3:43 pm: end of painting day; another hour of actionlab. here's the state of parade 48 at 3:30 pm. the play's the thing, i could aptly say here. the event, in all it's ambiguity and reflective splendor begins to unfold. ancient past and ordinary present lap against one another. thrilling potential meets glory past and a song occurs.
no time now for more words, gotta get to the curriculum. ah-h-h andrea embiriko, που βρισκεσαι αγαπητε? που να σε ψαξω;
i wrote about the source of imagery for this painting a few days ago. in brief, i shot a series of photos at the acropolis museum in athens in 2010, some of whire shot from above. it was as if i knew i'd be using them in the future for the parade series of paintings. the museum had just opened a year earlier, designed by new york–based architect, bernard tschumi in collaboration with the Greek architect michael photiadis. i believe the transparent floors were a stroke of genius. they allow the visitors to view the roman and early byzantine ruins uncovered as excavation took place. this creates a unique and magical feeling, combining the experience of the ancient works of art exhibited in the museum galleries with ancient ruins directly under your feet and making my overall parade series theme of "the view from above" even more relevant.
2:40 pm: A QUICK NOTE: let me be clear. these are not just corrections i'm doing. that's the least of it. as an artist, it's physically IMPOSSIBLE for me to JUST do corrections. i'm getting a download of our educational product, action lab, as i correct grammar, spelling, etc. wisely, mikela has kept the content of this curriculum from me until now, so that i could get a fresh hit on what it is, if it will be attractive to students and teachers. and, even in correcting the first of many chapters, i now have it in my body that this product is revolutionary and will change middle and high school education as we know it. it's already changing how i look at parade 48! speaking of which, i gotta get back to my canvas so i can have another hour after i'm done painting to work on the curriculum. more pics & thoughts later...
1:14 pm: today is the start of a new rhythm here in my studio. i'll be taking periodic breaks from painting make a series of corrections to the actionlab curriculum text mikela has written. i've already begun and am now on a break, so here's what i've done thus far today on parade 48: a second grouping of figures is taking shape. but the environment they're populating is still white canvas, temporarily giving the image a starkness it will slowly lose.
10:37 am: as i prepare to resume work on parade 48, i continue the selection process of abstract 2014 collages for space gallery in denver. this is the most recent one, which i framed this morning before starting to paint.
this series of collages were all inspired by my north crestone creek plein air paintings, which can be viewed under the drop down menu "works" and then "plein air."
and now i'll get to work, with updated pics of the painting as it progresses.
10:30 am: BELOW: the current state of parade 48, as i begin work.
