Nested bowls, no. 3 — graphite on mylar,  8 x 8 inch (20  x 20  cm), 08/27/2010

~

Tree at my window, window tree,

My sash is lowered when night comes on;

But let there never be curtain drawn

Between you and me.

~

Vague dream-head lifted out of the ground,

And thing next most diffuse to cloud,

Not all your light tongues talking aloud

Could be profound.

~

But, tree, I have seen you taken and tossed,

And if you have seen me when I slept,

You have seen me when I was taken and swept

And all but lost.

~

That day she put our heads together,

Fate had her imagination about her,

Your head so much concerned with outer,

Mine with inner, weather.

~

Robert Frost, You Come Too, 1959, Henry Holt and Company, New York

Nested bowls — oil on maple panel,  10 x 10 inch (25  x 25  cm), 08/20/2010

Nested bowls, no. 2 — graphite on mylar,  5 x 7 inch (13  x 18  cm), 08/17/2010

Nested bowls, no. 1 — graphite on mylar,  8 x 8 inch (20  x 20  cm), 08/17/2010

Garlic in plastic bag with egg and tea — oil on maple panel,  10 x 10 inch (25  x 25  cm), 08/16/2010

Garlic in plastic bag with egg and tea — graphite on mylar,  5 x 7 inch (13  x 18  cm), 08/12/2010

Bagel, egg and tea, no. 2 — oil on maple panel,  10 x 10 inch (25  x 25  cm), 08/11/2010

Bagel, egg and tea, no. 2 — graphite on mylar,  5 x 7 inch (13  x 18  cm), 08/11/2010

Bagel, egg and tea, no. 1 — oil on maple panel,  10 x 10 inch (25  x 25  cm), 08/9/2010

Bagel, egg and tea, no. 1 — graphite on mylar,  5 x 7 inch (13  x 18  cm), 08/8/2010

Bagel, egg and tea, no. 1 — graphite on mylar,  5 x 7 inch (13  x 18  cm), 08/8/2010

The following pieces are the last images I’ll post from the Art New England / Mass Art workshop at Bennington College, Vermont. I was thrilled to be in a class called “Advanced Painting.” We were shown methods of working on mylar using pencil and a slurry of graphite powder and stand oil/OMS. It’s a delicious medium to use for fluid handling of values. The images have characteristics of litho, monoprint, charcoal, and photo, depending on how the materials are pushed. It’s incredibly flexible and expressive. The mylar also takes watercolor, gouache, and oils. Archival longevity has not been established.

Hydrangea in vase, graphite on mylar,  10 x 8 inch (25  x 20  cm), 07/28/2010

Hydrangea, oil on mylar,  5 x 7 inch (13  x 18  cm), 07/30/2010

My time on the road included a side trip to visit Tad Spurgeon. After years of appreciating his work online, Tad generously let me interrupt his painting time to meet and see his work in person. His studio is a wondrous cavern filled to the brim with paintings stacked and hung on every surface. It is a marvelous workshop of intense explorations. His extensive experiments with materials are a treasure chest of silicas, putties, gels, marble mixing slabs and windows full of countless bottles of aging oil glowing on the sills. Delacroix seemed to be right around the corner, about to be the next visitor to stop by.

The following drawings were created during the second week of the Art New England / Mass Art workshop program at Bennington College, Vermont.

Hydrangea, no. 5 — graphite on mylar,  5 x 7 inch (13  x 18  cm), 07/27/2010

Hydrangea, no. 4 — graphite on mylar,  7 x 5 inch (18  x 13  cm), 07/27/2010

Hydrangea, no. 3 — graphite on mylar,  7 x 5 inch (18  x 13  cm), 07/27/2010

Hydrangea, no. 2 — graphite on mylar,  7 x 5 inch (18  x 13  cm), 07/27/2010

Hydrangea, no. 1 — graphite on mylar,  4 x 5 inch (10  x 13  cm), 07/27/2010

These pictures are hand held snap shots of the last two paintings done during a one week independent study offered by the Art New England / Mass Art workshop program at Bennington College, Vermont.

Egg, Rose, and Scone, oil on paper,  5.5 x 9.5 inch (14  x 24  cm), 07/23/2010

EE:  “Category bending: still-life as landscape.”

PY to EE:  “They’re doing baked goods; watch your back.”

SB:  “Keep that one as an example of what you want to do.”

TS:  “People are looking for intimacy.”

Funnel and Apples, oil on linen (mounted panel), 8 x 8 inch (20 x 20 cm), 07/22/2010

CC:  “A Cezanne sort of thing.”

SB:  Agrees with me that “the lower left corner, the green apple and shadow, is good.”

Chicken and Cup, oil on linen (mounted panel), 10 x 8 inch (25 x 20 cm), 07/21/2010

Oil Jars and Apple, oil on linen (mounted panel), 8 x 8 inch (20 x 20 cm), 07/20/2010

Mustard Jar and Apples, oil on linen (mounted panel), 8 x 8 inch (20 x 20 cm), 07/19/2010

Apple and apricots, oil on linen (mounted panel), 5 x 5 inch (13 x 13 cm), 06/23/2010

Couch with quilt, oil on linen (mounted panel), 5 x 7 inch (13 x 18 cm), 06/24/2010

Tomato, knife and paper bag, oil on linen panel, 8 x 10 inch (20 x 25 cm), 06/30/2010

Lemon, knife and plate, oil on linen panel, 5 x 7 inch (13 x 18 cm), 06/29/2010

Lemon, knife and plate, oil on linen panel, 5 x 7 inch (13 x 18 cm), 06/28/2010

Apricot, knife and plate, oil on linen panel, 5 x 5 inch (13 x 13 cm), 06/27/2010

Apricot and Knife, oil on linen panel, 5 x 5 inch (13 x 13 cm), 06/26/2010

Ink and sumi brush, oil on linen panel, 4 x 5 in (10 x 13 cm), 06/22/08

Farm road, oil on linen, 11 x 14 in (28 x 36 cm), 06/15/2010

North Bridge, oil on paper, 10 x 10 in (25 x 25 cm), 06/07/2010

• … has bounce; you protected the drawing; bridge is the best part; shape of field not clear; were trees as bright in highlight — yes or no?; squint; sky probably not as dark as that; you did a good job, looks good.

Farm, oil on paper, 10 x 10 in (25 x 25 cm), 06/08/2010

• … terrific; trees not that interesting; clouds overt — parts don’t add up — engineering; Italian pre-world war I painters in Sicily used simplified, abstract shapes, beautiful; color on right of building interesting; front of building best part — harder it is to paint more you succeed, you worked at it; engineering — how clouds really work; Homer’s Prout’s neck ocean waves; a lot of people want their paintings to look a certain way — have to be able to see their own painting, what’s happening in the painting, follow what’s happening.

Farm, oil on linen, 11 x 14 in (28 x 36 cm), 06/11/2010 –  in progress / scraped

• … lost context; high grass on left along road suspicious; disappointed in left side grass; have to paint whole thing, not adjustments to parts; became self conscious bottom half; sky good — done as a whole; you know what you feel unsettled about, gain more skills, you get better, stay alive on that level, you’re making these decisions, just follow, get there by not being self-conscious; John Updike’s example: creativity is like a drop of water on a hot stove — perpetual motion machine; in an hour no time to be self conscious; conscious thinking helps you get to it; trees too harsh.