General Update

My not posting as often should not be considered that I am losing interest in either of my blogs or for lack of something to say. Rather I have been preoccupied as to the direction my art is taking me, along with another reevaluation of both my blogs.

Since blogging these past five months, I have come across numerous incredible creative artists and their amazing artwork. This has had a profound impact and influence as how I view my own solitary art but also the roll of my blogs and the purpose they are to serve.

When I started painting in 2000, I had two views; and two directions I wanted to go, traditional and abstract. After attending several college courses in 2008 and a contemporary art history class in the spring of 2009, my creative perspective was shaken up and since then, it has been in a continuous state of transition. During this evolutionary period, it appears I am languishing motionless, adrift without wind to move me ahead, when in fact this period is being spent reflecting inward about my current state and my art.

Progress on the distressed canvases has been slow. One, the largest of the set, 20 x 20” (50.80 x 50.80 cm) finally saw movement with the addition of two beer ads. When I originally came across the German beer ad from Spaten and the American Ale from Budweiser, I thought I would have some fun. The idea was to cover over the Spaten glass of beer and then rip off portion of the American Ale, revealing the Spaten underneath. Now that this has been accomplished, the collage can be considered finished, though deep down I feel one element is still needed to truly consider this painting finished and ready for my signature.

Untitled

Newsprint on canvas, 20 x 20” (50.80 x 50.80 cm)

Stage 4, layer eight

Untitled

Newsprint on canvas, 20 x 20” (50.80 x 50.80 cm)

Stage 5, layer nine

Close-up of the beer ads

Stage 5, layer eight and nine

On the other hand the smallest of the canvases, 12 x 12” (30.48 x 30.48 cm) has seen progress that is fraught with mixed emotions. I see the drawing being successful, I also see technical failure, and now I come to a crossroad, having to decide if I let it go or make the corrections.

Untitled — in progress, 12 x 12” (30.48 x 30.48 cm)

Stage 6, watercolour pencil over graphite pencil drawing

I view failure as success if one learns from the error. What I am referring to is the illustration of the acorn squash, which should have had a white under painting in order to cover the newsprint from showing through and influencing the illustration and its spectrum of colours. As I keep finding it a visual distraction and the fact that the colours appear not pure, I must now decide if I shall go ahead and carefully cover up the drawing and redo all the pencil and watercolour work.

On a more positive note, it was ten days or so I started two small canvases, both 8x8 inches (20.32 x 20.32 cm) and instead of going for a distressed background, I opted for a typographical composition. As for the next step or layer, well that to is like being the ancient mariner adrift on a still ocean with an albatross for company.

Untitled — in progress, 8 x 8” (20.32 x 20.32 cm)

Stage 1, 4-5 layers of newsprint

Untitled — in progress, 8 x 8” (20.32 x 20.32 cm)

Stage 1, 4-5 layers of newsprint

In less than one week it is time to celebrate the day that brings friends and families together, around a table decked with decorations and packed with wonderful dishes, while at its center is a roasted bird, a turkey.

There were well made plans in the works, that in a few days I would go on my last photographic expedition for the year and accompanying me would be Bruce and his son Kevin, both of whom I had not seen in almost a year. I would share with them my previous explorations by returning to two of my favorite finds, discoveries made after taking my daughter back to Santa Cruz, then traveling the long way back home along the Pacific coast on the Cabrillo Highway, Highway One. However the day we choose was simple too close to the American holiday Thanksgiving Day and after some contemplation, we decided to postpone the trip for another day.

Until my next post I wish you my dear reader and fellow follower all the very best,

Egmont

The Berlin Wall gets a facelift

Construction on the Berlin Wall began August 13, 1961, separating families and a nation; it remained in effect until September 11, 1989. Six months later on March 10, 1990 German reunification took place. Today, twenty years later, Berlin and the German nation celebrates a memory when the two were apart.

Tourists pass a painting on a segment of the reopened East Side Gallery in Berlin, Germany, Friday, Nov. 6, 2009. The 105 wall paintings of the former Berlin Wall were restored for the 20th anniversary of the opening of the Berlin Wall in Nov. 2009. The same artists from 21 countries who created the paintings in 1990 repainted their pictures in the world's longest open-air art gallery after the concrete surface of the Wall was replaced.

Geir Moulson, Associated Press Writer; Photo: AP Photo/Gero Breloer

When the wall broke open, the influx of East Germans into West Germany was not necessarily all that welcomed, as both sides struggled to form a new alliance and coexist with the historical luggage either side was burdened with. However in recent years Germany began healing its wounds and started taking pride once more in itself as a people and as a nation.

The West German capital that was seated in Bonn since the end of the Second World War was moved back to the city of Berlin where it always had been. The city since has undergone a great change and continues to this day, evolving, reinventing itself as a center of intellectual and artistic importance.

“Test the Best” Trabbi who breaks through the wall, by Birgit Kinder.

