What's On My Wall - September 8, 2013

I have spent the last few days making these India Ink grid-like things. I dip cardboard or foam-core into India Ink and then press the edges onto softish paper. The drips occur as I move back and forth between the ink well and the paper. They could almost be considered mono-prints, created one segment at a time. I love the effect - structured yet ghost-like, an x-ray or rubbing of some architectural structure.

Those two small aqua pieces on the table are the kernels of ideas not yet executed. The little watercolor  happened as I was testing a new color recently added to my palette. As the paint dried these shapes appeared.

Large Watercolors

Untiled (July 26, 2013) - Watercolor on Paper - 30 x 41 inches

The watercolors for the Ralph Lauren window have been returned to me and I wanted to share a few of the large ones. These bigger watercolors were a challenge for me, watercolor being a media that does not scale up easily. That is to say that the liquid qualities of the material move, absorb and generally do not act in the same manner on a large piece of paper as they do on a small one. So there was a learning curve in their creation, and I did have to destroy a few very large and expensive pieces of watercolor paper in the process. But when the were successful they were very impressive. Part of the process involved pouring large amounts of pigmented liquid across these beautiful pieces of paper, that reminded me of some of the abstractionist from the 1960's. Things would have to completely dry between each pass, which on a sunny warm day was not a problem, but on a cool cloudy day could take many hours. And finally my hand would have to intrude and risk the final few layers of waves and clouds. The results are pieces that lack some of the intimacy of the small lake watercolors, but have an impact that emphasizes and mirrors the scale feeling of Lake Michigan.

August 24, 2013

Another Saturday at Wilmette Beach. I let Laura take the camera, (turn-about is fair play). We discuss the impossibility of holding on to any moment.

Building Study

I was looking through some old photos this week and I came across this panorama of an alley off of Devon Ave. in Chicago. This study, showing the overlaps and the uneven edges of the source photographs, was constructed quickly to test an idea and preview a potential panorama. I have been constructing panoramas in photoshop for years now, and I have some skill doing so. Now that every iPhone has a photographic panorama maker bundled in its software, it forces me to ponder the arguments for making imagery in this format. The horizontal proportion in art making has always seemed natural to me, as if this is the way I most often view the world. I happened to be walking the dog when I came upon this facade, and walking could be described as a horizontal experience. My background in architecture leads me to look at buildings and facades critically, and I'm particularly interested in architecture that derives from function more than 'design'. Hence my fascination with walls like this one; it expresses a  practical use of the building in a way that does not have much to do with proportions, materials or beauty.  It strikes me that there is a collaging aspect to architecture that becomes evident in mundane buildings - a window where needed, conduit here, a vent there. This idea of architectural collage is mirrored nicely in the collaging of the photographs that make up a panorama. By not hiding the overlaps and not cropping the edges, this photograph declares itself as a 'hand-made' digital image.

New Drawing - August 11, 2013

Untitled - Recycled Cardboard, Acrylic Paint, Archival Mat Board - 40 x 32 inche 

New Drawing

Acrylic paint marker on archival mat board. 40 x 32 inches.

The Perfect Summer Day

Saturday, August 3, 2013 - I haven't gotten a lot of work done this week, I was dog/house sitting and never really got settled into work mode in a lovely but strange environment. So today was my first day back in the studio and was determined to put in a full day. But fate and the weather intervened. Spectacular summer day; sunny, cool, nice breeze and no humidity. When Laura texted me at 3 and said she was heading to the beach I decided the day was too perfect, and to miss it would be a crime. Took the train to Wilmette, sunned, swam, and had a short drink. Laura and her husband made an incredible dinner, mostly from the farmers market; fresh corn, arugula, chicken on the grill. A quick trip to Dairy Queen but the capper on the prefect summer day.