Marianne Faithful

Hello. I've heard a few songs from Marianne Faithful three so far each one more intense.

"I feel bad though I ain't done nothing wrong I feel bad. Ending with "guilty" repeated a hundred times, real soft fading. Well it seems to be the whole record of a live recording.. Amazing. I'll have to own this sometime.

www.brooklynartproject.com and me. bravo!!!

Hello. www.brooklynartproject.com So this is an amazing thing. I have joined this site and just uploaded three details and small paintings and I am on there site in the most amazing way. You may have to join to view my page but it is a cool site for current work anyway so definitely worth checking out for young art and attitude. I entered a juried show that I am still waiting for the "No" on.

saturday and i've taken the day off totally for the first time in a long time

Wait till I tell my mother someone form Australia a painter at that commented on my blog. How very exciting for me. Another person also but they did not leave an address. Oh well, keep'em coming.

Hello. I feel another crazy post coming on that I am not going to edit. I got the painting shipped to Dallas yesterday and after tracking it and seeing that it is in Secaucus, NJ. I guess they are shipping it. It was a challenge making the box but it went off well and I am at the mercy of UPS.

This image is a Yucca that John and I are taking care of. I say taking care of because what do we really own regarding living things in the big picture. I guess we own it in the sense that if we didn't water it, it would die as it is a container in our house so it depends on us absolutely. Well we are doing a great job because it is sending out a flower as you can see and I feel it is such a gift. They are amazing creatures and I love talking to them telling them how beautiful they are. I've talked to plants for so many years if I'm fifty and had plants in my teens at home in my mother's house than you do the math. I remember there was a squared off section of windows in the kitchen and when I was sixteen or seventeen I built this simple wood structure from above to hang plants from and it was beautiful and green everywhere.

I wish I could say that I came to the decision to take the day off for good reasons. The truth is since nine thirty or so I've had waves of nausea mainly in my head. which seems odd but I'm quite relieved they are not in my stomach because if that were the case I would be vomiting probably right now.

I'm listening to some great music on the radio the last segment featured nothing but duets. Al Green with Lyle Levitt, Emmy Lou Harris with Roy Orbison, I think, One of the Nevil Brothers with Bonnie Rait. I don't know how to spell any of these names. Linda Ronstadt with... Anyway get me point amazing radio. Now it's Carol King singing "Smack Water Jack" current and LIVE. She is wonderful and SWJ was always a favorite of mine.

John went to the stores and to play some tennis. We played last night and I hit an ace and some other very good serves. I'm bragging in case you didn't pick that up. I deserved that ace. Wow it must be boring for Serena and Roger hitting all the time. Oh my god what about Cilic ??? can't even imagine how to spell His name. the Serb ace king.

I am enjoying this coffee which is getting cold. Piss me off. I don't know anyone that really is a good sick person but I am a terrible one. The only redeeming thing about me is that I really don't want you to do anything for me if you can't do it right. Just kidding. Poor guy. John that is. I am kidding the evil one is my alter ego. The real me likes to be cared for and John does step up. He doesn't want me to do anything. There is a huge smile on my face. So I am in my studio sitting on my couch writing a post. Feeling like a huge mass of waste.

My friend Mark sent me a photo of himself to my phone and it made me very happy to see him. It's been a awhile as He moved to Michigan a couple of years ago to care for ailing parents. He is a great guy. WE met back in the nineties when I was going to the Spring St. studio to work from the model. Crazy because we met on the sidewalk in front of the studio before the class began. The entrance to the studio is right at the subway stop and I was standing there waiting for the class to begin and up comes this tall guy with his bicycle on his shoulder, you might imagine Atlas with the world there you go, we made eye contact and said hello. I remember thinking, I wish He was the model. Isn't that funny?? What luck, the gods were looking down on me. First let me say that ALL models are beautiful but some are just a little more so. He is gorgeous in and out. He just has one of those friendly faces where the only appropriate thing to say is Hello. At the break I asked Him if He would be interested in working privately and there began an amazing friendship. I learned to paint studying Mark. If you go to my site, to the figurative page you can see some of my many paintings / drawings of Mark.

