Friday, October 31, 2008

Wednesday, October 29, 2008

Construction of Light


2008 October 29

Today, the Lightboy completes his 8th orbit around the sun.
Feliz cumple aƱos Mijo!

Monday, October 27, 2008

October 27


October 27, 2008

It’s getting colder outside and inside the studio too. I’m hoping the landlord kicks the boiler on soon.

I sold a print from the coffin series last week. I turned around and handed the money to the man that came to fix the burned out switch on my home furnace. Some times I feel like I’m living in that Seinfeld episode where Jerry balances out every time Elaine or George come out in the red or black. Balancing is fine but the view down can be a strain on the nerves.

The works are coming along as the deadline nears. I’m starting to concentrate on one painting at a time now. General to specific is leading into the details now.

I’ve also started to think about what prints need framing. I’ll have to pull what’s already framed and start wrapping what I can so as not to have to do everything last minute. The new paintings are going to be last minute. They’ll more than likely be a bit tacky when I load them in the truck on December 1st. I pray for good driving weather since I’ve had to rent a moving truck to get the bigger canvases to Milwaukee.

Monday, October 13, 2008

53 and counting...


October 13, 2008

I had a very productive weekend in the studio.
The boys’ portraits for the series I’m calling “Pneuma” are coming along.
The long horizontal piece with three figures is blocked in to a pretty good level.
An unsettling dream Sunday morning has given me some insight into the “burial” painting.

Wednesday, October 8, 2008

Hair of the dog


Saturday morning was spent painting a dog into the largest canvas. My friends, J&K's dog, Jack, a beautiful white and brown German short haired pointer, was my model. He was just what the painting was waiting for and his lithe muscular body was fun to paint.

Late afternoon we packed up and headed to my brother's to celebrate his 50th birthday. What started as a great family celebration ended in catastrophe. My three year old niece was bitten by my brother's Labrador. Her face injury required 15 stitches and although she came through like a little trooper the scars of the attack will be with her for life. I don't think I will ever forget the horrifying feeling that came with the sudden-ness of the attack, her cries of pain and the general panic that everyone was jolted with.

I'm a big dog lover though I don't own any now. I've taught my boys how to approach and respect any dog they meet, whether a stranger's, a friend's or a familiar pet. However, the one thing always in the back of my mind has been the potential of a dog attack. Every dog owner will tell you how friendly their dog is but statistics show that of the 400,000 dog bites that occur in this country, 80% are bites to children and a large percentage of these bites are from dogs they know.

Among things to remember: dogs see direct eye contact and barred teeth as a sign of challenge. Kids' smiling faces are usually at the same or near the same level as a dog's. Happy faces eager to greet a dog can be interpreted as a challenge. The dog reacts by snapping. Dogs are also territorial so a child's playful reaching for a dog toy or food is particularly dangerous. Sudden erratic movements from kids are also confusing to dogs.

I encourage everyone, parents, non-parents and dog owners, to visit the Humane Society's page and read up on how to avoid dog bites. My niece was lucky that the bite wasn't worse but the traumatic event won't soon leave her or the rest of us that were there or know her. I wouldn't want anyone else to have to experience such a thing.

Friday, October 3, 2008

The best laid plans...







October 3, 2008

I’ve been spending much more time in the studio. The paintings are coming along. Though there’s a lot of painting left to do I’m feeling really good about the way this new body of work is coming together.



I’ve spent the last two days making a 1/2” scale model of the gallery space in WI. I want to make sure I have enough work to fill the space while allowing for a decent layout. Call me anal, but I don’t like big surprises when it comes to installing a show, let alone, my own work.

I’m considering leaving the Earth Dragon coffin piece and prints out of the show. The prints take up quite a bit of wall space, are expensive to frame, and although related, vary from the rest of the works enough to disrupt the flow. I’ll have to think more on this.



And on another note:
The (Young) Gods speak: