THE BOON OF STICKING WITH IT

This drawing "Lance-lot," is indicative of my drawing style that finally arrived, thousands of drawings later. Like other recent drawings, it carries with it the torch of the past, a dream that, although just sputtering along at times, finally blossomed. Never abandoning the journey after answering the Call's soft murmur in a noisy door plant in the mid-80's, I have finally developed a voice - even if it resembles fighting one's way out of a paper bag - it is mine and a testament that not giving up has its rewards. Still harboring the sense of urgency that attended my earliest efforts to tenaciously hold on and not put that little pen to rest in the fast-paced environment of an industrialized assembly-line. Don't give up!

Setback

Now that my laptop has been stolen and my camera, I will have to go through a lot more trouble to access my pictures to post on this blog. No, I didn't back up everything. I'll have to manually search for material that is boxed up in the "art" room. But some things like saved emails are gone for good. Years ago, around 1990, a similar thing happened, when a friend's trailer I had stored art in was vandalized. One day after work at the factory, I walked through the overgrown grass and towards the tree where the trailer was. Leading up tp the trailer were balled up pieces of paper. My heart dropped when upon closer examination, they proved to be my drawings. This discovery was a hint of things to come - a trailer where my works where scattered everywhere, varnish and paint splashed here and there, and the windows busted out on all sides of the trailer. Perhaps, the most disturbing finding was a few early drawings of human forms imprisioned by box-like framen - they were found stuffed in the bottom of the trailers non-working toilet. I tried my best to salvage them, but it appeared useless. I never found out who did it.

The International Show at Summit 2009

The notification call came December 22 - that I was selected for final judging, meaning I'm in the show at least. I should like to frame the work to express a bit of my thoughts on my medium. Something to this effect - "Paper is not a surface, it is my dance partner..."

"Hey Whitney" goes to National Drawing Show

My drawing "Hey Whitney" continues its course, as it will soon make its way to the National Drawing Show at the South Shore Art Center in Cohasset, MA. Academy Art Museum curator, Brian Young, says it appears to extend drawing. But words can't do it the justice that seeing it will. Rachel Rosenfield Lafo, Director of Curatorial Affairs at the Decordova Museum and Sculpture Park, is this year's juror for the show.

A sense of mission underscores all these drawings that I submit to shows. I want to be the best I can be in expressing this flow, this dynamic poetic flow. But it is also a battle there, to keep this dream alive. And so, this pen is likened to a sword, and the quest is little different than Achilles' quest. He flowed with his instrument. He had a mission. He was fearless. My problematic "tendon" is by metaphor, the many distractions that try to tire me, and pull me from my ongoing mission. But that's what we carry a shield for. A shield of Focus, Skill, and Determination.

"Hey Whitney" itself was a drawing done in response to a rejection in the International Show at Summit in 2007. The juror was from the Whitney, from the department of Drawings. That drawing won recently in the Madison National Show in GA, juried by Sylvie Fortin of ART PAPERS. And it will continue shining.

The Female In My Art

She made her entrance by necessity. She was summoned in the name of Balance. I had focused too long on a hieroglyphic symbol which I later found to mean "MEN." Repeatedly, I drew it, transforming it over many months into its most dynamic form. Complimentary to this evolution of a hieroglyphic fragment, arose the posterior side of a feminine form, originally in thin line work. Later she evolved into a monochromatic wash in passionate,figurative embrace with her figurative, male opposite. This,emotionally and visually, brought about psychological equilibrium. After that, she continued her dynamic interplay with my drawing, sporting a continuous parade of colorful garments.
This watercolor pencil wash work was done at a fast-food restaurant in 2003. I framed a print of her and placed it in an eclectic store of unique things. A woman with her mother, after strolling through the whole store of thousands of items, stopped when she saw this print on a chair. "It spoke to me," she said. The original, like most of my original color works of this goddess, are complete with the authentic drops of coffee, which I used to blend the colors when drawing at fast-food restaurants. She measures 8.5" x 11" and I will let her go for $600.