Wonderful, sunny late Summer-early Autumn day.  Warm and breezy, now it's cooling off.  Did some house cleaning, drew on a canvas for a painting, and went out landscape painting with my friend at Bryant Park.  Kids were playing, a woman was walking her big tan-white dog.  Went over to my field and painted some more later.  Farmers' Market tomorrow: apples, peppers, tomatoes ( I hope).  

Lots of reading, writing, thinking to do for my one academic class.  Suffered through working on this class material yesterday, threw off that yoke today.  Deadline's coming up next Wednesday.  I'll have to do it this weekend.  Bought a ruled notebook to keep class notes separate from my sketchbook.

This campus is really beautiful.

Time to get some dinner.  Walk home as the sun sets.

Out painting, got caught in a passing storm. I heard the thunder coming, and the sky behind me was a strange middle blue mixed with orange, while the sky ahead of me was very bright, with slightly violet clouds.

When I heard the thunder I wondered when I would decide to pack it in. Maybe it would not rain at all where I was, so I stayed put. It kept thundering, and I noticed drops of rain staining the unprimed linen canvas I had brought with me (and decided not to use). It was still bright and sunny where I was. I got rained on a little but made it back to the studio before the worst of the heavy thunderstorm passed through.

On his website home page Drew Ernst quotes Bo Bartlett: "Art is a personal practice, like meditation. Art allows the artist the opportunity to awaken into deeper levels of reality. In the best cases, it also allows the artist the opportunity to assist the viewer in the process of 'waking up.'"

my new landscape

My new landscape, on another beautiful afternoon here in Bloomington. There's a tailgate party going on in the field across from the one I was painting in. Football game tonight. People called me "Bob Ross" but I got some nice comments.

Working on the Yoga painting in the studio. The figure looks female now, which I am glad about.

Fresh veggies from the Farmer's Market for dinner tonight!

Here are a couple of studio views with paintings in progress. In the large painting in the lower photo I just painted out another figure that was in the center. Originally there were 3 figures; I'm a cruel author, I keep killing off my characters. Actually I need to study figure poses and relationships in greater depth so I can make a more solid composition from the start.

In that same photo, the next painting to the right is a figure doing a half-moon, a yoga pose. The next painting over, with the problematic yellow ochre background, is the current state of the remains of the first painting I started here, with the putto in the upper right corner. The putto's gone. Figure relationships in paintings are tricky.

I might leave these paintings for awhile and start some new ones. Actually I'll probably work on the yoga one some more. It is somewhat painful to leave paintings in such unresolved condition, but I feel the need to expand in breadth before sinking more into these particular scenarios. Find my characters and setting a little better.

landscape

A beautiful late summer/early fall day here in Bloomington. Went out and painted this landscape, in the field I mentioned in the previous posting, earlier this afternoon. Had an informative studio meeting yesterday with Eve Mansdorf, who suggested I do some plein air work.

I want to pass along a note on another topic.

This is a quote from an article in the New York Times describing John McCain's VP pick Sarah Palin's interview with ABC:
"Ms. Palin was clearly caught off guard when Mr. Gibson asked, "Do you agree with the Bush doctrine?" Seeking direction, and perhaps time to formulate an answer, Ms. Palin leaned back, smiled stiffly and said, "In what respect, Charlie?" Initially unwilling to define the doctrine, Mr. Gibson said, "What doyou interpret it to be?" Ms. Palin asked, "His world view?" Mr. Gibson said, "No, the Bush doctrine, enunciated September 2002,before the Iraq war."

I don't know what the "Bush doctrine" is either. But I'm not running for the second-highest elected office in the most powerful country in the world.

It can be hard to care about such things when it's so nice out, but we need to care at least a little. It is too easy not to register and vote.

About two blocks north of the fine arts studio building is a freight train track. If you go west for a couple of blocks, make a right onto Fess Street and walk under the underpass, you see a few blocks of undeveloped land. Suddenly the landscape looks rural, or from a previous time. (If you're facing to the right; to the left there is more student housing.) Yesterday was a warm, sunny day, and I felt an emotionally compelling feeling of summer turning to fall in the air, so I walked over, and took some photographs. The photo to the left may not capture what I have described but I was drawn to the composition so I posted it.

Sleepy from eating too much for lunch (and dinner last night too). Also from reading assigned reading and working on work for my one academic (non-studio) class this morning and afternoon. I wanted to do that work slowly and thoughtfully to really get a feeling for how I might fit into the world of teaching. But I surely do not miss being assigned what to read!

Actually, I see it clearing up now so I might go run some errands.

Did some pretty poor work, slowly too, on a painting.

color chart

I did a color chart this past Saturday. I hadn't done one since I started painting primarily with acrylics. There are more subtle options in oils, but I like starting with these generally intense, chromatic colors and mixing what I want from them.


Above the color chart is a photocopy of a reproduction of Poussin's Parnassus, the story of the Greek gods in their realm. To the right of that is the lyric sheet (titled "Know No New News") for Dr. Dog's Fate, a pop music album I like.


Working on my third painting now, with paintings 1 and 2 still open for alteration. I am finding it necessary to settle in a little. I want to do a large amount of what I consider good quality work; getting frantic about it (as I saw myself beginning to do) will not work.

second post

I am reworking the image shown last time. I'll post a photo later in the process.

A couple of classes have added to my graduate school experience. I think the thing to do is to keep working hard, and to speak as clearly and honestly as I can.


Kleindorfer's Hardware is a great place to fill your hardware needs if you're in Bloomington. Had a problem with my new staple gun; they took care of it with no difficulty, and I got the other stuff I was looking for. Bicycled back home a different way. Great to be able to explore.

Now it's off to a late dinner: can of beans, green pepper, corn and or potato chips. Is this what you put in a blog?

Hello from Bloomington

Thanks for checking out my blog! I would like to set this up as a way to update friends and family on my progress as I enjoy this wonderful opportunity to develop my work.

Bloomington seems to be a very liveable city. You can get what you need and go where you want by bicycle, for the most part, but a lot of people still use big cars to get around. The Saturday Morning Farmers' Market on West 7th Street is a great place to get delicious fresh vegetables, check out some live music, and register to vote.

My first painting here is about finished. The first night I was here I wanted to paint an image of a figure falling like a lead weight from the upper right corner of the canvas, toward another standing figure.

The falling figure would have to have been thrown or launched in some way not to fall straight down. The standing figure is standing on a stone balcony with a low wall with a Greek entablature design in it. The artist Poussin's classical, timelessness exploration was on my mind. I'm not suggesting that I have confused this simple effort with a Poussin. But I'm doing what I can. What I want to.

Watching movies by my favorite directors, Ozu and Miyazaki. Watched Ozu's Early Summer with Donald Richie's excellent commentary for the first time the other night. Truly great.