Liar, Liar

This is something I wrote in 2010, and just rediscovered.  The drawings were done today, experimenting with computer art.


When I was five or six years old, living in our last home in Los Angeles, I started to develop my social skills. We lived on a street with many other children, and every day was spent playing in groups outdoors. On occasion, we ventured into one another’s homes and compared lifestyles. 

I remember marveling at a bedroom shared by two sisters who had not only their own record player, as I did, but also their own couch and small television. Imagine! A television in a kid’s bedroom! To me this was incredible, a sign of a truly luxurious life. When I expressed my astonishment, asking if their parents really let them have their own TV, one of the sisters replied “of course” in a tone implying that everyone in the world had their own television in their bedroom. 

Observations

I've been painting in the window at Howland-Hughes since the beginning of July, and it's really a great experience. On one level, it's great because it gives me a good-size space in which to work on a large canvas, and because it forces me to paint at least one day a week.

Photo by John Murray of The Waterbury Observer

On a different level, it's great because of the interactions with the public. Children are the ones most likely to notice and take time to look at what's going on in the window. Adults in business suits are the ones least likely to notice or care (they are usually looking at the ground, at their cell phones, or at one another).

Back on Bank

As of this afternoon, I'm back on Bank Street! This time at Howland Hughes, thanks to Donna Bonasera of Connecticut Dance Theater and Hank Paine. I should be able to get down there at least once a week to paint in the window. Next week I'll be there on Wednesday. Stop by and check it out. While you're there, go next door to The Connecticut Store--they have some great items made locally.

Bank Street has become a real arts hub: Connecticut Dance Theater, Shakesperience Productions, Waterbury Symphony Orchestra, and the Arts and Culture Collaborative are all there. Now if only there was an art gallery on Bank Street... hmmm.....

Artistic Traditions vs. Thomas Kinkade

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The traditional, recommended career path for an artist today is to start out in an MFA program, where you learn how to build a portfolio and write an Artist’s Statement designed to appeal to the art world insiders. The standard resume of a late-career artist includes a long list of exhibitions, starting with juried shows, then invitational group shows, and finally solo shows. A particularly impressive resume will also include the names of prestigious collectors and museums that own works by the artist, a list of grants and commissions awarded by private and government organizations, a list of reviews in well-known newspapers and magazines, and a list of books in which the artist’s work has been published. The artist will create his or her work in a private studio, with all sales handled by a specific gallery.

Last Call!

If you haven't gone to the Freight Street Gallery for the That's Women's Work II exhibit, time is running out. The exhibit will be open today, April 12, 6 p.m. to 8 p.m., and Saturday, April 14, 1 p.m. to 3 p.m.

Freight Street Gallery: That's Women's Work Too!

Here are some shots of last night's reception for That's Women's Work Too! at the Freight Street Gallery. I took the photos early on, before it got crowded. It was great to see such a large turnout.

That's Woman's Work Too!

I'll be there, and so will one of my paintings!

Rush Hour

The title of this post seems ironic to me, because I definitely have not been doing any rushing with my art lately. I can't believe I haven't posted anything in five months. My painting came to a screeching halt when Goldsmith's left Waterbury and I had to relocate back to my living room. Painting at home with only the television to keep me company is not the same as painting downtown, where people I know and random strangers would wander in to chat about the painting or watch me paint through the window.

Just before 2011 ended, I managed to finish my painting of Rush Hour Traffic. The scene is Union Street from the intersection of South Elm.