Paris Artwalk photos--24 April 2009

Another Paris Artwalk has come and gone. First I'd like to thank Marilyn Campbell for hosting Cliff and myself once again. Marilyn was great as always! I am very appreciative of everyone who stopped by especially my co-worker friends in the library world, it was great to see all of you. I was also thrilled my friends Norma Gilpin and Beth Hensel were able to stop by as they are the models for two of the paintings I had on display. A special treat was to finally meet fellow Pre-Raphaelite art lover Rebecca Chamberlain who is an artist and art historian from Winchester and a dear friend of my friend Polly Singer. Rebecca also has the Ladies Historical Tea blog linked from my blog.

Turnout was pretty good, though once again the wind blew away our marker balloons that showed we were participants and we might not have gotten quite as many people as we hoped. For the next Artwalk, I will probably makes some larger signage and get my own sandwich board and rig up something to attach the balloons to.

Update: this is a link to Cliff Sullivan's blog on the same event with pictures

http://cliff-cliffsart.blogspot.com/


Click on the images for a larger view

Patrick Lynch and Cliff Sullivan

My paintings on display just before the start of Artwalk.

Some of the crowd later in the evening. When the exhibit space was crowded, I never had a chance to actually take any pictures.


Cliff, his friend Brandy and his wife Melissa laughing at something one of us said. They are standing next my two favourite paintings of Cliff's.

My very dear friend Norma Gilpin who modelled for the lady in the boat with a gramophone paintings My Heart Dreams of a Sea of Stars, Calling Me Home To You,For The Stars Help Me, And The Sea Bears Part.

My Heart Dreams of a Sea of Stars

This painting is titled My Heart Dreams of a Sea of Stars. Click on any of the images in this post for a larger view.

After a long winter where it seemed that I wasn't getting anything done, I've now finished my second painting this spring. I had started it in the autumn but set it aside for a few months until I could focus on it better. This is the third painting of my friend Norma in a boat gliding in the night with a gramophone playing of a series of four paintings so far of people in boats with gramophones in a night sky. Why do gramophones appear so much in my paintings? I think it's because the outside horn gramophones are the perfect blend of romance and technology. They were comparatively portable and gave people who did not have musical talent a way to share music with a loved one. Some of that music can be heard on this blog's music player in the form of a block of songs by the Irish tenor John McCormack who in his day, was an international superstar. McCormack sang both opera as well as more popular songs including his famous and somewhat spooky "I Hear You Calling Me", a ballad about someone pining for his love who has crossed over.


In the more fanciful paintings I'm doing, the gramophone is not only a symbol of romance but in a way an almost steampunk (springpunk?) propulsion system as the sound waves coming from the morning glory horn somehow propel the boat across the night sky. One might imagine the boat would move faster or slower depending on what was spinning on the spring powered turntable.

The gramophone is once again my 1907 Columbia BI Sterling. I'm rather partial to the Victor outside horn machines of the same era, but I actually own the Columbia. Those who are experts on these machines probably have noticed that my Columbia is missing the turntable ring and that the crank is in a slightly odd place. That's because the original motor was replaced with a double spring Victrola motor and the modifications were made with great care and to the untrained eye appear as original. The cabinet was refinished by Roger Rudd of the Kentucky Antique Phonograph Society and a reproduction "Columbia Disc Graphophone " label affixed to the front. I bought the machine from Brian Gorrell, a friend of mine who with Roger restore old gramophones and other antique phonographs. I got this machine knowing it was modified from the original and because of that more affordably. The stronger Victor motor probably plays better than the original. With a fresh needle and a good record it plays as well as it did in 1907.


Now if I could only paint metal more convincingly. I'm getting the mass of the horn, but I'm still having trouble getting that metallic surface right. Maybe my brush strokes are too rough or thick or something. Sometimes I do subjects multiple times because it's as simple as trying to get it finally right. Of course it would be easier to paint Victor machines with their black morning glory horns but their unique petals present other interesting challenges. I've been painting the Columbia more because I have it in front of me instead of relying on my photographs of other machines.

