Eclectic Ink interview...........

I was interviewed for Eclectic Ink web magazine........this is the link........
http://www.freewebs.com/eclecticink/visualarts.htm

this is a small wood panel I have been working on this week......I have been thinking a lot about transition shadow colors off of the primary area color.......whether to use complimentary colors......mainly how to get the darks right while making the transitions seem natural. 

RGB

I went with primary colors on this one.....going back to basics a bit.........

Check out the musical group NI&Co

two images this morning.....the idea was to overprint as I did yesterday.......but liked the top image by itself so I left it alone (still thinking about overprinting it acutally.....) then used the ghost green for the basis of the second image....

this is a small piece (5x6 inches) on wood panel that I completed yesterday.......

I want to pass on a great musical event I saw last night........NI&Co Ensemble from Lithuania performed in Huntington last evening.  this is the link to one of their videos on youtube........http://youtu.be/lsYrTpvSse4

Amazing musicians....really if you have read this so far check it out you will not be disappointed.  They are performing at Spectrum in NYC this evening.

Overprinting with yellow......

The first run on this was the cool red area..I thought I would leave a lot of white space as the final print on this....afterword decided to overprint with another color......usually I would have covered the entire image with a color field and let the red figure meld into the background. I saw this kind of overprint blending thing happening and went with, lightly covering the first figure and then going with the initial inking on the plate for the yellow form

two am.......

two am...............

Small prints.......

I am working on a series of small prints.....

off kilter.

This is a strange print for me I think.......the composition is totally "off"......it bothers me for some reason, but I am going to leave it as is..........

 second one this morning......

October 24, 2013

Many layers on this one........then went with the black to bring it back into some kind of focus......I wanted to give up on this one lots of times.....stuck with it though and I think I resolved it OK..........

Pragmatic Minimalism

I have been working with this idea of minimal lines......it is a pretty interesting process...originally I was just going to have the figures at the bottom with white space above.  but then I began modifying the forms at the bottom by breaking up the lines.  The idea of the light blue line followed, then the offset of the yellow

Last night I saw a film about someone who was transformed by unconditional love.  I think that once the basic parameters of food and shelter and all that requires are met then the higher ideals can be sought.  Theren lies my inherent pragmatism.

 second one from today........

october21 2013

So I am thinking about what our contemporary social contract looks like......

what are the parameters of our interrelationships?  Seems to me we are trying to balance our inherent distrust and cynicism (perhaps this is just me projecting) with an optimism that the negative survival characteristics are countered by our compassion and hope to get along.
so the basic rule is to trust, go forward, but do not get taken, play hardball where necessary, and kind of hope there is some higher purpose somewhere in the background to make it all worth while.......

insecure people need power to control others, thereby securing their security....ugh, I know this needs work. but it shows a lot about how our cultural pecking order seems to work.  or am I wrong and excellent people run things and create environments of trust with people and everything flourishes in peace and harmony.

this is what I would like to find, for sure, and have been thinking about major fundimental changes in the way I live and work. 

Catching up......

Wouldn't it be great to go out somewhere and the next day not say to yourself.....man I should have just kept my mouth shut?

Well anyway.........

This was yesterday's second print......

Again thinking how I can change things up.......the art making is going well, but in terms of everything else in life I am at a bit of a standstill, like a glacier waiting for global warming to save me.........

19 October 13

October 19th........last night had an art salon at my house, pretty nice event, lots of artists talking about their work and what is important to them about why they create...
Started work really early today so I was just able to make todays print just now.......I have to think about this one for a bit..............

The Sculptor

Second day of monochromatic prints........its an interesting form.......I really want to add color and have to restrain my instincts.  I am using the edge of a card to move the brushstrokes created with a foam brush to get this feel.  I used 3 grey tones and the black.

This is an oil I completed a couple of days ago......it is 6"x30"......on a wood panel.  I am working on traditional gesso which is made of chalk, pigment, and glue, using 1, 0 and 2 soft brushes for delicate lines.

blackandwhite

The idea here was to emulate Banksy using black and white and lots of white space around the figures (this is a grafitti artist in NY who is very popular right now).....of course this has a life of its own I think, and is an interesting concept to pursue.  I am using the edge of a plastic card to move the ink around........

 second print from today.......

Oct 16

October 16th......bad cold this week...ugh....

