Friday, December 20, 2019

Work at Gallery 360



I currently have two paintings on display at Gallery 360 in the Linden Hills neighborhood of Minneapolis. One is this monster of an eight foot long painting, Winter Evening. I couldn't quite fit it into my Prius. The other painting is Tree Island, which has not been featured in my newsletter, nor is it on my website. Pop on down to see it and, while you are there, the gallery has a lot of really nice art and handcrafted gifts.

Wednesday, December 18, 2019

Exploring Cezanne



I am continuing to explore Cezanne still life paintings. The current one I am working on has had an American flag incorporated into it - stay tuned.

Friday, December 13, 2019

Stories of Dodd

I've just completed reading a book of the American artist Lois Dodd. Lois was a teacher of mine in graduate school at the City University of New York at Brooklyn College. She was born in 1927 and was instrumental in the post-war New York art scene as a Minimalist. Her contemporaries were Alex Katz and Faifield Porter.

 Lois is now 93 years old and still painting. I had the great pleasure of spending a good amount of time with her as a graduate student. I was part of the college's work-study program and worked as a darkroom assistant in the Brooklyn College art department. I had to do some work in the photolab, but also spent a lot of time in the teacher's offices talking with them. Lois was my favorite. She would be in her office preparing for a class or having her lunch and I would enter and we would talk. She never shooed me away and often stopped what she was doing to talk about anything. I made her laugh quite a bit and can vividly remember the way she would lean back, crinkle her eyes and laugh quietly.
Shed Window, Lois Dodd 

I had the great honor of visiting her apartment/studio on 2nd Avenue in the East Village of Manhattan. Her apartment was mostly studio. She had storage racks of paintings and, off to the side, a mat on the floor. This was her bed. She slept on the floor. She was a very simplified person. I had the occasion to help her fix-up her studio. We were painting the walls with white paint. She had one wall where a large window used to be but had been filled in with plywood. She complained to me that there was cold air coming through a crack at the edge of the plywood and wondered what to do. Before I could suggest filling it with caulk or insulation, she wandered over to her desk, grabbed a piece of white office paper, primed the wall around the crack, covered the crack with the paper and painted over it. "There," she said and moved on to paint the rest of the wall. It was then that I noticed she had used this technique repeatedly around the piece of plywood and in other places on the walls to keep out the cold.

Maine Woods, Small, Lois Dodd

She lived near the Amato Opera House and would arrange for her students to visit an opera every year. Amato was a small opera house with a very small stage. But the stage was deep and the scenery was always layered, dreamlike and complex. There was a very funny, short, older bald singer who was the comedy relief in every play. I was a young graduate student living in a very tough mid-1980's New York City. It was great fun and magical to find such a world in a very rough part of town, then to walk unconcerned through the cold winter's night, snow drifting down from the tall buildings above, to enter into this unique woman's home to share hot cider with class mates.

Lois Dodd 

At this point in time I couldn't tell you what classes Lois taught when I attended Brooklyn College. But I do remember what I learned from her. Minimalism is more than a style of painting. There is an art to being quiet and to not getting knocked off center even in the biggest baddest city on earth. That your art will be about you - always. And sometimes the most unconventional thing you can do is to do the same thing over and over again.

Friday, December 6, 2019

Upcoming Exhibit at the Phipps

 

I will be having an exhibit at the Phipps Center for the Arts:
New Landscapes
February 28 - April 5, 2020
The Phipps Center for the Arts, Hudson, WI
Artist's Reception: March 6, 6:30 - 8:30 pm
New large-scale landscape paintings will be on display in Gallery 1. I am excited about these large-scale landscapes and having this great venue to show them off.

Wednesday, December 4, 2019

My Painting Influences



I recently had an Artist's Talk at the Hopkins Center for the Arts sharing the influences and purpose behind my Sinkside Compost Series and my food paintings, in general. I enjoyed sharing this information and afterward people said how they appreciated seeing the different styles that influenced the paintings. So, I wrote up this talk, added samples from my influences and posted it on my website. I hope to do this with most of my painting series, but it will happen when I have time.

Monday, December 2, 2019

What's Cooking in the Studio - December



I had someone visit the studio and they were interested in my framed gouache paintings. So those paintings have been out on the counter for a few days waiting for me to clean them up and put them away. My studio seems very clean because I am a clean painter, but I am a procrastinator when it comes to putting things away.

