5:43 PM: today was the first day in a while that we had some clouds. as a result, we had more interesting skies at sunset. here are a few i shot moments ago.
as you know if you read my blog posts regularly, i love reflections, especially the dimensionality created by the superimposition of a reflection seen in our east facing window of the sunset as seen in our west facing windows, which is what you are seeing in these two photos.
i haven’t thus far made paintings inspired by these photos; that may be coming in the future.
new ano kato 5 12x16” watercolor, gouache, crayon & collage on hot pressed portofino watercolor paper
DETAIL of new ano kato 5
2:40 PM: i’ve reached my limit for today, plus i want to go back to the house early since mikela isn’t feeling well, and of course we want to watch early returns from the election. i spent all day working over the drawing i made yestarday for new ano kato 5. the initial drawing, now largely obscured by collaging and marks in gouache, crayon and conté, was inspired by photos i shot a while back, as i said yesterday, of a group of school kids in alamosa (50 miles south of crestone) preparing to go out on the river in little canoes. they were standing in the tall grasses bordering the river, dressed in colorful protective gear. when it began moving too far in the direction of description, i collaged over that passage. but the figures are still discernible. perhaps the most intact figure is that of the teenager with his back to us, in the center of the composition, with the backpack & red bandana. the seeds of what i’m doing can actually be seen in the 2006 painting in the front window of skoufa gallery, below.
in front of skoufa gallery at my solo exhibition, 2006
8:14 AM: these are photos from my 2006 solo exhibition at skoufa gallery, adjacent to kolonaki square, athens. with me here is the late andonis polemis, a hugely beloved figure in chora, on the island of andros, greece. we’re standing in front of a painting in oil on linen of andonis at his hand operated printing press, where he published the one and only newspaper on the island. his shop, next door, sold athenian newspapers as well, along with a variety of other small items. he loved riding his bike around town, as well as on the narrow roads outside town, where he often came perilously close to having an accident. once he fell off his bike and hurt his leg, and asked me at dinner that night to tell his wife erató that it happened when he fell off a ladder in the shop.
later this morning i’ll continue work on new ano kato 5, for which i began the drawing yesterday. i’ll probably return to the house a bit earlier than usual to watch the election returns with mikela. i predict a biden landslide.