Casey drawing

My art stuff is spread all over the dining room table, Raph's friend Casey totally gets into the spirit of things and draws my portrait.

Happy New Year!

details from one of my encaustics I'm getting ready for the show. Isabel, you will see some of your stuff in there - very inspiring - it provided a gentle push to see imagery as sculpture rather than collage. I think that's the direction I'll end up perusing at the VCCA (15 more days!) larger, more three dimensional work and more painting. glorious painting.

Read more about the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts here

I'll be speaking at this event in NYC Feb.17

Vanderbilt University Medical Center is sponsoring a symposium hosted with the Society for Arts in Healthcare and Sotheby's on "The Value and Importance of Art within a Health Care Setting". We will discuss current research that supports using the arts in places of healing, look at model cultural programs and identify opportunities for acquiring art. This event will feature experts in the fields of art and science who will speak to health care decision-makers, architects, designers, researchers, artists and administrators on the value of art within the health care environment.

Read more about it here

Merry Christmas!

"The artist must impose himself and his ideas on to the material in a way that uses the material sympathetically but does not use it passively. Otherwise you are only behaving like the waves. There must be a human imprint." Henry Moore

The wonderful Margaret Boozer

This work of art, Winter Landscape, is currently on display at NIH. I love how Margaret's work has made me re-think process and the resulting work of art.

Part of Margaret's influence on me has been living with one of her pieces and seeing people physically interact with it. There is an unselfconscious quality to her work - it feels inevitable. It makes me want to create works of art the viewer can't help but touch.


Winter Landscape is made of porcelain and belongs to a larger body of ceramic wall works titled Land/Marks. The following is a catalog essay from Boozer’s 2004 exhibition of that work.

As Margaret Boozer conceives of and makes her ceramic wall and floor works, she envisions them as physical drawings. In some works, she pounds, pulls, tears, cuts and breaks the clay. In others, she splashes slip (liquid clay) into a frame, handling it like paint. Boozer encourages the natural tendency of clay to crack and pull apart, creating negative drawing lines: think of a mud puddle drying out on a hot day. Kiln splits and cracks and other accidents…what is unintentional…further suggest linear elements. The final drawing is at once raw and visceral and reminiscent of aerial maps or charts.

The title, Land/Marks, offers insight into the concepts and meaning of these works. Land can be as specific as the soil we walk on and cultivate or as general as the landscapes and landmasses that form the face of the earth. Marks are notations, signs, and symbols to make things readable and knowable. Landmarks are objects that mark a boundary of land or serve as a guide for travel. Assumed in any discussion of landmarks is the idea of mapping. In reduced scale, maps order and make sense of the land.

Maps are metaphors in our culture for personal experiences, journeys, and passages. Maps are memory; they are a collection of marks by which we recall what we know. And it is in the idea of maps as memory that Margaret Boozer’s recent work reaches its fullest metaphorical flowering. Perhaps as we experience these physical drawings…these visceral maps…we are moved to remember our own landmarks.

Kenneth R. Trapp
Former Curator-in-Charge
Renwick Gallery of the
Smithsonian American Art Museum


Margaret Boozer lives and works in the Washington, DC metro area. She received a BFA in sculpture from Auburn University and an MFA in ceramics from New York State College of Ceramics at Alfred University. Her work is included in the collection of the Renwick Gallery of the Smithsonian American Art Museum and in many private collections. She is an active member of the board of the Washington Sculptors Group. Boozer taught for ten years at the Corcoran College of Art and Design before founding Red Dirt Studio, where she is directs a sculpture and ceramics seminar. She has been a visiting artist and lecturer at local and national institutions including the Renwick Gallery, the Freer Gallery of Art, Auburn University, George Washington University, Gallaudet University and Virginia Commonwealth University. Boozer’s work is represented in Washington, DC by Strand on Volta Gallery.

visit Margaret's web site here

Mrs.Devairakkam-Kesselring's desk

Jean Knodt

Here is my favorite Jean Knodt print. She will be having a one person show with us at NIH in January and will be part of the Small Works show in March at Smith Farm

From Eye Level

"Updike also comments on the differences between writing and painting. This is interesting to me. Updike suggests that that painting simply happens, whereas writing, as a craft, introduces greater compromise and tedium. It's true that the cultivation of writers involves different norms than that of artists: A writer is told all along that he is obligated to his reader and that if a determined readership can't find his meaning, he's to blame. That's a value less circulated among visual artists."
Interesting, it reminds me of the way I've read architects talk about the differences between architecture and the visual arts. We visual artists seem to have the greatest freedom in self expression. ahhh life is good.

I totally love Updike... can't wait to read it!

very fun party at Tim Tate's. This pic looks sedate but it was really pretty crowded w/lots of fun people. Great great time talking with Donna, Claire and Margaret. Nice to see Erwin and Michael.

