this one I used 2 pieces of plexi smashed together to create the background texture, an idea suggested by my artist friend Andrea.........it has some similarities to using plastic wrap, but has more movement I think.

For me what I find interesting about this one is that my eye never seems to stay in the same place in the composition for very long........

This one came out of the image above.  I think they both describe some kind of consciousness in organic life forms such as trees.  When I look at these I think of C.S. Lewis' science fiction trilogy and his description of the alien landscape.  I was concerned that the bottom one looks too literal, and tried it in different orientations........but went with this one.........

Jan 23, 2013

10:00 am...........created these 2 this morning..........I am still working on keeping as much paper clear and simplifying the compositions........I think this makes an interesting series so far.  The paper is something I was saving for the next linocut prints and I am not sure which one it is but is very thin. 

 This morning I skyped with my friend Andrea De Sousa Rocha.....it was interesting we were both doing our work and conversing.........usually I am by myself when I work so it was fun for a change.  She suggested placing two pieces of plexiglass with the paint in between to see what kind of effects and textures could be created.  The image below is the result, there is some really cool stuff going on and worth exploring for sure.........thanks Andrea! 

 New ones from this morning.  I am trying to leave white space, this has been an ongoing concern.  I start with a simple pattern background and add movement to the space created.  These pieces are 20"x25".

January 20th........

 These 2 images are 2 states of the same print.  The first one above I thought was a bit flat so I did an overprint with a light color to define the space more.  Usually I would attempt this with a darker color but this time I thought I would go with a light to see how things would move in space. 

My mom passed away this week, I have been thinking a lot about how we live our lives.  I think we live our conscious life as if we are wearing a warm cloak, which is how we see the world.  We define ourselves as religious people, business people, artists, whatever.........that is our cloak.  My thinking is that we should wear this cloak loosely, let some air in, be open to the outside world.  If we hold the cloak too closely we forget how others see the world......and as the cloak tatters cannot let anyone in to hold together the fabric of our lives...........

My mom passed away this week.......Monday evening Jan 14th..........I have been looking at photographs all week of her life and how happy she was, how much joy she had in her life.
She was truly my inspiration.

urban landscapes?

 This is the first print from today.  I did not put enough primer on the plexiglass before inking and some of the paper ripped from the surface.  Argh!  But this kind of thing will happen from time to time and the best thing is to forget it and move on....
The works were inspired by the music of Sugar Riios, a band from Iceland.  It is interesting how music can effect the movements as I paint.....the idea of the grid background came from the beat they set up. 

The second print.......thought I would stay with this concept of the dual grid with figures in front of the space.

two views

Today I thought I would present 2 views of the same image I pulled today.  I think it is interesting how we take something abstract and try to put it into terms we can understand........the ideas of foreground and background, horizon, and sense of top and bottom. 
Just by changing the rotation of the image they become different narrative ideas as well.  The top piece appears to be, to me, a nest of sorts.  The bottom piece involves a force of some sort moving from left to right, pushing the forms forward. 
Also the top piece seems stable, whereas the bottom piece seems to be in motion.

jan 12.......

A late posting for today.......Jan 12th.  I photographed a wedding this afternoon....my other career, great couple in their 70's or so very happy people! 
This drawing was originally sketched in April of 2012 and today I did the vector work.  Trying to develop subtle relationships between the warm and cool colors.......especially the foreground red figure. 

I spent yesterday afternoon going first to PS1 which is part of the Museum of Modern Art in Long Island City.  Some excellent work you would not see otherwise I think.  Then went to openings in Williamsburg Brooklyn. Really nice people there and more accessible than the city for the most part. 
I saw some excellent detailed drawings at Pierogi gallery which I recommend checking out if you are in that neighborhood.  I will start bringing my camera around and post photos from my excursions from now on............

 Two prints today........this one is an overprint of 3 layers on the stone paper.  Not sure if this one got away from me a bit.  I am finding that this process is difficult if you do overprinting and do not have open areas.

This one I think is a bit more successful....This one was the first of the day and thought I would stay with a limited palate.

 Two prints from this afternoon.  Pretty different approaches, I think they are both pretty successful.

This evening I will be in an exhibit in Port Jefferson on Long Island of artists interpreting lucid dreaming.  It will take place at Toast restaurant and exhibition space around 8pm.......

Jan 9, 2013

I interpret this one as a reference to global warming......the ice seems to be on fire......burning.  This has to be in the back of everyone's mind......is this inevitable......seems beyond mans capacity to stop this.......

Todays prints.........on arches 88, 22"x30". 

 First print for today......back on arches 88.......22"x30".......multiple layers..........

This was also an overprint........to darken the background and isolate the swirling figures.  Arches 88 paper. 

Jan 6 monoprints

This was the first print pulled this morning.  The first iteration was the red mass, yellow field and purple band.  I then did a second pass using a gradation from blue to purple wiping out the areas from the first print I wanted to show.
This was printed on glass, and I notice these vertical bands, and small open round areas........I will go back to the plexi........or perhaps work with more pressure to see if these go away.  I am still printing on the paper called mitz terraskin which is make from stone......I would like to find out more about this material, but it is the best for layers I have found so far.

This was todays second print.  Also a two pass image......to deepen the background colors primarily.

Jan 5...painting and printing.

 Started a new painting today.........I have been working on the drawing all week, now started laying in the first color........I do this with yellow oxide and so basic shading......when this is done I will darken shadows and build the forms..........

 First print of the day.....again on that "stone" paper which I have to find out more about.........pretty cool stuff the colors seem to stay on the surface and are pretty vibrant.

This was the last print today.  I struggled at first, then did color layers over a large area cutting back on the circle forms to let them pop out.

This one is very different I think, opens up a lot of possible compositional experiments in the future.

Jan 4, 2013

 Yesterday I went to the Musuem of Modern Art in NYC to see the abstraction show.  This is an excellent presentation, I highly recommend seeing it even if you are familiar with the topic.  Also the free narrator guide was great.

After that I went to Green Street to see ceramics by Lidya Buzio.......check out her work, excellent.

Then I went to one of my favorite places, NY Central art supply, their paper department.  If you have never been there, this is a really cool NYC place, nothing like it.  They have every kind of paper you can imagine, and they really know their stuff.  Also they are emphatic about keeping every sheet pristine which is a level of professionalism I don't see everywhere.

 These prints are made on a paper made of stone.  I like it better than Yupo, the stuff that was a synthetic paper which is more like a plastic sheet. 
These prints are 14"x 22".

Today I took my work down from a store in my town that had shown my work for around 2 years.  I just thought it was time for a change..it was a strange feeling not to see the work there.  I currently have my images in 2 other places, and will get that stuff back in the next couple of weeks. 

These are a couple of the computer drawings I recently finished the vector work on.........

New Years Day

 This was the first day of this painting........working with 3 colors and a bit of white..........

This is the same piece after a bit of work.......mostly today.  I have been using a palate knife and brush and laying the paint on a bit thick.....once the highlights are in I will go with complimentary glazing to bring out the structure a bit. 



Happy new year to you all!  Lets hope this is one of peace.........