Been a while

It's been a while since I posted anything. I have been a little bit busy with life outside of my studio. I was in New York City and presented my swan song talk at the annual meeting of the Eastern Psychological Association entitled "From Isaiah to AI: The complex History of Hallucinations". Also saw "The Lion King" on Broadway. That was great! 

I went to Pennsylvania the following weekend for the funeral of an old friend of mine -- Steve Kreamer. We had been very close friends for a decade; but when I moved back to central New York, we had lost touch a bit, until recently. I was looking forward to playing golf with Steve this summer. But alas.

(Steve is third from right)

And, of course, I have plugging away with school work. The semester ends early this semester (by May 11th, we're totally done). I have also been doing a little work on my music.

I am enjoying the fruits of my previous work; as I have pieces in three different exhibits currently. I was VERY pleased to be accepted into the "Made in New York" exhibit at the Schweinfurth Art Gallery in Auburn, NY (reception this Friday!). The acceptance arte was only 15%. I have a number of pieces on exhibit at The Black Gryphon (Annville, PA). And I have three pieces in the Regional Art Show at The Pau Nigra Center for Creative Arts in Gloversville, NY. I think this s only the second time I have had pieces in 3 concurrent exhibits.

I have been doing some minimal studio time. I continue to explore interesting images in magazines (and an old yearbook), and have experimented with some sketches. But I do look forward to getting back and doing some more intensive work very soon. Thanks for checking out my blog!

Evocation

According to Oxford English Dictionary, "evocation" means the act of bringing a feeling, memory, or image to the conscious mind. I have always wanted my artwork to be evocative. I provide an image for the viewer; but most of the time, I want the image to serve as something like a Rorschach ink-blot. That is, rather than me trying to convey "a message" to the viewer, I prefer that the image evoke feelings (i.e., some emotional reaction). And I'm generally not concerned about what those feelings/responses happen to be (although I am generally not interested in evoking a feeling of being "insulting" to others). I consider myself a "lucky" artist, in that, when I am in my studio and a composition stirs some reaction in me, I am generally quite confident that it will have the same effect on someone else viewing the piece. The feelings can arise from looking at a composition that is aesthetically-pleasing; but it can also come from an image that is somewhat disturbing. I think my favorite composition is one that is ambiguous, but still evocative -- one for which the viewer "provides the emotional narrative". What prompted me to write this post this morning, was this sketch I worked on last night in the studio. It's just a sketch at this point -- I'm not sure I will continue with it or not. But as it emerged, I found it at once ambiguous, and hauntingly evocative. So I thought I would share.