More often than not, it is because there is something that continues to fascinate me about the people I'm painting that causes me to seek often unsuccessfully for that definitive statement of what that person means to me especially loved ones. The emotions felt inside always render pale any attempt at painting them. Is that because my feelings and the pressure of self imposed expectations are too complex to paint, or is it because I need a lot more serious art training than I got at Berea College 24 years ago? Probably a mixture of both. The 1980's were not a particularly good era for artists wanting to be a Pre-Raphaelite but that is a subject for a different blog entirely. I do know that some of the people I love most are the hardest to paint, not only because of my expectations but sometimes theirs as well. Maybe someday I can get out one of those pictures and say to myself "why didn't I finish that?" and then have the whole painting fall into place.

Whatever the reason, I do not intend to let my current limitations as a painter stop me from trying to do better.

Dreaming True

"....And this other human being and I had been enshrined in each other's memory for years--since childhood---and were now linked together by a tie so marvellous, an experience so unprecedented, that neither could ever well be out of the other's thoughts as long as life and sense and memory lasted."

from Peter Ibbetson, written by George duMaurier, 1892

I hardly know where to begin in writing about this painting. It would almost be easier to play music with the painting in order to describe my feelings about it. A stack of John McCormack 78's? Fritz Kriesler playing the Meditation from Thais, circa 1918? Something more modern perhaps? Nights In White Satin would do nicely along with the majority of the other songs by The Moody Blues featured on the music player at the bottom of this blog. A shame that Nights in White Satin isn't on a 78.

As always, click on the images for a larger picture.



I still haven't fully settled on a title for this painting. Some paintings have a title even before the canvas is placed on the easel. I couldn't settle on a title for this one. The boat in the night sky paintings usually have titles based on one of my early 78 rpm records, but I also want to have a title based on the George DuMaurier novel Peter Ibbetson which is a book that the lady in my arms and I hold very dear. For now, the title is Dreaming True.

If you compare the painting to the photos of it in the previous blog, you can see there have been a few changes. Except for part of the horn, I painted out the previous gramophone and replaced it with my 1907 Columbia BI Sterling. The previous gramophone was actually a nicely rendered pencil sharpener but it wasn't quite good enough as a painting reference. I changed the contents of the boat behind the couple and added the vintage Victor Records sleeve by the 78's. The sky (or is it the night reflected water?) has more stars added and wispy elements that might suggest arms of the Milky Way.

As I mentioned in the previous blog, the couple featured in this painting are myself and someone I love very very much. I'm waiting until summer to say more when a wonderful new chapter begins in a very old story when two people who never should have been apart are finally together.

Winter wonderland-paintings in progress

At the time of this writing much of the eastern third of the United States is in an icy grip. My studio in Kentucky is very much in the middle of the winter maelstrom. Ice, then snow, then more ice, then more snow. Everything looks like its coated in frosted glass. This seemed like a good time to write an update on paintings in progress and to take a peek at my studio after some recent rearranging.

All of the paintings pictured are in the very early stages as far as I'm concerned. In at least two of them, the paintings are far enough along you can see where they are going while the other two are still too early to tell

As always, click on each picture to see the larger image.

This is the painting I'm currently spending a lot of time on.


This was inspired by something I saw in a National Geographic book on the British Isles. I removed all of the figures except for this one couple cuddled together. My pose for the figures is loosely based on the original but I made several adjustments to it. Those who know me will recognise me as the male figure. I don't usually paint myself but I made an exception in this instance. The lady I am holding is the dearest person in the world to me and to say I love her would be the grandest understatement of this or any other century. More will be said about her in future posts when some of the paintings that feature her are complete. This painting is part of the night series I've been doing for a couple of years. Generally, I have been giving paintings with gramophones titles from old 78 rpm recordings of the era and I haven't settled on a title for this painting yet. For some reason, I am fascinated by images of boats floating in the night sky. Yes, it could be reflections on the water, but I like the idea that the couple are floating in a sea of stars.


As I said, the painting is still in the early stages. I turned down the brightness in this image because the photo was a bit overexposed, but it kind of gets the idea across.

