Boardwalk Bar part 1

 One of the images in my boardwalk series has always been a bar.  I mentioned this as far back as 2011 and it still holds true.   As back then, I'm not linking it to a specific space, which gives me some freedom to design a space of my own choosing, which in this case means combining images taken from a variety of spaces that I have been to in various shore towns around here, to create my fantasy of what a boardwalk bar might be.  The above photo is from the Headliner, which had been a popular place in Neptune, though it officially closed down last year.  I was there for a party of sorts back in 2011, and took this photo then.  Now it's 2026 and I'm finally planning to make the print I intended back then.

This morning I made it up to the Studio.   The parking lot was partly plowed, meaning they did the bulk of the lot, but the parking spaces were only half done around the far side, owing to the huge amount of snow that fell, I guess.  As a result, my car hung out several feet from the parking space into the lot itself, but it seemed safe enough.  Down in our space I found the room a bit chilly.  I checked the thermostat, and sure enough it was turned way down.  Perhaps Molly was listening to music or the radio and couldn't hear it over the loud heater at its normal setting.  I turned it up to around 65 degrees, warm enough for my needs.  

My plan for today was to draw the borders of two prints that I prepared wood for- a boardwalk print and my next hospital print.  I figure to work on both at the same time.  The necessary boards are still being clamped, but have by now flattened out some, and I put wood filler on both last week.  Anyway, I did the borders on both, needing more time with the boardwalk print, as it uses shapes and sizes that are evocative of Japanese ukiyo-e prints, and needs to match the others in the series.  With that done, I started roughly sketching the compositions.  For the hospital print I only put in the immediate foreground, my feet under the sheet, and the ends of the unusual rails of the bed, based on my memories, and referenced to those seen on episodes of The Pitt and images found on the internet.  A lot more will go into the mid and back grounds, but I haven't drawn any of that yet.  I will save showing the block until I have more done.

Meanwhile, I also did some very rough sketching of my bar scene.  I started with that photo of the Headliner, though I plan to add a bunch of stuff to it from various sources.  I remember it being an interior, but looking at the photos, it appears to be an outdoor space with a large cover over the roof of the room.  I say this as the roof seems to be clamped to a chain link fence that stretches along the back, and there are portable heaters scattered around the area, the kind that one finds in outdoor settings.  I took a whole series of photos of the space, most of which I took without a flash, so they are kind of dark, but as pure reference, they will do fine.  I reserve the right to change things considerably as I go, but what is below is what I did today:

For music I brought in some label burned discs from the alphabetical order of my storage box, two discs from Babes in Toyland.  One of their songs was on that infamous tape my friend Doug had made and I listened to as a drove to the midwest and back.  What I have here is the first album, Spanking Machine and a later album Painkillers, which is half studio cuts and half a live performance of recent songs recorded at CBGB's, another place that is closed down now.  Actually my favorite music from the band is their second record, what the internet called an EP, but with 7 songs I call a mini-album, To Mother.  However, I bought that on vinyl, and it's home burned to a disc not in this box.  However, I did use lyrics from one song there in one of my Fourth of July prints back in 1994.  Doug classified the band as fox core, a female punk genre.  Not something I listen to all the time, but it did seem like it would fit with my plans to draw a bar, and it turned out to be appropriate, with the heater blasting most of the time I was there.  

Snow Again

 The fact that I haven't been in the Studio lately comes down to another snow storm, our second one of the season.  The good news is that this time there was no ice, just snow.  The bad news was that there was a lot of snow, over 2 feet in some towns around here, and it seemed that way around here.  Hard to say, as once again we had a lot of wind.  We had just started to see grass again after the last storm, and then this one arrived.  The biggest problem is where to put all the shoveled snow.   The street itself is fine, but I still had to cut through about 8 feet of plowed up snow to join the front walk to it.  Some neighbors helped with the driveway, which I appreciated, but that still left me a whole lot to do.  

We had another snow last night, but less than an inch.  So this morning was just scraping it up and cleaning the cars again.  Lately, with the cars all done and the upper part of the driveway now clear, I've been concentrating on clearing some of the pile of snow in the street.  Not easy, as the street side snow bank is about 4 feet tall.  Below you can see what I have been dealing with, taking it back about a foot at a time.  Less than 2 feet remain to get to the grass, but we can now at least temporarily park there.

That yardstick is 3 feet of course, so you can see this pile is about 4 feet high.  My usual procedure is to push the top back to further in the yard, then chop more off the front and throw it all over the top of the snow bank.  By the way, the phone number on that yard stick has no area code, and the number is Castle 3-3464.  It's a pretty old yard stick.  

