May/111
back to basics
Junior Kindergarteners at Central Christian School get quizzed regarding recognition and the "real".
This morning I visited my daughter’s Junior Kindergarten classroom, where they are completing a unit on artists and art making. It was an opportunity to tell them about what I do in my own studio, and to talk about some of the reasons that we make works of art. One of the great things about art making is that it is accessible on so many levels. It was fun to be able to discuss the same impulses and ideas that are of interest to my college and graduate students, and to see these four and five year old faces light up with an understanding of the differences between found and made things, realities and representations, and the ways that we try to hold on to things which are otherwise ephemeral and fleeting.
Jun/100
Regarding Place
Come out this Friday, June 25, for the opening of the exhibition Regarding Place, curated by Jana Harper. Two of my recent paintings, love seat and where we stand is beginning to end, are included in the show. There will be plenty of other work to see, as this is a part of a larger exhibition series. You can read more about it here. The opening is from 6-8 p.m. at the St. Louis Artists’ Guild, Two Oak Knoll Park, Clayton, MO, 63105. The exhibition will be on view through August 20, and regular gallery hours are 12-4 p.m. Tuesday through Sunday.
Mar/100
new work
installation view with bench
Friday’s opening was an enjoyable one, thanks to the large crowd that didn’t seem to want to go home. I had a real sense of accomplishment seeing the 12 pieces on the wall and under the lights, with six of the paintings being finished very recently– some as late as March 2nd. Many thanks to Ellen Gochnour for orchestrating the exhibition, which will be on view through March 26. I have included images of the most recent work, below.
love seat, oil on canvas, 54x 64, 2010
annunciation, oil on canvas, 41x 30, 2010
where we stand is beginning to end, oil on canvas, 50 x 46, 2010
a tree for our sorrow: memorial, oil on canvas, 40x 54, 2010
a tree for our joy: memorial, oil on panel, 9.25x 10.5, 2010
our geometry is a fiction of cleanliness, oil on canvas, 64x 54, 2010
Jan/100
wax on, wax off
Adding powdered Indian Red pigment to the molten wax medium
Finished collection of colors, with raw wax medium at the bottom of the photo
In preparation for a demonstration this week I made a new set of encaustic paints. The formula is a simple one– just bring natural bee’s wax into solution with about ten percent damar resin for the raw medium, and then mix in the pigment of your choice at the desired concentration. A modern “laser” thermometer makes it easy to ensure that your heat source stays within a safe range, so once those powdered pigments are coated with wax the only thing that you will inhale is the fragrance of honey.
Most of my familiarity with the medium comes from my friend and former professor Pat Schuchard, who literally brings the wax through the frame and beyond in his innovative works of sculpture and painting. The surfaces are soaked, incised, and inlaid with a rich lacework of colors. When they receive their final polish, the images collect light and exude a depth unique to the medium. If you want to see for yourself, check out Pat’s paintings here.