A Tree Blooms in South Philly

This photo was taken on Dec 15th in South Philly, right in front of the cheese steak houses on Passyunk. In fact, many of the street trees in that area are blooming in this fashion. 2 weeks later we continue to have 50 degree days.

Trees Bloom amid winter warm spell
False Spring won't damage plants..
Anybody seen signs of winter?

Obviously, there is a warming trend. I remember just a few years ago becoming alarmed seeing trees with buds in the winter. I guess when leaves start coming out, I will truly be worried.

Art Face off...

I found this website yesterday called Artfaceoff.com

There tagline is "A grassroots project bringing democracy to the world of art." Lofty goal indeed, but an interesting concept. You put a maximum of 24 images up on their site, and your work is rated on a 10 point scale. I like "distributed feedback" that could result from this.. I signed up because I was intrigued. I also inherently like competition. Perhaps it's from running road races. Does the competition pollute the art? Hard to tell, but I think this is a good way to get work exposure on the web.

You can view my and rate my work here.

Do I Like Diebenkorn anymore?

When you believe something so vehemently for years, it's good to come back around to it and try and question what made you come to that belief in the first place.

Woman on Stool...





I still like him. Samantha asked me the otherday what it was, and I said the light. But I think it is really the loneliness of them that provokes me. A kind of hopper-esque world for the suburbs, fractured and grittier. I hadn't thought of how similar they are before.

Working on a New Self Portrait

Okay. Here is what it looks like right about now.

It's a running joke that I paint so many self portraits that I am my best subject. This is the first self portrait since this one. Just for the record, I have been painting other things.

I've become aware of how these portraits work as personal reflection / confrontation. To that end this current work is very much a search for a new sense of identity in a new city, Philadelphia.

The painting is perhaps %75 done. And it has come a long way. At first it was very muddy (corresponding to the feeling of sorting out Philadelphia), and then I took a razor and actually cut the form out of the mud.

I've been painting in the mornings, and the sky has been switching between blue and grey. I've been trying to keep up.

Parts that need work, the values inside the room. The outside values are extremely bright, so I am constantly reminding myself to darken the inside values.

I also have to fix up the mouth. It's not sitting on the jaw properly.

Spit up

Felix brings me enjoyment. :)

This friday @ the Mendelson Gallery in Shadyside, William Rock will kick off the month long program "Spirit Unfolding"

I helped with the organization of this event, and am in Pittsburgh for the opening. Come out and say hello if you can! It looks like it's going to be a good show


http://spiritunfoldingnow.googlepages.com/



http://spiritunfoldingnow.googlepages.com/