More snow is predicted for this coming weekend.  I think I may get out tomorrow, and if I do, I may bring some blocks home from the Studio to work on in case I get stuck at home.

Studio Work

Since I finished my last block, time to start something new.  Next up is either my next hospital block, or something from my boardwalk series, but either way, it means doing something on a piece of lauan, and that means surfacing it with some kind of wood filler.  I cut blocks of lauan a few weeks ago, and have been clamping them down on my table ever since, to try to get the wood more flat.  I also bought a tube of wood filler, which has been sitting in a drawer in my Studio ever since.   Today was the day to see what I could do with all this.

The blocks for my boardwalk prints are a little larger, and currently a little flatter, so I decided to start with  one of those, and my new tube of filler.  Unfortunately, that tube needed to be punctured before anything would come out.  I tried first with a steel push pin I had in that same drawer, but the holes were small, and not much came out.  Looking more through that drawer, I found some cheap woodcut tools and something like an awl.  Don't know how it would be used for woodcutting, but if did make a better puncture in the tube.  I borrowed a plastic putty knife from Molly, and started to process of smearing a very thin layer of wood filler on the block.  (see below)

Squeezing the tube was not easy, but eventually I finished the block.  I had a few sheets of sandpaper in the drawer and selected the finest grit I had, some 220.  It would do.  I sanded the block down, resulting in a very smooth much lighter surface, ideal for drawing.  If I ever buy more wood filler, I will get a tub, not a tube.

As I was doing all this, I remembered that I used to occasionally reconstitute old wood filler by adding a little water and stirring it all up.  All the wood filler I had (in the back of my car) was completely dried up, but maybe I could get it back into shape.  So I removed a few dried chunks from the pail I had, added the stuff scraped off the pail lid (where I used to mix the stuff), added some water, and let it do what it would.  After I finished the first block with the new tube stuff, I decided to try my reconstituted wood filler on another piece of wood, in this case what I had for the hospital block.  

There were a few hard crumbs in the remade wood filler, but I was able to surface and sand the second piece of wood with it.  Everything was clamped down again.  Next time I go to the Studio, I'll look at what I have and decide what to do.  However, I do believe I will start drawing one of them, if not both of them.

For music today I went back to the box from storage and selected another long unseen disc.  This was one of my home burned specials, converting three vinyl records to one compact disc.  First up was the whole Ace of Clubs album from Dash Rip Rock.  I think I found it in the dollar pile at Silver Tunes in Belmar, a record store that no longer exists.  An excellent album, one of the best dollars I ever spent.  I'd classify them as basic rock, though the album includes some country, blues, cowpunk, and jangle pop.  This was followed by the 3 song 12 inch EP Red Hot and Ready to Roll by the Dusters.  Raw, bluesy hard rock, and much better than the follow up LP the band put out.  Still more room, so I put on the mini album El Rauncho Grande from the Raunch Hands, I band I first saw at the legendary Maxwell's in Hoboken, a very wild night.  If you know the band, you know what the record sounds like.  So three vinyl records I can't currently listen to, but now on disc.  And good music to work to, as I was doing today.

Supermarket Smoke- Finished

 The last step in this process is to print the block and see what I have.  Since everything seems to be cut, that was all that was left to do.  I already had a half sheet of paper left from the Robert Johnson prints I pulled recently, so I didn't need to do that. I don't have much ink left, so I need to order some more, but I knew I had enough for today.  I pulled some ink from the can, worked it well, and rolled it up onto the block.  Printing was the standard method.

I had put a good amount of ink on the block, but the first print always takes more than expected, so I had to go back and re-ink a few areas.  Not many though.  When I decided I had done enough, I removed the print from the block.  Results are below:

In general I am happy with this.  I don't see a need to do any major changes, just clean up a few spots here and there.  So I am going to declare this print done.  That means I have to start something new soon.  But I'll worry about that another day.

For music today, I went with one of the many discs made by my friend Doug, recently brought home from storage.  It started with the Locked Down album from Dr. John, who seemed appropriate for today, as he was a New Orleans institution and today is Mardi Gras (see the last post for information about that), although to this point I wasn't a big fan of Dr. John.   A little too much shtick in his music for me.  However, this album (I later learned) was produced by Dan Auerbach (of Black Keys fame), who also plays on the album as well.  All I know is that I liked the album very much.  This music is followed up by half an album from the Chicago based JC Brooks & The Uptown Sound, something called Want More.  Not sure why Doug only gave me half an album (there was room for a few more songs on the disc) but I'm not one to complain about free music, and this home burned disc was good music to work by.