KT helping Raph with college applications

More Duane

As an undergraduate, Duane Keiser spent a great many hours of his studio time in Pace Hall painting at night. What set him apart from many young painters working late in the studio was that he wasn't just painting at night; he was painting the night. It was an immediate sensibility that was evident in his personal vision of the world; darkness brought a new body of information and possibilities, a vastly different version of the reality that seemed to be so obvious in the light of day
The image on the frontpiece of this essay is a student work from 1986, an interesting example of the beginnings of a path taken regularly by him in making his work and exploring his artistic vision to this day. There is, first of all, a respect for the time and place in his work. In his eye, darkness and the night is not a drama or a cliche to be dragged around for effect and illustration. Time and place has a special significance for the painter who has the courage to eschew photographs and find the discipline to wait and see what is revealed by deep observation and patience. Then there is the sound. At first, perhaps, no sound, then the night's quiet: small sounds perhaps; leaves falling, trees moving with the breeze, a car moves away from it's parked spot, a hint of conversation down the street.
What is happening here? Isn't this the first great abstraction? The taking away of the daylight reveals what is left to catch the illuminations, the glows and the ambiance of our own existence. Instead of details and minutia we see the bones and structures of our real world. No longer caught by the surfaces of things we can discover again the shadows that make fullness and depth in our flat and thin visions. Our mind's eye works hard to move back into those depths to find their secrets, those spots just out of our sight. We enjoy taking those journeys by way of fright and chills, by our imagination.
Interestingly, I find few bumps in the night in Duane Keiser's painting. Instead I find great peace and surprising warmth. These are paintings of where we live and do very ordinary things. We just spend so little time paying attention to these lovely moments. We like our time of speed and impersonality; the night is when we watch television and replay the past mistakes of our day. Mr. Keiser takes a walk in our night and finds great beauty and humanity. Evidently it doesn't disappear with the sunset.
Fortunately, Mr. Keiser is not only capable of recognizing a propitious moment in our time and life, but he can paint it with the grace and sureness of a master. I think in many ways, his work in the darkness has made him a greater painter of the daylight. I don't know any painter today that has the discipline, richness and command of brush and palette. His colors are stunningly tuned to the depth and complexity of the light and darks of our visual realm. The relationships he is able to summon from his brushwork and the mixes of his paint are much more like alchemy than some academic formula for a particular hue. This is not the world of color wheels and theory.
In terms of technique and craft, Duane Keiser is certainly one of the most accomplished painters working in a realist vein.It is important to understand, nevertheless, that his great technical talents allow us the freedon to ignore those very strenghts. We can just enjoy the work. There are no tricks, no tactics, and no shortcuts to the imagery we see before us. Here we have evidence of an experience and participation; the artist and the canvas were there, at a time and place. These moments: a car parked across the street, a freeway overpass, an intersection in a neighborhood where we always turn right; each had a sound, a temperature and a memory. Mr. Keiser has given us abundant proof that beauty does happen, even if we are not awake to witness it.

Ray Berry
Professor
Department of the Arts
Randolph-Macon College

3/4 c. butter
1c. sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla
2 1/2 c. flour
1tsp. baking powder

mix throughly, chill 1 hr.
6 - 8 min 400

Matisse the Master

"His incredible stress in the moment before starting his little pen sketches. Lydia told him: “Come on now, don’t let yourself get so upset.” His violent response: “I’m not upset. It’s nerves.” The atmosphere of an operating theater. . . . And Matisse drawing without a word, without the slightest sign of agitation but, within this immobility, an extreme tension."

Interesting book review, read it here

Get comfortable with the internet and learn to see the business aspect of selling your work as a creative endeavor

Tim Tate has asked me to be a part of a panel discussion for artists on marketing their art. So I went to Duane Keiser who has taken a very innovative approach to painting and selling his work and asked him a few questions...

Do you feel the ebay auctions are successful?
Yes I do, for both me and my collectors. I get fair prices for my work and the auction format allows a collector to decide how much a painting is worth to him or her. Ebay is also a transparent system... a buyer knows my past prices and who they sold to, so they know that I am not ripping them off or pulling prices out of thin air.

Is it worth all the trouble to paint, photograph, post and auction every day?
yes. It is not easy, and making a painting everyday requires that my life, to some degree, must be planned around my painting. It means painting while "on vacation," or while I'm sick, or on days when I teach all day etc. In addition I need to have access to the internet wherever I go which can be a challenge. But with planning it can be done and I find it incredibly satisfying.

Do you feel the whole painting a day concept has worked the way you hoped?
I would say it has worked beyond what I hoped.

