Boardwalk Rides part 4

 I planned to go the Studio today, and likely to work on the latest boardwalk print. I didn't know where I was at with the carousel, but I thought I was nearly done with that, and I should think about moving on to another area of the block.  So last night I spent a little time doing pencil sketches from a photo I took of an airplane ride on a boardwalk, one of those things with fiberglass items that spin in a circle and kids love.  I knew that the photo I have is nowhere near the angle of my plan for it in the rough sketch, but I figured that copying the plane from the photos I had would help me understand the object better, and I could rely on my art training to do the actual block drawing.

Did it work?  Halfway I guess.  My photo of the airplane ride shows the biplanes at roughly eye level and facing left, or traveling clockwise, and from the outside.  My block sketch shows the view across the ride, with the planes seen from the inside.  On the block I had just rough rectilinear box shapes at the ends of arms, so the idea was to draw the airplanes in the box forms.  Got the first one done, in the back, pretty quickly.  The one in the front was much tougher.  Not drawing the object itself, but the perspective didn't quite seem to match the other one.  For what it's worth, the more I drew the second one, the better it got.  Below is what it looked like when I stopped:

I don't think this is done yet, but now I am not sure if I should continue.  I might be able to fix the front plane if I keep working on it, but I don't know if that is the whole answer.  I realized later that the way drew in both planes would have it backwards in the final print.  That wouldn't match the actual ride.  On the other hand, it will match the direction of the carousel horses in my block drawing, and that would give me a correct circuit in the final print for that ride.  So this leaves me with the choice of either trying to fix the one front airplane (which would technically be the wrong direction), or to redraw both planes to have them face the right way, which would be away from the viewer (the right direction, but require drawing two airplanes).  Something to think about.

For music today I had something that had been sent to me by my friend Doug and was in my jazz/blues disc book.   It's a compilation just labeled "Mod Jazz", which he later told me was just copied from a disc he had.  I don't know that I would call this disc (blogged about back in December of 2021) jazz, but it does make good music to work to.

A New Show

Found out from two sources that my work has arrived at the gallery in Maryland.  In the late afternoon I checked the tracking on my package, and it said the box was signed for at the front desk in the early afternoon.  Then I saw an email from the gallery director in the early evening that she had received the work and everything survived the trip down there.  So my box was a success in its main job- getting the art to the show intact.

Don't know much beyond that yet.  I will post the details when things get closer.  I do know that it is almost a month before the show opens, and that it will be up for about a month.  I don't think that there is anything more for me to do at this point, but if they need more information or anything, I'm happy to provide it.  

 

An Old Show

 I was reading the paper this morning and saw something very familiar.  There on the front page of the Asbury Park Press was a story about the Ocean County Artists Guild.  The non-profit organization occupies an old Victorian mansion in Island Heights, and I know the place well, as I have been there a few times before.  In 2009 I had a show there, with one of my contributions being selected for the exhibition postcard. But even before that, I had done a demo/workshop there, back in 2008.  It's probably what led to the show, which was an invitational.  I have done a lot of these demo/workshop things over the years in a bunch of different places.  Generally it's some slides of my work, a bunch of actual prints, and a demonstration of cutting and printing.  I guess I qualify as a regional artist, or perhaps I just have a reputation for doing these kind of things and doing them well.

The article was about the place in general, but also the problems they have in maintaining it.  The large Victorian mansion was a gift, but it takes about $150,000 annually to keep it up, when you include property taxes and building maintenance.  Most of the work in running it is volunteer, including cutting the grass, though they do have to pay for some professional services occasionally.  They do have a large membership, and that with money raised from exhibitions and classes, pays the bills.  

I am not a member, and have no plans to join.  If I want to join a non-profit arts group, there are many that are closer to home, and located in my home county.  And having exhibited there before, I don't need to go back there and do it again.  However,  I do encourage them to continue to exist.  I think the world needs non-profit arts groups, which generally provide a chance to exhibit work for those who might not otherwise have the opportunity to do so, and occasionally bring in a genuine working artist to show what is possible. I have certainly taken advantage of such things myself.