Mardi Gras, 2026

 Today is Mardi Gras, or Fat Tuesday in English.  It is the day that we celebrate that it is not yet Lent. and thus can feast and do all the things we won't be doing during Lent.  While I haven't sworn off anything yet,  I will follow the religious traditions, so there will be fasting and meatless days over the next several weeks.  But not today.

Here at Studio Arrabbiata we celebrate Mardi Gras with a nice spicy hot batch of Jambalaya, so I made that the other day.  I even found some frozen uncooked shrimp on sale, so put some of those in.  (stores around here just don't stock crayfish, so shrimp is the standard substitute)  For vegetables, I had onion, bell peppers, celery, and tomatoes, and for meat, chicken, andouille sausage, and the shrimp. All that, plus the other ingredients, and I made a big pot of the stuff on Sunday.

My recipe (made up, but it seems as authentic as any I have found) makes enough for three meals, so I usually make it on Sunday, and eat it as well on Monday and today, finishing it off before Lent rolls around tomorrow.  Below is a typical bowl of the stuff.

The Jambalaya, a cold beer, and my favorite cajun and zydeco music, and it's as much a party as one can find in the little house I live in.  

Supermarket Smoke part 5

Well, the time has come to deal with those cars.  I've put it off for a few weeks, but there's not much else left to cut.  However, first I dealt with the tree.  I loaded the original photo in my camera and noted the deep shadows, and sketched them on the block.  Then I did a little cutting in all the other areas.  I also checked out the thing the tree is planted in, and cut that to match what I had seen.  Then on to the cars.  I made adjustments to a few of them, then started cutting with the big ones in the front.  Most were done as light colors, but one was made a dark color.  Windows were left black, which seemed to be the case from what I have seen.  The last thing I did was the pavement.  Gave it a little texture in the foreground, not much in the background, but that's atmospheric perspective for you.  Results can be seen below:

I think the cutting is done now, but I will wait until next week to print it and see what I have.  If it's good, I'm done.  If not, I guess more cutting is needed.  

Waiting for me was a note from Molly with our new rent rate for 2026. My share goes up several dollars from last year, not bad for an annual increase.  I've already given her the old rate for January and February, so I'll probably make up the difference on the March check.  I'll call her later and let her know I got the note and make sure she's okay with the plan.

For music today I brought a disc burned by Doug back in 2011, according to what is printed on his homemade envelope.  Something from my storage box.  The disc includes two albums, Love Tattoo from Imelda May, and Screws Get Loose from Those Darlins.  I don't know much about Imelda May, but from looking on the internet, I learned she's from Ireland, the album had been recorded a few years before I got it, and it went to #1 in her native land.  What I saw classified her as rockabilly, and I guess there is some of that, but when I listen to the album, I hear rock n'roll, blues, r&b, and jazz.  I know a little more about Those Darlins, partly from a Times article around the time of their first album, which was largely country.  Apparently they met at Middle Tennessee State in Doug's hometown of Murfreesboro, TN.  This disc included their second album, and while the internet calls it more garage rock, to me it sounds girl group rock and pop.  One member of the band left after it, and the third album was different again.  Then the lead singer died young from cancer, and that was the end of the band.  That second Those Darlins album became a favorite of mine, and I found a few videos from it on the web.  Truth be told, I had forgotten all about Imelda May, but this whole disc in enjoyable, and made good music to listen to as I worked.  

Supermarket Smoke part 4

 The super cold weather (wind chills in the minus 15 area) has been playing havoc with my car, which for the third consecutive day took multiple tries to start.  But start it eventually did, and I was able to go to the Studio to work on the latest block.  Last time I left the block there, so this time I didn't have to carry it with me.  For the second time, someone parked their car at an angle across two spaces, but there is always a handicapped spot available and I have the right hang tag to use it.  

Today I was working on the tree and smoke, some of it very detailed work, but I have the right tools to do it.  I did all the small branches, including those across part of the store, and those across the smoke.  For now I left the main trunk and limbs alone, but I'll look at the photo one more time before I cut it.  Results of today's work can be seen below:

For music today, something from the storage box, two albums from Bad Brains.  This box I took home has early alphabetical (a holdover from my radio days) discs starting with A and going through some (but not all) of my Beatles collection, and so that means Bad Brains are part of what I have.  The band is an odd one, a mix of hardcore thrash punk (they are considered one of the founders) and dub reggae, and they switch often between the two, at a rate of about 3:1 on the albums I have. What I brought today are label burned copies of ATTITUDE The ROIR Sessions  (essentially their first album, released as a tape in 1982) and The Youth Are Getting Restless, a live album recorded in 1987.  Of the two, I tend to prefer the early one- it's very raw, but feels more like those early punk days.  However, the pair made for good working music, which is what I was after today.