Friday, November 29, 2019

What's Cooking in the Studio - November



Last newsletter I mentioned how I was focusing on just one painting and how unusual that was. The other day I touched up or worked on four different paintings in one sitting. Things have changed. Here are two new paintings I am working on. The one on the easel is a landscape and the one on the wall is a new still life based on a Cezanne painting. Facing the wall is a blank canvas asking me to wait until I get one or two current paintings done.

Wednesday, November 27, 2019

See My Paintings in Your Office or Home


 
If you are not viewing my website with a phone or tablet you can see what a painting will look like in various situations and wall background colors by using the "Wall Preview" button underneath the "Live Preview AR" button. In the upper-left of the screen you can change the type of room and the color of the wall to approximate your home or office. Check it out!

Monday, November 25, 2019

Framed Original Gouache Paintings Available



Framed original gouache landscapes are now available on my website:

Friday, November 22, 2019

Fawn Island View at Gallery 360


The Saint Paul Art Crawl was my last exhibit/event for 2019 where you can see my art in-person.  But don't fret, there are still ways to see my art in the near future.

My painting, Fawn Island View, is currently at Gallery 360. If you need a fix and are in the Linden Hills area, stop in. They have a great gallery with a variety of interesting and unique art and hand-crafted items.

Wednesday, November 20, 2019

See My Paintings on Your Wall!




Want to know what one of my paintings would look like on the wall of your house? On the webpage of each painting there is a button called "Live Preview AR." If you are using a phone or tablet to look at my website, you can click on this button and, looking through the camera, see my painting on your wall in your house! How cool is that? Try it, I'm not kidding! If you stand 7 feet from the wall, the image will be the general size of the original painting. Go ahead, just for fun, and try it. Want to know what my award-winning State Fair painting would look like on your wall? You can!! Check it out!

Friday, November 15, 2019

Finishing Touches: One Still-Life at a Time


 As I am wading into Cezanne and his painting I am finding what he accomplished quite amazing. He, along with others, have been called the Father of Modernism. The length and breadth of the impact of Modernism across European society and beyond is breathtaking. I find it funny that a man could sit in his studio and paint fruit and wine bottles and that this would lead to a world-wide movement. But that was the power of art, thought and ideas back then. 

Modernism is the rejection of that which was the established norm in society, including art, architecture, literature, religious faith, philosophy, social organization, activities of daily life, and the sciences. There was a sense among the educated and common people that these institutions had become empty or unsuitable in the new economic, social, and political environment of an emerging fully industrialized world. Modernism started slowly in the mid to late 19th Century and came into its mature state between the World Wars and after. 

 Cezanne was early in the development of Modernism, rejecting the realistic painting of the government-sanctioned art academies of the mid-19th Century. He literally changed the perspective of several generations by changing perspective. It was his playing around with the elements of a painting (color, line, shape and perspective) that harmonized with other transformational Modernist developments in the burgeoning industrial cities of Europe. He did this without running for elected office, without sending out a single email blast or sharing a fake news post on Facebook. He did it by being in his studio painting still-lifes.. 

And now we find ourselves in a similar situation. The Industrial Revolution is being eclipsed by the Technology Revolution. People are finding the institutions; economic, political, and religious to be ill-fitted to a new way of living out our daily tasks and activities. Again, the powerful and the wealthy have corrupted these institutions to support their power and to become propaganda-esque – championing what should be seen as the “norm” in our society. 

But the change will come. The leaders will be swept away and new systems will be set up that cater more directly to the individual and protect the earth. The last transition killed millions of people world-wide with the lessons of industrialization being applied to war in order to protect power and wealth. Can the new transition happen without massive destruction? Perhaps there is an artist in her studio, right now, applying paint to a canvas or editing a film or changing her dance movements in a manner that will propel this transition forward in a peaceful manner - protecting all forms of life. I like to think that I am at least trying.

Wednesday, November 13, 2019

What's Cooking in the Studio - November



Last month I mentioned how I was focusing on just one painting and how unusual that was. The other day I touched up or worked on four different paintings in one sitting. Things have changed. Here are two new paintings I am working on. The one on the easel is a landscape and the one on the wall is a new still life based on a Cezanne painting. Facing the wall is a blank canvas asking me to wait until I get one or two current paintings done.

