Boardwalk Bar part 12

 The plan for today was to start with the band, and then see how far I got.  So that's what I did.  I arrived in the late morning and went directly to my space.  I cleared the table and got started.   First I did the three band members, moving from left to right.  I had more time left, so I went ahead and started working on cutting the figures adjacent to the band.   I did at least some of everyone who was bordering the band, considering the amount of black left behind as I went.  When I got done with all those, I decided I had enough, and cleaned up and packed up for home.  I left the block there as I had for the last few weeks, though this time I added another layer to the boards on either side, before setting the clamp.  My goal is to get these boards to give up their slight bends.  All my work was on one side today, so I'm giving you a photo of that panel:

I am also posting a photo of the whole block, so you can see the progress of the whole thing.  That is below:

For music today I went back to the alphabetical discs in my storage box one last time, for the last two Beatles albums I have there that haven't been listened to yet, which happen to be their first and what might have been their last, though the two have some things in common.  I started with their first album, Please Please Me, recorded in a single day in 1963.  The album includes four songs already recorded (A and B sides of the first two singles), but they were only given a day to do the rest of it.  So the rest of their first album is a mix of originals and covers, but songs they knew well and had probably played hundreds or thousands of times, ideal for straight recordings of the band playing live in the studio.  Most songs were done in two takes, the best used for the album.  By 1969, things had changed for the band, but it was decided to do an album the old fashioned way, filming them writing and recording it, again the band recorded live straight to the record.  This time they gave themselves a month to get it done, and all this was done on a film set instead of a recording studio.  The project was called "Get Back" and was almost the end of the band.  Sometimes they were playing together in the studio, or on the roof of their building in London, and it was like old times.  However, often there was a lot of tension.  The band members had grown apart, and doing dozens of takes of each song trying to get it perfect live didn't help.  When it was all ended, the band was ready to never see each other again.   Maybe it was just pride, but they decided to get together one more time, record an album the way they wanted, and let George Martin produce it.  That album, Abbey Road, (named for their studio) came out in late 1969, and they called it quits after that.  All the "Get Back" footage was later edited into the movie "Let It Be" and that and an album of the same name came out in 1970.  Both had some great music, but the film was edited in a way that emphasized the problems the band was going through.  My second disc of the day was that Let It Be album, which like their first, was essentially recordings of the band playing live (except the new version of "Across the Universe" a resurrected song first recorded in 1967), and produced (some say overproduced) by Phil Spector.  So two albums the same and yet very different from each other, and both excellent music to work to.

Boardwalk Bar part 11

 The Open Studio is all done, so now it's just time to get back to work.  I went directly up to the building, and then directly to my space. After clearing off my table I got to work on the current block.  Today's task was to cut out the deep background, under the chain link fence, and around the tiny faces and figures in the deep background.  As noted here previously, these characters are based somewhat on similar characters in issues of Mister X, drawn by Jaime Hernandez, though none copied directly from the originals.  They are meant to show deep background. What I did was cut out the faces and (occasionally) figures, then cut all the space around them, leaving just the parts that will stand out, surrounded by little black lines.  And I cut out everything between the fence and the next layer of figures, dancing, standing, or sitting around the bar, smaller than the ones closer, but that is part of the idea of showing space.  I have a plan here, but I have never done anything like this before in woodcut, so I really don't know how it will turn out.  Results of today's cutting can be seen below:

One thing I was asked a bunch of times during the Open Studio was how long it would take me to do a print, specifically the boardwalk prints, and they had the examples of this one in progress, and the completed The Floating World: Boardwalk Days print (Asbury Park).  I told them that I didn't know, except that they would take as long as they take.  I have no deadlines for getting these done.   What I did say was that the last boardwalk print took over 50 sessions from start to finish.  With the current one, I have to finish cutting it, taking some proofs, coloring one as an experiment, then coloring a second one (either the same colors if I like them, or different ones if I want to try something else), and only then deciding if I am done.  I just can't predict how long that will take.

