Academics!

Copying a Carravagio's 'death of a virgin'

Spouse rocks

Brian helped me set up these kicking shelves as a drying rack in the
studio. Each slot can house a 4' tall canvas. Wood shelves with
drilled out holes for dowels create the partitions.
Now I just need to stretch some big beasties.

Detail

Trying to get less stingey with paint - also trying to leave some
ochre aside for bright tones

...of a realist

(Picture: Highway painting test - absorbant ground turns canvas into paperlike in texture).
School is enigmatic. My advanced painting class is half-populated by realists. My grad group, conceptually driven. Art is mid conversation - awaiting change, either through participation or evolution. Photos document possible conclusions.

Still evaluating what's in store for me as a 'first year'. We are let loose regarding materials or content. Late winter, the full faculty descends into studio, interrogates/investigates, and proffers a thumbs up or thumbs down. The interdisciplinary focus of this program seems to invite ephemeral practice.

Considering my fondness for two dimensional objects and subjects related to a recognizeable bits of city-i am left with the question that drove me to school to begin with- how to defend representational art? It seems easy to categorize it as decorative.

A consolation today was revisiting my short term goal of playing with scale and materials to see what best relates to the subject. We watched a sheeler's movie "manhatta" in class recently. Dynamic compositions and dramatic scale, monumentalized the city. Although aspects of industrialization have shown their grimy side since, the movie still resonates with me.

Confessions....