Bakery part 8

 I haven't worked on this print for more than a month, due to various circumstances beyond my control.  A big chunk of that was devoted to building a box for a surprise show.  That box and all its framed matted art has been shipped, and I was told that all my info had arrived there via email.  There have also been issues with my car and my mother, but that's not stopping me today.  I suppose I could also work on the boardwalk print, but this proof has been sitting in my rack a while, and my practice color piece at home near where I sit, so today I am going to deal with that.

Upon arrival (had to take the stairs as the elevator was being used to move a couch) I noticed that Molly had been in since the last time I was there.   No notices taped to either door. We had gotten a mass email from the building supervisor last week, since my last time there, saying that a guy from the town mercantile office had been in the building taping overdue notices to doors.  This led to a flurry of other emails from various tenants, either with questions about this, or doubts to the legitimacy of the whole thing.  Where does this leave me?  Talk to Molly, so I did that on Saturday, walking to a place I know she would be in the Squan.  Molly said she actually talked to the guy and told him she was cool.  The guy eventually left.  So I don't know if he came back and left something on our door that Molly got during her last appearance, or if we won't be hearing from him again.  I'll contact her later and try to find out.

I cleared my table and got to work coloring.  I had brought with me my practice color proof, and got the better proof from my rack.  Mostly I used already mixed colors, though I did have to make some more sky blue from white and cerulean.  Results can be seen below:

I stand by this new one being better than the practice proof, but in coloring it I realized there are still some issues.  These are issues with the block, so I think I will print it one more time, after further cutting.  This may require paper I don't have, so I may need to order some more.  Another day.

For music today I had a home burned collection of music from the early records from the Gin Blossoms.  (that disc was blogged about back in December of 2022 if you want to know more about it) Long ago I had a friend who was a huge fan of the band, back to when we were dj's at Montclair State and the group only had a small label album, which is why I heard of them in the early days and know a bit about them.  My other link to the band is that I once went to a show at the place led to the end of the band.  That was the BoatHouse, a warehouse converted to a rock club in Hampton Roads (VA), and I saw a great show there once of Living Colour before they were playing stadiums.  From what I have read, the Gin Blossoms also played a show there when they were up and coming, but it did not go well, and got them some bad press.  And this may have led to band member Doug Hopkins going back to drinking, to the extent that their new major label forced him out of the group.  He had been a member long enough to play on several songs on their upcoming major label release, which after relentless touring and some key videos became a huge hit, but Hopkins was gone (just like Pete Best), and later committed suicide.  From what my friend told me, the band wasn't playing any of his songs (and he was a principal song writer), I don't know if after his dismissal or his death, and this was a problem because these were the songs the band was best known for.  Eventually the band started playing his songs again, but they never had as many big hits without him.  Members have come and gone, and a version of the band is still out there, but they don't have a major label now.  

Boardwalk Rides part 3

 There's nothing more I can do about the Outlaw show until the gallery sends me something, so I guess it's now back to work on art.  I do like exhibiting, but making art is even better.

I have two pieces in progress right now, but decided to work on the boardwalk rides piece today.  Most of that is because I spent part of last night copying images from an episode of "Homicide: Life on the Street" that I had saved to DVR, but didn't want to keep.  I knew from having seen it before that the episode involved the kidnapping of a small child from a carousel, and I wanted to get more sketches of carousels, horses, and humans to scale before I wiped it out.  I brought those sketches with me today, as well as the various newspaper photos I had collected.

I pulled out this latest block for the first time in weeks.  I had started sketching the carousel already, but it was only partly complete, and what was there need work, so this had to get done.  I fixed a few horses and added some others.  I also did work on the carousel itself, based on a combination of the previous sketches, and the new ones from last night.  I also made some changes to the fence around it, some of what was already drawn, and I added some needed sections.  I may go back in and clean up a few things, but I think this area is mostly done.  No figures yet, but I think I will add those to the whole print when everything else is done.  Right now it's hard to tell where one horse ends and another begins, but I think color will help distinguish these when the time comes.  Where I left off today can be seen below:

Probably next time I move on to another part of the print, perhaps the ride in the lower left panel.  That depends on me sketching that first.