The painting below is from the same series and I had actually began this painting before the above mentioned work. Something about the boat was making me crazy so I set it aside to rest awhile before I wonder why I didn't finish the painting sooner when it hits me just why it was bugging me.

The next painting is of a mysterious Victorian lady pausing before an even more mysterious doorway. The outside is clearly set in day, but if she goes inside the structure she steps into the night. This painting is also waiting for me to look at it a certain way and then see just how to finish it. It is also a piece where I use older techniques combining coloured pencils with transparent glazes of acrylic paint. They tend to be a bit slow going. Mainly, this painting is a gestation stage where the work being done to it is more mental and hasn't externalised yet.


The final painting in this set is a painting I have wanted to do for almost thirty years. It is of the lady I am holding in the boat. As you can see it too is in the very early stages of painting. When I complete the painting, I will write a post on why she is so dear to me. A clue can easily be found in the painting's title: Amor Aeterna. The background which is too faint to see in this picture is of Cushendall in County Antrim, Ireland circa 1899.


A Studio Tour:

The purchase of a nice but amazingly inexpensive old table to put my 1907 Columbia Disc Graphophone on caused a partial rearrangement of my studio. The table is so sturdy it doesn't wiggle or wobble when I wind the gramophone. In the first picture below, there is a sock stuffed into the horn of the Columbia as a crude volume control. Ever wonder where the term "put a sock in it" came from? I moved my 1963 Pilot console stereo to the living room and shifted other furniture around and now the studio feels much larger than it really is. Below are some photographs I took a few days before our winter storms set in.





In other news, my old computer died at a most inopportune time whilst trying to add a USB hard drive. Needless to say, anything not backed up on CD was lost. This will finally force me to modernise my web creation software and rebuild the site from scratch to something I hope will be easier to update. My new laptop has a mind boggling amount of space on the hard drive and when the recalictrant USB hard drive comes back from the manufacturer, I should have ridiculous amounts of storage space and back up for everything. Until the site is rebuilt and uploaded, web updates may have to come in the form of this blog.

2009 looks to be a year of rebuilding and of change. Not just at the national level we are currently experiencing but also on a personal level. I, for one, am feeling very optimistic right now.

Pictures from the Creative Harvest opening

Christi Fish, right, president of Stoner Creek Arts was kind enough to send me pictures from the Creative Harvest opening which will be reproduced here. In this photo, you can see my painting of Barnabas in the background. I am ashamed to admit that I can't remember the name of the artist standing with Christi. He did an incredible Renaissance style religious painting with dozens of figures painted in the grand tradition of the old masters. Click on the image to enlarge. You can see his painting over his right shoulder. I also couldn't help noticing that he bore a resemblance to an older Barnabas.

These are some of my very dearest friends. From left to right: Polly Singer, Valerie Powell, Beth Hensel, Patrick Lynch and Norma Gilpin. I've either painted or drawn pictures of each of the women in this photo. I'm currently working on paintings of both Norma and Valerie. Click on photo to enlarge. Polly was featured in The Love Letter, Beth in The Angel's Serenade, (on display at Hopewell) and Norma in Calling Me Home To You. Norma you will know from the paintings of the Edwardian lady in the boat with a gramophone sailing across the night skies. The painting I'm currently working on will be the third of a trilogy of those paintings featuring Norma before taking the boats in the night sky paintings in a somewhat different direction or at least a different vantage point.



While I was looking at paintings and talking with people. I couldn't help noticing this duo was actually performing Emerson, Lake and Palmer songs from the album Brain Salad Surgery as well as classics by Simon and Garfunkel. Loved it. Click on image to enlarge.


I'm not sure who the person on the left is, but I recently met Ron and Kathy Carter at a Halloween Party with my co-workers at the Paris-Bourbon County Public Library (artist with a day job, imagine that!) Ron is very active with the Hopewell Museum and was a driving force in the restoration of the 1910 Post Office building that houses the museum. His wife Kathy was a long time teacher in the local school system and my friend Beth Hensel's all time favourite English teacher. Hmm, is that an orb over Ron's left shoulder? Or is it a dust particle picked up by the digital camera? The building does seem to have an energy about it, a very positive one. Ghost hunters can click on the image to enlarge and decide for themselves.