Monday, November 11, 2019

New Painting: Still Life with Arctic Apples, Styrofoam Cup and Oil Can



Still Life with Arctic Apples, Styrofoam Cup and Oil Can 
Oil on canvas 
40" x 30" 
$2,100 

This painting is part of a new series I have begun that plays around with Cezanne's still-lifes. Through his still-life paintings, Cezanne sought a new way of painting and a new perspective on society (more on this later). As I am beginning to delve into still life with a new purpose and perspective, I thought it would be fun to go back to the Modernist foundations of how I paint (and understand art). But, I am adding a twist to each of these still-lifes that speaks to my era. In this painting, the background is similar to a winter's Arctic landscape with open water. The apples are Arctic Apples, the first genetically approved apple to go to market. Of course, Styrofoam and oil have had a big impact on the Arctic. Though a still-life, this is a commentary on what we are doing to the Arctic, the cold wild places of our planet. You can see details of this painting on my website.

Monday, October 28, 2019

What's Cooking in the Studio?



 I'm busy constructing some new stretchers to paint on this winter. While making this batch, I am video-taping the process and will share it on my website. The video will show the process from gluing the wood together, cutting the wood, assembling the stretcher, wrapping with canvas and priming with oil ground. It will be fun to see the final video and share it with everyone.

Monday, October 21, 2019

What's Cooking in the Studio?



I built a still life table. What is a still life table, you may ask? It is a rolling table on which I can construct still-lifes for painting and drawing. As my food paintings are evolving to be more staged still-life paintings, it is helpful to have a ready table dedicated to this effort. It will also be able to be moved out of the way for sales and other reasons. I am also looking at using this table as a way to teach drawing. These classes will be available in January. I'm very excited about where these are heading and can't wait to share this new development with you. And I already had everything I needed to make this table in my workshop or studio. All it took was a little time.

Friday, October 18, 2019

Next Exhibit


New Landscapes
February 28 - April 5, 2020
The Phipps Center for the Arts, Hudson, WI

Artist's Reception: March 6, 6:30 - 8:30 pm
New landscape paintings will be on display in Gallery 1. I'm excited to make a whole bunch of new paintings for this show.

Wednesday, October 16, 2019

Voiceless Thoughts

It is Fall, which I love. But it is also flu season. I had the flu last week and It has gone away - except for the laryngitis. Many people this year had the flu accompanied with laryngitis. It has been many years (20?) since I have had laryngitis.
Here are my thoughts on my recent experience:
- Laryngitis is a different thing when you have a dog. I walk my dog, Delilah, off-leash in a wide grassy area along a cemetery. She always listens to me, when she can hear me. I will call her, “Come here.” But last week it came out as “k-h-.” She didn’t seem to hear me. Actually, with those big floppy ears, I think she heard me just fine. She was just taking the opportunity to have some “me” time.
- It was strange to spend a couple days with no sound coming out of my mouth and then to whistle for my dog. The whistle, not dependent at all on my voicebox, came out clear and strong. It kinda scared me. I spent the rest of the walk whistling, happy to make any kinda noise. I’m a better whistler than singer, so it was fun to feel musical.
- Not only does Delilah understand many words, she also understands my squirrel noises, finger snapping and thigh slapping. She is a very conversant dog.
- People are very kind when you have laryngitis. When trying to order food or anything else, people are very understanding and patient. This is not so on the phone.
- The phone is too hard. People can’t see my lips moving or my body language. Of course, my throat can feel just fine, but when it comes time to actually talk on the phone every sense of good goes away when I open my mouth. There was nothing but panic, restriction, and gasping.
 