For music today I started with a favorite from the rock/pop book, a home burned collection of songs from three early albums from the Flat Duo Jets.  Those whole albums were on my disc shelf, and are now in storage, but this disc made it to the Studio, so I have it now.  Blogged about back in January of 2020 for those who want the details.  A lot of the early songs shut off, but after a while the disc was fine.  When that ended, I went with another rock/pop favorite, a copy of Kicking The Toybox by Twang Bang.  In this case both discs I have are copies, but one is in storage and one went to the Studio.  Details about this can be found in December of 2021.  Whole thing played with no problems.

Exhibition Update

 I have taken my part of the upcoming exhibition at Pyramid Atlantic as far as I can go right now.  My box is finished, except for the final sealing, and I can't do that yet.  All the prints to go to that show are now mounted, framed, and labeled with both my information and the names of each work.  Bubble wrap is all cut to size.  All frames are wired, but those were on already, as I am using previously used frames.  I submitted all the information about each piece to the gallery director, except images, which my computer won't allow me to do right now.  However, those new large file images have been posted to a blog, and a link to that page sent to the gallery director, so I have to hope that's enough.  That submission also includes an artist bio, so they have that now as well.

The main thing that remains for me is to calibrate all the wires to the same height relative to the frames (I created a tool for that) and seal up the box.   Then take it to a place to ship.  (we are under orders not to ship anything yet, probably until after we are sent a loan agreement)  After that it's in the hands of the shipping company, and then the gallery, for the duration of the show, which goes until mid-November I hear.  Right now I am well ahead of all the deadlines.  

So maybe tomorrow I get to go back to working on art.  I look forward to that.

The Day Has Come Around Again

 Today is September 11th, but more importantly, today is the 25th Anniversary of the original September 11, the day that the towers came down.  Not that anything different happened today.  We had the usual- all television (at least here in the New York City area; I can't speak for the rest of the country) pre-empted for the memorial service, pairs of people reading the names of all the victims (sometimes poorly) in alphabetical order, the ringing of a bell to mark the exact times that towers were hit or fell, interspersed with shots of memorials.  I watched for a while, then found something else to do.

One thing I heard recently is that a significant number of Americans weren't even born yet when the Twin Towers came down, maybe a third, if I remember correctly.  That makes sense I guess.  It has been 25 years since the original destruction, time for a lot of people to be born.  And no doubt there were some very young children alive in 2001 that didn't know about it.  After all, I was alive for several years of the Vietnam war, and didn't really know anything about it until refugees started arriving in my town.  However I was much older when September 11th happened, and I won't forget that.  

Part of that may be because I was actually in one of the towers, going up to the top level observation deck with relatives from out of town, and leaning against that window.  Part of it may be because there was nothing else on television for at least a week, and I had plenty of time to see all those images.  And part of it may be because I made art about it, as seen below:

I've posted this image before on the blog, but not in recent years.  When it first started, I didn't know anything about it- it started as just another Tuesday, and I had a vacation group home to get ready for another group.  Of course that group decided not to come.  Lots of time to record images to my VCR (no digital then- just magnetic tape) and prepare for the artwork that would follow.  Heard the first radio reports as I was driving around doing errands.  One plane hitting one tower didn't seem that strange, as the Empire State Building has been hit by planes before.  A second plane hitting the second tower was more significant.  Something was going on and I knew I better get home and put on a television.  

My art is about my day, some of which was normal, and much of which was not, and of the latter, this was all experienced through television.  (No family in the towers and lost no one that day.)  Some images were off the air the next day, but they were etched on my mind and would be part of my print.  Now it's just old news, and not a print I exhibit anymore.  

