Book Cover

I just returned from Boston fulfilling the last requirement for the summer residency, namely a presentation and workshop. There is a lot to process but it came at the end of a very busy seven days and the quiet time that followed was so welcomed.

Some of the art documentation work I do never gets much attention outside of applications for grants or faculty reviews. This morning I got an email from Ohio State University Professor Suzanne Silver that an image I took of one of her drawings will grace the cover of Michael Swartz' book, The Signifying Creator, and will include a photo credit. I love her drawings and look forward to continue photographing her work in the future.


Michael Swartz book cover of a drawing by Suzanne Silver.

PRC Auction

While I was in Boston, I joined the Photographic Resource Center and took advantage of one of their monthly portfolio reviews. Glenn Ruga, the director of the PRC was the reviewer in July and he suggested I submit a piece for the annual auction. It's almost time for the auction and PRC has put every piece by every artist participating on line. Two Mushrooms with Eye is my contribution and can be found here at the auction website. The auction date is Saturday, Oct. 15 and doors for the live auction open at 5:30 pm. The exhibition and auction are taking place at 808 Gallery at Boston University, 808 Commonwealth Avenue,
Boston, MA 02215.

sad state of disappearing

In case you were wondering, I have been caught up by the new semester and finishing up exhibition preparations for ArtPrize. I had to reprint three of the from walking pieces since they were needed for two concurrent exhibitions, one at the Greater Grand Rapids Arts Council gallery and the Ohio: Fresh exhibition. I have rethought the map pin method and will be using a slick magnet and nail head method introduced to me by Mari Lacure during the Boston residency.

On the anthotype front. I pulled out the large  pokeberry pajama top with rain drips (Somnambulist #3, Clem Wolfham) and discovered it had faded badly. I suspect it might be the pokeberry pigment or its interaction with the paper. I will photograph its current state in the next few weeks.

As a response to this sad state of disappearing, I have installed black curtains over the Red Rose Pajama Pants on display at Sinclair Community College. I have to go back there tomorrow to iron out the folds in the drapes and install some hooks to allow viewers to view the piece unobstructed by the black curtains. I'll take a picture of the finished installation tomorrow. It is both censored and funerary in appearance but will visitors know they can look at it?

art is not fun

Yesterday  was one of those days. Last night was one of those nights. Too much time spent carefully cutting individual pieces. Too much time was spent pinning the work on the wall. Toward eleven I discovered that all of the careful cutting still led to problem areas where things didn't quite line up. It was one of those nights where I wish more people had been roaming the fifth floor. If someone had, they would have popped their head in the door of the studio and contributed their ideas for how I could more efficiently accomplish what I was doing.

Art is not fun. Art is tedious. Art is tiring. Most importantly, art is a time suck. Borrowing from something that Drew Ippoliti said two days ago, "Artists aren't problem solvers. They are problem creators!"

That's as close as this son of a sailor is going to get to using sailor talk. On a related note, the piece is done but no pictures. Before Darien, Drew, Mari and I go out for dinner, I should be able to properly document the piece. In the meantime, I present one of my few and far between attempts at drawing. This is a little sketch in my Rhodia pad mapping out where each of the sections should be pinned on the wall. Dark panels represent ground only sections. Brown represents the area I should have started at for attaching to the wall. Crappy image made using the MacBook camera and Photo Booth.

Yesterday, Today and Tonight

I am almost too tired from a walk back from Chinatown (Boston) the long way to add much in the way of words to the pictures below. The sad truth is that I had a camera and I didn't photograph the four artists (Darien, Drew, Mari, and myself) eating at the Gourmet Dumpling House. Yes, we had soup dumplings.
I did make two exposures in Boston Commons and the public garden which were part of our route home but first, some evidence of my being a baseball fanboy.

Yesterday, Green Monster, Fenway Park

Today, rain on window

Tonight, solarized negative inverted, Boston Commons

a predilection for windows

Here’s the view of my studio windows which are going to make the lengthy anthotype exposures possible. I spent most of the afternoon mashing and filtering the mulberries which, on the surface, seems like it should have been straight forward and quick.

It wasn’t. The tea strainer I have been using is too coarse. Fortunately Megumi Naitoh lent me one of Emmanuel College’s ceramic studio mesh filters that allowed me to get most of the fibrous matter out of the mulberry juice. It still took a while. For all of today’s time in the studio I have about 135 mL of mulberry juice to show for it.

Tommorow I’ll take some digital pictures of the anthotype mayhem.

quite luxurious for the monk

Yesterday I arrived in Boston. Officially, I am, maybe, six minutes away from Fenway Park.

The day started off cold in western New York and eventually got to be a 90 degree kind of day once I arrived at Emmanuel College. No pictures to show yet but today I should be out and about with either a digital SLR or the Polaroid.

Today was all about getting to Boston around 3 pm and navigating my way to Emmanuel College with google map directions. It worked out. I didn’t get lost but I did test the patience of Bridgette (Bogle) trying to have her direct me to Bed, Bath and Beyond via phone and her internet connection so that I would have a bath towel for a much needed shower. The bath towel is yet another thing I forgot to pack.

Today was also about getting an ID card, parking permit, access to an undergraduate dorm room, quite luxurious for the monk I will play for the next two months, appraising the studio situation and finally unloading my art making stuff into designated studio areas.

I am here. Please come visit me in Boston. I’ll take a pretty picture of you.

The Burning Building Scenario, Just the Studio

When packing for a two month residency one shouldn’t be rushed. There are important things to bring, first tier items that will keep the art and everyday needs to a minimum. So in order to prevent the burning building syndrome I offer myself and the visitor to this blog an idea of what I need to take along.

Just for Studio

Paper (Kozo Unryu) what ever is left

Gold Chloride Toner

Palladium Choride

Silver Nitrate

Tartaric Acid

Ammonium Ferric Citrate

Sodium Thiosulfate

Some sort of music (probably a CD player and a couple of CD wallets

Artist Tape

Trays

Beakers

Stir Rods

Gloves, disposable nitrile type

Brushes (Hake)

Brushes (Foam)

Kimwipes

Dropper Bottles

Premixed Vandyke Brown (to hit the ground running)

Inkjet transparency film (17 x 22 and 8 1/2 x 11)

Printing Frames for the nice weather printing days

Stouffer Step Tablets

Framing supplies (no)

Mat board (no)

Straight Edge

Another Straight Edge

Clothes Pins

Clothes Line

Hair Dryer

Anthotype Materials (Currently Mulberry)

Everclear (in case Massachusetts makes it hard to find).

Mortar and Pestle

Strainer

Coffee Filters

Digital Camera and Memory Cards

Card Reader

Hard drive with current work

Polaroid ProPack camera

SX-70 camera

Instant Film, Fuji and Impossible Project

to be continued