sowing spring space

It's planting time again which brings to mind Pieter Bruegel's painting called The Harvesters completed in 1565. I study this work with my classes because it is one of the more tranquil pieces from the Renaissance movement compared to the heavy Italian religious artworks which are often dark and brooding. The Harvesters is a landscape littered with the worker/peasant; it is poetic and light in nature as it describes the ebb and flow of the changing cycles of the land. Ken and I just started our indoor planting - over 250 small to medium size pots set up for us to see what will appear. Already a few have shouted their sprouts. I realized too that most of the house plants needed repotting screaming at me for more space. Once I had given some of the plants their new homes, they seemed adjusted and happy.

letter to a friend

I wrote my girlfriend in Los Angeles and told her I thought I had lost some interest in painting. Painting involves brushes, oils, acrylics, canvas and perhaps paper and not too much else. The paint is suppose to speak. Lately, I feel more involved in site installations, mixed media artworks and doing art related activities that I enjoy to do rather than the tedious exercise I call painting. Today I photographed the yard and the gray. Next month, I will be doing another site installation on break up - our Alaska demise of winter (thankfully) that leads into longer days and warmer times. This is the start of my next project along with some residencies overseas that I am perusing.

excuse prisoners

I have been thinking about the concept of excuses for a long time. We have become a society littered with excuses and we are a slave to excuses. In fact, everything we do includes this activity of using excuses; this putting off, this procrastination of not doing something or perhaps we are waiting for more positive, affordable and effective, replaceable alternatives. So, I am also feeling optimistic about this notion of excuses although this topic almost forces me to discontinue writing this blog entry. And perhaps I am not cogent with this area of thought; (and while I write this I will leave this entry on the back burner, sign out, think, incubate, and reevaluate what exactly I want to say.) It is really a complicated story though, and so, I too, have given up on excuses. We seem to use lame excuses more and more frequently. My students give me incredibly terrible excuses that I don't even want to consider. Pardon my critical nature, but have we become so idiotic a people that we are really listening to these excuses? Unfortunately, I have to listen to these positions and believe them, give credit and at the end of it all, the trap is set - we become excuse prisoners and part of this dogma that shapes our existence. And that's no excuse!

some Kodiak moments

Pictured is scenic Kodiak; waters of blue green and reflective surfaces are stunning peppered with solo fishing trolls that go out and come in with hundreds of wind swept sea gulls that stir a subtle hum off the shore. It is the epitome of quaint.

Above is some wire relief site installation that I completed at my residency at Kodiak Island, Alaska. This painting/sculpture/mixed media piece is approximately 15 feet tall and eight feel wide, made with industrial wire, paint and is adhered to the wall with 2 and a half inch nails. It took me three days to complete this piece, starting with much frustration and angst and ending with (always) the big art surprise. I am very satisfied with the result though. This piece will remain in the Kodiak High School art room. The picture below shows details of the artwork.On Saturday, March 7, I conducted a workshop for the Kodiak community. Eighteen participants showed up to work on their own site installation. Each group was given random materials to work from as a surprise and challenge to fit their aesthetics and an hour to complete each piece. This piece below is called tsunami and accompanied the sculpture with a short performance. All these site installations were poetic in nature and each fit the environment nicely.

Below, is the interior of St. Herman's Russian Orthodox Church. I was lucky to attend a two hour service called Orthodoxy Sunday. The choir would sing non stop throughout the service upstairs where the rest of the congregation stood on the first floor. Small children would come and go, people shuffled in and out, while all of a sudden I experienced an unison of meditation, spirit and prayer. It was magical and one of my favorite moments of my trip.

in preparation for Kodiak

I am currently preparing for a residency at Kodiak Island. Part of the program is working with high schools students and the staff; I complete workshops and presentations and as the guest artist this is also a time to reflect on my own work and expressions. I will be documenting the student's progresses and processes and hope to video some interesting dialogs and exchanges. In my studio I am doing some wall studies call studio vignettes. They are assemblages of bones, drawings and paintings and mixed media objects. I consider these light studies and prep work;I get to add a bit here and there, listen to NPR, reflect on other work that I intend to complete when I have more ample blocks of studio time too. I will take these arrangements and continue expanding this concept in Kodiak.

shore studio

Above is my studio in our backyard. I am fortunate to have a separate place to work in Anchorage because finding room to create artworks can be difficult in this city. But, we stumbled across this find; an extra place to fit haunts, memories, desires and so many expectations I have devised for myself are cramped into this space of making. When I lived in Los Angeles, I lived with my artwork; woke up to it and faced the problems of the unexpected insights, joys, and artist angst. Presently in Anchorage, I walk to my studio; bring materials and tools; some days tramping back and forth processing my thoughts and actions too.

I just finished the book Revolutionary Road by Richard Yates. It takes place in the 50's; a young couple who fights with the banality of suburban living - the house, two kids and tiresome job revolves around this premise. The author's writing style was a bit too bland for my taste and it reminded me of Fitzgerald in tune, while bringing me to comment on the death of John Updike, who was the epitome of eloquence and prose so vast in delicious human sensibilities.

skiing

I use to downhill ski back east, but nothing compares to the skate skiing that I have taken up in Alaska. They have magnificent trails all around the city. Each year, I try to expand on the trail system that I know and I try go a bit further; find other ways and other networks, climbs that challenge my workout. There are the straightforward trails like Westchester Lagoon where you can go for miles along the inlet. Presently, I am working on the Hillside trails; rigorous climbs and unassuming trails that seem to go on forever and you can get quickly lost and put off. Years ago, I started working every day on this craft; a feat of balance and propelling your body forward and if you fail to move, you go no where. It is a conscientious and continuous stream of cardio exercise. In theory, I love it, but once I am out, I am confronted with the serious labor ahead of me. And, the mystery about it all, is that sometimes you just flow and glide, you go and float through a wonderland of dusted trees of white and an air of fabulous scent that you could almost eat.