Blood Draw

 Treatments are done for now, so it's time to get back to work on prints.  I have a few ideas that may turn into something, but the first physical step is to get my saw and cut a hunk of wood to be the block.  I had wood in my Studio, so it was just a matter of bringing my saw from the car.  I carried that and a yardstick in with me.  Dropped those off in my space and used the basement restroom.  Coming out of there I noticed how empty the kitchen area of the cafeteria was- all the appliances had been taken out.  No idea how many of them worked, but now they were gone, leaving quite a bit of space.  Dropped by the office, but found no one in there, so I went back to my space and got to work. 

I had a few pieces of the birch plywood I have been using of late, there on my table, so I cut a piece off of the one that had some parts already removed, leaving not much left of that sheet.  That's not a problem, as I still have one full sheet, and I can always get more if I need it. I cut off a piece of wood large enough for a 15" x 21" block.  This will be the largest block I have worked on since I got out of the hospital, and also the same size as my boardwalk prints, the diptychs. This is intentional, as I plan to put the resulting piece in one of the frames I have been using for those.  

What I am planning for this piece is something related to all my medical procedures, which have taken up more of my time than anything else I have done over the past few years.  In this way, it fits within the kind of work I was doing for my Fourth of July series, but much larger.   It actually does not refer to the recent cancer treatments, for which no blood was taken.  What I am anticipating is doing something about the many intravenous procedures that have been done over the past few years, which include routine blood draws (hospital and labs), IV drugs sent directly into my veins, which could relate to both the hospital and the places where I have had scans done, which often included contrasts, I guess to make things easier to see in the end.   Back when I used to donate blood, they also used to stick a needle into my vein to get the stuff, so I'm about as used to this kind of thing as most people and barely notice them anymore.  

Beyond that, I have no idea yet what this will be and the image I will use, the story I will tell.  I am leaning toward a standard blood draw, a small sample taken for analysis, something I get at labs and the hospital on a regular basis.  Compositionally, I think this also calls for a nurse in the image, head and hands especially.   I suppose I could draw this out of my head, but I would prefer to work off a live body  if I can.   Luckily, I don't have any particular deadline to get this done, so I can take a little time to see if I can find a suitable person to portray this character.  But for today, I cut a piece of wood and marked a border on it in pencil.  And in case I need to draw someone myself, I have started to go through charcoal drawing I have done in the past.  In these I was concentrating on portraits, and dealing with strong lights and shadows, which is kind of what I would want.  After all, with my portrait woodcuts I try to make them look like my charcoal drawings.  Here are a few examples from the archives:

I would have to make some changes to the hair, and put some clothing (scrubs) on them, but shadows have already been figured out, and that's the biggest issue.

Later I went back to office and at least Kaitlyn was there.  She had a lot of questions about relief printing (specifically linocut, but the printing process is the same as woodcut, and hasn't changed much in the past 500 years) so mostly I was talking about the kinds of printing tools I use, why I favor oil based inks over water based inks (she agreed about some of these reasons) and other stuff.  I don't know anything about her subject or style, just that she's having fun with the process, so I don't want to hit her with too much information right now.  Then Elyse came back from her errand, so we discussed some of the changes around the building (involving kitchens mostly), and what may be under the floor in the cafeteria (we have no idea).

For music I decided to go with one of Molly's discs, but it's also one I have owned and used to keep a copy of in the Studio- Doolittle by the Pixies.  I have written about this back in October of 2019, and probably some other times as well.  It's an important album in music history and in Pixies history, with all the usual Spanish language and biblical references that one might expect.  Plus, it's just enjoyable to listen to while working.  After that I tried another one of Molly's discs, but while it was short, I didn't care much for the album by Albert Ayler, and I gave up on it.

