Thanks to those who stopped by last night!

We had a good showing last night on a chilly Carrboro evening at the 2nd Friday ArtWalk.  I enjoyed seeing old friends and meeting and talking with many strangers.  I'm just sorry I wasn't able to go to the other venues.  I big thanks to the kind folks at Weaver Street Realty for hosting me.  Stop by anytime over the next month if you want to look at my show.

I did stop by Steven Silverleaf's opening of his new collages at Fleet Feet Inc. corporate headquarters at 406 East Main St. in Carrboro.  Here's my review on this amazing show.  Go see it!

2nd Friday ArtWalk December 11th 6-9

Don't forget the ArtWalk this Friday in Carrboro and Chapel Hill.  The weather should be nice and cool for a lovely walk between venues (stopping of course at Weaver Street Realty for some wine and a look at some of my new pieces.)

There will be many things to see but there are two that I hate to miss while smoozing at my opening. 

The first is collages by my friend Steven Silverleaf at the Fleet Feet Gallery 406 E Main St, Carrboro.  If you haven't seen Steven's collages you are in for a treat!  Bright, vibrant and strong.

The second thing that caught my eye was the showing of some big artwork on shirts and paper by Jenifer Padilla at the Merch 101 Lloyd St, Carrboro. According to the 2nd Friday webpage "Jenifer's most recent, experimental works combine silkscreen with her original drawings and paintings." See some samples at her website. They look really interesting.

2ndFriday ArtWalk Opening at Weaver Street Realty on Main St, December 11th

I will host an opening for my show of new & old works at next week's 2nd Friday Artwalk. The pieces include small to large pastels, acrylics, collages and photos in representational to abstract styles.  I'll post some pictures of the pieces on Flickr this weekend.  Hope you can make it.

December 11th, 2009 6-9 PM during the 2ndFriday ArtWalk
Refreshments (including adult beverages) will be served.

Weaver Street Realty
116 E. Main Street
Carrboro, NC

And a reminder that the show at the Red Bicycle Coffee Shop on Homestead at Airport Road is up through December.

The invitation for my new show

I hung most of the pieces today at the Red Bicycle Coffee Shop in Chapel Hill. Photos of many of the pieces -- acrylics, oil pastels, photography -- are on Flickr. I hope you'll stop by, the show will be up through December.

Picasso at the Nasher Museum at Duke

We finally got round to visiting the Picasso exhibit and it was a treat.  Without going into too much detail it is quite impressive, displaying Picasso's humor, imagination and breath-taking range of expression.  It also reveals a bit of his development over time from an early impressionist piece of a cafe scene (1900), a traditional portrait, "Head of Fernande" (1906) up until his later years.  It doesn't necessarily stick to the language connection but that does give the show a broader picture.  Definitely worth a visit.  Amy White at the Independent Magazine has an excellent review.  Steve from Durham has some interesting thoughts and a few pictures on his Take the Bull by the Horns blog.

Here's how the Nasher describes the exhibit:

"August 20, 2009 - January 3, 2010.

The Nasher Museum presents a groundbreaking exhibition examining Pablo Picasso's lifelong relationship with writers and the many ways in which language affected his work. "Picasso and the Allure of Language" comprises some 60 works in all media by Picasso, as well as select examples by fellow artist Georges Braque, and photographs, letters, manuscripts and book projects by a diverse group of artists and writers. Together, these works illuminate Picasso's deep and multidimensional interest in writing and language, and challenge the notion of what have been considered "highlights" of his lifetime of work."

Show opening soon at Red Bicyle Coffee

I will have a show opening this weekend at the Red Bicycle Coffee Shop on the corner of MLK/Airport Rd and Homestead Road -- physical address is 2805 Homestead in the little shopping center with Chapel Hill Wine.  It's where the old coffee shop was located.  I'll hang the show either Friday or Saturday and it will be up through December.  I may try to have a event but I'll keep everyone posted.

I will have some new things, some old things and for the first time some photography (priced conveniently for the holidays!) A couple of samples are below.

Come Out and Play!

Go to my Carrboro Art Scene blog for info on the 8th Annual Come Out and Play Sculptor show outside of Carrboro. The opening is this Saturday, noon til dark and continues each Saturday though September.

A new art collective gallery coming to Chapel Hill

Karen and I attended the public meeting at the Chapel Hill Town Hall for the proposed Franklin Street Art Collective. I was fairly impressed with the homework they had done and the balanced view they took. I haven't examined the business plan yet but they seem to be using conservative financial assumptions -- a good thing. Amazingly enough they hope to be open by November!