He keeps me posted about things happening in the world some of which I am already aware as we listen to the same radio. He is a true Man of Peace. Funny because He is built like a triathlete which I think He has been as matter of fact. If only ALL the strong men of the world used there strength for peace in the world. I guess it is the weak minded men that create the problems and fear in the world. When I say weak I do not mean simple to the contrary most of these weak minds are probably brilliant in other ways just imbalanced maybe not treated well as children who knows but if only all strengths and weaknesses in children could be praised both and not criticized making young boys into fearful men. Men who must over power. Yes I do single out my gender as the problem because I am sure that if Women had a penis - I mean power from the beginning it would be a different world today. It makes me very sad because this is not some story this is real and we go day to day but this world, country is fucked up. And the GOP still pretends to care when they will not help the little guy with a fucking Health Insurance policy. How absolutely fucked up is that. I do not pretend to understand it all, all I know is what's right and what seems clearly not right and that is all. We have the good fortune to have a President and First Lady who could potentially make a change if allowed. I'm not a playing man but I do say a prayer for them. I pray that after all is said and done He does not blame Himself if things don't go the way He'd hoped. I also pray that y some miracle they get out of His way and He is able to accomplish what He has set out to.

I am making a book for my mother which I think I have talked about and it is getting me in touch with drawing again and that makes me feel like there is so much to do before I die. I remember being young and having someone say to me that I was so lucky to have my life ahead of me and I get that now. The truth is I ma younger now than she was so I still have time to do many things but time goes so quickly and you don't see it as a young person. Maybe that is best youth is bad enough without having the insight of age. Although of course there are very advance children who have amazing insight. It is a blessing and curse.

Later.

back in the country

Hello. I have to warn you this post is especially bitter and vulgar. You've been warned.

So here I am back in the studio and trying to do some small errands while packing up the painting to ship to Dallas. Lucky me right? Anyway imagine how annoyed I am when I go to check my email and I'm told that the earthlink web mail address is not a valid url. How fucking annoying is that I ask you? Right my blog so I can be as vulgar and pissed off as I want.

I do apologize as I am listening to the news and there are many people in Haiti who on top of everything else do not have bathroom to use. Surprise surprise. My problems are pretty pathetic in the scheme of things.

Anyway while driving in today I saw a couple of trucks on the side of the rode, one was a smallish garbage truck. As I got closer I realized they were about to toss a dead deer in the truck. Okay now I really did not need to know that that is how they deal with the roadkill out in this over-privileged community. Maybe it is common practice. I just think it is bad enough that people drive way to fast on these country roads killing deer left and right (I'm working on my road speed) Can't we just slow down where there are deer signs. They travel on the same route it is established. Not to fucking difficult to avoid hitting the beauties. Yes I am pissed. What's worse is when they leave them on the side of the road some half alive. Back to my point about the trucks We take these beautiful innocent creatures and toss there dear carcases in a truck with no respect for there crushed bodies. I think that is really tragic. No they are not people but they did not ask for our cars and SUV's to cream into them at ridiculous speeds. I fucking hate people right now.

John and I were going to play tennis one snowy night. The tennis place is beyond this train track overpass and for whatever reason it is a spot where deer travel pretty consistently. This night as we approached we saw a deer on Her side in the rode trying to get on Her feet. She was clearly hit in the back side and they just left Her there to potentially be hit again by someone barrel assing through the narrow underpass. We stopped and called the police and they sent someone with a gun to put her out of her misery. The cop told us we should go. It was really one of the sadder times for me out here. This huge animal was a perfect specimen and to see the look in her eyes was really to much. And of course off in the darkness there are others just watching helplessly. It really is gruesome.

Anyway I am calm now this really is cathartic. I realize accidents happen. I rode over a turtle one day leaving the house. After trying so hard to watch out for them. Accidents happen but to leave the scene without stopping or calling someone is not so nice. I know that there are many immigrants out here and they are fearful of calling the police if there is a problem. They drive carefully for that main reason though so I think most of the deer killers are Caucasian, young kids racing, some idiot on there phone, your choice. I guess I wasn't so calm but I am now.

