APRIL 20, 2008

Today would have been a perfect day for painting as it was raining and gardening chores have to be put on hiatus but alas no canvas and most likely I need to purchase a few more paints and brushes to get started. As I often do every three or so paintings I cleaned the studio. Now my studio is not by any means large (9' x 10') but you won't hear many complaints from me as I used to have a corner of my toolroom as a painting studio. I build this mini addition to my house two years ago and have yet to put up inside walls or celling. There is however insulation, electricity, heat and windows, with a near by source for water so I am delighted. Today as I dusted and vacumed I found many supplies I had forgotten about and reviewed some paintings I had not looked at since their completion. One of the paintings was "untitled". "Untitled" has lots of mini stories and I thought it could be interesting to start a thread in my next post about the symbolisms and back stories of this painting.

April 19, 2008

I want to go back to the thread I had going a few days ago concerning creating controversial art. When I was a kid my father always accused me of doing things differently just to be different. Actually this wasn't the case as I did things my way which may have been different from the way most people approach things. Although I am well aware that some of my pieces will be controversial that is not the motivating factor in creating them. When I'm developing a new piece I open myself to find something universal that I want to comment on. In one piece "The Lesbian Amish" I was imagining what life would be like for an Amish woman living with her lesbianism repressed. Many people who viewed this piece found it offensive as I was mocking the Amish lifestyle when in fact I was only comparing living in the closet for both Amish and non Amish persons.

April 18, 2008

So today I decide to stretch a canvas and start my next painting "Jackson's Trip to Heaven". Recently I have been painting 48" x 48" as I like this size; it's not too cumbersome to tote around and fits perfectly on the diagonal in the back of my Volvo X-country. Unfortunately once it's framed it will not fit and I have to travel with the painting tied on the roof rack above the car. As far as painting it is a comfortable size for me as I can both stand or sit while painting and it is not too big for my easel to handle. I had a set of stretchers ready, ordered from Upper Canada Stretchers, but found I only had small pieces of canvas left. I have been using a hemp/organic cotton canvas that I order on line from Near Sea Naturals. It has a nice texture and the combination of hemp and cotton makes a strong fabric with a nice hand.

April 17, 2008

I realize with some controversial pieces they will never be shown in the usual art forums (i.e.. juried shows). That's my summation anyway. So I set my sights on an unjuried show that would take place in any city that had its own newspaper. If my piece is protest worthy in any respect it could reach the media through a local newspaper. Unfortunately controversial pieces don't always get front stage as I found out in a Biennial several years ago. My piece "The Menstruation Theatre" was juried in the show but placed down the hall to the restrooms, past the the coat check. It took a bit of effort to actually find the piece. It reminds me of DuChamps piece in the Philadelphia Museum of Art which is in the further-most corner of the museum in a small dark room. In my next blog I will tackle my reasons for doing controversial pieces and how they do and don't work to an artist's (my) advantage.

April 16, 2008

I had heard the story years ago how people were being buried alive. To alleviate the fear some people had that they could be prematurely buried ,coffin makers devised a variety of systems that the "dead" person could activate in the unfortunately case that they were indeed buried alive. One such method was to tie a string to a bell from the coffin to above ground attached to a bell. In the piece "Not Quite Dead", I've assembled a crude version of this safety coffin. In my next blog I will discuss showing such a piece and the pitfalls of producing art that is controversial.

April 15, 2008

I decided to create "Not Quite Dead" after reading an article about a funeral for the word "nigger" that was held at the Detroit Memorial Park Cemetery in July of 2007. The NAACP orchestrated this funeral to "put to rest a long-standing expression of racism". The coffin was carried by eight pallbearers as a local church choir sang. Although I like the premise of this event it has done nothing to eliminate the use of the word. In fact I find "Nigger" used more often in rap songs, in podcasts and by comedians. My personal opinion is that it's not any particular word that is a problem just the state of our country that find abusive words necessary to get a point across. Not sure if it's fault rests with disfunction families, education or the state of community where it's members see no alternative but to live a life full of negatively. While the word "Nigger' gets the most reaction because of its racial undertones I find "Cunt, Fag, and shit-head equally offensive. It is my hope that some day these words will fall by the wayside and we will have no need for artificial funerals and hurt feelings. In my next blog I will further discuss the purpose behind the bell and string tied to the coffin in this piece.

April 14, 2008

I would have liked to continue the thread I had going for the past 2 days about the piece "Not Quite Dead", but today have to put my eldest dog down. No matter how hard I try to forget, I can't help watching the clock and thinking of the event that's about to occur. Jackson is a 10-1/2 year old Vizsla with a loving personality and an obsessive compulsive nature. Until he became really ill his main objective of the day was to love well and search out un-attended foods. Over the past few days I have been wondering aloud to him of all the wondeful things that await him once he has donned his worn out sick body. There will be plates filled high with food strew about for him to eat, open garbage pails filled with food, a lake with unlimited fresh drinking water, a soft warm bed and a body to curl up next to. His sight is back once again and he can race with his old friends Tuck and Magik, 2 greyhounds that used to run with him in the nearby woods. "This time", I tell him, "You will be in the lead".

I've decided tomorrow to stretch a canvas and start my next painting which will be tentatively named, "Jackson's Trip to Heaven". I intent is to document it'sstages in this blog recording the progress as I work including a photo of the painting at the end of each painting session. I have not yet approached a painting in this manner so it will be new to you the reader and me as well. In my next blog I will continue with writing about the piece "Not Quite Dead" (See April 12 & 13, 2008)