The Old Frame Shop is Open for Business

 My shipping box is pretty much done now (plastic sealing tape went on most places yesterday). so today I turned to the process of framing the work.   First step in that process was to get a piece of mat board from the supply I keep in the basement.  I have some in the Studio, but I don't know if there is enough there, so better to be safe than sorry and bring a piece with me.  Once I got up there, the next step was to take out the prints I expect to frame and put in the show and measure them.  The two already in frames are slightly different dimensions, so I thought it best to check these out and write down the measurements.  All were 11" x 14", two horizontal, and one vertical.  

I cleared off my table and got out my homemade mat cutting machine.  Essentially it's a double flat board with a mounting for a big metal straightedge, and a wooden strip that holds the mat in place, held down with a C-clamp at one end (also holds it all to the table) and a squeeze clamp at the other.  Windows to be removed are drawn onto the back of each piece in pencil, and a hand held bevel cutter slides along the straightedge to cut it.  It works every time and can handle any size I have ever tried to cut.  

As expected, I had one good piece of mat board in the Studio. and one that was a bit blemished, and no amount of eraser work could fix it.  I set that aside and got the one I had left in my car.  It had a Pearl sticker on it, and that chain went out of business a long time ago, so I have had this one in my supply for a while.  One little problem- the top side was not the same shade of bright white I had used for all the others.  However, the back side was, so I found a section that had nothing printed on it and used that.  Problem solved.  

I started by cutting out the full size (frame size) pieces, then marking the back sides with pencil lines for the size window I wanted to cut, then used my bevel cutter to make perfect windows.  A photo of this set up is shown below:

I brought the window mats and the prints home to be framed, along with my roll of linen tape.   I can do that step at on a table at home.  Then all I have to do is print out labels to put on the back, place them in my shipping box, seal it up, and take it to the place to ship out.  Before then, I need to contact the gallery and let them know all the information about everything, but I have all that now.

I always put on music while I work, and today it was a loose disc from my rock/pop book, a home burned collection of the music of Matthew Sweet.  (blogged about back in June of 2020 if you want to know more)  Sweet probably should have been a bigger star- a very good instrumentalist and vocalist- but I don't think he ever had the look of a rock star, and in the age of videos and talk show appearances, that probably matters.

One More Day in the Box

 Over the weekend I was thinking about my shipping box and what I would have to do to finish it.  I have spent so much time on it over the past few weeks that I have the whole thing firmly in my head.  So not surprisingly, I had a good idea what I planned to do upon arrival in the building this morning.  And what I planned is pretty much what I did.

I knew I had to add a top flap to my box, and imagined how I would make it and what I would make it from.  And I followed that plan.  As the glue dried (weighted down with my heaviest clamp), I was placing pieces of wet paper tape in every seam I could find.  When I finished, it all looked exactly like what I expected.  A photo of it is shown below:

Meanwhile, while the glue was drying, I had a quick photo session on my white tack wall.  In about a week and a half, all my information is due down at Pyramid Atlantic for this Outlaw show, so I have started on all that.  For example, last week I used my blog to find all the years of completion for the prints I am sending.  Over the weekend, I updated an artist statement to reflect this current show.  Today I was taking large images of most of the prints for this show.  (had one already)  I just set my camera to the largest file size (for the purposes of this blog I usually go with small format photos) and took photos of all the other prints up on my wall.  Back home I edited all of them and stuck them on my desktop.   A photo of this process is shown below:

I decided to bring the box home for the next step, which will be to put on the address labels, mark all the cut lines to open it, and to put on all the clear sealing tape.  All that can be done at home.  The box probably weighs as much as the art, if not more, but it's worth it.  It is very important that these works make it safely to their destination, and I expect they will.  This is a lesson I learned a long time ago from the movie, Joe Verses the Volcano, in which the protagonist decides to invest in four large handmade steamer trunks for his journey and they save his life on a number of occasions.  As the salesman told him, when traveling, all you have to depend on is your luggage.  And when shipping artwork, all you have to depend on is your box.

