weekend exhibition

I’m cleaning up the studio for a weekend exhibition., digging thru boxes i haven’t opened in a while. I’m putting old stuff on the wall this weekend to dust them off. I also discovered some frames I intend to repaint and recycle. It got me excited about some older themes, that and rereading Melville again.

Recycling

Probably comes from my early days in New York in Art school, the garbage was rich. I kept my eyes open when I walked around.

Old habits. I found a little round frame down the hill last summer, put it aside. It resurfaced this week and I’m giving it a new surface. Pure fun.

I had an exhibition using all recycled, repainted, re-purposed frames a few years ago. they don’t sell well. Oh well. Still fun.

My Suzuri, my ink stone

“Wash your face every week, but wash your ink stone every day.” a old ink painter’s saying.

and i have become an old ink painter.

Before, with 25 years of my use

After

For the new year

I was sharpening knives.

This little carpenters knife has been in the family - father's, grandfather's, further back? Can't say. I noticed it is getting shorter. I remember my father buying a set of wood chisels and telling me that well cared for they would outlast my children's children. The company was going out of business. He bought two sets.

His son's children's children. Why would he need to buy two sets?

It was my belief he bought one set for using. And the other set just for looking at.

Solstice and I start again

My exhibitions are in October, then the clean-up and the teaching. by the time I get back to painting I have to relearn how to do it. Its the solstice. It begins.

New Year Coming, nobody runing

They don't do this anymore. They learned to make them as child, sent them to teachers and friends. Their parents still do it, most of them. But not one of my university in fifty still makes or sends New Years cards anymore.