Yes I Rang That Bell

 

In case you've been wondering why I haven't posted as much over the last month or so, there was a reason- cancer.  This process began back last fall, when I had my regular check-up, and the lab report came back with a possible problem.  My general practitioner did a test there in the office, and decided to refer me to a urologist, one nearby.  Those appointments can be hard to get, so I didn't get to see him until sometime in December.  He saw the lab results, and scheduled me for a biopsy, which happened back in February.  At the time, he said things looked good, but when we finally met in his office in March, he gave me the bad news. Out of 12 samples, cancer showed up in at least 4, verified by two other specialists in this field.  So he referred me to an oncologist, also nearby, and gave me a book to read. I'm good at reading.  I met with the oncologist for the first time in April, and she agreed that it could be treated, and possibly cured.  Meanwhile, this is about the time we had the Open Studio event in our building, which seemed to me to be quite successful.  (50 people made the trip down the basement and into my space, far more than the last time we did one of these) 

On May 1st, the state shifted me to Medicare, and all my doctors have been informed of my insurance changes.  Hope it works out, but so far no crazy bills.  It took three trips to the oncologist back in early May before they were satisfied with my internal organs, and could decide on a treatment.  That started in mid-May, radiation treatments every weekday (except holidays when they were closed) which were dependent on me following all kinds of prep.   The ride down there (local roads and highways that I have driven many times for jobs I have had) took longer than the radiation treatments themselves, but I had to get 28 of them.  At least they were painless.  (along the way, there was that Art on the Porch event, which included some people who had come to the Open Studio and some I knew from the building, so I figured I should go see their displays)  The radiation treatments were in the early afternoon, so I couldn't really get to the Studio too often.  Besides, I had nothing in particular that needed working on.  I finished the block I had started for the Open Studio, so I got one block drawn, cut, and printed while I was having my cancer treated.  I also had multiple MRI's, x-rays, a CT scan, and whatever that radiation machine did to me every day I was there.  One of those scans turned up another possible issue, but it has since been decided that it's not an issue right now.  No further tests, come back in a year for another scan.  I will get some more scans in early July, but that is for my unrelated brain surgery, which was revealed to be benign.

Things could have been worse.  So far relatively few side effects, and those have been manageable.  Ideally those are also temporary, but I won't know for a few more months.  No chemotherapy was called for, which is good as I hear it is difficult.   (one of my college housemates, my same year, has been dealing with it for her own cancer diagnosis in recent months) Also no hormones, and no medications/prescriptions, so I don't have those expenses or complications.  

Am I cured?   I have no idea.  My cancer was in an early stage, and located in one area of the organ.  Scans indicated that it hadn't spread to any other organs, and the biopsy showed that it wasn't a particularly aggressive cancer, so we are hoping the radiation treatments knocked it out, as they were supposed to do.  However, from what I have read, I won't be considered cancer free until 5 years of tests show that it's gone.  So technically I am not a survivor yet.  I meet with my various doctors in July, but I don't think the first lab test is for 6 months.  What I do know is that my treatments and the preps I did each day are now over.  Everyone at the place wished me luck, I rang the bell, received a certificate of appreciation for having survived the treatment.  I do look forward to not having to go there tomorrow. 

I should be back in the Studio in a few days, and ready to start the next project. 

The Next Project

 Truth is, I don't know what the next project is.  However, I did spend some time today in the Studio thinking about it, and doing some basic sketches.  One thing I have been thinking about doing is something related to the numerous times I've been in hospitals and doctor's offices over the past few years, and there are a few pages in my sketchbook devoted to imagery from such places.  I have experienced many such visits, both inpatient and outpatient, including being in one place today, and I'll be in another place tomorrow.  That's just my life these days, and I'm as used to it as one can expect.  I can draw, I can cut, I can print, I can color, I can have conversations with receptionists and salespeople, and I can drive a car.  That covers most of my needs. 

As always, I'll save images and descriptions for when I actually begin one of these prints, which is not likely this month.  Meanwhile, it was nice to be in my Studio and not just surrounded by other patients.  I had stopped by briefly on Saturday when I parked at the building before walking over to the Art on the Porch event going on around Ocean Grove.  However, today I was there to make use of the space, if only to do a little sketching on paper.  Always a good time.  For music today, a day I knew would be short, I had brought with me my small Jazz/Blues book, and from this selected the album Kind of Blue from Miles Davis.  Another one of those classics that has made every list and gotten every honor that music can get, so you probably know about it already. Davis played trumpet of course, and this album includes John Coltrane and Cannonball Adderly on saxophones, along with some other big names on other instruments.  It's kind of surprising that I haven't mentioned this album yet on this blog, as it has been in my overall collection for quite a while.  And one song has been heard many times- "All Blues" is part of my homemade Homicide : Life on the Street soundtrack, which has been written about before.   No doubt I'll listen to it again when doing something more constructive, hopefully not too far in the future.

