Boardwalk Days part 39

 Early this morning I checked email and found I had one from our director at the Studio building.  It was finally the official request to keep the art up, now through the 15th of December.  Fine for me, so I sent her a reply email saying that.  Come the 15th I'll see if it's extended again, but for now I don't have to deal with it for a few more weeks. 

Another event scheduled for today up at the Jersey Shore Arts Center, the annual Holiday Market.  What it is is a bunch of vendors come in, set up tables, and hawk their wares.  Same thing happens in pubic spaces all over the region each weekend, but what makes this a little different is that we have food (at some of them) and resident artists are invited to open up their studios to the public.  In my case I wasn't sure if I was even going- last year we had no vendors down in the basement, no signs directing visitors to artist residents in the basement, I wasn't sure if I had anything to work on, and only 3 people even  made it to my space last time.  In an email update to Molly, I told her to do what she wanted, but if she couldn't make it she probably wasn't missing much.  But I woke up early, realized that I had something that hadn't been printed yet, and decided to go, if only for a little while.

As it my custom, I got there about an hour before things actually began, which meant plenty of parking in the front lot (though I also saw some cars already in the back) and time to straighten things out a bit in our space, just in case anyone wandered through.  The front door was wide open, so I didn't have to use any codes to get in and some vendors were already starting to set up their tables and things for sale.  The basement back door was wide open (I guess some were loading that way) but I got through to my space without problems.  Cleaned up a little, set up my cutting and printing station.  Realized I had not brought any discs with me today, so I would have to be satisfied with the ones I kept in the Studio.  For today that would be some Neil Young live shows, discs I think I got from John Siblik, and I keep them there as things to listen to if I forget to bring any, and because I know Molly likes them. One is acoustic, one is with Crazy Horse (so electric), though at least one song is found on both, which shows that Young's music is very versatile. I started with the acoustic set, something called Live at Massey Hall from 1971, written about back in September of 2021 if you want to know more. 

For art I was making a few slight adjustments to my block for the latest boardwalk print, made easier by the decision to ink it back in October.  Part of getting there early was to give myself time to sharpen my tools, which I wanted to do before any more cuts to the block.  I knew from last time that there were a few minor things I wanted to fix, and I expected to pull a proof today.  So first I sharpened my tools, then cut a few things on the block.  A few complex spots, and mostly some places that picked up some unintended ink.  I taped up the four big edges, then rolled it all up.  Then I pulled up the long pieces of tape and put down small ones to cover new unintended spots, and then took a proof on okawara paper. which is what I use for the edition in this series.  Then I printed it up.  Results can be seen below:

That was enough for today.  The first disc had ended, so now the electric Neil Young with Crazy Horse, this one a live show at the Fillmore East in 1970.  (although recorded in 1970, it wasn't released until 2006, as part of the same Archive series that gave us the Massey Hall album)  Only six songs, but the results were a standard album length.  He introduced the band, but not everyone who was there for the later Crazy Horse albums.  Of course, one of the songs was about people in his life, including band members, dying from heroin overdoses, so maybe that had something to do with it.  By the time that ended, I had finished my proof, and began cleaning up.  Still no vendors in the basement, and no one came to the Studio. I decided to pack up, grab some lunch on the way home, and go there.  

On my way out, I took a photo of the 1st floor, to provide a sense of what was going on.  A pretty good crowd was there.  A vendor was set up, with a table right in front of my hung prints, so I assume that people were in front of them.  How many looked at them I cannot say.  

At a table by the door they had some programs for the event, listing all the vendors and art studio that would be there today.  Not surprisingly, artist studios and vendors for floors one through three, but nothing was listed for the basement- no vendors, no artists.  Good thing I didn't plan anything special for today.  

Thanksgiving 2024

 The plan was to go to my brother's house for the big meal, so that's what we did. The plan also called for my mother to bake an apple pie.  I saw her buy the necessary ingredients recently, but whether or not she would actually make it we didn't know until this morning.  But she did, and I took the photo below of it.  As you can see, it turned out all right:

Not that she knew, as she had no interest in trying it.  I had a piece and I liked it.  She had the dessert requested- a cheesecake.  I had some of both, or what we call a "grandpa special", as he used to call it when he had some of every dessert.  (I skipped the brownies) As for real food, dinner included turkey, gravy, smashed potatoes with parmesan, freshly baked rolls, homemade macaroni and cheese, oven baked stuffing, green beans almandine, and more of the beverage I had gotten earlier.  Which was certainly enough for me, as I knew dessert would come eventually.   Some leftovers came home with us, so I know what I'll be eating tomorrow.  

