Snacks, stacks and a painting in search of itself
I keep snacks on hand in the studio and it usually runs the gamut of what you see above: fruit, sweets and a lot in between. On the day this photo was taken, the fruit lasted all of two hours. The candy will last a lot longer, probably three weeks, at least. I’ve always had a sweet tooth, but candy is no longer the thing I eat almost all day like when I was a kid. There were several corner stores in my South Philly neighborhood where you could get “penny candy” and there was one right across from my elementary school. Every piece of candy was a penny and you could load up a bagful to sneak into school, which we did with impunity. The enterprising amongst us kids would sell candy from the back row in class. Invariably, someone would mess around, get caught and the teacher would take the whole bag (or bags). I don’t think they returned them, either. Hard times, lol!
I went through a period of years where I didn’t eat any candy at all and kept other sweets to a minimum, preferring fruit over candy. As I got older and had a better balance of eating habits, I allowed myself to have candy every once in a while which brings me to now. There’s a stand in Reading Terminal Market here in Philly that sells candy by the pound. A couple of times a year, I’ll get a bunch and have a few pieces here and there during the day. What you see in this photo will last me a into January. My favorite sweets are cherry sours. Other snacks that I have more often, besides fruit, are potato chips, different types of crackers, peanuts, roasted almonds and roasted pumpkin seeds. I try to keep the sweets at bay, but sometimes, working through painting problems creates energy that requires a little stabilizing and whatever I have around to snack on will usually help, until it doesn’t and I need more, lol!
stacked collages
I’m always trying out new things and lately, it’s been what I’m calling Stacked Collages. I just started working on these late last week, probably Thursday. I’d been thinking about this idea for a while and I’m just now finding my way to executing the vision. They are pretty in line with a part of my overall artist statement centered on the unknown/unknowable all around us when it comes to how humans interact with and act on our built environment. I’m using a mix of magazine pages mixed with old drawings and other studio ephemera, like acrylic paint skins. I’m pretty stoked to see these begin to take shape. There’s some real potential with them and I know I’m only at the tip of the iceberg. I’m thinking about how to display some of these because I’m making them to be two-sided, with front and back “covers”.
I’m thinking about traditional frames, as well as other options, like two sheets of plexiglas. That makes sense to me considering the two sided nature of some of these collages, but for now, I just need to make a bunch more to see where they take me.
The blue elephant in the room
You’ve heard of the “elephant in the room”, well, I’ve had my own version of that with the large painting on the right side. It’s been in a kind of limbo for the past almost three weeks, now, believe it or not. I’ve liked it where it is, but that thing in the back of my head has been gnawing at me, urging me to “continue looking for the painting it’s meant to become”. So, I’ve been letting it sit and after today’s work with some acrylic on paper, I think I may have a way forward. Tomorrow will bring me to the moment of truth, I hope, anyway. I think that the color interaction between the blue and earlier warm colors here is good and I like the shape of that top blue layer, but it’s not *quite* there, yet. I may do another couple of studies on paper first, but I think I see a light at the end of the tunnel for this one.
TM