Details (including the presentation, business plan and artist application) can be found here on the Town website but here are a few details:

- 30-40 artists in the collective who put up $500 to start, $20 month and pay a 25% commission on sales. Members are expected to work 6-8 hours month and make a 2 year commitment.
- An undetermined number of consignment artists can show their work but will pay a 50% commission.
- Artists can apply for both membership and consignment at the same time.
- Both categories will be juried and none of the those judging are involved in the collective.
- The application says that you must live within a 25 mile radius of Chapel Hill but I do not believe that is a hard and fast rule.
- They continually harped on wanting to have the highest quality art.
- Michael Brader-Araje, the building's owner, is a hero!

CANCELLED! Here's the announcement for my Weaver Street Show

Bad news-good news-bad news-good news

BAD NEWS 1: Weaver Street Realty double booked August so no opening this Friday
GOOD NEWS 1: I'll now have a show there in December just in time for people to buy holiday presents

BAD NEWS 2: I worked all weekend and spent a ton of money on frames, mats, etc. getting ready
GOOD NEWS 2: I now have a bunch of stuff ready to go.

Que sara, sara

A show coming up at Weaver Street Realty

I will have a small show at the Weaver Street Realty opening during the 2nd Friday ArtWalk in Carrboro/Chapel Hill. That'll be Friday August 14 from 6-9 at 116 East Main Street in Carrboro. I'll have adult refreshments to entice those who don't care about either 1) art or 2) my art. I have no idea what I'll be showing (some/most will be new) but there will be more info forthcoming. If you don't get my emailings about shows and wish to, just drop me an email. Hope to see you there!

Below is an old one that I've never shown so I might show it. From 2007 I think.

Explosion. Acrylics and inks on matboard. 21 x 15

Picasso at the Nasher

A heads up for an upcoming show at the Duke Nasher Museum. "Picasso and the Allure of Language" opens on August 20th with a gala reception at 7 pm. For more information go the Nasher site.

The Nasher Museum presents a groundbreaking exhibition examining Pablo Picasso's lifelong relationship with writers and the many ways in which language affected his work. Picasso and the Allure of Language comprises some 60 works in all media by Picasso, as well as select examples by fellow artist Georges Braque, and photographs, letters, manuscripts and book projects by a diverse group of artists and writers. Together, these works illuminate Picasso's deep and multidimensional interest in writing and language, and challenge the notion of what have been considered highlights of his lifetime of work.

If you want to attend the opening I'd suggest going to the site and getting a ticket soon. The show runs through January 3, 2010.

2nd Friday Artwalk Carrboro/Chapel Hill

Don't forget the upcoming 2Friday Art Walk July 10 from 6-9. As always there will be plenty to see up and down Main and Weaver streets as well as Franklin Street and other locations. I highly recommend the opening at the Century Century, 100 N. Greensboro, of new oils by my friend and former roomie Steve Silverleaf. I think Steve's one of the most talented artists we have in this area and I'm very excited to see the new pieces.

The Artist and the Model - New work by Steven Silverleaf. The show is comprised of oil paintings and drawings in mixed media. The work concerns his ongoing investigation of the seated figure. The show is suitable for all ages.

For much more info please go to the 2ndFriday website.

Steven Silverleaf. The Conversation I. Oil on board, 27x35

My first try at a cutout

Karen and I love the giant Matisse cutouts upstairs at the East Wing of the National Gallery in DC (I think her more than me). I bought her a book about his cutouts at a great used bookstore on Franklin Street in Chapel Hill. I got inspired to make a cutout myself.

I've done a number of drawings and paintings from Man Ray photographs. He always gives me ideas with his lighting, composition and creativity. I found a particular photo of a nude from the back that he called a "Japanese" inspiration. I could see a cutout in the simple but beautiful photo.

I painted some unprimed canvas in pink/coral, black, blue and yellow. Some of the canvas was cotton duck but some was just canvas that is sold as drop cloth for interior room painting. I glued the painted canvas to a painted 1/4 inch thick mounting board. I'm fairly happy with this first attempt.

Nude. Acrylics on canvas and mounting board. 10" by 20"

Submit to the Carrboro Film Festival!