Art on the Porch

 Today there was another art event in the town where I make mine.  Ocean Grove held an event called "Art on the Porch", which is pretty much what it was.  Local artists showed work on porches around town.  Over 50 of them, as the website said.  Leading up to it we weren't sure how this was going to go.  Being an outdoor event, there is always a concern with weather, but today was a beautiful day.  Not to hot, not to cool, sunny- perfect for an outdoor art event.  This week we also had concern over smoke- wildfires in Canada produced huge amounts of smoke that drifted to this part of the United States.  Skies had turned gray or brown, air quality alerts were issued, and we went back to wearing masks.  However, the low pressure finally moved on, and with it the smoky air, and it was safe to walk around today.   Nothing on the internet about it being cancelled or postponed, so I went up to town today.  Parked at my building, as I knew I had a right to be in that lot, and on a sunny summer weekend, no guarantee I'd find any near the houses.  Had with me a hand drawn map of the town, with places marked for porches I wanted to visit.  Made a few stops along the way, got up there around 11:00 am, about the time the event started.  Parked at the art building on the corner of Main and Main, went inside briefly, then began my walk around town.  

Ocean Grove is a very walkable town, one I have walked through many times, but I didn't want to walk the entire town, searching for people.  I decided I should go see the presentations by people who had been to my Open Studio back in April, since they had come to see me.  Also on my list were people from the Studio building, at least those I have dealt with.  After that, it would depend on how much energy I had.  I did visit a few places along the way.  For example, I stopped in at the Artisan Gallery, since Jackie had put me in a solo show there a few years ago.  But the wall I had occupied was empty of art, and she wasn't there (just her partner I guess) so I didn't stay long.  Based on my map, and the route I had selected, my first stop was Harriet's porch (not her home) where I instantly recognized one piece, as she had shown in in a critique in our basement studio.

There was also an artist at the house next door, but there was a crowd when I first arrived and decided not to go there.  You can see a little of that in the background of the top photo.

Next I headed south to see some people I knew in that area of the town.  That included Joe Borzotta, the organizer of the Open Studio events (and tenant in out building) and Michelle Bernard, who I knew from the area and had been a regular for years at the critique group that met in our Studio.  She always had some interest in classic amusements (including knock-down dolls she made), but such imagery is even more present in the latest work, which she said was all done since the crits, and also since she "finally learned how to paint", as she said.   For my photo of her set up, she wanted to pose next to one of her larger works, which she did point out included a large image of cotton candy.  

Not only did she make such things in the past, and have it tattooed on her arm, I once had her come to my Studio to pose with one of her sculptures for a boardwalk print, an ideal cotton candy model.  She was also someone who had come to my Studio for the April event.  Later, in front of her house I ran into Andrew and his wife.  He works there in the Studio building, in charge of all things physical. 

Eventually I circled around and found Jeanne Power-Galli's porch.  She had been working in the office at the JSAC, in charge of classes and such.  I don't think she's doing that anymore, but she did buy two boardwalk prints from me last year, so I figured it would be good to stop by.  Luckily I didn't have to climb up to the porch, as the railings at that house (not hers) were completely overgrown and I couldn't get to them.  A lot of steps as well, an issue in overbuilt Ocean Grove. (not a lot of lawns or driveways there, just wooden houses built almost to the property lines)  

After that, I had considered checking out the display of another artist who made interesting black and white works, but I didn't want to walk over to the north side of town, and decided to go home.  As it was, today was the longest walk I had taken since before I was in the hospital.  I'm happy I didn't trip on the problematic sidewalks of the town, and it wasn't an emergency or anything, but I was happy to get back to my car.