New Drawing

Finished this yesterday. Quick photo of it on my living room floor. Can you make it out? It is a bit about my fading memories, and nostalgia too. Pigmented pen on school paper. 8.5. 11.5 inches.

Three New Collages

India Ink on recycled cardboard. 18 x 2 inches.

41 Train Rides #24

The Elevated Train in Chicago continues to become more challenging to use as the economy stagnates. More riders of all sorts crowd on as the CTA cut services and personnel. I had a beach day and dinner in Wilmette today - caught the train at 9:45 - and it was a wild ride home. It is a Saturday night, and hence a party crowd. Students heading into the city for a night of revelry and assorted riders in various states of sobriety crowd in to the cars. At one point I had to change seats when a group of students (four females, one male) got on neat the Northwestern campus. They talked so loudly, the entire car could hear their catty and unkind conversation about fellow students in some sort of seminar they all participated in. You can always tell the newbies to the train, oblivious to their surroundings and unconcerned about the riders all around them. Later in the ride people in the car in front of me evacuated from the car in front of us saying something about someone smoking. Smoking what I don't know. The woman next to me, who up until this point had her head buried in a book, mentioned she hope it wasn't a smoking device. They stopped the train between stations and the conductor had to enter the car, I don't envy him his job, and some how resolved the whole thing. I never found out what it was all about but the slight scent of marajuana was in the air. I was happy to jump off at my stop at Addison, where another large crowd of party people jumped on.

August 6 - August 12, 2012

I've been under the weather most of the week - something I ate on Wednesday evening upset my stomach, and I can't quite get beyond it. The worst part is feeling like I missed some spectacular days weather-wise, and barely accomplished any work. Fortunately earlier in the week I had been productive and made another large collage out of recycled cereal boxes. I hang them on my wall like this, suspended by white masking tape, because I have no where else to store them.

Two New Box Drawings

Amidst the inhibiting heat and my being occupied with a couple commissions, I felt the need to change it up a bit media-wise for an afternoon this week. I've been wanting to revisit the idea of the box drawn with India Ink for awhile now and with the sale last week of one of my few remaining boxes from the older series, this Monday seemed like a good day to pursue that impulse. These two drawing were the result. Both are India Ink on watercolor paper. Approximately 28 x 40 inches.

What Color Is Blue?

Yet another lovely day at the beach. A later start than usual, the day was so warm it was not comfortable until after 6pm. And once we arrived we chatted for another hour before entering the water. The sun was just dipping below the horizon as we swam. I finished a bit before Laura, and wandered the nearby beach. I came across this array of blue chairs, and the variety of blues prompted thoughts about the nature of color, not only as we experience it, but as it translates to photography and ultimately onto the computer screen.