Updates from PCNJ

Back over the summer I had a piece in the annual member exhibition at PCNJ, which travelled to Jersey City for several weeks in the fall. That show ended a few weeks ago and my piece was returned to the headquarters in Somerville. They had asked the art to be picked up last week, but the building was shut down for the whole week with the aftereffects of the Snowtober storm. I ended up with a surprise day off today, as my employer was closed for the Veterans Day holiday. (my colleges don't close for the day, so I'm used to working during it) PCNJ is about 60 miles away, so I usually try to combine a visit with some other business in the area, but off the top of my head I couldn't think of another reason that I would be in that part of the state over the next few months. Factoring in weather and lighter than normal traffic, today seemed as good a day any to get it done. Other than dodging some windblown debris, no problem getting up there and picking up my piece. I checked out the current show in the gallery, a juried show called Giving Pause Reflecting Still. I didn't submit anything (shows built around vague internal/emotional concepts are great for all the abstractionist types, but don't suit my real world images, and in my experience the jurors who propose these things generally don't like my work anyway) but I still like to see what's on the walls. Getting home was uneventful.

And speaking of the traveling show, just last night I got these photos from fellow printmaker Marissa Woodrow (her piece is at the far left of the top photo, my boardwalk print at the far right), who attended a special gallery talk that was set up at the Jersey City location. I couldn't make it to the event, but it looks like it's a nice space. It was up for several weeks, so the art students would have had plenty of time to see the show. Beginner printmakers tend to focus on learning process and effects, and give less thought to actually making an artwork. My hope is that an exhibition of quality work from established printmakers will show the students some of the possibilities of printmaking and maybe inspire them to want to make interesting prints of their own.