Works in progress in the new studio

Eight years old!

My son turned eight yesterday.  Crazy stuff!  Above is a collaboration we did in the old studio last year, a hawk and an alligator fighting.  Taking him for his birthday present this weekend - his first bicycle.  Can't wait.

Mets home opener tomorrow.  And a special day coming up next week.  More on that another day.

Am settled and working in the new studio, trying to get a feel for the place and my legs under me.  A great group of people, which is really nice, to begin to be a part of a little community again.

Conversation with Wine and Lamp

Oil on canvas, 36Hx54W, 2008-10.  

On the easel in the studio.

Detail.

  Detail.

rainy lights

I'm loving the pics the iPhone takes. This is a shot on the way home from work last night, the corner of Fulton and the Flatbush Extension, looking west at the holiday lights in Fulton Mall. And below are some obligatory cameraphone selfportraits, taken in the studio.

From the studio, via the iPhone camera

Playing around with the iPhone's camera, some shots of works in progress in the studio:

studio odds n ends

Some random, photos, clippings, quotes on my studio door. The watercolor is my son's.

A weird plaster caryatid I trashpicked about 8 yrs ago.

high up on my studio wall, a drawing of my father, and some paintings by my son. From time to time he comes to the studio and I set him up to make some paintings. He likes to use one of my printmaking ink rollers, and he goes to town with it.

A flattened Mister Softee cup, pinned to my wall like a prize butterfly. One magical summer in Toledo, our first on the South Side after living in the Old West End, there was a Mister Softee truck in the neighborhood, serving soft serve ambrosia right out of a truck! It never came back after that, and when I moved to NYC in 1991, I was overjoyed to see this chimeric totem from my childhood was alive and well in the big city.

Blurry self portrait.

Small drawings and paintings kept in the corner during the open studio.

Books

I have a lot of books in my studio. I like to have books around. I kind of have to have books around, just the way I was raised. In my studio are artist monographs, exhibition catalogs, comic books, novels, notes on craft, criticism, movie books, and just plain weird little things that I've picked up here and there because they appeal to me for whatever reason. These pics give you an idea.

Artists: de Kooning, Matisse, Diebenkorn, Hiroshige, Beckmann, Bonnard, Elizabeth Murray, Katz, Gerhard Richter, Luc Tuymans, Manet, Cezanne, Degas, Guston, Morandi, La Tour, Vermeer, Seurat....

Movies: a book on Godard with lots of great pics, Kael's I Lost it at the Movies, Naha's Horrors from Screen to Scream [a book from my childhood], Lumet's Making Movies....

Novelists and fiction: James, Hammett, Chandler, Kundera, Hornby, Greene, Gardner....

Miscellaneous: Bowling for All, an old instructional football book, a couple books about lovebirds that were presents from a couple old friends when I moved in, an old junior high health text from the 1970's, a kid's book about the human body, Origins of Marvel Comics and its two sequels....

Criticism: Kael, Porter, Ashberry....

They come from all over, the books. Most are second hand, one way or another, found on a stoop, bought at a used shop or library sale, gift from friends. That's another good thing about books, they come from all over, and you never know when one will catch your eye, or why.

Pics from the Open Studio Weekend

Some shots of the studio, which cleans up pretty well, as works were installed for the Atlantic Avenue ArtWalk opens studios. It's a cozy space, with nice light, and private. You can see more photos here: http://picasaweb.google.com/packyjewell/Openstudio#

The weekend went as well as these things can. Nothing too annoying or humiliating happened [you tell with what high hopes I approach these things]; on the contrary, plenty of positive feedback, visitors were mostly strangers, and a pretty decent amount of traffic. Thanks to everyone who stopped by, friend or stranger.

Another nice thing was catching up a little with some of my neighbors, whom I'm really bad about chatting with when I'm over there working. They are all very talented, hardworking people, and it's a real pleasure to share the floor with them. There's a jewelry designer, a couple fashion designers who make hats and swimsuits, among other things, and another painter who also does some illustration and teaches at SVA. More on them soon, and I'll give some links to their work. Met some new neighbors too, who seem really nice.

There was only one visitor I would've liked to throw out on his ass. Near the end of the day Sunday, a cute little young couple came in, didn't say much at all to me, but I heard him say something about feeling like he was in a swimming pool [the blue], and she laughed. Now, I'm the first to admit being a little overly sensitive, but my goodness it's rude to be welcomed into a strangers studio and make a crappy joke about the work. So I stewed a little over how I wished I'd asked him what he said and then kicked him out. Okay, I'm over it. Overwhelmingly, people were nice, and I really don't mind how many people made some harmless remark about my 'Blue Period.' I don't mind, but I notice. Sensitive, sure. Not proud of it.

So, a good weekend. Now, I have to put everything back and get back to work. Which will be a relief. Thanks again, to all who came by. Maybe I'll make it a regular thing.

open studio as part of atlantic avenue artwalk

I will be having an open studio for this year's Atlantic Avenue ArtWalk. More info to come, as they get their maps and website together. The basics: June 6 and 7. My studio will be open from 1-6pm both days. 320 Dean Street, betw third and fourth aves.

I've never been part of ArtWalk, but this year my landlord approached me about it, which makes these things a lot easier, when you have landlord approval. I have mixed feelings about open studios. Whenever I took part in Dumbofest when I had a studio down there, they always ended up feeling like more trouble than they are worth. But another good thing about taking part in this year's ArtWalk is that it's a nice follow up to the show at LIU. So stay tuned, sportsrockers, for more info as the date approaches.

I remember an open studio I held in dumbo once. This greasy little dude came in, looked at the walls, said grimly, "You know Gerhard Richter's work?" I said, "Yeah, since I've recently started using photographs as sources, I've been looking at his work, as well as Malcolm Morley, Eric Fischl, some other painters like that." He scowled at me, one hand on his chin, grunted, and walked out.

THAT is one reason I have mixed feelings about open studios. Selfish little twerp.

In the studio

One of the reasons I've worked the same day job for so long, is that I get a nice amount of time off. I work in an academic library, and you can get an idea of what I do there here, where I amuse myself by writing about movies and other things in our collection. I'm not a librarian, because I've never had the urge to get that particular degree, but an example of why I stick around is coming up: Spring Break is next week, and I plan to spend most of that time in the studio. I have eight panels ready to go, a smallish canvas, and a bigger canvas, and about fifteen other paintings in process, so I am hoping for a pretty productive week. Actually, I've got things in pretty good shape as you can tell from those numbers, so even if I don't do much more than belch in the studio, it will automatically qualify as a productive week.