Putting the Pencil to the Paper

Putting the pencil to the paper isn't as easy as it seems. I decided to write for 3 hours and draw for 3 hours. I messed a round, then wrote for 4 hours. Then I messed around and drew for an hour and a half, but I didn't want to stop.

It takes forever to get going, but now I am set up. I have a set of drawing pencils, a white eraser, an eraser guard, a brush to deal with stray graphite, tape, my favorite drawing board, reference photos, a pencil sharpener and the computer, headphones and itunes.

This only took me 30 minutes and 5 trips to the garage where I have the best place to paint. It is full of art ready to be finished. It will be someday. I am glad I have part of a hand done that when I showed it to Scott, he said, "cool."

The Artist in full bloom and all the weirdness that goes with it.

I have so much to write, it is scribbled on pieces of paper all over my room and in my head and it will only get worse while I draw.

More Thought on the Prodigal Son and the Good Samaritan

I have a lot on my mind, but this is the second week of school and I am tired. So I want to go to bed and I want to write. I might not make any sense.

I couldn't think of anyone better to model with Scott as the Father in the Prodigal Son than my pastor Dave Jobe. There are several things he has said in sermons that have stuck with me and have become a part of me, I hope. Last year when he talked about getting back in the game and this year when he talked about believers needing to enlarge their defintions of family. I think personally both these statements deal with the themes in the Prodigal Son and the Good Samaritan.

I am particularly attracted to the story about the Prodigal Son and I think the photos we did are strong images. Tonight when I left my art lecture class I was so full of thoughts and connections I had a clear vision of where the art needs to go. I realize I struggle with seeing God as loving as I am going to portray Him as in the Embrace. I started to see how I box Him in and want to contain Him. Then I thought of the crates or boxes that homeless people sleep in and I decided I want both the pieces framed in a photo of a crate or cardboard box. I just thought particularly with the Good Samaritan and the question, who is my brother and my interest in the homeless. Also Bryants ministry to the homeless makes that reference appealing to me.

I thought of the Prodigal Son in a crate and I think even if I frame or contain the image it will remain strong and that it will show that we can limit God, but His love is so appealing, it can't be diminshed by us.

I had these thoughts while I passed under the trees at the place where God Speaks to Me. And I cried because I know as I passed through the spot He spoke to me very, very clearly about the art work.

He also spoke to me during the lecture. More on that later.

The Prodigal

The photo shoot went very well. It was very hard to decide on the photo to use. I have two to consider. I think I am leaning towards the embrace. I am being good and not writing about this tonight.

The Embrace

The Blessing

Process

Started the process for my mixed media art for the PCPC Artfestival 2009 entry. Bryant showed up tonight and so I had him pose with Scott for the portrait part of the Good Samaritan. We were trying to decide who should be who. It was dinner time and Bryant asked Scott for some food. Scott said "NO." He was giving Bryant a hard time, but that clinched it, Bryant is the merciful stranger and Scott, well, he needed to be beat up.




Who is my brother? Well, they sure act like they are brothers. I kept telling Bryant, "get closer, like you are going to whisper in his ear."


Next I will enlarge the photo to the size I want it and trace a fine outline. If I can use a light table I am happy. This gives me good placement. Scott says I cheat. It feels a little like coloring to me, but I have to remember most people cannot do it not matter what they trace.

Last years rendering... Tomorrow night the Prodigal Son photo shoot.

What's Goin' On

Gray sky morning
Frozen fingers
Crossing

I wanted to talk a bit about Greg’s gallery class.

For those of you who don’t know the Art Barn as we call it in the Arts and Humanities, Arts and Performance side of the campus at UTD, has a large space at its center which is the gallery. When Greg Metz my instructor came to UTD about 14 years ago, it became his charge. At that time very little was done with it. Greg has created an interesting history of shows. They are always contemporary and always different. The calendar includes several student shows and shows that the full time instructors curate.

The Gallery class started off based on a class at UTA where a group of students help run the gallery there. The class at UTD has evolved from that to one that includes speakers, museum trips, gallery hops and lots of volunteer hours in the arts community. Bottom line we get to meet a lot of interesting people that make art happen in Dallas. We will be hanging shows and helping at art auctions. This is a very welcome change of pace for me.

On the personal art front I am trying to arrange a photo shoot for my submission to the PCPC Art Show. The two parables I have chosen are the Prodigal Son and the Good Samaritan. Hopefully this weekend I will be meditating on the text and writing about it. I have some idea in my mind about the Prodgial Son and what I want to do in that art.

That is where it starts. There is a picture in my head that I will aim at, but it never happens, something else does, always an adventure.

I have been going over in my mind the possibility of teaching art in my home. I would love that. Not sure if it is the time, I really don’t have a lot of time. But it is there in my mind.

I teach at the shelter tomorrow. I have to get down what I am doing. Tara and I talked about painting with oil pastels. I got the oderless mineral spirits today at Home Depot and I need to get some new reference stuff together. I need something for the other class to do. I may actually give in and do how to draw. For some reason when people sign up that is what they expect. I am so grateful to have Tara as a student because she loves to experiment and would never ask to do how to draw.

Ohio Photography Show

While visiting Dayton I decided to check out some local art. A new show opened at the Dayton Visual Arts Center featuring Ohio Photographers. I thought that would be a show of interest. The show was organized by the Massillon Museum of Art, a traveling exhibit called "In the Garden." 

The purpose of the  MVAC is to promote area artists through shows, arts talks and art auctions. They also help connect area artists with galleries and collector who are interested in contemporary art.  The space is small, one gallery room, still the art was generously displayed. 

I enjoyed the diversity of art presented; from platinum photography to archival inkjet on rice paper. The most unusual process was xray. The rice paper prints were my favorite because they resembled Japanese block prints. They were an unexpected find. 

Since the show was exhibited in a contemporary art setting I wasn't surprised to find some but not all of the work digitally manipulated. I thought the results, the brilliant color and painterly quality of the work justified the process. 

The subject matter followed along the of the shows title "In the Garden." Since I have never met a plant I did not like, in its entirety I enjoyed the exhibit. 

This is my portfolio blog.

Art, photography, graphic design only and articles related. Oh yea. Art Ministry.

The Christmas card I did not send this year. merry christmas and a blessed new year.