Friday, July 15, 2011

New Drawings

"Interplay 3"
18 in. x 24 in.

"Interplay 2"
detail


Here the pencil guides the mind. This is a game of construction from gestures. The pencil point is the only tool besides the sharpener. Our visual world is fascinatingly complex. The strategy is originality while subverting the urge to label visual content.

Having only a point at the end of my finger, the composition tends to lack geometry, something that design craves. So the circle, oval, horizontal and diagonal become desirable during the process. When they appear they are preserved while remaining subtle, not dominant. Both time and a certain depth add to content. It’s an interplay between the visual and mental realm.

Using a spiral bound sketch book I first tore out a square to write a note to myself. This missing section became a window to the next page. Each drawing has a little section removed to reveal the sheet beneath. In this way they are linked and the missing piece is invisible until the drawing is lifted up and the page turned.

Tuesday, May 31, 2011

Castleberry Studio restored






It's fun to dig out old photos, scan the print and restore it with a computer.

In 1985 I was living in Cumming, Georgia and building a painting studio. Our daughter, Katherine, was on the way and there was a rush to set up a place to work. I built it out of rough sawn pine from a small local mill. The lumber was fresh and heavy but low cost. I attached it to an old aviary shed that came with the property.

These photos were pock marked with white specs of dust and tiny hairs. One was originally a Polaroid print, which has no negative. It is remarkable how one can balance the colors, bring detail back to the shadows and sharpen the features.

I never did finish the building with glass windows. It stayed dry and was fine with a little heater in winter. There was excellent light from a clerestory above and I made some things I really liked there. I call it the Castleberry Studio.

Wednesday, May 11, 2011

Visit to Gainesville, Georgia

Spirals on Stage
1981
watercolor on paper

A significant amount of my art work is in the collection of The Arts Council at the Smithgall Arts Center in Gainesville, Georgia. I had not seen much of the works on paper since 1986. Among the drawings, prints and watercolors are two lithographs I did when I was 19. Gladys Wyant graciously invited me back to Gainesville for a chance to go through the print drawers. It was intriguing to see things I had made in New York , Germany and my studio on the Neely Farm in Norcross, Georgia. I made a lot of spirals in those days.

Bob Bowden had donated all of these and several large canvases that he bought from me back then. Bob's generosity was widely admired and I was fortunate to benefit from it. Sadly, Bob passed away in 2009 but I had the surprise pleasure of a visit with Shirley Bowden, his wife. Her charm and warmth gave me that rare pleasure of catching up with a friend from the past. Shirley's stories filled in the last few years of their art collecting adventures.

I was able to lay out the pictures across a large conference table and privately take the time to sort out and examine them. One day was not enough. It was the kind of work done by curators and archivists, comparing subjects and recording titles and dates. It was a good day.