Bassline

scenes

bassline@livejournal.com — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 05:24:10 GMT

The Watch

Roundabout

These are a couple of shots I took while walking around the city yesterday. It was my Saturday off and I needed to get out of the apartment. E wanted to do some straightening up around her desk and work areas and I needed to take advantage of having one of my two Saturdays off a month, so I decided to see some art and take some photos.

Despite being the fourth in a line of gray, cloudy days, it was pretty warm, probably in the upper 60s. Of course, I wore one too many layers, thin ones, but a little too much, anyway. Nevertheless, I had a good day. Managed to get a few good photos and saw some art that I liked. That's a post for tomorrow because I'm too tired now to deal with anything else right now.

grey skyline

bassline@livejournal.com — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 05:01:06 GMT

Skyline Grey

I took this on the way back into center city from an afternoon of looking at art at the Philadelphia Museum of Art with painter friend, Douglas Witmer. It's been cloudy and raining off and on (more "on" than "off") for the past three days or more. Needless to say, I'm over it and it's just the beginning of the real fall weather. I'll take a cold day with sunlight than several with just clouds any day.

tough love

bassline@livejournal.com — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 03:58:35 GMT

One of my co-workers had me in tears with laughter earlier this evening. We had a brief conversation about how some people can't contain their disappointment when things don't go their way when they shop or just with life, in general. At one point, she says, "I don't know what people want, y'know? LIfe is tough...get a helmet!"

That line had me in stitches.

'Isolation'-7b mixes

bassline@livejournal.com — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 16:17:57 GMT

Isolation

The 7b Mixes

A good, soulful deep house mix I just found this morning. I'm off to work, but I hope everyone has a great Sunday!

hand-made art storage

bassline@livejournal.com — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 05:39:21 GMT

So, I did actually get some work done after doing the self portrait yesterday. Before my open studio event earlier this month, I went through a bunch of my works on paper, sorted some out and displayed a lot of them that I haven't exhibited previously. That part was great. The not-so-great part was having to wrangle with the poor storage options I had for these works. There are good archival storage box options out there, but most of them are more expensive than I'm ready to deal with for studio storage.

I was in one of the art supply stores I frequent a couple of months ago looking for archival boxes good for long-term storage. They didn't have any in stock at the time, but the clerk I spoke with suggested using acid-free foam board and archival linen tape to make my own boxes. I thought about it and finally got around to making one this week. My first box (see photos above) measures 24" x 32" x 3" to accommodate the 22" x 30" sized works, like 'Blue Pool' in the second shot. I spent about $32-$34 in materials (acid-free foam board, archival linen tape and white velcro for fasteners) and spent almost three and-a-half hours to assemble it. I expect to improve on that time as I do more of these. The cost of good archival storage boxes in a similar size hovers around the $90-$100+ range. Of course, mine aren't made to last 100 years, but they will still go a long way towards protecting my drawings and other works on paper while in the studio for a long time.

I still need to make about one or two more in the same size as well as a couple of smaller boxes for immediate use. The one above is filled already with works I did this past spring and summer. Making these boxes is a little time-consuming but worth it for me. Now that I have the first one done, I have a better idea of what to expect and hopefully, the next few will be easier to construct.

bassline@livejournal.com — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 04:04:07 GMT

Self (10.29.09): sans glasses

I've been in the mood to take more self portraits lately, if you haven't noticed. Hey, I'm my own best model: I can take a shot whenever and I don't have any fees attached for my time. I took this yesterday just after arriving at the studio. The bag in my right hand held one of the most delicious veggie burritos I've ever had. I devoured it right after taking this and a few other shots that didn't make the cut. They were the ones where I had my glasses on. The reflections bouncing off of the lenses were impossible to deal with, so off they went.

The Workspace Project

bassline@livejournal.com — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 00:14:58 GMT

The Workspace project, by Joseph O. Holmes, is an “ongoing attempt to examine the quasi-private spaces people carve out of their public work lives.”

This is a really great project to check out. It has always been interesting to me to see the semi-public displays of workspaces in places like restaurants, repair shops and other venues.

Bill Viola on the Tate's video channel

bassline@livejournal.com — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 15:11:51 GMT

Video artist, Bill Viola, talking about his piece, Ocean Without A Shore that was installed at the 2007 Venice Biennale. I found this on the Tate's video channel. Viola is one of my favorite contemporary artists. His video work is always really engaging, thoughtful, and just plain beautiful to look at.