For music today I pulled two discs from the storage box (probably from my friend Doug) just labeled "BOB DYLAN LIVE 1966" and DISC 1 and DISC 2.  The first disc was acoustic, the second one electric, and each 40+ minutes, so I assumed it was from a two disc set.  I wanted to know more, and the internet had it of course.  What I was listening to today was The Bootleg Series Vol 4: Bob Dylan Live 1966 The "Royal Albert Hall" Concert.  It was actually recorded at the Manchester Free Trade Hall, but the other name became associated with it and stuck.  As stated previously, the first disc is him solo and acoustic, while in the second he is electric and backed with the Hawks, who with a change in drummer would become known as The Band.  I can't say I was very excited by it.  I like Dylan okay, but I'm not a huge fan, and I had it on low as background, so the words weren't as clear as they could be, and the key to Dylan was always his lyrics.  Still, it was good music to work to, and I wouldn't be surprised to find myself listening to it again.  

Open Studio Day

 The Open Studio event was scheduled for noon to 5 pm.  I decided to leave around 10:30 am, get there around 11:00 am, or about an hour before.  This would allow me time to move things inside (weather permitting) and get the room straightened out, before the people started arriving.  Weather was cloudy, but no rain, so I moved a few large framed pieces up from the basement and loaded them in my car.  I left as planned, got up to Ocean Grove a little before 11.  So far, so good.

The rain was still holding off, so I moved the framed prints and recently colored saints into the building.  A few other people were around, but I wouldn't say crowded.  It took me three trips to get everything to my space, but no rain fell, so I was happy.  Got the space straightened up, including a quick sweep of my area.  My plan was to walk across the street, leaving around 11:30, and grab a slice of pizza for lunch.  Left a few minutes late, but I figured I was still ok on time.  However, I saw no pizzas at the counters and the place was still locked up.  Not open for lunch at 11:40 am?  Well, no pizza for me.  I walked back to the JSAC.  My room was all set.

I was ready for the noon start.  No one there yet, but I had a block to work on, so I didn't mind.  Eventually I had my first visitors.  Over the course of the five hour event, I had somewhere between 35 and 40 people wander through, a fairly good number.  There were two people who I had invited, and one other person I knew.  Some had some printmaking knowledge and experience, and some knew nothing about it.  Some visitors mentioned having seen the prints upstairs in the show.  A few asked about getting studios of their own, but I have nothing to do with that.  Many admired the large space we have, and it is larger than some people have, but smaller than some have.  A few asked about me teaching classes, and I told them it wasn't up to me.  A few were there specifically to see Molly; they were disappointed.   

One thing I was asked a few times (and I don't remember this question at previous Open Studios) was how I got started in woodcut.  That's a fair question; it's not a common medium.  I gave them them a short but true version:  I saw some woodcuts in a book, decided that I liked them and that I could do it, tried one, then another, liked them, then spoke to the print professor at Montclair State (which I was attending at the time) and asked him if I took his class, could I do woodcuts?  He told me if I took his class I could do anything I wanted.  The rest is history.  Now the longer version for the record.   For a class at Montclair I was required to do a book report, I selected a book of German Expressionism (a style my paintings had been compared to), saw all the woodcuts, decided I could probably do that, and tried it.  I didn't have any cutting tools yet, so I used a carpet knife, a drypoint needle (from my etching class) and a screwdriver, plus a scrap of pine plank.  I did one, then another, then spoke to the print professor.  I took his class, then he eventually hooked me up with the program in Carbondale, I went out there and learned some more, then came back to New Jersey.  Thirty years later, I'm at where I am now.

As a result of all the visitors and the many questions I got, not much time to work on any new cutting (people did admire the works I had on display- see the photos above- often remarking how much patience I must have to create such large works), but I did complete the most complex area of the block, the chain link fence in the deep background, the clips that join it to the roof, and a little background around the band.  What I did can be seen below:

I didn't get to see any of the show, so I don't know how it went, other than visitors to my Studio mentioning that they had seen it.  Perhaps I'll ask about it next time I am there.  I left the colored saints there (the collectors never showed), loaded everything else in my car, and drove home.

Bd. Peter Geremia part 1

 Working from home today, waiting for various tradespeople to arrive.  They are not here yet, so coloring and blogging has gone on.

