After a productive and busy summer I have spent much of the Fall sketching. Nothing finished, nothing overly resolved. Not even worrying if it is good or bad. It is purely about generating new ideas and sometimes reconnecting with older ideas that never were given enough attention.

With sketching I find the "more is more" mentallity helpful. Just generate...rip it up if you have to. No one will see the majority of them anyway. The beauty of paper and ink is that they are cheap, and in the case of altered books, free.

Studio shot, taken this summer.

A growing body of work, most of it from this Summer, a few of the smaller ones from this Fall.

Drawing that covers three books. An experiment. It begin in the altered book on the left, grew to the larger sketchbook on the right, up to the smaller sketchbook above that and below onto my work table. why not?

Ink drawing, 2011. 5 by 7 inches.

Ink Drawing, 2011. 5 by 7 inches.

Now We Read, altered book page, 2011.

Untitled, 2011. 36 by 36 inches. Acrylic on panel

My untitled 2011 painting will be included in the 2011 Hartford Art School Alumni Juried Exhibition this October juried by Helen Hsu, Assistant Curator at the Guggenheim Museum.

GALLERY SHOW: OCTOBER 10 - OCTOBER 25, 2011
OPENING RECEPTION: WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 12, 2011, AT 5:30PM

Silpe Gallery, Hartford Art School
University of Hartford
200 Bloomfield Avenue
West Hartford, CT 06117

 For more inforation contact Las Manos Gallery (http://www.lasmanosgallery.com/).

It has been a nice, quiet summer, giving me plenty of studio time. Enough time to really experiment and follow the work in unexpected directions. I like to find that balance between control and chaos in the studio, enough control that they work is consistent, but enough chaos that it directs itself to some degree.

The first change I noticed was a shift in space. The normally very flat space I use began to be more sculptural.

Untitled, 2011. 12 by 12 inches, acrylic on panel.

Untitled, 2011. 36 by 36 inches. Acrylic on panel.

These paintings led to the next logical step, a maquette: I visited an artist friend, our conversations seldom fail to inspire me, I think she has the best “eye” of anyone I know. Truly insightful, kind but always willing to constructively criticize. She noticed something in my art that I had also noticed slowly creeping in (but had been avoiding), a sense of space that is different from my older work, a more sculptural space. She verbalized what I had already kind of been thinking, why not turn this into a sculpture?

The images above are my first attempts at sculpture since 1993. I’ve avoided it that long I just don’t think in three dimensions.  A maquette or a sketch might be a better way to describe it, or just playing. It might go somewhere, it might not. This one is made out of ripped up drawings. If this works I’ll move to other materials.

Seen above: on the left, the maquette alone. On the right, the maquette seen with two paintings.

Maquette III, three views. torn paper and ink

Untitled, 2011. 30 by 30 inches. acrylic on canvas

A painting influenced by sculptures that were created in reaction to paintings that in turn influenced a sculpture.

Untitled, 2011. 36 by 36 inches. acrylic on canvas.

I will be donating two paintings to the Art for AIDS benefit in June.  For more information please go to the Connecticut AIDS Resource Coalition website: ctaidscoalition.org

All proceeds will benefit The Richard B. Fried Fund for
the Connecticut AIDS Resource Coalition, an endowment
administered by the Hartford Foundation for Public Giving

Saturday, June 11, 2011, 7:00 pm
ArtSpace, 555 Asylum St., Hartford

Ticket Information:

Prices start at $50 per person and go
on sale Monday, May 2nd at 10:00 am

The event will feature an open wine bar, tasty
treats from local restaurants, music, an art
show/sale, and a fabulous “art grab” where
each guest will take home an original 12”x12”
canvas contributed by a local artist.

For more information or to buy tickets visit: ctaidscoalition.org

Untitled, 2011. 12 by 12 inches. Acrylic on canvas.

Untitled, 2011. 12 by 12 inches. acrylic on canvas