For music today I decided to honor Cassandra Wilson (who died this past week at age 70) by playing her album New Moon Daughter, a copy of which I have in my jazz/blues disc book.  The album is more jazz than blues (it was on Bluenote after all), but one song was clearly blues, which turned out to be a Son House song, and the internet tells me that an extended version (which I don't have) has a Robert Johnson song, "32-20 Blues."  I don't have her version on the song, but I did a print of it as part of my series, which can be seen below:

If you want to know more about the album, check the blog back in January of 2022.   When that disc ended I pulled another disc from my jazz/blues book, and another female singer, this time Ella Fitzgerald and excerpts from the collection, Oh, Lady Be Good!, standards done with the Nelson Riddle Orchestra, and blogged about back in August of 2021.

Still More Box Time

 This box isn't done yet, so today that was something to work on.  Got up there in late morning, found plenty of parking, took the elevator down to my space, cleared the table, and got to work.   I knew I had some big pieces of cardboard stashed behind my rack, so pulled one out.  No doubt this was stored back there for this purpose, but I don't know where it came from.  It had my name on one edge, along with a reference to a Thursday night class, and that's it.  Probably from my county college, but what purpose it had served there I had no idea.  All I knew was that it was a big flat sheet of cardboard with a few folds along the edges.  I laid it out flat on the table, and measured it at different angles to decide where and how to fold it and cut it, then scored it and proceeded with my task.

When I was finished, I had my outer box mostly done.  The top flap remains, but I have cardboard for that and will deal with it next time.  Meanwhile, I had my inner box now otherwise wrapped, with all the parts glued and taped down.  I might have done a little more, but my mother called and needed to be picked up where they had gotten a ride to this morning, which meant going home to grab a quick lunch, cleaning out a few crates from the back of my car (make room for my parents), and get up to place to pick them  up on time.  Below is a photo of today's work:

I noticed that I had an email from the gallery director down at Pyramid, which I was expecting.  Most of the information was the same as what the executive director sent me, but there were a few new requests for related information, which is what I was expecting.  Most important, now I have a contact for this show.  Eventually I will send her a reply email with a question or two.  

For music today I brought with me a home burned disc from my rock/pop Studio collection, the live Kinks album One For The Road, which I wrote in detail about back in January of 2023 if you want to know more.  Had to restart it a few times, but after that it played through for the rest of the time I was building my box.

More Box Time

 I suppose I had a choice between working on my shipping box or working on the new print (or both), but after thinking about it a bit, I decided the box was the way to go.  After all, before this month is out, I have to get some framed work down to Maryland.  And a shipping box takes time to do right.  As much as I would like to work more on a print, I have no deadline for getting one done, but I do have a deadline for this next show.  So box it is.

Got up to the building in the morning and found plenty of parking.  For the first time in a few weeks, I took the elevator down to my space.  (that cone was definitely gone) Cleared the table and got to work.  The goal for today was to finish the inner box.  Toward that end, I prepared styrofoam pieces and glued them in the planned places, added some scrap boards to the broad sides (protection), pieces of cardboard in other areas (the same), and lots of paper tape on the edges and seams of everything.  I cut loose some cardboard I don't need, leaving just one top flap for now.  I still may add one piece of styrofoam in the bigger box, but essentially the inner box is complete.  Below is a photo of what exists so far:

Next will be to wrap everything in the outer box, which will include some more flaps.  In my Studio already I have cardboard in mind for that process, but it waits for next time.  

For music today I felt like listening to the Kirsty MacColl album I have (possibly influenced by the old movie I saw on Saturday night, part of which has a plot similar to one of the songs) so I had brought with me her posthumous album tropical brainstorm, blogged about back in March of 2020 if you want to get the full story.  When that ended, I put on another home burned Studio copy disc, the self titled Marc Ribot  y Los Cubanos Postizos, written about back in July of 2020.  I guess what both albums have in common is a love of Caribbean music, the former covering the variety of music found from North to South America and everything in between, and the latter a tribute to a particular Cuban bandleader.  