For Bd. Peter Geremia I had no print to copy.  This is one of my Carbondale prints, all of which are likely in storage.  Why the block ended up in my Studio I don't know, but there it was, and I may have a sale because of it.  I pulled a proof last week, taped it down earlier this week, and today I colored it.  In this case I was working purely from memory, a print I made over 30 years ago.  I can't say for sure if these colors match the original print from the edition I showed in Carbondale, so I am going to have to create a new edition for this one, and I'm calling this proof #1/5.  I wasn't even sure what kind of fish these are.  Back when I took Vertebrate Biology (a 300 level course) in college, we had to identify a few dozen dead fish laying in lab pans by genus and species, and I might have been able to do it then.  However, that was back in the 80's, a very long time ago.  My best guess was that these are supposed to be trout, and that was mostly decided because I like to eat trout, so maybe that is what I drew and cut back then.  Trout are more typically caught on a line, but many are grown on fish farms for stocking fishing grounds, so it's possible they saw a net at some point.  The fish were colored accordingly.

The Butler's book doesn't claim that Peter Geremia didn't exist, though you can decide whether or not you believe the story.  His bio says that Peter heard that a large fishing boat had a particularly good catch, so he took his little boat out to the fishing boat to beg for some fish for the poor.  The fishing captain said no.  So Peter left, said a prayer, and the nets started opening up, and the captured fish escaping.  The captain quickly sought Peter's help and promised him some fish.  Peter said another prayer, the nets closed up, and the remaining fish stayed caught.  Again my image is fairly literal- a broken net and some fish shown getting away.  I remembered the color of the surrounding water being more green than blue, and fairly dark, so most of my sea water is that way.  Results can be seen below:

So now I have both prints colored.  I'll bring them with me on Sunday in case the potential buyers show up.  Even if they don't want to take delivery that day, they can at least see what they ordered.  By the way, the Bd designation stands for beatified or blessed, which means the individual is considered holy, but is still one attributed miracle away from full canonization as a saint.  The Butler's books include both Bd's and full saints, so I included them in my print series.

St. Romulus part 1

This print goes way back, to before I had this blog, which means before I had this Studio.  That is why the post about it is the first.  I don't really know when I first made it, only that it is a post-Carbondale saint, so one of the saint prints I did after moving back to New Jersey.  I don't know how or why, but this block was not with the blocks from my Carbondale saints, most of which were destroyed by Hurricane Sandy.  It did end up with the saints in my current Studio, and as such was one of the blocks viewed by my potential patron and chosen as something to be printed.  That process has been covered on this blog in recent weeks.

When it came time to color it, I wasn't sure what to do.  All of my finished saints are probably in storage, and I don't have access to them at this time.  Being one of my post-Carbondale prints, I sent it to Iowa for a show I had back almost 20 years ago.  I knew I had a photo of the group of saints from that show:

If nothing else, I knew I could look at this photo and see a small version of the print as framed for that show.  However, I had another idea.  As far as I knew, those boxes of saints were still downstairs in the basement, on the rack I created for holding all my framed prints.  If St Romulus was in one of those boxes, I would have a good framed copy to work from.  So a few days ago I went downstairs.  I found one box of saints on the middle shelf, and opened it up.  Good news- the packing slip on one of the inner lids included St Romulus. Bad news- St Romulus was not in that box.  A few framed saints were missing.  And I had no idea where they were.  I put the box back and found the other saint box on another shelf.  I opened that one up and the packing slip mentioned several other saints, but not that one.  I went through the box anyway and there it was.  I don't know why it was in the other box, but there it was.  I now had one to work from.

My source for this whole series has been Butler's Lives of the Saints, a four volume set that has been updated a few times and is in libraries across the country.  It was on open shelves in Carbondale, so I checked it out one volume at a time, reading and taking notes, without any particular plan.  Eventually it became my series  Everyman.  Wall Public Library has it on the reference shelves, and when I have needed to see it again, and with my personal copy in storage, that is where I go.  

The book casts doubt on the very existence of St. Romulus for two reasons.  One is that he is supposed to be a 1st century individual, but no writing about him exists before the 10th century, which may mean that he wasn't invented until then.  The second reason is that the St Romulus story is a lot like the legends of Romulus, the supposed co-founder of the city of Rome.  However, he is recognized by the church, and he does appear in the book, so he is eligible for this series.

