August 7, 2008

Not Quite Dead
2008
6" x 12" x 10"
Acrylic on metal file box with fimo, moss, string, metal bell, foam core,wood box, silk

I am nursing a pinched sciatica today which was caused by stressing my left hip to such an extent that it went out causing a pinched nerve as a result. After a trip to the chiropractor I optimistically though I would be "fixed" and today I could resume my rigorous schedule of gardening, hiking and berry picking but my 50 year old body tells me otherwise.

So faced with another day of sitting still, which I do not do very well, it occurred to me that I could start a new painting. Several hours later I am still figuring it out. I have the sense of what I want to do subject wise and will wait patiently for a "cartoon" of the painting to appear in my head.

While waiting I figured out that kneeling does not bother your sciatica and I managed to weed the garden a good bit. Today the only preparation for the upcoming show will be to paint the "Not Quite Dead" pedestal with a fresh coat of white. I made the pedestal for this piece so I could have a small pocket for handouts concerning this piece and my inspiration for creation. Since "Not Quite Dead" uses the "N" word I didn't want to give the impression that the piece was a hate piece. It is about hate words and how they still exists and will do so until we all accept each other as we are without unwarranted malice, hate or fear.

August 6, 2008

Part of today was spent pricing art work for the two person show coming up. The Gallery I will be working with gets 50% of the total price. I decided on a price for one of the larger paintings which is sized at 38" x 38". Next I multiplied 38" x 38" to get the square footage of the painting which is 1444". Assuming that a painting of this size could sell in the Pittburgh art market for about $3000 I then divided 1444 into 3000 which is 2.07 or $2.07 a square inch. I then had this formula to go by for pricing the rest of the art work.

August 5th

Roots
2006
acrylic on canvas
18" x 24"

Today I've decided on the art work to be taken to Pittsburgh for a two person show coming up:

1. A Silver Titter Stole My Baby
2. Jackson’s Trip To Heaven
3. Summer ‘07
4. Meanwhile Back in the Congo
5. Menstruation Theater (Installation)
6. The Wall (Installation)
7. Distractions
8. Big Gulp aka Soft Machine
9. Fear Based Choices
10. Hermit of Halfmoon Hollow
11. Roots
12. Secrets
13. H. B. Meagan
14. I Had a Dream
15. Steph & Sharon
16. Family Album (sculpture)
17. My Struggle w/Morality
18. Two Women By Pond
19. Untitled
20. I Don’t Beleive (sic)
21 .Not Quite Dead (Sculpture)
22 Red Riding Hood
23. photograph frame

August 4, 2008

Steph and Sharon
2001
acrylic on plexiglass
48" x 30"

Several hours were spent today running errands for the upcoming show. I needed to drop a slide for printing at the photography house. The print will be an 8" x 10" image of a painting "Things Are Better With Soup" which I painted a few years ago, had photographed and then decided I did not like, turned the painting 180 degrees and painted "Summer '07". I left as many remnants of the earlier painting as possible. For this show I thought I would include this photo, framed to match the painting it goes with.

Also a trip to Old Main Frame Shop was needed to frame one more piece that I uncovered this weekend. It is amazing how different a painting looks with each frame you try. I was down to five frames ultimately choosing a frame that compliments most of the other pieces of art as they would be shown together.

The last errand was to Home Depot to buy a piece of chain to make a hanger for Steph and Sharon which is acrylic on plexiglass. The chain is to be wrapped around two large bolts that I inserted through the plexiglass and tightened with nuts.

August 3, 2008

Hermit of Halfmoon Valley
2006
acrylic on canvas
18" x 24"

When you think of art you rarely thinking about dusting yet that was exactly what needed to be done in order that I get my artwork ready for a two person show I've been invited to do at the Fein Art Gallery in Pittsburgh beginning immediately following Labor Day weekend. I've committed to bring twenty - twenty-five pieces of art. Simultaneously I have three pieces in another art show which runs at a concurrent time.

Hours bled into hours as I pulled paintings from a variety of storage spots and wiped off the dust on those pieces that were not wrapped in brown paper or packed in shipping crates. At the first pass through I counted twenty pieces, then reassessed the unchosen pieces to see if any of the remainder would qualify. The last two additions were "Not Quite Dead" a piece about racism, sexism and bigotry and a small painting I created in 2001 called "Red Riding Hood".

August 2, 2008

The Housewife
1998
acrylic on metal toy
5" x 3" x 2"

I have mentioned in prior post that my art training was in graphic design not painting. Several of my artistic neighbors wanted to start an art critique group and encouraged me to start painting so I could participate. One of my earliest sculptures was "The Housewife" which was acrylic paint on a metal toy and fimo. It was the first time I used my art to express a thought albeit a simplistic one (the classic whore vs mother images of a housewife).