Video description from the website:

Bill Viola's latest video installation, Ocean Without a Shore, is presented in the atmospheric setting of the church of San Gallo, Venice. Monitors positioned on three stone altars in the church show a succession of individuals slowly approaching out of darkness and moving into the light, as if encountered at the intersection between death and life. Viola talks about his artistic intentions and the technical challenges of the piece.

There are quite a few other videos on the Tate Channel featuring interviews and artist talks from a range of artists.

'Concurrent' at West Virginia University

bassline@livejournal.com — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 04:23:32 GMT

Poster announcing my lecture at West Virginia University. Last Thursday and Friday (Oct. 15-16), I had the honor of being the visiting artist for the latest installation of Concurrent, the traveling exhibition featuring works by Natalie Alper, myself, Diane Simpson, and Larry Webb.

I arrived Thursday afternoon and gave a lecture that evening, right before the opening reception. The crowd was composed mainly of very attentive art students and faculty. My talk went on for just over an hour, which surprised me because I remember thinking months ago that I'd have a hard time filling up that time. Once I started talking, the time flew by.There was time for a short question and answer session at the end, after which everyone went upstairs for the opening reception and out to dinner afterwards.

Friday morning, I met with three out of four graduate art students who had signed up for crits. The fourth was sick and couldn't meet with me. I was a bit surprised that more students hadn't taken advantage of me being there and available to talk with them about their work, but it left me with more time for the ones with whom I did meet.

I left WVU later that afternoon for a plane out of Pittsburgh that was scheduled for a 5:40pm departure. That turned into a 6:50pm delay, which turned into a cancelled flight, leading to a mad dash for the 'special services' desk for US Airways. There were no more direct flights back to Philly, but they put me on one that went to Washington, D.C. with a connection to Philadelphia. A flight that should have only taken just over an hour took 6 hours, instead. At least I was able to get home. I felt bad for those who had more complicated situations to deal with.

Overall, the two days were great, and were made much easier thanks to Chris Barr, Bob Bridges, Michael Sherwin, and everyone else in the College of Creative Arts involved with the exhibition.

Undercurrent next to exhibition signage.

Sculpture by Diane Simpson.

Stratum I next to drawings by Natalie Alper

Paintings by Natalie Alper (left) and Larry Webb (right)

Cape by Diane Simpson.

More paintings by Natalie Alper and Larry Webb.

Plume, 2007, acrylic on canvas, 60" x 72" (left) and All that could be, 2006, acrylic on canvas, 60" x 84" (right)

Drawings from my Random Expansion series, water media on paper, 20" x 20" each.

Open Studios-2009

bassline@livejournal.com — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 18:51:14 GMT

In spite of my ordeal on Friday, I was still able to go ahead with my participation in this past weekend's Philadelphia Open Studio Tours event. My hands were sore, but were bandaged well (thanks to E :) ) and didn't really take away from the proceedings. If anything, they gave me something else to talk to studio visitors about.

The turn-out was pretty good. I had about 43 people come through over Saturday and Sunday, a mix of new and returning visitors. A great number of people considering the volume of other events occurring around the city at the same time. I'm happy when I see old faces but I'm especially glad to see new people come through. That's what POST winds up being about for me; the chance to connect with people unfamiliar with my work who eventually might come out to an exhibition and maybe even become a client.

I took next to no photos during open studios, but I did take some shots of my work in the studio after I'd finished setting up the walls:

Wall of paintings, 2008-2009.

Works on paper, 2002-2009 (left to right)

View of paintings and works on paper before open studio event.

So, towards the end of day two (Sunday), my good friend, KC pulled out his camera and pointed it at me while I was standing in front of my works on paper. I thought he was going to just take a photo, but instead he did a short video. I didn't realize that he was filming until he began asking me questions. Here, have a look:

zSHARE video - Tim Open Studio.wmv.flv

Shared via AddThis

What a day

bassline@livejournal.com — Sat, 03 Oct 2009 04:23:10 GMT

This afternoon, I had my first bike accident in years. I was traveling east on Market Street when I apparently hit a pothole and bit it hard. I say 'apparently' because I don't remember the accident itself that's what I was told once I was in the ambulance. All I know is that I was riding and suddenly, I seemed to have been dreaming. In reality, I was unconscious for a few minutes and the next thing I knew, I was on a stretcher on my way to the hospital.