- I used to play around with animation and, in so doing, learned that most letter sounds are formed in just a few ways: we place our tongue behind our teeth (letters d, t, j, soft g, etc.), we place our teeth over our bottom lip (letters f and v), put our lips together (m, n, b, p), and put our tongue between our teeth (L, Th). This week, walking my dog and practicing what noises I can and cannot make, I realized that some letter noises I could make rather plainly, like "s" and "t." This made it easy to tell my dog to sit. Although there was no "i" in the word, she knew what I meant. As I thought about these things more, I realized that vowels are different from consonants because you don’t use your tongue, lips or teeth to make vowel sounds. Vowels are done with an open mouth. We simply control our voicebox and the overall shape of the mouth to make the different vowel sounds. Is the physical manner in which we can make these noises the reason that consonants are separate from vowels? I love it when something cultural is derived from the physicality of an activity.
- Practicing my lack of talking while walking my dog, I also noticed that vowels are the only letters that have two unique sounds, the long and short form – note vs. not. There are other letters, (c and g) that can be pronounced two ways, but “c” sounds like either an “s” or “k”, while a hard “g” does have its own unique sound, the soft “g” is just another way of sounding like a “j.”

Although I am very happy to be getting my voice back, I enjoyed being quiet. I turned off my phone because answering it was futile and frustrating. This led to quiet evenings with an undistracted mind, an enjoyment and focus on what was at hand. I was able to clean the house, make some art, play a little more with Delilah and think about things. I might have to schedule some "Laryngitis Days" into my calendar.

Monday, October 14, 2019

What's Cooking in the Studio?


I've been focusing on one painting my last several sessions. This is unusual for me. I generally have two or more paintings going. I am enjoying the process of making this painting. I originally wanted to do a more abstract painting based on the landscape, but the imagery kept coming back to a more realistic interpretation. One little mantra of mine is: "you gotta follow the painting." That is what I have been doing with this piece  When I think I should approach the painting in a certain way I shut up and sit quiet. Then I let my eyes and heart do the work and soon the painting is going in a new direction with a new paint handling. So far, things seem like they will hang together. But that is the adventure, isn't it? When I am done I will have a new friend, or maybe a frienemy. .

Thursday, October 10, 2019

Saint Paul Art Crawl


Saint Paul Art Crawl
October 11 - 13, 2019
My studio will be open during the Saint Paul Art Crawl
Friday evening from 6 - 9pm
Saturday, 10 am - 4 pm
Sunday: 10am - 4pm
I will have all kinds of paintings, including botanicals. I will also have tote bags, greeting cards and some prints available. Wish me a happy birthday on Saturday and receive a free greeting card, while they last.
Mention that you are  a newsletter recipient and receive 20% off any purchase. To sign up for my newsletter, go to my website: www.markgranlund.com.

Friday, October 4, 2019

Art - It Makes you Happier, Smarter and More Attractive

On my Facebook Page, over the years, I have been sharing articles about how art improves life – it makes you happier, smarter, more attractive, etc. In my last newsletter I mentioned that I process my life experience while painting. So, I thought I would elaborate on that statement and how art improves my life.

I feel that art is a form of cognitive therapy that helps me to make life decisions. The act of painting is an endless series of decisions: should it be yellower or greener, warm or cool, straighter or more curved, etc. Every action is a decision based on previous decisions. This decision-making process is focused and in the moment.

I, like most people, have two tracks in their brain. One track is focused on a task in the moment while another track is open for ideas and such to flit through. For example, this is like when you are folding your laundry but thinking about something else. At times, activities need full attention but much of the time, as when doing simple tasks like folding laundry, the other track is free to wander and bring disparate things into consciousness.

When I paint, I deliberately am open to this second track. There are several reasons for this: the second track freely responds to my art and guides me, it allows me to connect disparate ideas, and it helps me to reflect on life experiences.

As an artist, I want my colors and imagery to trigger a response in the viewer. Art works best when people bring their own responses and their own meanings to the work. While my first track is focused on making straight lines, consistent paint handling and the like, my second track is subjectively viewing the work. If a paint stroke, color or object triggers a response in me I am pretty sure that it will trigger a response in other viewers. I can’t control their response, but I can make sure my art is something that creates a response. I am focused on the craft, but it is the second track that helps my work become art that effects the viewer.

I am open to my second track for its associations and pattern recognition. As part of my brain is planning and painting, my second track is making associations about the imagery and the paint handling. These ideas and connections float through freely. If one particularly strikes me, it will influence my painting. I don’t judge the associations they are all born of my life experiences and these connections are made for a reason. Sometimes it takes time to figure out why something popped in my brain, but its okay if I don’t understand at first. It is the second track that makes those creative leaps that give particular paintings a twist in perspective and, again, create a response in the viewer.

