Feb 9, 2016

A DAY WITHOUT THE PAD AND WITH THE MUSIC

A DAY WITHOUT THE PAD AND WITH THE MUSIC

The two drawings below were done on a night I didn't bring something to draw on to club I go to listen to music, so I improvised. I drew on the paper table cloth. The table had two layers with one more permanent plastic layer below the two. A system meant for easy clean up, but in the moment I used to draw. The band played classic jazz, and pianist who span several generations told stories of his younger days when he played with jazz legends like Dizzy Gillespie. I think every one would agree the trio were now the legends. Hartford's Alvin Carter played while he grooved with his mentors. Before I left I used a table knife to neatly cut out the drawings.






Feb 4, 2016

A Vermont Visit


 A Trip to Vermont


After a day of arduous work I decided to take a friend up on his offer to drive me to an all day art session in Vermont. Funny thing about about me and that state is that although I live a stone throw away I never visited it, my lost because I discovered is a laid back, and I'll use a Cinderella word, "enchanting" place (for the most part with a minute hint of urban economic social issues). Old barns, old Victorian houses, old farm lands, and old beautiful mountains that gathered clouds of mist reminiscent of carefully arranged post cards to allure travelers to send their friend back home.
       I met my friend in the morning at a Dunkin' Donuts and he drove from the out skirts of Connecticut to Vermont as we chatted about art, life work, and other things. About an hour later we finally arrived at Brattleboro, a small quiet hilly town, that he said hipsters went to die. The group there was mostly retired individuals and some who were younger mature artist. I discovered they were friendly and dedicated to art. They came from Vermont, Connecticut and as far away as Boston (about a two hour drive).
    The model there was a man from Thailand about fifty who worked as a professional house painter. He wore a necklace of pictures of deceased individuals, which some of whom were his parents, said to be a good luck charm in Thailand that also help him meditate. I drew all day with charcoals and later colored it with pastels. During the breaks a few close artist women friends broke into spontaneous dance. They dance to old Madonna songs and rock music and laughed about when they first heard "that song", about when they bought a certain album, and how thee parents reacted as the studio radio acted as a catalyst that triggered more memories
Below is my drawing/painting of Keo the Thailand painter.