Kittens!

It's not that I don't have more substantive things to blog about, but no time to actually compose a rational blog entry. So when all else fails — kittens! (No, they're not mine, though I was tempted to kitten-nap them.)

I'm heading into a couple of week's vacation from the day-job though, so I hope to post news of some real progress in the studio, and I don't mean cleaning.

Backbone

A spinal column is a difficult thing to paint.

slogging on

My computer really should keep a safe distance from my studio...

OIL PAINTERS - FREE BRUSH

Just for taking a W&N short survey about brushes. Just sayin.

Back to basics

Hey, isn't this supposed to be a painter's blog? Where are the paintings? What's with the video and photos? Not to mention - Politics? What is this, a postmodern gallery space?

Here is a painting to redeem myself. From my show at RWU and my series "From Providence to NYC".

Portrait for the Artist post the Wrong Man

The post office I usually go to in downtown Providence also is used as an extension of the Federal Courthouse. "In light of the events of Sept. 11", all packages that enter this post office must be sent through airport-type scanners before mailing. Then they are given a stamp that lends them an edgy cache — "SCANNED - U.S. Federal Marshalls Department" hand signed and dated. If you want your package to excite anticipation, it's definitely the post office for you.

The downside is that for many years mounted on the wall above the scanning machines amd leering down from their official portraits were the beady eyes Bush and Cheney. Which wasn't the only reason that I looked forward to January 20, 2008, but I'd be lying if I said it wasn't right up there.

It seems like the nation and my post office couldn't wait to take those portraits down, but the new ones took awhile to fill the blank spaces. Today I went to mail a package containing my painting exhibit catalog (the art connection, to distinguish this from a political blog) and looked up to see this. It was worth the wait. No pic of the vice president yet, but I'm Biden my time.

Perhaps someday we'll see the portraits of the former administration on another wall of the post office, next to the bulletin board.

Fragile atmosphere

One morning I heard a weather report during which the weatherman (Art Lake, for all you Rhode Islanders. For the rest of you, no, I am not making his name up...) said something unexpectedly poetic. He said "the atmosphere is very fragile today"...I'm not sure what that meant, but I liked it! I painted this on my lunch break.

NOT FOR NOTHING, BUT: I'm sorry that they rebuilt the interior stairs in the Providence Art Club. I loved the old wide wavy wooden stairs. I imagine they were the original 1880's treads, worn into smooth organic slabs by thousands of artist's footsteps.