Box Time Again

Yesterday I went up to hardware store in Belmar to pick up a few things I need for the Studio.  Blue tape for printing.  (don't need it quite yet, but I will eventually, so I got it now)  And wood glue for box making.    I have made quite a few shipping boxes for various shows (and I have been much praised by multiple gallery directors for my efforts) and know that wood glue is the best way to stick everything together.  It holds fast and well.  It has been quite a few years since I needed one, but now I find I have to send several framed works down to Maryland next month, so it's time.  Yesterday was nice, and today rain was predicted.

Last time I was in the Studio (also a nice day), I had brought a large box and some other supplies up to the Studio, and cut the large box in half in preparation for today.  Lacking glue, I stopped there, but today I have it.  First stop on the main floor was to check out that elevator hallway, and that cone was still sitting in front of the elevator.  Took the stairs down one more time.

In my space I cleared off the table and got to work.  I used the extra framed piece I had with me to measure the box halves I had, and used my knowledge of box making and scoring/cutting to get both halves to their intended shapes.  Then I used glue and clamps to start putting things together, making two boxes.

With the two pieces of box done, the next step was to glue them together.  I removed some unnecessary pieces of cardboard first, then put the two box pieces together, with glue and clamps.  The two pieces will hold all of the framed works for the show.

By this point it was the early afternoon and I decided to put off the rest of my construction for another day.  Next up will be styrofoam on the inside for cushioning, wood and cardboard on the outside for protection, and lots of paper tape to hold it all together.  

At one point while glue was drying, I took a break and walked over to the office to settle this elevator question, since emails had said all work would be completed last week.  I was told that the floor was fine, that the cone was just left behind for no reason (I'm told it will be removed soon), and that I could use the elevator and hallway any time I wanted.  So in leaving today, I did just that.  Everything seemed fine. And I got home before any rain came.

Boardwalk Rides part 2

 Yesterday I got in touch with both Kate at Pyramid Atlantic (email) and Tom in Missouri (phone), which answered a lot of my questions. What I now know is that the prints I sent to Brooklyn are not coming to the show in Maryland, so if I want those images in this show, I have to send them there myself.  This won't be a problem, as I have the necessary prints in my rack ready to go, so all I have to do is frame them, maybe cutting a few mats.  Either way, I was expecting to build a shipping box, just now I need to make a bigger one.  And as to the question of email notification, both parties apologized for the mix-up, but it was never agreed to that Tom would send emails to everyone first.  Almost as soon as Tom picked up the phone he said something like, "You got the email, didn't you?", referring to Kate's.  I'm still not sure of the closing date, but that can be worked out later.

So this morning, while still home, I got a big box out of the basement.  It once held a large television, and is made from double corrugated, so great for a shipping box.  Within was more cardboard and sheets of styrofoam, also useful.  I had been saving all this stuff for a future shipping container and now I finally needed it.  I also pulled a framed supermarket print out of a box I had once used to bring a bunch of such prints to Belmar for a show there.  The framed print, along with two others I had in the Studio, would be useful for building my Pyramid Atlantic shipping box.  All this I put in my car for the trip to Ocean Grove.

Not many cars in the lot, so I had my pick of parking spaces.  Most of the tools were gone from the area by the elevator hall on the first floor, but there was still a long board across the entrance to the hall, and a cone in front of the elevator, so I decided to take my backpack and walk down the central stairs.  The light was on in the front stairway, so I went back up that and left the door to the stairway unlocked.  I retrieved my big box from the car and carried it to the front door and slid it down that same stairway to my space in the basement.  In through the red door, which made the most sense for this large box.

After some quick measuring, I decided to cut the whole box in half, which would give me the pieces I need to make the inner boxes.   

I decided to stop construction there, as the next phase probably needs a large bottle of wood glue, and I don't think I have any around here right now.  Plus, I have plenty of time to get this done.