Supermarket Smoke part 3

 I'm still not sure about the cars, but the rest of this print is ready to go, so I decided to start the cutting today.  I designed this one to take advantage of the straight line of the cut board, so have that edge as one of my borders.   I cut out the other 3 borders relatively quickly, then moved on to the store, which seemed the easiest thing to do at this point.  I completed cutting the whole store except for one section near the top, since the tree branches overlap that and I decided to save it for when I work on the tree.  It all looked fine to me, so I ended there.  Results can be seen below:

I had a plan for music, but that disc didn't play in the machine that I had in the Studio.  Couldn't find the start I guess.  That disc played fine at home, so I figure it's the player, not the disc.  Rather than try it again, I just went with the disc on the back side of that envelope.  This was a home burned disc of the two records (all I know of) of the Hellcats, an all-girl band that I believe was from Memphis in the late 80's/early 90's.  This was one of those bands that my friend Doug turned me on to, a song on a tape he made me and I played often on my road trip to the midwest.  Eventually I tracked down the two records (one album, one mini-album) at one of my radio stations, and burned this disc.  The band was hard to place- sometimes put into either the alternative or garage rock category, but also covering songs that would be characterized as blues, country, or old rock n' roll.  This disc includes the album Hoodoo Train, and the mini album Cherry Mansions.  I enjoyed them.  The band broke up long ago and the name has been used by other bands, tv shows, and cars, so they can be hard to track down.  Luckily, I have this disc.

Supermarket Smoke part 2

It's been almost 2 weeks since my last update about this print.  There is a reason for that- weather.  We had a big snowstorm on the first weekend.  The snow itself was light and powdery, releasing easily from the shovel, but there was a lot of it, plus wind, so I was out there a few times shoveling as it fell, fighting wind, and it seemed like I moved more than two feet of the stuff.  There was so much wind, that it blew up against both the front and back doors of the house, so we had to open them regularly just to make sure we didn't get the doors blocked.  But then it turned to ice, falling as both pellets and frozen rain.   Ice coated everything- I couldn't open either the shed or my driver's side car door for almost a week. But worst of all, it got cold, the longest stretch below freezing since last century.   As a result, all the ice and snow hasn't gone anywhere yet.  We got to freezing the past few days, and everyone is celebrating, though not much is melting.  Most sidewalks are still not passable, so walking is not an option.  Because of all this, getting to the Studio was not an option either. 

Of course, I cleared the front steps on the first day, and got the front walk done, cutting a path to the street.  Not easy, with all the ice left behind by the plows.  A single wide lane was plowed down the street, and thanks to sun and salt, the road itself is clear and dry.  Getting to that road was impossible until my mother hired some professionals to clear the ice that blocked up our driveway.  I cleared the rest of the driveway, so my mother could get he car out.  Meanwhile, I worked on the snow and ice that covered my windshield and hood, and after several days I got that clear. About then I could finally get my door open (I had previously started and run the engine by crawling in through the back hatch, over various stored stuff), though with my car parked up the driveway, I had to get my mother to move hers in order to take mine out.  Today was the first day that happened, and I was thrilled to be out of the house.

Okay, now for art.  I had brought the block home with me, but putting in a few hours of snow removal each day left me in no shape for drawing.  So I brought it back to the Studio today.  I continued work on the drawing.  I made the store building larger, which I felt it needed to be to make sense with the size of the cars in the lot, and it was easier to change the store than the cars.  I think it's better now.  Added a few cars to the back row as well, away from the point of view.  Added a big "SALE!" banner to one of the store windows.  I may go back and fix a few cars some, but otherwise, I think this thing is ready to cut.  Results from today can be seen below:

For music today I brought with me something I've had for a while, a disc I burned with the first studio album from the Arctic Monkeys, and a bunch of their early demos after it.  I always had this disc. so it's not one of my recovered storage discs, though the two that I made if from (the Arctic Monkeys first album and a disc full of old demos that my friend Doug sent me) were in that recently re-acquired box.  Why I decided to bring it with me today is that the band was a clue in a recent episode of 'Jeopardy', an answer I knew.  If you want to know more about it, you can read the whole story back in October of 2023.