This is the process I use to create art that has a strong underpinning and that will get a response from the viewer. It is a process of holding both the reasoned objective view of craft and the felt subjective response to the making as equal – in tandem.

So, how does this process make one happier, smarter and more attractive? When painting, my second track is already primed to be figuring out patterns and responding to input in my art. It is rather easy for it to flip over to looking for patterns and responding to life situations. When the painting I am creating doesn’t require as much attention, my second track just continues its process, applying it to whatever else is going through my head. It is here that my brain will make those leaps to new evaluations of what had happened previously in my life and new realizations for the future. Through this process I do become happier, smarter and...well.

I find that having a practice of painting leads to a practice of self-evaluation because both are based on recognizing patterns, energy and flow while responding to what is happening in the moment.

Wednesday, October 2, 2019

What's Cooking in the Studio - September 2019


I was up at Mallard Island for eight days at the end of the August and spent time there gathering resources for more paintings. I packed my gouache paints with the intention of getting some painting done. But, with my need to still rest and heal from my eye surgeries and to recover from a very busy and successful month, I mostly hung out and took naps and ate great food and laughed with others and cooked dinner with a good friend and talked about art and life and kayaked and …

Monday, September 30, 2019

Oil Painting: Refrigerator Series: Hidden




Oil Paint on Panel
16" x 16"
$400.00 
One of my Refrigerator Series paintings. The rail in these paintings prohibits you from seeing the labels and the ingredients in teh food. But here the food items are being swallowed by the larger refrigerator as if they are hidden.  

Friday, September 27, 2019

Saint Paul Art Crawl - Come On By



The weekend of October 11 – 13, my studio will be open for the Saint Paul Art Crawl. Come on by and see some new work and, as always --- come by and see my work in person instead of on a small screen. You will be happy you did. And on the 12th you can wish me a happy birthday.

Wednesday, September 25, 2019

Playing with Video

Here's a little video I am playing with. Two clips turned into one video.




Friday, September 20, 2019

What's Cooking in the Studio - September 2019


My studio has been empty! What with all the recent exhibits there has been little art left in my studio. The month has been full of framing and cleaning and packing things for transport. It is not the glamorous part of being an artist, but necessary.

Monday, September 16, 2019

Oil Painting - Refrigerator Series: Group


Refrigerator Series: Group
Oil paint on Panel
16" x 16"
$400
This is a continuation of my series of oil paintings on panel of food in my refrigerator. This is a particular grouping of canisters, bottles and such of a variety of food items. Although one aspect of these paintings is that we don't know what is in our food (the shelf rail blocks us from seeing the ingredients), I find it interesting that many people can still recognize the products in these paintings simply from the shape of the bottle and color of the label. Chalk that up to good branding. This is the fifth of five refrigerator door paintings recently hanging at the Hopkins Center for the Arts.

Friday, September 13, 2019

Recent Exhibits and Events


August was the busiest month of my life for exhibits. The last week of August I had art in four different exhibits. Two of those exhibits are now over and the Hopkins exhibit will be up until September 15. Here is a run down of what happened and what is soon to happen.

Minnesota State Fair


My painting Grassy Island Rocks won First Place in the Oils/Acrylics and Mixed Media category. It was very fun to receive this award and I am honored as the Fair exhibit is very competitive – Minnesota has a lot of great artists. I received many congratulations via my social media, at work, and it is always fun to stand in front of your work and hear people ooh and aah and say nice things. For what its worth, for ten days I could claim I was the best painter in Minnesota. 

Backus Center for the Arts, International Falls

This was a one week exhibit at the Art Center located in International Falls, MN. It was an exhibit with photographers Mary Ludington and Karen McCall and was part of an outreach initiative by the Ernest C. Oberholtzer Foundation. The whole enchilada was put together by singer Prudence Johnson. The exhibit ended Friday night with a performance at the art center by Prudence, Claudia Schmitt, Kevin Kling, Dan Chouinard,, Doug Wood, Marian Moore and Winona LaDuke. The evening included some wonderful music, funny stories and a lot of laughs. It was a hoot spending the week prior to the performance at Mallard Island with this group of people. We did some reminiscing about the 1980's, talked art and creativity, ate great food, played some cribbage and enjoyed hanging out in an idyllic historic northwoods setting. The Friday night boat ride back to the island after the performance including a stunning display of Northern Lights that were in the sky and reflecting on the lake - it was magical!
Edible/Inedible, Hopkins Center for the Arts
August 15 - September 15, 2019
The opening for this exhibit was well attended and it was very enjoyable seeing people's responses to my food paintings. The opening was during what is basically the Hopkins Art Crawl. There were a lot of people and events happening in the art center and along Main Street There were youth dance performances and I liked that many of the kids made their parents stop to look at my paintings of food. Nothing like a plate of Oreos to get a kid's attention. The exhibit has been well received, I hear people are appreciating the humor in the work, and will be up through September 15, 2019.
Reveal
Prior to the Hopkins exhibit I had a reveal of the work at my studio. This was an opportunity for people to see and purchase any work before it became public. This opportunity was only granted to my newsletter recipients and a handful of invited guests. This is the first time I offered this type of event and was very pleased with the response. There was a steady trickle of people and toward the end of the three hour event there were 15 – 20 people in my studio talking art, chatting with friends (new and old) and enjoying some home-made biscuits (cookies) and wine and beer. The energy was really inspiring. I was having so much fun I forgot to take a picture to share here. I will be offering similar events in the future.
Upcoming Event: Saint Paul Art Crawl

The weekend of October 11 – 13, my studio will be open for the Saint Paul Art Crawl. Come on by and see some new work and, as always --- come by and see my work in person instead of on a small screen. You will be happy you did.

Whew - and that's all the updates on exhibits and events!

Monday, September 9, 2019

Throwback Thursday on a Monday




Mad Dog is a drawing I did in high school. I made several drawings of animals that were... embellished.  This was one of my favorites.

Friday, July 5, 2019

In the Midst of Creativity

 
I recently attended the American for the Arts Annual Convention (AFTACON) in Minneapolis. The pre-conference activities I attended revolved around public art. This included sessions and tours all day Thursday and sessions on Friday. It was enjoyable to share with outta-towners the great wealth of public art and creative public engagement that happens in Minnesota and the Twin Cities.

I have always known that the Twin Cities are a unique place for the arts, but seeing the breadth and depth of community engagement that happens here is really inspirational. The sheer amount of community-oriented arts activity is astonishing, and this doesn't include all of the studio artists and arts education folks in the Twin Cities.

The Twin Cities really are a leader in the arts in the country and should take great pride in that. I have been fortunate to be a studio artist and an arts administrator for many years. Creating programming at the Como Park Zoo and Conservatory was the beginning of my community-oriented experience. Through that programming, I met and partnered with so many amazing arts organizations and artists. Moving city-wide, in 2003, to become the Arts and Gardens Coordinator for the Saint Paul Department of Parks and Recreation led to so many more partnerships with bigger organizations, like the Ordway Theater for the Performing Arts. Now, my role with Metro Transit is leading me back to more partnerships with individual artists and entrepreneurs, as well as maintaining partnerships with new and familiar organizations. I love seeing so much of the Twin Cities art world through my daily work.

I also recently got together with comedian Colleen Kruse to talk about the Warehouse Districts in the 1980's. Much has been written about the Minneapolis music scene of the 80's. It was vibrant and put Minneapolis on the map. But, I will always assert that the music scene was just a part of an incredibly active warehouse scene in both Minneapolis and Saint Paul that saw great comedians, painters, sculptors, designers and creative folk rise to national attention within their fields. It was the "primordial ooze" of artists of all sorts rubbing shoulders that led to such an over-flow of creativity that it had to be recognized by the world.

I have often lamented the dispersing of that scene: the gentrification of the warehouses when stadiums were built, the technology-fueled rise of independence for creatives, and the cultural desire for urban "cleanliness." But, as I attended this conference, I had the thought that maybe that scene isn't gone. Maybe the warehouses are not empty of artists because the rest of society moved-in, but because the buildings themselves could no longer support the amount of creativity that has been unleashed.
 