Christmas is Coming part 4

 I had plans to make four stops on my way to, and through various parts of Neptune, and I would get to all four, but only the third one is relevant to this blog.  That would be getting to the Jersey Shore Arts Center, where I had two things to accomplish.  First was finding out some more information about the Christmas holidays, and how it would affect the current exhibition on the first floor, which my work is a part of.  But Jeanne was in today.  What I was told was that it had been decided to cut down on the decorating this year, and so everything that would be going up was already up.  Not quite true (some wreaths in the elevator hall went up while I was there), but in any case, any art that was up could remain up if we wanted it to, and we would soon receive emails about this.  That is fine for me, since it means work will be up for the holiday sale (and for the foreseeable future, but I don't know how long that is), and otherwise it would be stashed in my Studio, where I would have to move it any time I wanted to do any work on my table.  

My other purpose in being there was to do some work on my table.  Specifically, to continue work on this year's holiday card.  I have all the necessary supplies and paper, and the carved block, so next is to print them. Like all my prints, I will use oil based black ink, and later color them with watercolors.  I tore three pieces of bristol out of the pad I had, and cut each of those in half, making a total of 6 pieces of paper, or enough to make 6 cards for now.  I can also do more next week, but this guarantees I should have something done to post here on the big day.  Printing went according to plan, and while quality varied, what I had would be good enough for trying out various colors and getting a good one to photograph.  It actually went fairly quickly, and I had the 6 copies made by early afternoon.  In fact, I was mostly done with cleaning before I realized it, and had to grab my camera and get this shot of my palette before it all disappeared.

For music I had brought one of my home burned discs, a combination of a whole Reverend Horton Heat album (I guess my favorite of all their albums), plus 11 more assorted songs off a greatest hits collection.  If you want to know more, read up on it back on November of 2021.  Not really Christmas music, but then again, it's not even Thanksgiving yet.  I stashed my newly printed cards in a way safe for transport, cleaned up and packed up everything else, and headed home, making one more stop on the way.

One More Time

 I got up this morning and expected some wet ground- after all, it had been raining when I went to bed.  Some rain was predicted for today, but I didn't see it from inside. However, I went out to get the newspaper and could feel a constant misty rain, moisture in the air even if I couldn't hear it fall.  Not a problem for going to Ocean Grove- my car is enclosed, my Studio has a ceiling, there are two floors above it, and a roof over that.  I'd be dry today.  The small ad on the lobby table and the information on the website still listed the usual time for the figure group.  Next week we have Thanksgiving, so I assumed there would be no drawing that day, and today was the day.

I got there and had plenty of time to go downstairs and get my big pad, drawing board, and soap for clearing my hands of charcoal.  The first thing I noticed was the room was quite warm, more than it had ever been in recent memory.  I assumed this was for the model, who would be nude and far more affected by cold than the artists would. She showed up eventually, and after the first series of poses, actually asked if we could turn the heat down a little. No problem for me. We had 6 in attendance- not our biggest crowd, but enough to pay the model.  Not a model I particularly liked, but a body is a body, and she was fine for drawing practice, which was my main reason to be there.  

We started with gestures and other short poses at first, which are not my favorite either, but do serve a purpose.  Some of mine weren't bad, but I never had a whole page (pencil in my sketchbook) that I liked enough to photograph.  We closed with two 20 minute drawings, one of which I did in pencil, and the last was charcoal.  That's the one I showed above. Not great, but acceptable.

Toward the end of the session we got the big but expected news.  No class next week for the holiday, and then after that it will move to Wednesday nights.  I probably won't be going to those.  In the past I did go to figure drawing on Wednesday nights in Belmar, but that was when I was much younger, and the trip from my apartment to Belmar was a lot shorter than my current trip from my home to Ocean Grove.  I expect to be busy with other pieces for next few months, I don't think I need that much more practice, and I don't need any models in the near future.  So I will save the money and the drive up there.   Did my drawing today, and that may be it for a while.