The 4th Annual Carrboro Film Festival will be held on Sunday, November 22, 2009 from 2-7 pm in the Carrboro Century Center, 100 N Greensboro Street. The committee is now accepting film submissions. The early deadline is August 28, 2009. The late deadline is September 21, 2009. (Those who apply early save some bucks.)

We welcome all films and videos less than 20 minutes total running time (including titles and end credits).

To enter, the filmmaker must have breathed in the good air of Orange County, NC, USA sometime in their life.

Facebookers: do a search for "Carrboro Film Festival" and join the group. Over 100 (101 to be exact) of your closest friends and family already belong.

A new small abstract

I had a small piece sitting around that I'd started using oil pastels on matboard. I also had a box of new acrylic paints including colors I'd never used before. I started playing around with the piece and the paints while waiting for something else to dry. I mindlessly doodled around the center blue/green oval. Viola, mindless worked.



Q. Oil pastels and acrylics on matboard. Maybe 7 x 12

A wonderful exhibit in NYC

Mosqueteros: Later Work of Pablo Picasso at the Gogosian in Chelsea
March 26 - June 6, 2009
522 West 21st Street

This free show of more than a hundred of Picasso's later works (1962-72) is a revelation. After walking through the pieces -- small prints to very large canvases -- one can only marvel at the brilliance of his last years. The work comes in reserved earth tones and bright splashy colors but is always filled with whimsy. A character -- perhaps Picasso -- appears throughout with his little mustache and a glint in his eye. It is raunchy, it is fun, it is lecherous and it knocks you over. That's not to say there aren't some failures; he produced too much for everything to be top notch but the hits are home runs.

Walking through I kept grinning and laughing. I imagined this randy, mischievous old man, brush in hand having the time of his life as he threw paint on canvas after canvas saying "I'll show those bastards!" It is truly a must see.



Buste, 1970
Oil on canvas
39 1/2 x 32 inches (100 x 81 cm)

© 2009 Estate of Pablo Picasso / Artists Rights Society (ARS ), New York

One of those pieces...

...that comes together very quickly. I had thought about what I wanted to do and did a preliminary sketch. Still I did this in one evening. How many paintings do I have that I've spent hours and hours on without success? Too many, so it is nice to have something some together quickly. This is a continuation of my recent work on portraits.

Untitled as yet. Acrylics and ink on canvas. Perhaps 24 x 18.

Vote for your favorite 20th century artists

The TimesOnline of London is having a contest to select the best visual artists of the 20th Century. They started with a list of 300 -- painters, sculptors, photographers and graffiti and video artists. So far more than a million people have voted.

Sadly there are problems. First the site sucks and the list is problematic. It's hard to see the second half of the list (starting about M). I was unable to vote for Lee Krasner no matter how many times I clicked on her name and half the time her name disappears from the list entirely. I know I voted for Morris Louis but he disappears too. Artists left out? How about Andrew Wyeth (no Wyeth's actually), Joan Mitchell, Winslow Homer, Annie Liebovitz, Romare Bearden? And I'm sorry but Jeff Koons, who's on the list, makes me retch.

Still it's fun and the list includes many I'm not familiar with (including links to their work that sometimes - sigh - work). Go vote! (Just not for Koons.)



Joan Mitchell. Land, 1989 at the National Gallery of Art.

Attempts at Becca

I took the usual photos this past Xmas in Baton Rouge, the kind one takes just to remember the moment. There was one that I liked of my wonderful niece Becca who lives in Brooklyn. I had done a couple of stylized portraits recently (one in the previous post) and figured I'd give a try with Becca.

I'll start with a quick print of the photo from my old Epson that I played with some. Just the photo with some ink and oil pastels.



Here's the first real attempt. I did some this past week and set it aside but I started working on it again today. Oil pastels with some watercolor and pencil on watercolor paper. Quite unfinished....



Here's the next one and Karen seems to like this one. It's further along. I'll keep working on this one too. Oil pastels, watercolor and pencil on watercolor paper.

Some more small pieces

These are done on 10.5' x 14' paper using oil pastels and, with one, watercolors. As I've said in the past, oil pastels are for when I'm lazy and want to sit on the couch and piddle around. I've started to discover that it is more than that. I really like them. I like to move them around with my finger. I enjoy taking linseed oil and making puddles on color or maybe using an old toothbrush to create interesting textures. They are also fairly easy to repair when I screw up.

Recently I've started to combine them with watercolors. The oil pastels serve to provide a resist and the watercolors can fill in between oily areas easily. I like some of the patterns that can be created too.