 

One session I attended at the AFTACON conference was presented by Shanai Matteson. She began a bar called the Water Bar. It is an art piece, it is a bar, it is a bar that only serves water. The water they serve, for free, is from different places. You can try water from different places and see how it tastes... and get into a conversation about water. They "serve water to build relationships that transform culture." In Minnesota there are more than 100,000 people employed by the arts. The arts have moved into every corner of the state and are engaging a vast majority of it's citizenry. Ashley Hanson is working to transform small Minnesota towns through encouraging an arts economy. We have an amazing theater scene throughout the state, art centers are opening up everywhere and, of course, music is still a mainstay with more and more artists and opportunities.

I am so humbled to be living here in Minnesota amidst all of these many great artists and to share my work in places like International Falls, Hopkins and Western Wisconsin. I know my newsletter readers appreciate my art, but I encourage everyone to experience even more of this great art scene. Go to plays, listen to music, fill your home with fine art, make your own art, or... maybe just order a glass of water.at a bar and get into a conversation.

Thursday, April 11, 2019

Exhibit at Westfields Hospital in New RIchmond, WI - now up





An exhibit of recent landscape paintings is now up at Westfields Hospital in New Richmond, WI.The art will be on display until early July, 2019. If you get a chance, stop on by and take a peek.

Tuesday, April 9, 2019

The Nebulous Act of Grant Writing

I started work at the Como Zoo and Conservatory in 1994 because I had written a grant and received money to initiate arts programming. Over the next nine years, I funded a good portion of the youth programming through $300,000+ in grants. I have not been nearly as successful with grants for my own artwork.
Grants are an odd pillar in the career of an artist. A majority of artists who make a living from their art have never received a grant. Many artists who have received grants, after a time, stop making art. Receiving a grant does promote one to a higher status within the art world, yet it often has little significant long term impact. Granted (pun intended), some recipients have had their lives changed. Their grant opportunity led to other opportunities or the grant allowed them to focus on their art, propelling them to a more professional approach. It would be great if that happened with every grant recipient. It would be great if every artist had that opportunity in their career.
Writing the grant is the tricky part. Some grants have guidelines that are very thorough while others are minimal, giving very little direction to the applicant. I have been on grant panels and I have to share that the panels are not consistent in how they interpret the proposals. On one such panel it was mentioned that we should not take an approach of selecting an artist because of their ethnicity or feel that we need to represent every ethnicity in our selections. Within a minute, a panel member suggested selecting an artist solely because of their ethnicity and most of the rest of the panel agreed. Guidelines are sometimes bent or broken. Other times, panels have ended the discussion of a particular proposal with a vague sense of what the artist was about, yet they felt that the work was powerful so they voted for it. Then, of course, sometimes artists will have a champion on the selection panel who supports them and tries to positively counter panelist's concerns about the artist. In light of all this subjectivity, how do you write a successful grant proposal?
I have always found that writing the proposal is onerous because it is asking me to define my art. I much prefer to leave the communication of my creative process a bit loose in order to let the viewer bring their own interpretation to the work. Also, there are many facets to the thoughts and feelings that go into a painting. I can't possibly relate all of these in a one page proposal, much less a three hundred word artist statement. How do you put an ocean in a bottle?
This is my problem, I don't know how to organize so much information into its most efficient form. My proposals, even short ones, meander because my art process is integrative, communal and extensive. It is not about doing one thing that is easily understood. My art making is layered and complex because that is how my creative brain creates. That brain, which is expected to write a concise proposal, just don't work that way.
This year I have decided to take a new approach. Since I have trouble organizing all that could go into my proposal, I am going to impose an exterior structure onto my writing. No, it will not be a sonnet or a haiku. When I was writing short stories for The Book of Bartholomew, I would use a structure familiar to short story writers where key events happen at certain points in the narrative. There is the point of despair, the overcoming of obstacles, the catalyst, etc. For my next grant proposal I will use this familiar structure to write about my art. The advantage of a structure is that it takes away some decision-making, which is my difficulty. Now, should I write the grant for my landscape paintings or my food paintings?