I'm ok. I just got banged up on the hands, I have a puffy upper lip and a swollen right eyelid. That's it. My helmet had a lot to do with my not having any major head trauma. I'm also lucky that there were no vehicles directly behind me at the time I fell. All I remember is my back tire swinging out from under me and the next thing, I'm in the ambulance.

I called E and my best friend from the hospital and they both arrived within minutes of each other. The doctors did some x-rays and an MRI and those turned out clear, thank goodness. They gave me a tetanus shot, cleaned up my wounds and sent me home.

Unfortunately for E, she became nauseous at the sight of my hand wounds, which were mainly scrapes, but bad enough that they'll take a while to heal. I'm just glad that it wasn't worse that it was. Earlier this evening, E and I walked over to where my bike was locked up (I don't remember locking it up) to survey the damage. It's pretty beat up, but possibly able to be salvaged.

I'm off to take a shower and then bed.

Private Dinner for Five with Sarah Palin - eBay (item 260474255847 end time Sep-18-09 17:27:00 PDT)

bassline@livejournal.com — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 02:14:29 GMT

Private Dinner for Five with Sarah Palin - eBay (item 260474255847 end time Sep-18-09 17:27:00 PDT)

$50,807.00 and counting...I'm willing to bet that there are people out there willing to sell their first-born for the chance to have dinner with her.

Red King

bassline@livejournal.com — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 13:15:37 GMT

Red King

the shower drinker

bassline@livejournal.com — Sat, 12 Sep 2009 14:43:00 GMT

THAT IS THE WRONG WAY TO DRINK, CAT. YOU ARE A VERY INEFFICIENT DRINKER!

I wish I could take credit for the text, but I can't. Still, it was so perfect that I had to keep it. Posting cute animal videos/photos isn't my usual thing, but this is the first one that had me laughing so hard in a long while. Maybe I was caught off-guard this morning :D

lessons

bassline@livejournal.com — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 14:32:01 GMT

"The process by which an artist’s work finds its way into a commercial gallery is often long and circumvented. Stein was gracious, politely tenacious, and smart. Professional relationships can often be analogous to marriage, and after three years of “dating,” I was certain that I liked Stein as a person. This was someone with whom I would enjoy working on a day-to-day basis; someone whom I could trust; and someone who clearly has a bright future, so that after one successful show I will not be left in the lurch with no further compelling work to promote."-Brian Paul Clamp, director,ClampArt (New York City)

The above quote is from this article on the F Stop photography website.

Articles like this should be required reading for anyone looking for gallery representation, from the newly minted BFA or MFA to even older, more experienced artists. Even though this article comes from the viewpoint of a commercial gallery that specializes in photography, the lessons are general enough to cover any kind of artist seeking professional representation.

I can relate to this because it parallels the way I wound up being represented by the gallery I work with, the Bridgette Mayer Gallery here in Philadelphia. When she opened her gallery here around 2001, I was already looking at a couple of other galleries in the city for representation. I made it a point to go to the openings of shows she had as well as checking out the work at other times, as I was genuinely interested in some of the artists she was showing. I introduced myself and got myself onto her mailing list. At the same time, my work was gaining some attention after it was included in a prestigious regional exhibition grant competition and other local exhibitions.

The 'dance' began in earnest when Bridgette asked me to bring some slides and other materials to the gallery for review. About three or four months went by and then she scheduled a studio visit for another three months down the line. In the meantime, we stayed in touch and I kept working as usual.

In the spring of 2002, she came to my studio. She was really interested in my work as I was her gallery, and I remembered that we had a long conversation that afternoon. I was in a transitional period with my work, changing how I painted and was moving towards a more hard-edged, geometric abstraction from work that was more based on biological forms. She had a lot of questions about what I was doing and how I saw the work developing, etc...

At the end of that conversation, she offered to represent me. I took some time to look think about it, asked her some questions and after a couple of weeks, I signed on with her. The relationship we've built over the intervening 7 years has grown to one where there is friendship, mutual respect and benefits on both sides. As with any other relationship, it's constantly evolving and, so far, things are going along well, even with the economic crap storm that's been happening. It's good to know that there's someone standing behind my work in the good and bad times.