I set that all aside and got to my real reason for being there today, the new boardwalk print.  Mostly today I was working on the carousel, drawing a horse right in the center based on a newspaper photo I have of such a thing.  I also started roughing in some other horses on the carousel, as well as working on the round base, and the fence around it.  I also started putting in the fishing game next to the carousel because I pretty much had to, but like the carousel itself, there's a long way to go.  The area I was working on today can be seen in the photo below:

Probably next time I continue on this carousel, which is a big part of this right side panel of the block.  The stuff in the left panel can wait.

For music today I was going to listen to a recently found Doug disc, from a pile I had taken out of my storage box and not brought to the Studio yet, but I could not get the thing to play in my Studio player.  Played in the one at home, but multiple tries were unsuccessful today.  Luckily, I had my jazz/blues book of discs with me, and selected my Buddy Guy disc, the one with all of Stone Crazy and most of Sweet Tea, two hard guitar Buddy Guy albums.   (blogged about this disc back in February of 2020 if you want to read more)  It has not been that long since I listed to this disc, but actually Tom brought it up yesterday in our phone conversation, talking specifically about how much he liked the Stone Crazy album, so I guess it was on my mind.  Maybe Buddy Guy has issues with labels in Chicago, but I like the record, too.  After all, it's in my Studio.  

Outlaws Ride Again

 

I had considered titling this post "Outlaws Assemble!" or "Outlaw Printmakers Assemble!", but even I am not that cheesy.  What I can say is that it looks like we are having another official Outlaw Printmakers exhibition, almost 20 years after the last one.  Who are the Outlaw Printmakers?  A group of printmakers that I happen to be a part of.  It's a group put together by Tom Huck, printmakers he considered to be proper artists, even if not recognized by the art world as such.  I don't know if there was ever an official list, but they have done a lot of things together over the years- some exhibiting, some workshops, etc.  Sometimes that includes me.  Mostly they are just print artists Tom has met through various things he is a part of who share his interest in print media and making art from start to finish.  He once said he considered me perhaps the biggest outlaw of all, as I was the only one in the group who wasn't attached to a college.  Once again I am no longer attached to a college, so I guess I am still one.  

The artists who would become the Outlaws were involved in various things together, but the first official function was an Outlaw Printmakers show in NYC that was part of the Southern Graphics convention at Rutgers in 2004.  That show was in the Big Cat Gallery in Manhattan (still not sure what neighborhood that was), a place that I believe no longer exists.  Besides being a show in New York including my art, it's where I met Molly, the other half of this Studio.  The piece I showed is below:

According to this blog, we had another show in St Louis back in 2008 at the Museum of Contemporary Art.  I don't remember this, as a lot has happened in the years since, but that is why I have a blog.  It seems that the art I showed is this:

While I have seen and done things with various Outlaws since then (and no doubt they did other things with each other) and at least four I've seen their names on endorsed products, it has been a while since we officially had a show together.  What led to all this was a few days ago I found an email in my art box from Kate Davis, the executive director of Pyramid Atlantic, a print organization down in Maryland.  I've heard of them, and remember applying for something there a long time ago, before I had this blog.  Didn't get it.   But she says this mail is a follow up to Tom Huck's email about this upcoming show.  Never got any mail from Tom, but that's neither here nor there.  This mail I did get mentions the show, and gives some deadlines, but I don't know more than that. They want to hear from me by the start of September that I will be participating, and I can do that, but what is going into the show is still debatable.  For example, Tom took two of my Robert Johnson prints (unframed) for a show he was doing in Brooklyn last year, and still has them.  Are these going to Maryland?  If so, great and I will give them some other things.  If not, I may include these same prints (minus text) in what I send.  They are good prints after all.  Unfortunately, neither Tom nor Kate answered their phones yesterday, so this question remains unanswered.  I'll try again next week.  

I did take a quick trip to the Studio yesterday afternoon to see what I had in the rack. Whatever happens, I assume I will be sending some Robert Johnson prints, and I was curious as to what I have done and in the rack.  Now I know- a variety of the likely suspects, both with and without the lyrics, and I expect I would frame the non-lyric ones for shipping.  (if Tom brings the unframed ones that had been in Brooklyn, they have lyrics) The prints themselves are not due until October, so I have plenty of time to build a shipping box for them.  

