a work in progress

I finally completed a little housewarming gift for my Buddhist, or good as Buddhist, friends in Columbia, Mo.  They’ll be coming in this evening for their first visit since moving on to create massive fortune for themselves. Actually, Laurie’s going to vet school and Jim’s an employed and rapidly rising photographer. You can check out his blog, Enlightened Imaging, if you want to know more about the lives of these two and their clan of cats named after deities. Now that their painting is ready for them, I am going to spend the day dying eggs and making an egg tree with my godson, making quiche, cleaning up the house a bit, gathering wood, and preparing for a big fire and the feast that will cook on it tonight. Something for everyone, fish, beef, asparagus, corn, potatoes, onions, beans, hot dogs, Smart Dogs, and of course, s’mores galore.

Right after blogging about simplicity and beautiful solutions I discovered that the basement is flooded. It seems the danger is pretty much over, now that the fumes from the upturned gas can, lawn mower, and god knows what all have been aired out. I called a friend of mine who has told me his nightmare stories about his flooding basement back in Kentucky and he offered his pump. Within 20 minutes, I had picked up the pump, hooked it up, and was enjoying seeing the water shoot down the back of the hill. It’s still pumping away and I am eagerly waiting for the chance to get in there and see if the hot water heater can be put back to work. Okay, although the clean up is anything but elegant, there is something beautiful in this flood for me. I have it confirmed that I want that water heater brought up into the closet by the bathroom.

 and that was when I was studying linguistics.  It is also proving true for art and I am learning to simplify my paintings. By reducing detail I can create a more focused composition. Another art as life metaphor?

“When I am working on a problem I never think about beauty. I only think about how to solve the problem. But when I have finished, if the solution is not beautiful, I know it is wrong.”

- Buckminster Fuller (1895-1983)

Friday night I took the painting down to Henri’s and began attaching hardware to it. I had to call a friend with a big ladder and lots of upper body strength to come help me get it on the wall. He made easy work of it and I was glad for the help and the good  company it brought. A couple other artists came out for karaoke Friday and it was a silly and fun time and I did not take any pictures. Drats! I had to return last night! I took a few pictures when I got there, but I think Sarah, who works there, actually took a couple of these shots for me. I had to include the last picture, which I took with a super slow shutter speed. It may not show off the painting to its best advantage, but it definitely gives the best idea of what it feels like in this friendly and beautiful little bar, especially after a couple of Appletinis! What is missing in all the photos are two of my favorite karaoke singing friends who have moved away to pursue high-powered careers. Actually, Jim is a photographer and I relied on his shots from a lazy Sunday afternoon at Henri’s for this picture. Check out Jim’s blog entry and photos from that summer afternoon here. Actually, check out all his photos, he’s really interesting and I am lucky to have a bunch of his earlier images on my computer as reference shots. And Jim, if you’re reading this, I’d like to buy you a beer and hang out with you and Laurie under the painting, so come visit.

Here’s a close up. The painting is 2′ x 4′. I think I’ll head back down to Henri’s this afternoon and try to get a shot of it in the daytime.

The appletini painting is finished. It is titled simply appletini along the left edge, with my initials on the front lower right and more info on the back. I am in between coats of varnish right now and I have gathered together a selection of hanging hardware. I’d like to screw it to the wall in at least four places and I have located some brackets which will work quite nicely. Tomorrow I aim to get it properly photographed and installed.

Coming along fine, I think. I have a couple little things to work out with this piece and needed a break from it to really see it again. Tomorrow I hope to finish it so I can deliver it Friday. If we can get it hung before karaoke begins, I’ll enjoy the first appletini underneath it.

I’m a bit behind on posting the photos , so here are three progress shots showing how I’ve stumbled my way through the beginning stages. The top one shows where I am with this piece now. This big painting is on a 2′ x 4′ sheet of furniture grade plywood, which I first sealed with an acrylic matte varnish. This painting is being done for a really sweet elegant and intimate bar in Eureka Springs, AR. I’ll be heading there later this evening for karaoke and dancing and visiting new and old friends.

“Dancing is silent poetry.”

- Simonides (556-468bc)

I’ve been doing more dancing than painting lately. Yesterday’s rejection letter for an art competition which would have been a great thing for my career did not help matters any. I have been finding myself a bit bogged down in the business end of things, so this letter seemed to ask me why I am bothering with entries and other such marketing and then I took it too far, why bother painting at all, I asked. So, last night, while I painted a bit, I did it without becoming engrossed in my work at all. Instead, I became very engrossed in my dancing. Having room enough in which to dance is definitely one of the big advantages to having this new studio space. I danced my way to bed and enjoyed feeling alive in my body. In the bright snow light of today I am putting aside business affairs and indulging my senses in chocolate and soft music and great big puddles of brilliant gooey paint. I will likely dance some, but try to save most of that energy for this coming weekend’s outing to my favorite little underground establishment where this big painting will hang when it is done.

“There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle.”

Albert Einstein

If I had to choose a religion, the sun as the universal giver of life would be my god.

Napoleon