And Finally

I finally finished four of the "modern" paintings I started a while ago. They were mostly done, but still lacked some finishing. I have plans to build a new type of frame/support structure than what I usually use when I paint on wood. I'm not sure when that will happen. At some point I'll make some better photographs of them for slides, but these are all I've got now. So here they are:


St. Matthew
oil, charcoal and collage on birch




The Good Shepherd
oil, charcoal, and collage on wood panel






These images are loosely (or closely) based on other Christian artifacts from the early christian period to the late medieval period. I have three or four others from this group that are still unfinished at home.

Gardening Again

I got John a seed starting tray for Christmas, and he bought seeds and was growing these beautiful little lettuce and broccoli sprouts... that is until we came home one day to find dirt strewn all over our bedroom and bathroom. Seems Willem thought that would be more fun.

We've got a new tray ready, but John hasn't replanted the starters yet. We were probably too early anyway.

But what we have done... John bought a blueberry bush, which is one of the few you can put in pots. When every we live somewhere permanently we'd like to plant a bunch of berry bushes, but this is a good start. Also, I've planted some strawberries. I grew some last year in the ground, and they grew well, but they got that strawberry disease and the birds ate them, so I'm going to try a hanging variety this time.

and...


(sorry, original image lost)

John decided to re-plant some of his herb seeds in pots instead of in the starter tray, so here is a lovely view of my kitchen windows filled with plants (when it was actually clean for a whole hour). Okay, so mostly you only see pots, but they are (in the teacup) a carrot top I'm growing, John's cilantro, daffodils (from the yard), chives (which somehow survived the winter), John's mint, my new unnamed leafy plant, my huge aloe plant, my Wandering Jew, and the potato I'm trying to grow (to John's dismay) like I did when I was a kid.

Report: Week Two and a Half

I thought maybe I would wait til I had done a little more, but oh well.

I've transferred two drawings to canvases and outlined them in a thin brown paint. It took longer for the primer to dry than I expected, which is why I haven't transferred the third, although I can now, I just haven't. But, the fourth drawing, I'm not sure I like, so I may just put it on hold. I may change the image altogether. So this weekend I intend to finish transferring the drawings and do the imprimatura.

Well, okay

This is the first painting I'm working on (okay, I'm working on them simultaneously, so by first, I mean the first idea I developed).

The image I posted the other day, and have reposted here, is Francisco Goya's etching The Sleep of Reason Produces Monsters. It shows the artist sleeping on his desk, while menacing monsters emerge and converge on him. Reason and empirical thought, one of the many modern things we take for granted, were upheld as man's greatest acheivement during the Enlightenment (which some scholars say is the beginning of the "modern" period, others say it began with the Rennaissance). While many painters upheld the new advancements of the modern period, others resisted, fearing what would be lost. Goya is one of those who suggests that progress may not be all its cracked up to be. While the title might initially make you think, "without reason we get monsters? better stick with reason," Goya instead felt that the monsters were a necessary part of the human experience, which he was willing to battle for the sake of his artmaking.

Recently I've come to question the modernism I once loved. The problem isn't that all the advancements are bad (I certainly drive a car and use electricity, and I can't even begin to imagine how to not think empirically), but the problem is that we have become removed from their newness. We expect that things should be this way, and begrudge change. For example, the use of fossil fuels brought a lot of good things, but today we see that they also come with some problems, namely pollution and a finite supply. However, Karl Marx suggested that the problems become clear when the solutions become possible - and today, we see alternatives in solar and other green energy. Why do we resist change so much, when our present lives are the result of radical change?

So in these art works I'm trying to look at history, hopefully not selectively, to better understand where I am. And this seems to involve every aspect of life: everything I take for granted (or at least the things I am aware of taking for granted), I want to reevaluate.

My second painting is also an appropriation of Goya's subjects and composition, but the other two will be biblical narratives.

The watercolor is just a study, so their may be some changes - for one the canvas is slightly wider than the watercolor. I'm open to other suggestions. (and don't you just love my really sleek and modern ergonomical chair?)

Report: Week One

I've been pretty productive so far, and I'm excited about continuing these new paintings. Here's the run down on what I've accomplished so far.

Tuesday: I stretched two canvases on stretchers (the wooden supports for the canvas) that I am reusing.

Wednesday: I composed and photographed two of my compositions at home with a self-timer. I developed ideas for the next two. (I'm going to be working on four paintings right now.)

Thursday: At sunrise, John helped me compose and photograph the next two compositions. I took all these images to school and completed the arrangements in photoshop, then printed out several copies increasing the darks and lights to use as value guides. In my sculpture class, while my students carved styrofoam, I built three more stretchers. At home, I completed the first prepatory drawing for the first composition.

Friday: In the morning I returned to the studio to pick up the finished stretchers and built two more. (I had already prepared the wood at home over the Christmas break, so really I just assembled them.) I also got out the hide glue, which has to soak overnight, that I am using as the sizing.

Saturday: A busy day. I stretched two more canvases. Then I finished heating the hide glue and sized all four canvases in the living room floor. They need to dry for eight hours. While I waited i began and completed the prepatory watercolor for the first composition. (I think this is valuable because it helps me select what colors I will be using, and get accustomed to painting slowly and thinly. Planning is very important when using layers, something I don't normally do.) I also prepared the ground, so in the evening, when the hide glue was dry, I primed my canvases with flake white and linseed oil. These now need to dry for 3 days, or whenever it's dry to the touch.

Sunday: I completed a prepatory drawing for a second composition, and "stretched" (wet and taped down) watercolor paper for it.


I intend to finish all four prep drawings by tuesday, so that when the ground is dried I can transfer all the drawings, and do the first layer (the Imprimatura). I'm going to take my time with the watercolors though, since I'll have seven weeks between the imprimatura and the next layer. I am wondering now if I'll be able to wait seven weeks. I think that will be the hardest part for me - I'm so used to slapping wet paint together, letting the layers dry feels very foreign.

I'm debating whether or not to put images of the watercolors up - I'd hate to get a lot of criticism and then have to paint the image for the next year.

Valentines Day

We've had a busy couple of weeks, so we decided a good Valentine's Day would be to stay in and eat Romanian Fried Goat Cheese. Yes, fried goat cheese.

John had some 10 years or so ago when in Romania, and so we thought we'd see if we could do it. It turned out pretty well actually - and it is very filling.

Now for those of you in disgust that we ate fried cheese for dinner... We didn't eat it all, and we also had all these delicious vegetables with homemade vegetable dip and organic peanut butter.

We intended to have strawberries with chocolate and Thai tea (which we've been intending to make for a year) for dessert, but we were too full. We'll have those tonight.

Fun times in the snow

We made a balding old snowman and slid down the hill a few times on Saturday. Yes, the snow was lots of fun, until last night when our pilot light went out...

animals

Here are more cute photos of Willem... He had to stay under the hamper for a little while when we first brought him home, until Daisy got used to him.

We had a big (well, big for us) snow this weekend too, so this last picture was taken when our outside dog came in and met Willem. I tried to get everybody in the picture.

Hey John, can you post some of the ones with the kitties and chickens outside?

Our Old House

Hey, this is our house, or more correctly, Joe's house taken a couple of decades ago.  Joe's house is a beautiful historic old home, and ours is the old slave house with a log cabin in the back.

The garden is in the same place our garden is. But they have all this open area around the yard, we have woods bordering the house now.

Willem

We got a new kitty last week (inconveniently just before my family came for a visit). Willem is four months old, and very easy going. Daisy is still getting used to the idea of having another cat around.