The $24 million question

bassline@livejournal.com — Sun, 23 Aug 2009 13:41:30 GMT

(Photo: John Keatley/Redux)

Fall Fashion 2009 - How Could Annie Leibovitz Be on the Verge of Financial Collapse? -- New York Magazine

I read this story last night and I don’t know what to say. It’s amazing to me how someone of her stature and creativity can find herself in a predicament where she might lose the rights to her own work and then still owe millions of dollars on a loan. Leibovitz obviously has problems dealing with money issues, but this is still ridiculous.

Leibovitz is known to have a drive for perfection in her work, which seems to have been the beginning of her problems. According to this piece, she didn't have unlimited budgets from the outset, but drove up the costs of the shoots she did in the hunt for perfection in her work. Of course, she was being paid hundreds of thousands of dollars to photograph celebrities for high-profile magazines, so I guess having access to that kind of money and not really caring about what was spent would lead to disaster eventually. I mean, get rid of one or two of the multi-million dollar homes, perhaps? Actually hire a good lawyer and financial manager, maybe?

After a 30-Year Run, Rise of the Super-Rich Hits a Wall - NYTimes.com

bassline@livejournal.com — Fri, 21 Aug 2009 14:50:35 GMT

After a 30-Year Run, Rise of the Super-Rich Hits a Wall - NYTimes.com

"Honey, hi, this is daddy. How are you? Good, good. Um, listen, your mother and I have discussed it...and i'm afraid that we won't be able to give you that 20-room mansion on a private island that you wanted for your sixteenth birthday. The good news is that there is still the hotel on the Riviera. You might have to share the building with other guests, but you'll still have ten floors to yourself...I know, I know, but the economy is a little down right now and we have to pinch pennies where we can..."

YouTube - Riding Bikes with the Dutch - Movie Trailer 2

bassline@livejournal.com — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 22:36:30 GMT

YouTube - Riding Bikes with the Dutch - Movie Trailer 2

Trailer for a new film coming out soon called, Riding Bikes with the Dutch. There's more information over at Everydaybikie.com.

The Dutch really have it together when it comes to biking infrastructure and laws. I think a lot of this is very feasible in the U.S. if we can get people to see that biking can be safe, fun, and a viable alternative to using cars for everything, like two mile drives to the market or other short distance rides.

Trailer for 'The Wolf Man'

bassline@livejournal.com — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 17:16:19 GMT

Great first trailer for 'The Wolf Man'. I'm glad that the film makers stuck to a more traditional style instead of "trying to 'MTV' it up", as I read elsewhere.

paper, pencil, paint

bassline@livejournal.com — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 04:14:42 GMT

After working for most of the day, I headed up to the studio to continue with my organizing. August has hit hard with the heat and the studio was sweltering. The two industrial-strength fans I have are good, but with the humidity so high, I was still sweating bullets. No matter, I was still able to get some stuff done. I focused on a grey shelving unit that's to the left of the entrance to my studio.

I've been using the shelves there to store blank paper and older works since I moved in. The top shelf holds paper of various sizes, the second shelf is a catch-all for completed works on paper, the bottom two shelves hold a box of canvas scraps and three boxes of older mixed media pieces that date from 1999 or so.

That second shelf, with the drawings, is the one I really dreaded going through. I knew that there was a ton of stuff there and once I pulled it all off and set it up on a table, I was really going to have to find a proper storage solution way sooner than later. Every bit of flat surface space in my studio is precious, so just the thought of having all of these works out on a work table (see above) is enough to get me moving on finding something to store them in asap. That's my challenge for tomorrow or Friday.

I don't go through older works that much and when I do, I'm always surprised by a lot of what I find. Most of the works seen in the photos above date from 2002-2004, so it's going back a few years. There are postcard-sized paintings, one small collage, rough graphite sketches and the rest are paintings on paper and mixed media pieces with graphite, oil pastels, and acrylic paint.

Looking at some of these pieces five and six years out from when I made them left me with a range of thoughts and emotions. There were some ideas I'll be happy to explore more in the present and close the door on others. Then, for a few, maybe three or four so far, there was the ultimate cleansing: rip, tear, rip...