Is it limiting in any way?
right now, no. I like the daily ritual of making a painting, and I feel it has made me a better painter. There may come a time when I decide that it no longer fits with my artistic vision, and then I will stop.

What do you see for the future, as far as continuing the blog etc?
I have some ideas that I hope to flesh out some more in the coming months. They are not well-formed ideas yet so I don't really want to talk about them at the moment.

What has come from the experience that you didn't expect?
I guess I've been surprised how strongly people have connected to the idea of noticing and savoring moments of everyday life. People from all over the world. There is something miraculous about painting , say, an egg in my kitchen one morning, and having someone from India email me to tell be how much he loves it... a few minutes later. The power of the internet really hit home.

How important is gallery representation?
they are still important, but they are no longer the only game in town. I feel more and more artists are finding galleries to be a compliment to their internet presence, or vice versa.

What is the volume of hits on your blog?
It is becoming harder to quantify how many people visit the blog... there are rss feeds that deliver content to newsreaders, there are people who see my work via my emails, and there are the people who just visit the blog everyday via their browsers. The number is probably between 700-900 unique visitors a day. I'm not sure how many raw hits though. My main site gets about 14,000 hits a day.

Do people commission you to do paintings?
They have in the past but I've stopped doing that.

Any thing else you can think of, as far as marketing, that you would recommend to artists?
Get comfortable with the internet and learn to see the business aspect of selling your work as a creative endeavor.

Duane is an artist from Richmond who started a painting a day blog in December 2004 . I can attest to the fact people "connect to the idea of noticing and savoring moments of everyday life". After we first discovered Duane we would often greet each other in the morning not with "hello" but with a gasp of... OMG have you seen the painting of the day yet? It would lead to discussions of apples or dandelions or shadows and jockeying for position on who was going to email Duane first. It has been a joy meeting Duane, collecting his work and enjoying a painting a day. visit his blog here

NEW FOR WINTER 2006!
Check out the latest class offerings for adults and children at the Arlington Arts Center, including exciting new partnerships with the Washington Glass School and the Writer’s Center. Catalogue is available on our website at www.arlingtonartscenter.org.

With over 25 options, both the absolute beginner and the career artist are bound to spot something intriguing in our catalogue. Remember: AAC members receive a 10% discount.

Our mini-courses and workshops, priced at $60 and under, make perfect last-minute holiday gifts.

Mini-courses and workshops begin in January, 8-week classes begin the week of February 13.

Courses include:
FOR ADULTS: Kick off the new year with a Jump Start to Abstract Painting mini-course, or enroll in one of our drawing, painting, sculpture, or photography classes. Classes are offered during the week, weekday evenings, and on Saturdays.

FOR KIDS: Offered for those from pre-school through high school, classes include Animal Adventures, Superheroes Come to Life, Intro to Photography, and much more! As in the past, the AAC will offer Wednesday afternoon classes to coincide with Arlington County Public Schools Early Release.

FOR ADULTS & KIDS TOGETHER: Always wanted to take a class side by side with that special kid in your life? How about taking one of two sculpture workshops led by Carolina Mayorga?
WASHINGTON GLASS SCHOOL: AAC is pleased to host, in conjunction with the Washington Glass School, classes and professional development workshops, including sculptural glass bead weaving, copper electroforming, How to Get your Work Noticed By the Press, Galleries, and Museums, among others.
WRITER’S CENTER: Learn all you’ve ever wanted to know about web blogs and blogging in a series of workshops presented in partnership with the Writer’s Center, or join a discussion group about reading short stories, lead by WC instructor Jody Lannen Brady.

Visit our website at www.arlingtonartscenter.org to see the full course listing, or stop by the AAC to pick up a catalogue.
We are located at 3550 Wilson Blvd, Arlington, VA 22201, one block south of the Virginia Square-GMU Metro station on the Orange Line.

Our programs are made possible through the Arlington Commission for the Arts, the NEA and the Virginia Commission for the Arts, The Meyer Foundation, the Arlington Community Foundation, and the generosity of our members

The Poetry of Random Moments

Mark Isaac, Peggy Fleming, Lillian Fitzgerald

January 7, 2006 - February 18, 2006
The Mansion at Strathmore Hall
10701 Rockville Pike
North Bethesda, MD 20852-3324
Call 301 581 5146 for information

Opening reception: Thursday January 12, 2006 7 - 9 p.m.
Gallery Talk Saturday, January 14 at 1 p.m.

March 10 – April 28, 2006
The Mark O. Hatfield Clinical Research Center
Bld. 10 Center Drive,
Bethesda, MD 20892
Call 301 402 0115 for information

http://www.ffineart.com/

Union Printmakers Atelier

Had a long talk with Scip Barnhart. Nice new space, beautiful show.
www.unionprintmakers.com

most amazing studio visit today

more Rob Browning