I met so many nice people that it's embarrassing I can't remember all the names. In the centre is Nancy Kleck who owns a gallery/studio on Main Street in Paris. She does fabulous equine paintings. We both have work in the travelling Paris Mobile Art exhibit. The lovely person to Nancy's left I remember seeing at the library's Halloween Party and I talked with her pleasantly for a few minutes at the opening about the tv show Dark Shadows. Seems I wasn't the only one who dashed home from school to watch it! Anyone who reads this blog who can identify people in the photos that I can't please contact me so I can get everyone's names right.



Christi Fish, right, speaking with two nice people whose names I do not yet know. Again, if anyone reading this blog can identify any of the people I have not properly identified, please contact me and I will edit the post accordingly. Thanks!

Thanks to all my friends who could be there to support me. After the opening, we had a great dinner at Campbell's Restaurant.

The following was the text of the e-mail Christi sent to Stoner Creek Arts members and friends about the opening:

Dear Stoner Creek Arts Members and Friends,

We had a great turn out Friday night for the opening reception of Creative Harvest. We would like to thank Candy Beauman, from The Art Studio, for acting as this year's judge. Best in Show went to Betsy Kephart for Water Lily, Bellingrath Gardens. Other winners were Judy Jones for Keeneland Morning, Kay Collier McLaughlin for Homage to Art and Music in 3/4 Time, and Suzanne Dungan for Tiny Twisted Basket. Congratulations to each of our winners. As we all know, there were many wonderful pieces of artwork submitted. We are fortunate to have so much talent in the Paris area. I attached the pictures I took at the reception. Betsey did a great job, as usual. Thanks, also to everyone who contributed to the auction. I know we did well with it. I'll have the exact totals for you soon. An article for the newspaper will go out this week, and should be in the paper Nov. 26.

Sincerely,

Christi Fish

President Stoner Creek Arts

November update

It was brought to my kind attention that I didn't have links to the galleries showing my work on the blog. I had posted those links on the gallery page but it had never occurred to me that someone finding the blog rather than the main website might want those links, so I amend the page here. Chuck, thanks for catching that! :-)

The Creative Harvest exhibit at the Hopewell Museum had a very well attended opening and I was delighted and honoured by the friends who came to see it. Special thanks to Valerie Powell for being there. As soon as I can get some pictures or a link to the coverage of it locally, I'll post an update.

The music player has had some added tracks and some rearranging of the playlist. I'm starting to see a choral, harpsichord and mellotron theme. I've also added some treasured Celtic pieces though others still elude me. I have been pleasantly surprised by the music I've been able to play on this electronic gramophone.

Paintings have been going slowly, visits from dear friends, autumn chores having been pleasant distractions. Now that the weather has turned colder and greyer, I will be spending much more time in the studio. So many ideas for paintings flying around in my mind, so little time......

Paintings at the Creative Harvest exhibit, Hopewell Museum

One of the many nice things about living in Paris, Kentucky is that for a small town it has an impressive museum of local history and local art. The Hopewell Museum is in a beautifully redone 1910 Post Office building on Pleasant Street. They are currently featuring their Creative Harvest Exhibit done in partnership with Stoner Creek Arts featuring current work by local artists. I have two paintings in this exhibit, The Angel's Serenade and My Heart Cries Aloud For Thee.


The exhibit runs up to the end of December. The opening reception information is posted below. The Hopewell Museum is run entirely by volunteers and to quote from their mission statement--

The mission of Hopewell Museum is to collect, preserve, and interpret the historic and
artistic heritage of the Paris and Bourbon County region and to promote the educational,
historic, artistic and cultural growth of the community.

Opening Reception

Friday, November 7, 2008

Hopewell Museum

5:00 - 8:00 PM

Please Join us!

Bring a savory or sweet dish to share.

Silent Auction

Music by Ukiah

If you live in the Paris, Kentucky area, it is well worth the drive to come see how a local community truly values its artists. For more information visit the Hopewell Museum's website.

Hopewell Museum website link here