The last piece of art

Perhaps it is fitting that my last blog post for 2014 is about death and art. As anyone reading this post is no doubt aware, artistic creation is integral to my life and my self-identity. In addition to creating artwork, one of my favorite activities is to enjoy discussions with friends and fellow artists about our motivation to create art and about the creative processes. I have enjoyed many conversations this year with Tom Nettle, Goody Sinclair, Anthony Morgan and Gabe Lockwood about all things art (visual and musical). I would hope, and I suspect, that I will be creating art as long as I am physically able. I feel like I have LOTS of art "in me" and I want to keep on producing. It's interesting because I was just talking with Gabe last night about this notion. I feel like I have art "in me"; but I rarely have any specific idea about what the art would look like. In fact, more and more these days, I am understanding and embracing the fact that much of my work is "intuitive" (i.e., serendipitous and spontaneous, although slow-to-emerge). But it is inevitable that at some point in time, I will make my last piece of art. And I also think it is inevitable that there will still be art "in me" that will never materialize. I have thought about these things before as I know I think more about death in general, death of friends and family and my own death more than most people (I suspect). But this past week has made these ponderings more salient. The father of a friend of mine passed away suddenly last Sunday as he was preparing a family dinner. James Laramie was 81 years of age and was an accomplished watercolor painter and teacher. He had just had a piece accepted into a very prestigious exhibit (The National Watercolor Exhibit) this year. He was SUCH a kind and gentle man with a beautiful aesthetic sensibility. I couldn't help reflect upon the vast creative output in his life; and the fact that Jim has now made his last piece of artwork. I know he had lots of art still "in him". It is unfortunate that he can no longer create the work for others to see (BTW, I am working on getting some good digital images of his work to share; but am still in the process of doing that). Does the value of an artist's work increase when they pass away? The answer is definitely YES. But I'm not referring here to monetary value... I'm referring to a value that is much more precious. I am sure the pieces that Jim created are valued and will be cherished way more now that he has left us. Rest in peace Jim. And thank you for making the world a more beautiful place by creating and sharing your artwork with us. To all who read this, I wish you a peaceful, prosperous, healthy and creatively- inspired new year! Peace be with all of you!

Thoughtsgiving 2014

Well, this post is a little late, but...
In 2010, whilst we were drinking a couple pints at The Green Onion (in Utica, NY), my friends and colleagues Jason Denman (English) and Brad Emmons (Math) and I concocted a new holiday that we called "Thoughtsgiving" (the day before Thanksgiving). Since then, we meet every year on the day before Thanksgiving to celebrate. For the past couple of years, I have made collage pins for revelers to wear on our new holiday. One of the challenges is to find images that appear in multiples so that everyone gets a commemorative trinket for the year. Last year I used altered yearbook photos (you can check out the post from last November if you're interested in seeing them). This year I was a bit busy and so I thought I would perhaps use yearbook photos again (although I really did want to do something new). Whilst I was looking through on e yearbook, I came across an interesting group of multiple images that I ended-up using for this year's pins. In the section for group photos of Greek organizations on campus (the yearbook was from Gettysburg College 1971), the names are listed numerically next to a drawing of the posing individuals (see below). I LOVED the way these looked and I think the pins turned out well (I know I enjoy mine!).

couldn't resist

Found this interesting image from a 1955 McCall's magazine...

The devil...

...is in the details, I guess. Here are the finished pieces from two of the sketches the other evening. For those of you interested in the technical side of things, I had to add a "lifter" element and do a little "building up" of the underlying acrylic medium to avoid a sharp bump in the finished product (and to make the tomato adhere to the Viewmaster element). The details here -- compared to the previous post -- include having cut the edges from the diver (as well as painting the edges of the cut paper to avoid a white edge). I also added just a little bit of color in the jam piece to provide a bit of contrast and interest.

a couple quick sketches

I finished grading my students' work and submitted final grades this afternoon. I played some poker with wonderful colleagues and then came home and decided to head to the studio to get in the mood for what I anticipate will be a productive day in the studio tomorrow. I was pretty pleased with some of the sketches I did tonight...

beautiful sources

Once again, I want to write about procuring materials/ephemera for my creative collage efforts. This past Tuesday, I spent half the day at the Farmersville auction in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania with my good friend and fellow collage artist Anthony Morgan. The auction itself is a wonderful cultural experience. In addition to some Life magazines from the 1960s (Life magazines are some of my favorite sources of collage elements), I also got some vintage books. One of the books was a Bible from the turn of the 19th Century with many beautiful etched images like the angel shown below. But the emotionally moving element was the page on which the owner of the Bible entered family information including the details of his/her marriage in 1902 in beautifully calligraphic red ink. I found this moving and somehow felt a bit "guilty" that I ripped pages from this tome. In fact, if by any chance, anyone who reads this blog has any information about this family, I would love nothing more that to frame this page and present it to them. In addition to the Bible, I also bought a lot of three books which included a book entitled "The Grammar of Palmistry" from 1893 (by Katharine St. Hill). This book didn't have many images and was not the one I bid on primarily. As it runs out though, I will not cut/rip out images from this book. It will be the second vintage book about hands and plan reading that I own (perhaps this will become another interest of mine... i.e., the history of this silly notion that hands/palms tell us something about personality. A second book -- the one which caused me to bid enough to get the lot -- was a book entitled "Steam". It included wonderful images of vintage machinery with beautiful depth (shown below). BUT... the book was even more beautiful than I initially thought AND it is SO beautifully laid out, that I will have a difficult time "destroying" such a wonderful piece of "art" for collage. The thing is, if I hadn't purchased the book, it may have ended-up in the garbage or in a musty attic somewhere. What made the book even more heart-warming was the hand-drawn inscription in the first couple pages of the book -- a wonderfully drafted signature and the phrase "Knowledge conquers riches" in old colored ink. I guess I just wanted to share another aspect of collage that makes it SO special to me -- the time travel and nostalgic and contemplative experiences it provides. I LOVE IT!

collaged "place mats" at The Black Gryphon (Elizabethtown, PA)

Tomorrow I will be heading down to Elizabethtown, PA to my friend's award-winning restaurant -- The Black Gryphon -- to set-up for a "Dinner & Collage" event on Tuesday evening. My friend -- Anthony Morgan -- is a collage artist himself (and had his first piece accepted into the NCS Annual Juried Exhibit this year!) and is having me and a couple other collagists (including Joe Castro) create some collaged "place mats" for the restaurant. Here is mine entitled "The Title of This Piece is Not "Dive In'".

Gary Leising's poetry book

I am SO excited and humbled to be the cover artist for the latest poetry chapbook by my friend and colleague Gary Leising. He's an award-winning poet -- because his poems are awesome! For $10, it's a great holiday stocking stuffer! You can get the book at: http://twoofcupspress.wordpress.com/titles/