The story is that St. Romulus was born to the daughter of a high ranking Roman official, but was fathered by a household slave, and this was not something that could be made public.  So the daughter abandoned the baby in a forest.  A female wolf adopted and raised the young child.  As the kid grew older, some townspeople learned about him and hatched a plan.  They would throw the body of a sheep toward the wolf to distract it, and grab the boy.  It worked.  The rescued boy was asked if he considered himself a boy or a wolf, somehow he indicated a boy, and was raised from then on as a human.  Eventually he became a saint.   My image is fairly literal, the body of sheep at the foot of a wolf in some woods.  Whether or not you believe the story is up to you.

Anyway, the plan for today was to use the framed copy of St Romulus I found the other day and color a new copy of the print, which I pulled last week and taped down a few days ago.  I had my bag of watercolors in the car, so I just had to bring that into the Studio building.  Having a completed one to work from, I was able to mix approximate colors to match the one in the frame and colored the taped down copy- first the wolf and sheep, then the trees, then the forest floor, and finally the deep background.  Results can be seen below:

I decided to take home the whole board and paints, in case I decide to work on the other print over the next few days.  I don't know if the collector will be coming to the Open Studio or not, but she has in the past and this would get me ready.

For music .I went back to my storage box and the alphabetical discs and pulled out a double album, At   Fillmore East by the Allman Brothers Band.  The two disc set only has 7 songs, but some of them last quite a while.  For example, "Whipping Post" goes for over 20 minutes.  I would not be surprised if there is a longer extended version of this album now available, but I bought this many years ago.  However, the mix of blues and rock made fine music to work to.

Boardwalk Bar part 10

 I had a list of things to do today at the Studio, so I walked in with a plan.  However, one change I wasn't expecting was to see Jeanne up on a ladder hanging work.  I said hello, walked toward the elevator, then doubled back.  I mentioned to her that Molly had said (via email) she had been in touch with her regarding this new show.  She agreed that she had been in touch with Molly regarding the show, and Molly had said something about having work to contribute, though Jeanne had yet to see anything.  I figured that was between Jeanne and Molly and went on to my basement space.

The first thing I did (from my list) was to photograph the front and back sides of the new postcard, stuck up with blue tape loops to my tack wall.  However, I'll save that for another post.

The second thing I did was tape the two new saints down to a drawing board in preparation for coloring them.  For each printed saint I trimmed the paper a little on all four sides so that the two would fit on the board properly, but still left plenty of margin of white paper around the images.  What it looks like can be seen below:

The third thing on my list was to do some more cutting of the current block.  I continued my process of cutting out the ceiling, around various objects on and in front of the cloth ceiling.  Not a whole lot done today, but what I did was fine.  Results of today's cutting can be seen below:

I also emptied the trashcan in the Studio, in preparation for the big event.  Not that I expect visitors to the Studio to lift the lid and look inside the can, but if someone has reason to, they won't see all the garbage generated by Molly and me over the past few months.

For music today I remembered to make sure I had the right disc with me, some vinyl albums of Lightnin' Hopkins that I burned onto a single disc back when I could.  These were two records I had and listened to occasionally, as well as played on the air, so certainly worth putting on a disc.  First was a studio album called Lightnin' Strikes, from 1965.  Nine acoustic songs, various tempos.  The disc had plenty more room, so I added a short live album, Live at the Bird Lounge, from 1964, six songs, also acoustic.  (he also dabbled in electric guitar as well, but these aren't it)  The two records made nice background music for me to work to.

Open Studio 2026

 We are having another Open Studio event coming up this weekend.  What I know about it is on the card, which can be seen below, front and back:

The tenant art show (here called the Resident Art Show) is currently up and includes three new works from me, the last three of my Robert Johnson prints.  The three prints do go together, being the same size and black and white.  For the purposes of this show, the two vertical pieces are shown without the text/song lyrics.  The arrangement of the prints is the building's decision, but it's the way I would have done it myself:

There is no other opening, so the only reception is whatever happens during the Open Studio.  How long the show stays up has not been told to me yet, and I don't know if even the building knows yet.  I won't be able to attend the reception, as I will be in my space downstairs, so my work will have to represent itself.  At least it can do that- my work can hold a wall, so to speak,  And I will mention the hanging works to anyone who comes through my space.   

