Highline extension

I love the Highline! Here are my previous posts- one and two. They have opened a new part up to 30th street. It was definitely more crowded in parts, but it is still amazing. I think the Highline might be one of the most photogenic places in nyc. It is difficult not to take a bunch of pictures. I think it is the contrast between nature and the city.

see chelsea part 1

So one of the reasons that I chose SVA for a residency is its location. I am steps away from the Chelsea Market, the High Line (stay tuned) and the galleries. Long-time readers will know that I love all three of these things. I am going to try and see as much art as possible this month. I started off on 20th street at Postmasters Gallery.

The piece above is an urban garden by Natalie Jeremijenko at Postmasters. The piece below is a digital work on canvas by Kenneth Tin-Kin Hung.

The installation shot (above) and drawing (below) are by Jason Polan at the Nicolas Robinson Gallery. The artist was in the gallery playing ping pong with someone while I was looking at the show.

Roberta Smith reviewed the show in the NY Times. She says...

Jason Polan is an incessant draftsman and enterprising artist interested in making both his art and himself more available. Through his Web site he can be commissioned to make an hour’s worth of drawings for $125 and will consider requests. One of his several projects is to draw every person in New York. His self-published books include “Every Piece of Art in the Museum of Modern Art Book.”
Mr. Polan’s New York solo debut includes “One Month,” a series of 31 drawings, each depicting objects encountered during a single day and drawn from life. The exhibition also includes a Ping-Pong table, available for use, that is drawn all over with four-legged animals (polar bears?) evoking Keith Haring; an imposing life-size rendering of the head of King Kong; and, my favorite, a wall covered with drawings in several sizes of dense, smudgy black circles. 

Finally at Jack Shainman Gallery, I saw a photograph of Sweet Pickles if he was African. Later!

New York City!

I am back in the city! I am doing a painting residency at the School of Visual Arts. We had orientation today and I should move into my studio tomorrow (hopefully). I'll have some studio pictures later in the week.

I took a long walk to one of my favorite places in NYC, Gramercy Park.

Do you see the lone man reading peacefully? Where are all of the other people you might ask? It is a private park with locked gates (ask me how I know). With the bustle and crowds of the city, I can understand the allure of a private park. It might be worth staying at the Gramercy Park Hotel just to visit the park- they have keys.

Studio time

I just finished another smaller painting. I made the jello and took the picture.

I found some awesome old postcards at an antique store in North Carolina. I decided to alter them with some gouache and I want to mail them.  The one on the left is a photograph of a 60s era woman on a camel. On the back, it describes the smell of the camel and the hotness of Egypt. The one on the right is Piazza Navona in Rome. The note on the back describes the European itinerary and comments of the cleanliness of Europe.

Does anyone want a postcard?

I love the mountains, I love the rolling hills....

 Elk preserve in the Great Smoky National Park

 View from Moonshine Cabin

Quilt Garden at the North Carolina Arboretum.

North Carolina!

Kevin and I just got back from a week in the mountains. We saw lots of art and a ton of craft. Here are some highlights.

House of the Rising Sun Variation, 1952

 We went to the Jack Tworkov show at Black Mountain College Art Center in downtown Asheville.  Jack Tworkov is an early abstract impressionist who taught at BMC. He influenced Rauschenberg and was the chair of the Yale Art Department from 1963-69.

Guardian 1, 1952

I love this quote!

 We headed up the hill to Blue Spiral Gallery in Asheville. Blue Spiral is one of the best craft galleries in the country but they show a great deal of 2D work as well. I was really impressed by the work of Will Henry Stevens (1881-1949). His work looks like a cross between Joan Miro and Charles Burchfield. His sense of color and surface are very nice. Who knew abstraction was flourishing in the South before WW2?

 Lillian Garcia Roig is one of my favorite painters. She teaches at FSU (Meg- make friends). We were in a show at the Huntsville Museum of Art together several years ago. Her work is figurative from across the room but starts to collapse as you get closer.

 Here is a detail- she loves paint.

We headed over to the River Arts district in Asheville. It is neighborhood of warehouses turned into studios (we were jealous). Kevin used to work for Randy Shull who owns Pink Dog Creative. Randy is a woodworker who uses a lot of paint. He is making more paintings about furniture than furniture.

We traveled up to the Penland School of Craft which is about an hour north of Asheville. They have a fantastic curriculum and a great gallery. Here are shots from a Typography show. I love the glass pieces from Marc Petrovic.

Mother, don't look at this....

 This is the latest painting. It has been slow in the studio because of a shoulder issue. I am slowly working up to my former pace. I'll have to think about the title.

One of my former students, Dustin, asked me for some artwork for a tattoo. This is from an old painting, "Juicy Fruit". He got several other professors to give him artwork for tattoos. Here is my contribution. Very cool!

Cleaning out the attic

We are cleaning out the attic for a yard sale on Saturday. In boxes that I have not looked at since we moved in 2007, I found one of my favorite things from grad school. My friend, Kayo Nakamura, gave this to me. I will have to find a special place to hang it!

 Here are daylilies from the yard.

 

Introducing- "Yes We Candles" 40" x 50" acrylic on canvas

Anyone want to come over for dinner?

Carrots, kohlrabi, pittypat squash, grits, snowpeas from the Midtown Farmers Market... Yum!

What I have been up to...

 

Girl Talk

 Balloon Glow at Alabama Jubilee

 Sugarees!

 

Orange Pineapple ice cream at Trowbridges

Sale at Billy Reid

numerology

Here is a studio update. I am having fun with all of the plastic. Does anyone have any fun title ideas? This painting could be done by the end of the month.

may is for sewing...

 Inspired by the Gee's Bend show at the University Museum, I created a queen size quilt using vintage fabric. The pattern is called flying geese. Now to find a machine quilter...

Painting update