October 15

october 15, 2013

Hipness will have to wait

So it seems these 2 are having a conversation......and the pink thing above is a dialog cloud.......

feel free to post your interpretations of their conversation.........

Mine is..........

"Hipness will have to wait"....."no need, I am right here!".

Sleep.

Last evening I went to a play about really horrible people doing really horrible things to an innocent person.  Part one of 3 acts, I decided to go home.......after a long day of work I just did not have it in me to watch any more.  Then put on the TV to scroll through at least a dozen shows of horrible people doing horrible things, and those that try to find or punish or prevent horrible things........shut off the tv.
Went to bed.  Dreams of a big brother government watching every move.......the price of any kind of protest......
I wonder if this kind of negativity everywhere is a kind of somnambulistic drug, keeping our natural instincts to be kind, generous, and positive at bay.......keep us at work, keep us pacified.....

Blue.

Started with blue background solid as a layer.......second color.....

Yesterday set up shop at Campari restaurant in Northport.......an art fusion event.....great duo covering Hot Tuna (not sure if any of you have heard of them.....).  Back to the wedding photo thing for the next couple of days........

Matter

Matter

Sometimes things matter
A conversation leads to a path with many decisions

Stray thoughts breed discontentment
Taking to the streets provides comfort

Walking and talking
Finding friendship in the commonplace

Leads to decisions overturned by appeals for mercy
Held effervescent as a cordial display of unity

In an open field the crows circle
Hoping to glean what little has been left behind

Romantic notions of a time gone by
Sincerity like rituals, truth loosely defined

At the end all matter dissolves
Dust in the hand of god.

Ahmil and the night visitors.

continuation of yesterday's idea of laying down a color first then overprinting.  This one started with a light cyan.  the second layer is the cobalt blue and red for contrast.  the third layer was a transparent yellow where I wiped away the figures on the left to bring them forward.

For some reason this made me think of Amahl and the Night Visitors, an opera I heard as a kid, and after researching found out it was based on Adoration of the Magi by Bosch.......not saying this has anything to do with this work, but it is an interesting thread I think.........

two tones.

So in this print I first rolled yellow over the entire surface.  The second layer was an orangish yellow to create the forms.  The original print is very subtle, a bit difficult to photograph and show here.

woman holding iris.

woman holding iris.........I think..........

Quiet the Mind

trying to simplify things..........

this was today's first print........thought it was a bit complex........the second print is the essential forms with quick gestures.......

Warrior

Warrior

Do we destroy to keep the peace
Reach out to find balance
Face the real enemy
Fear distrust

Form an alliance
Warriors of common purpose
Fighting inequity
Seeking power through conviction

What is the easy way
To burn and crush
What does this say
Of the modern Warrior

Reaching through the wire fence
Covered in blood, retaliation
Smothering the peace there
Underneath the pavement.

Mermaids dream.

From deep under the sea
Mermaids attach an old machine

The sailor pulls up his net
Expecting to be forgiven for sins yet unforgiven

Or perhaps not yet the voice challenges him
To run home before she forgets

A dream cloaked in the sweat soaked sheets
Pushed away in a clumsy arrangement of folds

Childrens toys sitting on the ground
A machine, a wheel, a mermaids dream.

October 4

Red Roof

Suddenly a knock at the Red Door
After so many years
This time will be different

Open light filters through indecision
Optical illusion to make her feel more comfortable
Waiting for the interview to begin

Lack of sleep does not convert hostility into action.

Pretending that the roof will hold
Masses converge into the small temple
Of commerce, retaliation, conventional complacency.

And yet I welcome her to the table
Offer the best of what I have
Secure in a future as yet unwritten

Blades of grass hold this foundation together
Held firm by faith
And hope.

Gesso........

The image at the top is a painting I have been working on for the past couple of weeks......it is painted on wood directly, no underpainting.  A big change for me......probably still not done, I will leave it sit for a while before coming back to it......

The print below is from this morning.  Today I am taking down the big print from the art fair.....I think there are 140 pieces.....then back to the studio for a while I think........

Real Economics.

So I have a new idea.........the original prints have been selling for $250 each.......but if you would like to purchase a "limited edition" reproduction (there will be 5 of these per image)....they will be 11"x15"(the original is 22x30)........and they will be $75.00.

The idea here is I need around $500 to keep this thing going......a pack of paper is 100 sheets for $400.00.  So if I can raise the money I will keep it going....