Murals

After spending three summers in Philadelphia (city of murals) I accepted the invitation of painting a 360-degree mural in a private home for a family with strong roots in the history of Panama. The painting (summer, 2008) which represents time and place incorporates elements of the historic French contributions as well as native culture.

Artist Opportunities

Just a few more places for artists to check out:

https://www.callforentry.org/login.php

http://www.inliquid.com/opportunities/opportunityworldex.php

http://www.mdartplace.org/artists/regional.html

http://www.kansascityartistscoalition.org/forum/forum_artist_opps.html

http://www.collegeart.org/opportunities/type/3/

http://www.nyfa.org/

http://www.azarts.gov/artists/opportunities.htm#visual

Artist Residencies - Summer 2009

http://www.artistcommunities.org/

http://www.resartis.org/

Virginia Center for the Creative Arts is located in Amherst, VA, approximately 3 hrs. southwest of Washington DC. I spent time there this past summer (2009) with a variety of visual, literary and music artists. Pictured above, are the artist dromitory building, and the barn-studio. The entire complex is air-conditioned and well appointed. It provides an intensly focused situation for independent work and self-directed growth. During my stay, Barbara Bernstein, the year-round resident VCCA artist, opened her site specific Things are not what they seem, nor are they otherwise installation at Hollins Univserity, Wilson Museum (July 16-August 22, 2009). Other like-inspirational evening events included composer Diane Moser's presentation of Walter Thompson's Sound Painting techniques. Check out the site http://www.vcca.com/

Earth, Fire, Water

When I painted my response to Giovanni Paolo Lomazzo's Idea del tempio della pittura (Temple of Painting, Milan, 1584), I constructed four works that explored the four elements, and four of the seven notorious figures in painting that Lomazzo refers to. He makes the following correlates: Raphael/Air, Michelangelo/Earth, Caravaggio/Fire, and Titian/Water. In Renaisance tradition of astrological mysticism, Lomazzo attempted to account for determinants in the characteristic styles of major painters of his day. Since the developmental history of my hometown, Scranton, PA included a type of rebirth from the death of steel production to the birth of anthracite coal, I related its renaissance to the ancestors' of the immigrating population. Europeans and eastern Europeans who had immigrated during the Industrial Revolution spent their lives in the rebirth of eastern Pennsylvania after iron production went north. More efficient water-ways made New York a better provider of steel. Previously, Scranton, Pa. was actually the sole producer of iron rails for our country's railroad industry. Influx of immigrants and a growing coal mining industry brought new life to Pennsylvania's northeast. Industrial architecture and abandoned mining sites provided me with not only an exotic childhood playground, but also with unending imagery for photography and creative expression. As opposites attract, my interests developed to include the figure in motion, dance and performance, especially elements of Butoh. I am investigating a foil to stationary, habitable architecture with reference to the structure of the human body, and its motion including maps, diagrams and charts.

University of the Arts

Air (40"x 30") acrylic on canvas. This painting is part of an

ongoing investigation of architecture. While at University of the Arts in Philadelphia, I developed several 2-D works that centered on the abandoned coal mines and industrial architecture of eastern Pennsylvania. My Philadelphia experience (UArts, MFA, painting) was an extremely enriching challenge/experience ('05-'07). Special nod to instructors: Gerard Brown, Eileen Neff and Gerry Nichols. Awesome professors: Pat Stewart, Carol Moore, Tom Csaszar, Frank Smigiel, Bonnie Collura, Jennie Shanker. Kickin cohorts in painting: Agati, Baldridge, Brown, Carney, Craven, Delgato, Frock, Gruber, London, Murphy, Oliwa, Razzano, Reinhold, Yarrington, Damman, ......and some over-the-top critics and lecturers: (short-list) Laylah Ali, Painter, Kinga Araya, Performance/Installation, Maria Magdalena Campos-Pons, Installation, Bonnie Collura, Installation, Phoebe Washburn, Ellen Harvey, Painter/Installation, James Hyde, Painter/Sculptor, Charles Long, Painter/Sculptor, Odili Donald Odita, Nato Thompson, Elaine Reichek, Mixed Media/Installation.

Very thankful for my days among these gifted individuals. A close "second" was the exuberant atmosphere of daily life in Philadelphia. I actually WOULD rather be in Philadelphia.