Two out of three days

Last night, I got back from a whirlwind three-day trip to Pennsylvania and Brooklyn. On Monday, my good friend and fellow collage artist, Anthony Morgan (the owner of The Black Gryphon restaurant in Elizabethtown, PA) organized and ran a very successful fundraiser for one of his chef's, Tim, who has colon cancer. As part of the variety of events for the night (which included raffles, silent auctions, and drink specials), we had a collage-making set-up, where folks could make either a collaged refrigerator magnet, or a collaged bookmark. It was a resounding success! Yesterday, I took a little detour to Brooklyn, to see the 42 Annual Juried Exhibition of the National Collage Society. I had a piece accepted to the show, as did my sister-in-law Donna Durr, and a local collage artist, John Gardner, and Joe Castro, from the Philadelphia area (all great artists!). I was impressed with the Kingsborough Art Museum (part of Kingsborough Community College). The reception was well-attended. Here are some photos from bot events...

John Gardner's collage at NCS exhibit

Donna Durr's collage at NCS exhibit

Joe Castro's collage at NCS ehibit

A sketch, and Brad

Still dismantling my studio. SO MUCH STUFF collected over the past 24 years. Came across these two things that were pretty meaningful to me. This sketch of a fireman, I did when I was a freshman in college (1977). I forgot that I even still had this one. I must say, I'm not unhappy with the quality. I may frame it, and give it to my firefighter friend for Christmas.

And I also forgot I had this photo. The guy in the middle is Brad Hardy (with his two brothers). He was full of life! A "party guy", for sure. He stopped by one afternoon when I was painting houses for a summer job (circa 1980), and dropped off a tap for a beerball that he had borrowed from me [BTW, a "beerball" was a small keg-like plastic ball filled with Matt's beer, from Utica, NY]. He was heading up to drop some things off at his college house in Potsdam (or was it Plattsburgh?). He wanted me to go with him. "It''l be a good time". I assured him that normally I would go with him, but we were anticipating finishing the job that we were on that day, and would be getting paid when it was done. "Next time", I said. There would be no "next time". Brad was killed in a car accident on his return home. He hit a tractor trailer head on. I was informed by my sister the next morning. Later, I remember being SO MAD when I read about it in the paper. The tractor trailer was carrying molasses, of all things. And the article said that no molasses was spilled during the accident. I remember thinking, "I DON'T CARE about the molasses... a friend of mine was killed!". But it was great to come across this photo of Brad. He always seemed to have a smile (smirk) on his face (and I LOVE the album that his tee shirt features).

 

Poster and size

Was excited to see the poster for the upcoming 2-person exhibit I will have at The Otehr Side (Utica, NY). Interestingly, the image of my work used for the poster will be the smallest piece in the show. It measures only 4" by 5". But it represents a piece with "Specht voice". The curator of the exhibit, who made the poster, chose to include the image, because it complements the architectural components of David Oster's work.

 

Big changes

SOooo... There are big changes on my horizon. A divorce from my wife is imminent, and I have recently been house-hunting (I have agreed to let her keep the house that we've been in for 24 years). The good news is that after 5 weeks, a purchase offer was accepted and I will, hopefully, be moving into a nice new place within the month. But, oh man, the work ahead of me seems a bit daunting. Packing up my present studio -- which I have been chipping away at for a couple weeks -- is a monumental task. I hadn't fully realized how much STUFF I have accumulated over the years, with an ever-expanding sprawl of collage and assemblage materials, and a collection of tables, bookcases and shelves! I thought packing up would be a sad task, but I am actually enjoying it at a certain level. It's been nice to just throw out a bunch of stuff that I once thought would be useful. AND, I am uncovering interesting elements that I had forgotten I had.. and that's exciting. For example, I have a number of vintage health and medical books, but I forgot that I had this book from 1926...

Which includes this series of "overlapping" pages...

It'll be exciting to see what becomes of them in the future -- from my new studio space!

Here are just a couple more images...

And, of course, there is a little bit of sadness (nostalgia?) associated with the dismantling of a studio that took years to "build". Here's a series that shows just one section of my extensive studio space...

November exhibit

Yesterday, I finished the last two pieces for my up-coming two-person exhibit with David "RC" Oster. I'm really looking forward to it! For anyone in the greater Utica (NY) area, the opening reception will be on Friday, November 6th. David is an extraordinary free-hand pen and ink artist. I got one of his prints and used it to create this collage.

Here are the separate elements used for the composition...

I also completed this unique composition, inspired by a chemist who I know. I asked her what her favorite element was; and she told me it was Molybdenum. I have a large periodic table classroom poster that is very colorful. So I started with the rectangle for the element Molybdenum, and then "blinged it out" with some additional elements and two borders. I also included the Morse code symbols for "m" and "o" in the piece.

Rochester, NY

I drove out to Rochester, NY last night to attend the opening reception of the exhibit "Saints Preserve Us" at The Yards Gallery, to support my friend and fellow artist, Tom Nettle, who had two (and a half?) pieces in the show. I hadn't been to Rochester in a number of years. As I drove to the gallery, I was very impressed with the public art (e.g., sculpture, murals) that I saw throughout the city neighborhoods. It was so nice to see. I couldn't help but think "Why can't Utica be more like this, as a city"? I mean, Utica has a very active "arts scene" in a variety of small and larger galleries. But the "vibe" across the city is quite different than what I experienced driving in Rochester. Although the exhibit at The Yards was fairly small, it was interesting and impressive in terms of the quality and thoughtfulness of the works. I was happy to see that the exhibit included a number of collages and assemblages. Here are some photos from the evening...

These are Tom Nettle's works. I said two (and a half?) pieces because of the red bowling pin. If you look carefully, you will find that Tom has included an image of the red bowling pin within the paintings. 

So cool!

"The Lats Judgment" by Nancy Radzik

"No Other Knowledge is Purposeful" by Laurie MacFarlane

"The Universal Salty Taste" by Laurie MacFarlane

"A Reliquary for a Visible Woman" by Jim Herrmann

"Cobbled x200" by Michelle L. Miller

"Night School" by Erica Bryant

This was a cool interactive piece.

I feel badly that I did not get the artist information for this VERY cool piece.

Reminiscent of Marcel Duchamp's Étant donnés, when you looked through the eyepieces, you saw

other images. In this case, images including minataurs. VERY cool; and technically intriguing.

Frank Viola

I had the pleasure of going to the opening reception for my friend and fellow collage/assemblage artist, Frank Viola, last Friday at SUNY-POLY's Gannett Gallery (in Utica). Frank is a retired art teacher from the Utica School District. He has been an inspiration for me, and has encouraged my artistic journey over the years. I don't have any photos of the gallery and people during the reception; but I did take some photos of some of the works in the exhibit. Bravo, Frank!