Photo: Getty Images

As a reminder of a city divided in two, there still remains a 1316 meters (1439.2 yards) of the Berlin Wall, where 118 artist originally painted a section marking the historic event with a murals of their own design. To celebrate the twenty years since the opening of the wall, the East Side Gallery in Berlin has requested the original 118 international artists to return and restore their art to its former state. Not all artists took up East Side Galleries offer but 86 did and for their work were given 4000 Euro each.

Though I certainly applaud the East Side Gallery for their involvement these last fifteen to twenty years promoting the preservation and education of the remaining Berlin Wall, I do question who is taking part in the renewal of the wall. My concerns is that the remaining section of the Berlin wall is not reserved primarily for German artists, since they are the ones that have been affected directly by the walls prior presence, this would allow the German artists to leave a visual history. I should also note that not one former East German artist had been invited to take part in this event.

This picture was taken August 10, 1991 and artist Dmitri Vrubel 
begins restoring the mural in June of this year.

Photo: (dpa) Jan Bauer

The brotherhood kiss between Honecker and Breshnev by Russian artist Dmitri Vrubel 
is defaced and covered full of graffiti. September 2008

Foto: (dpa) Arno Burgi

As I look at the images that are featured on the East Side Gallery website or other German news media, my personal view is that hardly any section of the restored wall reflects anything like what the wall looked liked when I visited Berlin in 1970 and 1974. What is missing is the graffiti, the political slogans and posters, the anti government remarks, personal messages and memorials to those who died trying to escape Communism. It all has been wiped clean, erasing twenty years of German history as if it never happened and mostly replacing it with contemporary designs.

This is what the wall looked like at Mühlenstraße back in March of 2009, 
having lost all traces of nineteen years of art.

Photo: (ddp) Michael Gottschalk

My views are only a single opinion and have no bearing on the events taking place. I personally do not wish to forget the former appearance these concrete walls held and therefore treasure the painting I painted in honour of the walls opening. You can see the painting at The Artist Within Us and read about my trip through the former East Germany by train.

Postscript:

I recommend a visit to the East Side Gallery website as they have documented the artists refurbishing the 4318 foot wall and you are able to see the individual sections as they are now.
All photographs featured on this post have copyrights belonging to the photographer and/or their representative agency.

A moment now cherished even more

It has been a most somber day and even the nature seems to grieve, as the sky remains overcast with only a few sporadic openings allowing for a little dab of manganese blue sky to show briefly before disappearing. Last night I learned from my son that a friend from his days in high school had committed suicide by hanging.

Though I had not seen Anthony in the last three years, he was a frequent visitor to our home for a number of years, as he and my son Armont played guitar together for hours on hours, filling the house with a lively spirit, which was to the delight of my wife and me.

Why the two never continued their friendship after graduation is not clear, but for me there is a memory I wish to share.

One day in February 2005 at Pinole Valley High School I walked around the campus waiting for our daughter Ariana, since Armont had finished his classes that I met up with Anthony and his girlfriend Sammy. She was leaning into Anthony for comfort and security and he stood tall, secure, with his arm around her. Neither spoke much. I said ‘Hi Anthony’ and he responded likewise, then Sammy in her soft voice, barely audible, also said ‘Hi’.

Sammy and Anthony Warriner

Original title: My Love – Sammy & Anthony, February 17, 2005, image #03091

Digital Duo-tone photograph

The next five seconds now appear more like a very long silence in which everything came to a standstill while the universe all around us all kept moving on. I remember taking one step back, raised my little digital camera to take this photograph of the two.

Even after taking the photograph and having lowered my camera, the silence continued a little longer before we entered into conversation and that Armont would join us. It was only then that our space once again entered into the reality that was happening all around us.

Looking back as I had a few times over the years whenever I came across this photograph, I felt Anthony and Sammy allowed me into a very private tender moment between the two of them. His trust permitted me to capture not only that moment, but also their vulnerability.

Anthony leaves behind a wife and a one and a half year old boy named Odin.

May your soul find rest and the 

peaceful solitude it is seeking.

When is a work in progress finished?

More than six months ago I started with an idea by adding modeling paste in the form of vertical textures to represent a build up of drips and when I completed this stage, the surface was painted over with acrylic and fine tuned with a number of glazes in oil. Since then it remained tucked away with the other unfinished canvases, along with the blue painters tape still attached to the sides, despite considering it was a finished painting. Still I could not shake the feeling that there was more that needed to be said, even though having followed through on the original concept on all points.

Three weeks ago while working in the garden, I came across a number of very delicate roots from a birch tree that had invaded a flowerbed I was preparing for spring. Upon closer inspection of these roots, I noticed there fragile structure and felt they resembled arteries and veins and could be used in a painting, considering I still had not dealt with the open-heart surgery in artistic terms. While I continued gardening, the mind was actively involved figuring out ways to work with these wonderful roots, when the painting from months ago came to mind.

A few days later I pulled the canvas, dusted off the sides and experimented with a few strands of roots to see how they would interact with the textures. Once satisfied that this would be the path to take, I proceeded with my usual cautionary attitude, covered the surface with regular gel medium and strategically placed the roots onto the medium. That evening I studied the results, analyzing every aspect of the progress, only to decide to wait until morning, when under natural light I could best judge the next step to be taken.

