What am I waiting for?

blue bird
mixed media on canvas
5 inches x 5 inches
2005

Sunday Shopping

Fayetteville Underground Nov 5

ddp gallery and Project Feed Local

phantom let-down

Oh, the O

Connected

I take my sketchbook and pen and go off somewhere and draw for 15 minutes or so...

I have to.

If there is no sketch fix, I start to twitch.

Connecting to the part of my head that doesn't think within the rules and confined walls of protocol or structure keeps me balanced.

Escape

I've been thinking up ideas for an art project.

Hints:

• Moss
• Wood
• Fur
• Water
• Fruit

interim

This is the interim. Let's be glad and enjoy it to the fullest. Sometimes, happiness in the interim is in the form of letting the lines go where they want to go.

Art Walkin'

The first Thursday of every month the galleries around town open up in the evening to showcase new work and exhibits. Many artists are also out meeting and greeting. One of the main draws is the Fayetteville Underground Studios and Galleries. All are open to visitors during this event.
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Here are a few snapshots from August.
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First we stopped in and said hello to Dede Peters at the ddp gallery. This month she is showing paperworks.

Steven Wise's colorful abstracts were eye catching.

Sometimes a 10 1/2 year old can dig the art scene. Sometimes, not so much. Or maybe it's X-Box withdrawal... So, instead, he kind of becomes part of the exhibit.

It only takes one gallerist to change a light bulb.

It takes a lot of vodka and mint leaves to make a good opening night cocktail bowl.

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After a while at ddp's, we wandered over across the street to the Underground. The Underground is located in the basement of a former bank building. There are several gallery spaces, each one with a different collection of work.

In this photo (above) we are in the Vault gallery. Inside this echoing chamber various resident artists' works are hanging in what once was the underground bank vault.

To me, seeing art hung in a concrete room with no windows and only one door invokes a strange sort of feeling... makes me want to philosophize.

Maggie Ivy was the main artist this evening (this month.) Her current love is pencil and charcoal drawings. (You can see the door into the Vault on the back wall of the gallery where her show is hanging.)

Maggie Ivy's studio space.

Maggie is heading to Göteborg, Sweden this fall to study at the Florence Academy of Art.

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Finally, we moseyed into Megan's studio - also at the Underground.

I love visiting other artists' studios.

I also love seeing work in progress. This is a photo project Megan's named "100 Flashes of Memory," which I find especially intriguing. She has affixed dreamlike images, photographic images, on small blocks (about 4 inches square I estimate) and I can't wait to see the final results.

Notes on Megan's bulletin board.

Megan Chapman
Megan's blog

There are many other artists who have studios where they work at the Underground. Read more on the Fayetteville Underground blog.

Think

Oh, hello

Where to?

Now I am about as uncomfortable as I've ever been in my life.
Tomorrow is Thursday.
I could begin to feel more comfortable tomorrow. I could postpone the comfort.
But I don't want to wait. I'm going to take a shower now. That is a good start to feeling more comfortable. Now.

Nom Nom Nom

On the horizon

On October 25 there will be another Sketchcrawl. I'm going to organize a group in my town to participate.

For awhile now I'll post sketches from my sketch journals over the last couple of years. They are telling me they need to see the light of day.

I've been testing out, playing around with, a set of new pencils. Not sure yet what the verdict is, whether I like them or not. I guess it depends on how I figure out to utilize them.

Resurrection

After a long time away, I return. So glad to be back!

Because...

...I said so.

Art Gallery Thing

The Art Gallery Thing.

Two Meatheads and a Cheesehead

Having some fun with images in a recent Veer catalog that came in the mail.

Bottle Neck

What happens when I have a little too much time around the house, with a pair of scissors, a gluestick, and a Sundance catalog.

Cheers To the New Year

I know, I know. It's been a while.

I hope to post more in 2007. My goodness.

On Giving Thanks

When the boys have trouble falling asleep at night we suggest they go to bed, close their eyes, and start counting thanks. Think of all the things you are thankful for. The list would never end.

Framed

Click on the image to see it bigger, if you want to.

Moi

Since it rained all day today we stayed home and puttered around the house. Cookies and muffins were baked, house slippers were worn, and much football on TV was watched.

Last Sunday, however, we went out to the colorful spot on the globe I've named The Rusty Sun. I snapped loads of photos and then I sat down and painted a little sketch of my shadow. My shadow was surrounded my rusty red oak leaves.

It's a rough life.

Shooting Acorns

W. shooting acorns with his slingshot into the pond this afternoon.

I wish there was a way to bottle up days like this and then keep them handy for those other days when the air is stagnant and pungent.

Cold winds blowing straight through the soul and out again, like some kind of detox elixir.

Bright copper oak leaves. Gem-like deep burgundy sumak leaves. Cheery red sasafrass leaves.

Brillant blue sky.

Land. Hills, trails, draws, a pond, clearings, the creek, a little frog, a big rock with a frizzy sort of moss all over it.

Sunshine.

Feeling so good tired at the end of the day.

Portrait

Okay, so here is a drawing Z did about three years ago. He was 4, almost 5. It was December 2003. This was before Z started drawing everything in stick figures... back then he drew what he saw. As you can plainly see, this is a portrait of his mom and dad. We are in the living room. I'm in the chair cozied up in a green throw blanket and J's kicked back on the couch. We are watching the movie Seabiscuit on TV. I was knitting also, and if you look closely you can sort of see the knitting needles.
I don't know why Z stopped drawing like this. He would really get in the zone. This one took about 25 minutes or so.

I am showing this because I found it the other day when I was going through a box of old papers and letters. Finding it made my day.

waiting

waiting, originally uploaded by Tifty's Art.

Something didn't seem right. The light was not the same as before.

Both my headlights were burned out.
I'd been driving around with my fog lights on...

Funny how that is both a literal and allegorical description for the last couple of weeks of my life.

The Storyteller

My younger son is a storyteller. He's a narrator of real and imaginary events and any combination of the two. He is also an illustrator. When he was four he drew an amazing portrait of me and his dad by following the classic method of simply drawing what he saw. I'm going to see if I can find that one and show it to you.

Nowadays my son draws more symbolically and has gone to drawing stick figures in order to quickly create a visual scene for the story he wrote.

If you want to see this drawing a little bigger, click HERE.

Pappa's sketchbook 1964

Pappa's sketchbook 1964, originally uploaded by Tifty's Art.

With some math problems!
He's a civil engineer.

phone call

phone call, originally uploaded by Tifty's Art.

September 1.

clearing my mind

avoiding, originally uploaded by Tifty's Art.