The Open Studio is on Sunday, April 19th from noon to 5 pm.  During that time I will have work on display on the 1st floor, and be working in my space in the basement.  Admission is free and the building is open to the public.  At least 13 of the spaces will be open with artists likely in them, showing process and art.  I would not be surprised if other spaces are also open for the day, if not listed on the card.  The show remains up for an undetermined amount of time.

Boardwalk Bar part 9

 For the moment there is nothing to do with immediate deadlines, so it's finally back to work on my current block.  I got up there in the late morning, and saw a few more artworks up on the wall.  Not all of them yet, but it's getting there.  I went to my space.  Checked at the office, but no one was there.  Then to work

My plan for today was to continue on the bar ceiling, which is based on the ceiling at the Headliner, and from the photos, it looks like a stretched fabric.  Still outlining big shapes, so I will eventually have to go in and hollow them out, but that can wait until I look at the photos again and see what is actually there, not just the lines I drew.  Cutting went faster than I expected, so I finished the top layer of ceiling and started on the next level.  Better not cut too much; I have to leave some stuff for the 19th, as I will be there for several hours.  Results of today's work can be seen below:

More old favorites out of the storage box today.  My original plan was to listen to my home recorded disc of Lightnin' Hopkins, but it turned out I brought the wrong home burned disc with me.  So I went with my next option, a disc sent by my friend Doug, back in 2011.  It had two albums on it.  It started with El Camino by the Black Keys.  I've heard plenty by this band and generally liked it, and this album was no exception.  I already knew two of the songs from radio, and the rest was enjoyable.  That ended and I got the next album, Scandalous by Black Joe Lewis and the Honeybears.  Not a bad album, but nothing special either.  I expect to listen to the first half a lot more.  Still, it was all good music to work to.

On the way out I stopped again at the office, and this time Jeanne was in.  What I wanted to know (asked by Molly in an email to me) was if there was going to be an opening for the new show.  Jeanne gave me the new postcard.  Looks a lot like the old postcard, except on the front is something about the Resident Art Show opening.  It's at the same time as the Open Studio, so I guess I will miss it.  The back of the new card lists all the places with studios, and which will be participating in the Open Studio. Only about half of the studios will be open to the public.  At least as of now.  I would not be surprised if some of the others showed up that day and opened their spaces up, just maybe didn't let Jeanne know before the deadline last week.  She gave me a stack of the new cards (arrived today she said) to hand out to interested parties. I went on my way to the next stop.

The 2026 Tournament of Art part 4

 I'm finally getting to this today.

On one side of the Final Four bracket I had a Big East team and one of my art schools, so it was a win/win kind of situation.  I didn't care much about the other side- two #1 seeds that I had thought would have lost by this point, so I had no picked teams left on the bracket I had filled out.  

In the first game, U Conn defeated Illinois in what had been a relatively close game, and Michigan defeated Arizona in the second game.  Never saw the final score, but early on they were crushing them.  So now I was completely out and U Conn was facing Michigan for the championship.  Michigan won what was a fairly close game to win the annual championship, but I have no art connections to either school, so I had no reason to care either way.

And that is the end of this year's tournament of art.  I don't think one of my schools has ever taken the whole thing, but I watch every year.   Even if I don't have a school involved, it is still as exciting a sport as you will find on television.

More Studio Work

At first I figured I would continue work on my current block today, but then I got a package yesterday.  I had ordered some supplies last week, and the first package arrived- inks.  And while I am expecting a large supply of paper as well (it hasn't arrived yet), I do have a few sheets still available in the supply I did have, so I decided to do the first stage of my saint print sale project, and print the blocks.  In this case the potential patron picked out what she wanted last year, so it is just a matter of making them.  First step was to tear a sheet of paper in half, to give me two sheets the right size for saints.  Second was to remove the old tape from the blocks, which was regular masking tape.  Third was to print them, first St Romulus, then Bd Peter Geremia  That done, I cleaned up my palette and printing tools, then put everything back to where it belonged.  The two proofs went in my rack for now to dry, and I after blotting the blocks, I found places for them as well.  I'll make sure the proofs are dry before I tape then down to a drawing board for coloring.  Results can be seen below:

