Dining Table Landscape

Dining Table Landscape, oil, 48"x32", 2014

This is a re-work of a painting I did last year.  That painting was headed for the dumpster but then I thought, wait a second…I should just go apeshit on this thing - scatter some random things I find visually pleasing without over-analyzing why and if it totally sucks then it was headed to a landfill anyway.  And that's what I did and it turns out I don't want to throw it in the garbage anymore.  

Before (done in 2013) and After (completed Wednesday)

 Capercaillie, oil, 36"x24", 2014

The night after completing the Dining Table Landscape I thought, hey…I want to do that "re-working of an old painting that belongs in a trash heap" thing again.  And so I did.

Before (done in 2008) and After (completed last night)

Still Here

It's been a busy summer…I've still been making work…didn't want you to think I'd been slackin' off.

 The Acid City series is still chugging along.

I moved.  Yesterday was the first day I painted in the new place - two thumbs up on the digs.  Above is a re-work of a painting I did last year.  It used to look like this…

Moving means exploring new scenery and there's no need to go far.  This busy pole lives just beyond my roof.  It looked like this today at 7am, 12:30pm, and 7pm.  I consider looking at the sky part of working in the studio.  It's just as important as the painting part.

Hammock Time

So I'm sitting smack dab in the middle of my return from an artist residency and my upcoming grad school adventure.  I'm in the process of sorting all of the stellar experiences from Connecticut while at the same time preparing myself to be completely wide open to TCU.  It's an interesting place to be - I feel like the best thing to do is tie one end of a hammock to the rez and the other end to school and just relax in the middle for the time being.  And this is what it looks when I make work in that frame of mind...

 new york had an effect on me

 house factory

double double

And of course life wouldn't be complete without janky stop motions...

delish

dang.

Self-Port.

Self-portraits make me feel itchy and I think mine turn out ridiculous and un-me-like and look like I painted it with my left hand in the dark with a stick but for whatever reason every so often I have to puke one up and so I did.  I started it a couple of days before leaving for Weir Farm and finished it a couple of days upon my return.  The End.

Weir Farm: Day Thirteen

Lucky day #13, my last full day here at Weir Farm.  It's cold and wet but the rain held out long enough this morning to take one last walk through the woods.  The sweet girl above and I hung out for a bit.  She grazed, I stared, she stared, I took her photo…we kinda just shrugged our shoulders at each other like, "Hey."

This experience has truly been amazing-I feel full and like the other residencies I've done, I'll leave here changed in a unique way that I could have never planned.  What I take away from Weir Farm is a sense of quiet.  The plaque above the Weir Home entry says it best, "Here shall we rest and call content our home".

Here is the work I did during my stay...

Path Through Field, acrylic, 24.5"x51"

Weir Farm Guest Room, acrylic, 20.5"x50"

Livestock Pens, acrylic, 12"x18"

The Deer and the Little Girl Story, acrylic on cardboard, 9"x12"

Stones, acrylic on cardboard, 9"x12"

Sparrow on Stones, acrylic on cardboard, 9"x12"

8 Flavored Houses 1 Wall (above) 13 Flavored Houses 1 Wall (below), collage & acrylic on cardboard, 9"x12"

12 Wooden Houses, collage & acrylic on cardboard, 9"x12"

3 Wooden Houses 3 Tree Houses, collage & acrylic on cardboard, 9"x12"

5 Tree Houses, collage & acrylic on cardboard, 9"x12"

Weir Farm: Day Twelve

 Good morning baby ferns!

Moss, looking nice today as always.

 So good to see you Butterfly.

 (Made this.)

For walk #2 of the day I went peeking into spaces.  Above is a corn crib, which is a term new to me.  Below is looking inside of the Mahonri Young sculpture studio.

Weir Farm: Day Eleven

Today I had the great fortune and pleasure to tag along with an amazing crew. Our destination: New York. Our mission: to savor the American Museum of Natural History. Our outcome: complete success.  Above is the view of Central Park from the Museum's 4th floor, this is where the journey began.  Below are my favorite photos in no particular order…

Our adventure ended with a stroll through Central Park. In my book, this day will always be remembered as one of the best.

Weir Farm: Day Ten

Today was a rainy day in the woods but there was a break just long enough in the weather for a morning walk.  My mission - photograph some rain drops.  Check.  And…

 Baby fern photo shoot #3.

Tree alien.

This thing is real folks.  I swung by the Visitor Center to see if the park rangers knew what it was.  Lichen, a fruit perhaps?  I'm 100% sure what it is…a brain eating alien.  Or a cool Christmas ornament. 

Part of the tour I took on my second day included visiting J. Alden Weir's personal studio.  Wait…side note:  I may have neglected to mention that J. Alden Weir (the Weir in Weir Farm Artist Residency) was an American impressionist painter who purchased the land in the late 19th century.  Many of his paintings come from this environment.  This is the only National Park dedicated to American painting.

Carrying on…the ceiling of Weir's studio is painted a beautiful blue with metal stars scattered about.  Today on my walk I looked down and my feet were standing in tiny green stars (a.k.a. moss of some sort) which instantly reminded me of the studio stars.  Below are the stars I experienced today with the photo I took of the studio ceiling several days ago.

Speaking of studios…that is where I spent the rest of my day.  The rain came down all afternoon so I couldn't  procrastinate by escaping outdoors.  I finished the two larger paintings and made a weird Acid City collage/painting.