Hopefully my next post will be art related. No guarantee.

the stars are aligning

Hello. So here I am making what I feel are my best paintings ever I'm totally behind them. The only thing is they don't have any (immediate) plans but hanging in my studio. I need to relax. They are brand new and the plan is to varnish them so they are not even ready for a year. Varnish should not be applied till one year after painting is finished. It can unify the surface and I've just really discovered it. A painting that has an uneven mat/wet look can be made to look less uneven.

These are important thoughts for me as I am trying to make a new body of work with smaller manageable scales 48"x48" being the larger end of the scale. There is a better chance of selling smaller paintings. I have sold large works as well. 52"x62", 50"x60" quite a few 48"x48"'s so that encourages me to continue flirting with the large paintings....86"x86" is incredible.

I have recently made four 86"x86" paintings and one 86"x86" that is two panels as a horizontal diptych landscape. Crazy shit happening in this painting. Actually it is the one that is currently at the top of this blog. That's a big Duh. I just had a look at the top of my blog and I am horrified. I have to take a better image... the painting is so much better than this dark image. Although I could be crazy.

All jokes aside I have strengths (not always in picture taking) in some aspects of life and one that I feel very strongly about is my taste level regarding quality in art. It does not feel right to say good and bad regarding art as it is so personal and in some ways should not be judged. Okay now back on planet earth where everything is judged, WE judge that's what we do. Listen I live to be judged I should be so lucky that they are looking. What?? Anyway, What was I saying. Oh yes my taste level regarding art. I know it sounds so crazy, nutso arrogant but in all professions there are people who know more. In my profession, all us artists, working way alone in the studio, I digress, I feel I have developed an eye for good painting. There's that word good, you can't get away from it. It's a feeling you have the way something moves you. Does it make you excited? Introspective? Blown away? These are some feelings that looking at great art can inspire in me I have noticed with age.

Let it be noted that I feel all art and things made by hand have some innate beauty. Innate is a great word, existing in one from birth.

oh facebook if i could only figure it out

Hello. A good friend from the eighties that I haven't seen since then found me on facebook. I have not utilized facebook because it irritates me but that is one amazing development. Regarding facebook, it's the uploading of images and the files or albums that really piss me off. I can't believe that it is just me.

Back to the friend. So amazing. Back then we just moved on with life as it turns out in healthy ways. I remember feeling that Her future looked bright. I hope I was right.

Duffy and Dusty.

I'm in the studio, I've actually made some good progress with a few things. I'm making a book for my mother. It's an 8"x10", fifty page moleskin notebook that I have turned into a scrapbook of and about leaves and trees from travels.

It started when my sister asked me to bring her some leaves from Spain and London this past fall. I did collect some and was going to bring her something for Christmas and time got away from me and the leaves were pressed and buried in a stack of magazines.

I discovered them when trying to organize my life and was crushed that I had forgotten. The leaves that I collected only filled six pages so I had to get busy and going through all of my nature reference photos. I discovered that of course leaves and trees have been my fasciation as long as I can remember. That made me feel very close to my mother, happy that we could both feel such passion about trees.

Today I was driving on this great rode out here it is very long and the tall trees form a kind of Cathedral ceiling down the rode. So powerful these tall living things that go to sleep for the winter and then come alive and give us life. So I am going through and finding photos of Big Sur, California, Mt. Rainier, Muir Woods Monument. I thought that was incredible that Muir Woods is considered a monument as opposed to a park. Very interesting to me.

P.S. I just uploaded the image of Duffy and it took me all of ten seconds. Figure it out facebook people. Truthfully facebook irritates me. I like email. I just can't get the big picture but of course that is my problem should I choose to accept it. Love Duffy. Haven't heard her in a while. I would like to hear her do a Dusty Springfield cd. Did I her DS??