So what I know now is that we have a show at Pyramid Atlantic (confirmed on the gallery website) that runs from mid October (with an opening on October 16th) to either mid November or the end of November- there's some discrepancy there between the email and the website.  Work will be professionally photographed (for the website I assume) and the gallery gets about 20,000 visitors in a year, so I can expect an audience.  Sales are permitted.  I still don't know exactly what I will be showing, but when I figure it out, I'll post it here.  

Boardwalk Rides part 1

 I want to give my best proof of the bakery print a few more days to dry before I color it, so today I planned to start on my new block.  I drove right to the Studio building this morning, and found lots of parking in the main lot.  No sound of power tools, but a whole lot of stuff laid out by the elevator hallway. I guessed that whatever is going on with that hallway (and we did get an email about it finally) might still be going on, so took the central stairway down to the basement.  I cleared off my table and got to work.  

For me the boardwalk we went to when extended family was in town, and even on our own, was at Point Pleasant.  It seemed like a major journey, but now I know it was just a short ride over the nearest bridge over the Manasquan River.  Back when I was a small child, the main thing on the boardwalk was the rides.  By my current standards, rides intended for children are nothing spectacular- mostly things that go in circles.  Below are a few photos of classic examples, taken back in 2012:

As a little kid, they seemed awful fun.  There were also rides that could suit an adult or a kid, and I went on those as well.  Also we played some games, and got some treats, but I already did prints focused on those, so a game will appear in this one as a small piece, but really this one is about rides.  A boardwalk print about rides was always in my plans from the beginning of the series, but it didn't get done until now.  

I knew I had some sketches of ideas for a print about rides, and had taken and collected some photos over the years, but the only sketch I could find was the one below from 2015:

I think I may have done others more recently, but this was the only one I could find, and it seems like a good plan, so I started with that.  I began by sharpening a few pencils from my set, then got out the block I prepared last week, and started doing a rough sketch of my idea.  I decided I liked the arrangement of my paper sketch, so I put them backwards on the block, so they will be right in the final print.  However, I don't think I've ever seen a carousel that didn't go counter clockwise, with the horses or other riding things facing forwards.  So in the right side panel I used an outside source to directly draw the round floor and ceiling of the carousel (just being round and symmetrical, they will work when reversed), but for the horses I have sketched them in backwards.  Much better versions will eventually be done, but for this rough sketch, this will do for now.  Next to the carousel I have for now a little piece of a game, in this case a fishing game, where players hooked little wooden fish that floated through the trench, and got prizes named on the fish, no doubt worth less than the cost of playing.  Meanwhile in the foreground of the left panel, I have the far side of a circular ride.  For now I just have boxes there, but later these will be turned into something else, perhaps the biplanes seen above.  In my original paper sketch, I believe what I had in the upper part of that corner was a swing ride, but for now what have there is a piece of a ferris wheel, a common ride on boardwalks.  In the deep background of that panel I have pieces of a roller coaster, based on a boardwalk photo I took, while in the center I have another circular ride, which will be based on the above photos and whatever I don't use in the foreground.  The results of today's sketching can be seen below:

There is a long way to go with this one, including adding some figures, but I'm in no hurry.  I've been planning this one for almost 20 years, so taking my time is not a problem.

For music today I started with my home burned Elastica disc, blogged about back in October of 2022 if you want to know more.  Fine music to work to, but even with the whole 1st album and most of the preceding EP, it was still a relatively short disc, and it ended with a lot of time left.  So I put on one of Molly's (and something I also had on my shelf at home), My Aim Is True, the debut album from Elvis Costello, blogged about back in September of 2024.  Although the latter album came out more that a decade before the former album, I decided that both had a few things in common and fit together- both British, both guitar bands with some punk influence and aspects.