On the way out of the building I stopped to take a photo of my framed works on display for the next Tenants show.  My work seems to be installed in the place where it has been recently, on the short wall next to the theater.  That's good and bad- it puts me away from the larger walls (where more art will be), but close to the theater door and where the food would likely be.  A photo of it can be seen below:

Only a few artworks are up so far, but it seems notes were left saying what is expected on each wall.  There is a section near me that is reserved for Molly.   I'm glad to find out she is participating in the show at least.  No idea if she is coming to the Open Studio.  She has never been to one that I remember.

For music today I went back to the storage box and selected two discs by bands I know and like, although in these cases I have not listened often to these albums, which I guess is why they are in the loose pile and not with the alphabetized ones of the regular shelf.  I started with an album from the White Stripes, called Get Behind Me Satan.  (I am aware of the Latin translation and its significance in my religion, but right now that's neither here nor there)  I'm not really sure where this came from.  It's my writing on the disc and the list of songs on the cover.  I must have burned this copy myself, but I have no idea where I got the original from.  One song I know well (must have been the single and got a lot of airplay), but that's it.  Nothing really stands out otherwise, which may be why I haven't played it much.  When that disc ended I put on one that Dave sent me, Under the Big Black Sun from the band X.  The opening song "The Hungry Wolf" I know well; there was a video for it back on the early days of MTV, in the days where having any video got you on MTV.  Plus I have a live version of the song on my live X disc.  In fact, several songs from this album also appear on that live album, so some of the songs were very familiar. This album also seems to have come with bonus tracks, although what is listed here is not completely accurate.  Dave filled up the disc with some Cajun stuff, but I didn't have a chance to listen to it this time.  However, I have a feeling I will be listening to this disc some more.  

Studio Work

 

Today I took a break from woodcutting to take care of something else- framing.  I know that the next Tenant show starts going up next week, and the Open Studio event is two weeks from Sunday, which meant that I had to deal with this sooner or later.  Last week I finished making new labels for the backs of the frames (making changes to a label format document from the last show) and a few days ago I sent Jeanne the information about works I intended to show.  Since I couldn't include images in the email, I just posted everything to an old blog post I wasn't using and sent her the link.  I guess she didn't see it, as she mentioned photographing my new works for the show.

I saw her car in the parking lot, so the first thing I did was take the three new prints for the show to the office and allow her to photograph them before I put them behind plexiglass.  She did so, using her phone.  (my phone is a phone, my camera is a camera, and that's how I like it)  I brought the prints back to my Studio and got to work.  

On top of my table were the three framed prints from the last show, and I have been moving them off the table every day that I worked there, and then putting them back upon leaving.  Today I took them off the table for good.  One at a time, I took apart each frame, removed the old print, taped down the new print, signed it, put everything back together, and put the new label on the back.  Took care of all three framed prints that way, inserting the new prints into the old mats and frames.  Results can be seen in the above photo, taken with a camera.

The next step was to go back to Jeanne and see if she is willing to hang my prints, or at least find someone to do it, and she said yes.  Then the last thing was to see when she wanted them delivered.  I offered to hold them until next week, but she insisted on receiving them today, so I went back to my Studio, got the new framed prints, and brought them to the office.  Those framed prints will be out of my Studio for a while, and will eventually go up on the wall on the 1st floor.  Meanwhile, I put stuff back on top of my table before leaving, but not those prints.  

For music I had something bluesy, an album called Blue on Blues featuring half songs from Charley Patton, and half songs from Blind Lemon Jefferson, two ancient bluesmen from the era when everything was acoustic.  Still not sure why this was mixed in with my loose discs and not on the blues shelf, but it was, which means I have access to it today in my storage box. I had also planned to play a label produced cassette blues related, but the little pad that presses the tape to the tape head had come loose, which seems to be a common problem for these label produced cassette tapes that date back to the 80's, when I was buying such things.  I think I managed to glue it back into place, but I'll listen to another time and find out.