No new decorations in the lobby, but a lot in the basement.  I stopped by the office, but Jeanne wasn't in today, so no new information about the end of current show, and my status after that.  Hope I can find out next week.  

Christmas is Coming part 3

 Another Studio day, so back to work on this year's holiday card.  Over the weekend I looked again online at my source artwork, and made the necessary changes with eraser and pencil.  For today, it was cutting, so I brought my roll of good tools with me.  As I entered the building through the 1st floor, I noticed people building and later decorating a large Christmas tree. Other holiday related decorations were against walls which made me wonder if decoration was happening in general, and what this will mean for the artwork I have on display.  However, there was no one in the office downstairs, so I won't learn that for a while.  (the show has at least another week and a half, so I have lots of time to find out)  Down in the space, I saw evidence that Molly had been there since the last time I was there, but she wasn't around today.

I had a plan for today- completely cut the block for the card, so it will be ready to print next week.  First disc I brought from home was the self titled debut album from the Coral, which I wrote the story of back in June of 2020.  Got a little more than half the block done when that ran out.  Switched to another disc, this one 1977 by the band Ash, which I wrote about back in July of 2020.  The two bands have a few things in common.  The albums came out around the same time, neither hit it big in America, both are of British origin (the Coral from Liverpool, Ash from the part of Ireland that remains British territory), and both have a bonus hidden track on the album.  In the former case, it's actually one of my favorite songs on the album, in the latter, it's mostly studio chatter, and maybe someone vomiting (I try not to listen to it too carefully)  That was enough to finish the other half of the block.  These cards aren't large, so I assumed it would be finished in a single session, and it was.  Looks good so far, but I'll know more when I print it next week.  Meanwhile, I'm on pace to get them out by the end of the year, which is fine for me.

Christmas is Coming part 2

 I have decided on an artwork for the starting point of this year's Christmas card, and it turned out to be one not from a book, but an online source.  It's one I used to show my students at Kean, my Intro class, when we covered narrative in art.  But that's all I'm going to say now.  If you were one of my students for that class, you can make a guess (one of maybe 30 artworks shown those days), and for the rest of you, wait for Christmas, as is my custom. 

To have it ready for that day, I've got to get to work on it now.   Actually I started a few days ago.  I copied the composition of the original artwork into my sketchbook, using pencil, and a positive drawing.  I like my mirror better there in my Studio than the one I have at home, so I did the next step there.  This was looking at my pencil drawing in the mirror and rendering it in reverse on the back of a wooden block, which is actually one I used for another card, an advantage of this thick birch plywood.  I also added some more Chistmasy elements, also found on the internet and sketched in my book.  So far so good, but I still took the block home to compare to the artwork on the internet, just to make sure I got it right.  Also brought my favorite mirror home.  For music I grabbed my disc of Arctic Monkeys, written about in detail back on October of 2023 if you want to know more.  As for my card, no pictures of it for now.  You'll see the full color results in about a month and a half. 

The Usual...For Now

The first Thursday in November, so it looks like it's back to figure drawing.  The person who runs this had to leave early, and so he left in charge the guy who usually handles the music, and sometimes keeps the time on poses. One thing this guy mentioned was that the time and location may move in the future.   What he said was that other classes may end soon, and the old 40's room upstairs may open again, and if that happens, the class may move up there again. (bigger room, better couch) What's more, they may move the class to an evening time, and a different day as well.  Of course, the organizer wasn't there for this discussion, so I have no idea what will happen.  Maybe they will tell me if this happens. 

As for today, it was a model I have worked with before as part of this group.  Not my favorite.  Holds a pose fine, but I don't find her good to draw, or maybe I just didn't have it today.  I didn't care much for my short pencil drawings, and I only did the following 15 minute charcoal drawing and decided to call it a day.  I had other things to do there on the property and on the way home.  

As for what happens in the future, when I know something, you'll see it here.   If I am not part of this in the future. I have plenty of other things to work on in the coming months.  One of those things is the latest boardwalk print.  I checked the ink on the block today and it was dry, so I guess I can cut that one more as soon as I am ready to.  I also grabbed some small pieces of wood, previously used for Christmas cards, for possible use again (backs)  If I end up making a card from an image in a book, I will bring the book with me to the Studio.  If I use an artwork I find on the internet, I'll look it up at home and do the drawing there.