With a fresh perspective I concluded a few more roots would need to be added, especially one that would rise off the surface and so appear three-dimensional, now that I had planned to introduce tissue paper into the mix and did not wish for it to be just a cover. Once the new pieces of roots had adhered and dried to the surface, it was time to add the buff coloured mulberry tissue paper.

I had used tissue paper before as a top layer in which I tore numerous small openings, allowing the textured surface beneath to poke through; it was this approach I was now embarking upon for this canvas. After covering the surface the artwork was set aside, in order to contemplate on the current process and instead of overnight, the canvas remained set aside for almost two weeks.

Though there were still some technical issues to be resolved the art work in progress finally had achieved a level of completion in which it could be considered finished, now that the relationship of surface texture and the roots all interacted with their new skin. All that needed to be resolved was making the suspended tissue paper stronger, then protecting the entire surface and settling upon a title.

Well that was yesterday . . .

After further serious contemplation I decided one more layer of mulberry tissue was required since too much of the roots dominated the surface visually and I still had not achieved the desired effect.

The process of the second tissue paper layer needed to be applied with greater control since there were areas that did have the desired look and were not to be covered. This would mean tearing up larger sections of tissue paper and adding them as if composing a puzzle until a homogenous look was achieved so that it did not resemble having been patched.

Now that I consider this canvas a finished piece of artwork, I view it not as a success nor a failure, but rather a study in the process of materials and their relationship with one another. For it has spawned numerous ideas on how to improve upon the relationship of the materials used in this artwork when considering another canvas that deals directly with my heart and the surgery I underwent.

Art is a process, nothing more. A process of adding, subtracting, subtracting and adding until the artists hand stops, pulls away and the artist takes a step back.

Now I just need to settle on a title; any suggestions?

A fable to inspire a life

There are books that mirror our lives,

as there are books that have an impact upon a life

More than just few years ago when I was perusing the nature section of our local bookstore, that I came across a book called The Man Who Planted Trees. It is a rather thin book, with the pages amounting to no more than the thickness of a pencil, even after having been padded with numerous wonderful woodcut illustrations by Michael McCurdy, in this reissue honouring the twentieth anniversary when it was first published by Chelsa Green Publishing Company as a book. Before the first publication in book form, the short story, or fable as some would call it, was first published in 1954 and appeared in Vogue magazine.

The Man Who Planted Trees, cover

1985 Paperback edition, second printing

The short story by French author Jean Giono brings to life a Shepard who plants acorns every day over a period of thirty years, every time he went on his daily walks, transforming a scared landscape from years of war into a forest of hope. The books fable has mirrored my attempts to plant as many trees as possible.

The Man Who Planted Trees, cover

Hardbound version, first edition, April 2005

For as long as I can remember, I have had a personal relationship with trees. At the age of twelve I came home with a small young cutting of a branch that I had broken off from a larger branch and stuck into the ground behind our ascending staircase to the house front door. The location was by no means ideal, but this little patch of land was mine to do with as I choose. Within two years the branch had grown considerable, reaching the top of the staircase, By the time we moved out a year and a half later, it was more like a mature tree, still having more to grow before being fully grown as a eucalyptus tree.

inside view, pages 28-29

Hardbound version, first edition, April 2005

These days, for almost a decade now, I have raised trees from seeds. Beginning with seedpods from a California buckeye chestnut, gathered from the wild and transplanted into large 25-gallon nursery buckets, where they remained for two to three years. After achieving the desired height, they were planted on our hillside, others passed along to friends and even sent overseas while still a seedpod, but showing signs of life.

close-up view, page 11

© Michael McCurdy - All rights reserved

This year’s bounty of seedlings has exceeded any previous year. From a dozen plus California buckeye chestnut, there are about a dozen and a half Chinese Elm, ranging from a foot to two feet in size. My most prized are Japanese maple, grown for the first time. They’re still very delicate when compared to the other two species, never the less precious.

As autumn’s curtain call is fast approaching, the garden was blessed with this year’s first rain after have suffered a two-year drought and water rationing. This major storm was the remnants of a Pacific typhoon that stretched beyond its normal travels, reaching our coastline with its gentle fury, filling our streams and lakes with water.

close-up view, page vii

© Michael McCurdy - All rights reserved

The Man Who Planted Trees — twentieth anniversary edition

Jean Giono with illustrations by Michael McCurdy

Chelsea Green Publications Company: Link

ISBN 1-9311498-72-5

Some additional links to check out

USA

American Forests: Link

National Alliance for Community Trees: Link

National Arbor Day Foundation: Link

National Tree Trust: Link

National Urban & Community Forestry Advisory Council: Link

Trees for the Future Organization: Link

CANADA

Tree Canada Trust: Link

UNITED KINGDOM

The Woodland Trust: Link

Information on the author Jean Giono and The Man Who Planted Trees

The Man Who Planted Trees text and authors biography: Link

The animation video of the story being read in French: Link

Copyrights vs the stories freedom: Link