This first one is a dark (scary according to Karen) piece. Still I've tentatively called it Forgiveness. Don't know why.



Next up is a companion piece to Marcel Duchamp's Chin that I did a while back. This doesn't have the nuance of the other yet but I'm working on that. Working title Duchamp's Face.



Next up is the piece with watercolor. It's called Ant's View. The watercolor is much of the blue. The crooked nature of the piece is intentional. I'm not sure what I'll do with the area around the frame.



Lastly we've got a portrait of a young sort of goth woman. Titled Suzy because I was typing this during a Randy Newman song in which Suzy is a character.

Hope you enjoy them. Comments, suggestions, criticism are encouraged.

A couple of small, quick pieces and some links

I'm on the mailing list for the wonderful artist Linda Carmel of Chapel Hill. (The website was designed by dear friend Jackie Helvey of UniqueOrn Enterprises and owner of Carrboro.com.) Her latest email noted that her work is being shown in a brand new online magazine called ArtSync: the Art Magazine of North Carolina. It looks interesting. I'm particularly happy to see a focus on young (read teen) artists. Check it out.

Next. When I am lazy and/or uninspired I will sit on the couch with a cheap little crude paper book and my fancy crayons (oil pastels) and just play. Here are a couple of recent doodles.

A Wee Landscape. This is sort of a study for a larger piece.



The Other King. A version of the holiday card that didn't make the cut.



Folkart Grandma. Done after a visit to Ginger Young Gallery which is dedicated to Southern self-taught art.

What a day!

I'm overwhelmed. The emotions wash over me. I stare out at the snow continuing to fall in big flakes and get little work done. I watch the people in the Inaugural crowd - white, black, brown - bundled up with huge smiles and tears streaming down their faces.

My mom called me last night to tell me about when she was teaching at Provine HS in Jackson, MS the first year of integration (62 or 63?). Her principal apologized to her for putting some of the black students in her class. She made everybody sit in alphabetical order. Her voice cracked as she reflected on her small role in this great journey that is this country.

More photos of the snow in Carrboro are here.

Andrew Wyeth dead at 91

Obit at the NYT



Photo credit NYT

Obama Inauguration events in Carrboro

01.20.2009

The day we've been waiting for! Here are a few ways to celebrate with friends in the Free Republic of Carrboro.

First at the wonderful Glasshalfull restaurant and wine bar at 106 S. Greensboro where lovely Karen and I will hang out for a while:

Hi! Glasshalfull would like to invite you to celebrate the inauguration of Barack Obama with us on Tuesday evening, January 20. Chef Ricky Moore will be grilling a custom-made "Barackwurst" served with all the trimmings and delicious GLF French fries. Some tasty vegetarian options will be available as well. In addition to all the choices on the wine list and the beer taps we'll feature a special cocktail to toast the new president and get the party rolling! The big screen TV will cover all the festivities in DC.

We hope that you can join us any time during regular restaurant hours beginning at five.

Roughly catty-corner to Glasshalfull at the Century Center, 100 S Greensboro, is the culmination of a four year art project by Hunter C. Levinsohn

"A Chronicle in Cranes, the Finale" has been a four year art project which began January 20, 2005. Each day an origami crane was made from the first fold of the first section of the New York Times. The project will end on January 20, 2009 along with George W. Bush’s second term in office.

You are invited to come to the Carrboro Century Center on Tuesday, January 20th from 6 to 8:30 pm, walk into and out of the last four years safely and learn to make an origami crane.

Lastly, down the steet at 204 W. Main is the Obama InaugurOation with live music. Hope to see everyone celebrating the rebirth of America!

Pulling victory from the jaws of defeat

Not really. This is a piece that I've been working on for many months. It started after coming back from the Color Field exhibit in DC. Many iterations and then it sat there.

I picked it up today and started adding the blocks on the outside (a tribute to Lee Krasner on that). There's still a bit to go but I like where it's going.

Untitled. Acrylic on canvas. 36" x 48"

It's a new year

Karen and I visited New Mexico and Colorado in October and one of the most fabulous places we went was the Chaco Canyon Cultural Area in west-central New Mexico. I won't repeat the history; just click on the blog post title. Sufficient to say it is amazing.

We got some very nice photos and I figured I'd post a couple of attempts at reflecting the one above. These are both small oil pastels on black paper and both still works in progress.