Monday, March 4, 2019

Oldie But Goodie: Molding Watermelon



Molding Watermelon
oil paint on canvas
24" x 24"
2015

Thursday, February 28, 2019

My Health: Breathing, Eyeballs and Art

As much fun as this last year has been with building a new studio, trips, lining up several exhibits, and making a lot of art, I have been battling some health issues. I have had sinus problems and a cough for the past year that I think is due to living in close proximity to my art space. I paint with oil paints and the fumes of the paint and the mineral spirits make their way into my living space. I didn't realize it at the time, but almost immediately when I moved upstairs to live (I started renting out my downstairs), I started having sinus and coughing problems. I began to suspect my studio this past fall. Once I had the new studio space completed enough to move all the toxic materials, I did. In the last several weeks my cough and sinuses have begun to clear. I still have a cough and sinus problems and predict it will take months to completely heal. But I feel like I am on my way.

The new studio has an exhaust fan for removing the fumes. I am also letting my paint rags dry outside instead of sitting on my paint stand until they dry. I feel much better about the new space, especially in terms of my health. Hopefully, some of these issues are behind me. My family has many members who have lived into their late 80's and into their 90's. My hope is to set myself up to paint for another 30 years. Ironically, it was while I was improving my health that my next health issue popped up.

I joined a gym and started working with a trainer to improve my strength, flexibility and general health (along with my tennis game). One day after working with the trainer and pushing to new limits with weights I tore the retina in my right eye. The tear crossed a blood vessel and I had some bleeding in my eye. The doctor said it was probably only a drop but, boy, can one drop of blood cloud up your vision!

Of course, the incident happened on a Saturday morning and I couldn't see a doctor until Monday. The doctor examined my eyes and informed me of what happened to my right eye and that he would have to operate on my retina the next day. It would be laser surgery to, basically, spot-weld my retina so it wouldn't tear anymore. The procedure takes about ten minutes. While he was in there he was also going to strengthen some "lattice weakening" that could lead to some more retina tearing later. I went home and rested my eye until the next day when my sister picked me up to go to the hospital for the procedure. As crazy as all this sounds, the doctor said I didn't need someone to drive me. My eyesight would be fine right after the operation and there would be no drugs. I still asked my sister to take me.
For fun, I found eight different times I had drawn or painted my right eye over the years.

I went the next morning for laser surgery on my right eye. The nurse was very friendly and pleasant. She dilated my eye while asking me a lot of questions. My blood pressure was a little high, understandably. When my eye was dilated enough, a nurse escorted me to a room that looked like a normal eye-examining room. Instead of the usual machine that doctors examine your eyes with, there was a slightly different machine. The doctor had me put my chin in the chin rest and lean my head against the forehead rest. He attached a large lens to my eye that kept my lids from closing and connected to the laser. He looked around in my eyeball to find the problem areas and then began zapping his welds into place. With each pulse of the laser there was a green flash of light. When he was really in a groove, the constant flashing of green light caused me to see the veins inside my eye as an after-image. A bit freaky, but cool. There was some discomfort, but not much. While in there, the doctor found another small tear and spot-welded that one, too. He looked around some more, didn't find anything else that needed to be secured and was done. He removed the lens from my eye and he led me to a room where the nurse would do a final check with me before I was released.

I was glad to have my sister there because I could see nothing out of my right eye. It was so dilated and dealing with the trauma of such intense light and lasers that everything was a blur. I could have driven home with one eye closed, but was very happy to let someone else do that for me. Once home, I ate a sandwich we picked up on the way home and then took a nap. When I woke up my eye was still dilated but I was starting to see a little better out of that eye. The worst of it is that the outside of my eye got scratched a little from the large lens. But that should be better after a good nights sleep.

In a day my vision should be back to normal and then I have about 6 - 8 weeks of not lifting really heavy things or doing anything that could inappropriately jostle my retina while the scars form properly. I trust the next several weeks will go by without any problems. I'm sure I will feel fine... until I get the bill.

 UPDATE: Its been 3 weeks since my eye surgery.  I still have days where there are a lot of floaters in my eye, but I would say my eye is about 90% and getting better everyday. Sometimes, in the dark, I see dull flashes of light where my retina was torn, but not like when it was torn. This is similar to dull flashes that I saw after I had Lasik surgery ten years ago. My eye is usually tired by the end of the day, but I can tell it is getting better. As for my coughing, it is still getting better and I had two great days in a row but, of course, the third day sucked. It comes and goes as it seems to steadily improve.