Save or delete?

bassline@livejournal.com — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 12:29:42 GMT

Strawbridge's

I began the god-forsaken task of straightening out my studio this afternoon. You know, one of those tasks that you know needs to be done, but every time you walk into the studio, you cast a slight glance and think, "I'll get to it" and in the next instant the full scope of the proposed chore gives you all the energy you need...to finally finish that piece that's been sitting in the corner for a year. Yep, dealing with that headache of a painting is preferable to any attempt to organize a growing pile of future, "Why did I save this?". Its a very good thing that I'm no longer the pack-rat I was back in the mid-nineties when I did a lot of mixed media work. Living in West Philly, I never had to go far on trash days to find something of interest to bring back to the studio I had then, situated in a room I rented in a 6-bedroom Victorian house.

Ok, so I'm ready to jump in. I've identified roughly four areas around the space that desperately need attention. I had to break it down like that so my anxiety about the overall picture doesn't do me in. I started with the relatively easy chore of sorting though empty glass and plastic containers that I've accumulated over time. These are containers that I generally use for long-term storage of paints as well as for quick mixing of a color I haven't already mixed. I keep them under a long, heavy wood table that came with the studio, in cardboard boxes. It became one of those slightly hidden 'catch-all' spaces, just out of sight enough to ignore the growing piles of jars spilling over the boxes they were in.

Along with the containers, I also got around to cutting up and storing old clothes and towels that I'll use as rags to wipe paint on. Getting through these two tasks made the space feel much lighter. Now, I'm eyeing the storage shelves near the entrance, which holds and array of old works on paper, small paintings and various pieces of cut canvas.

On a side note...that photo above? Well, that's a small Strawbridge's gift box that I found hidden amongst rags today while cleaning up. It's just big enough to have held cufflinks or earrings. I'm keeping it just out of sentimentality, as Strawbridge's no longer exists and was my favorite of the center city department stores that I would shop in from time to time. The landmark department store at 8th and Market closed it's doors for good in 2006. There was talk of a Target opening up there, but the latest I know of is that a casino might open up on three floors at the site. Just what we need....

facebook fail

bassline@livejournal.com — Mon, 10 Aug 2009 15:45:00 GMT

Today's lesson: Learn some boundaries!

This is a perfect illustration of tne of the perils of getting too cozy with co-workers and employees online. I wonder if she still thinks the internet is private? LOL! I'm guessing that she'll have time now to figure that out. Needless to say, flaming your boss online when he's one of your 'friends' is one of the more stupid things you can do.

There's no good reason to add your boss to any of your personal social-networking pages because more than likely, you'll let loose with something one day and end up like the thick-headed young woman above. Now, in full disclosure, I am friends with my boss online, but I never talk about work there. In fact, I rarely talk about work online unless something incredibly annoying happens, and most of the time, that's because of something an employee or customer did. I also don't make a habit of friending employees online (I'm a manager). There's no need for me to be that close to any of them. If we have a good working relationship, that's fine, but there's no need to extend it beyond that. I've become online friends with people whom I used to work with and only if we developed an especially good friendship while working together.

If you must rant about potentially sensitive subjects online, then do it anonymously or keep a private journal/blog for it. Or better yet, write about it in a paper journal. I"m sure that more and more people under the age of, say, 25 are probably not writing so much with paper and pen any more, but it might be a good thing to practice. Better yet, just learn to keep some of your opinions to yourself.

Chlorophyll Skin/Fever Ray

bassline@livejournal.com — Sun, 09 Aug 2009 01:44:01 GMT

Chlorophyll Skin from Lucy McRae on Vimeo.

Chlorophyll Skin is an experimentation into color, movement, absorption and the body by Lucy McRae and Mandy Smith. The music is “When I Grow Up” by Fever Ray. (source)

When I Grow Up from Fever Ray on Vimeo.

This is the video of "When I Grow Up", by Fever Ray, whose music was used above.

to let go...or not...

bassline@livejournal.com — Wed, 05 Aug 2009 04:15:28 GMT

“Imagine painting. But you’re 200 yards away from the canvas, and 80 people are holding the brush. And you’re on a walkie-talkie going, ‘Need a little blue there. No darker blue. No DARKER BLUE!’”

— David Fincher’s definition of directing.

I'd have a very difficult time dealing with assistants in the studio, if my work warranted it. It just wouldn't be the same having someone else work on my paintings, I have to be in there otherwise there's no point in bothering to continue to paint . Following the experience through to the end is what makes art work for me. If I haven't worked on a piece all the way through from start to finish, then I'd have a hard time calling it mine and putting out into the world as such.

There have been and continue to be plenty of painters who avail themselves of studio assistants just to be able to get their work completed. Kehinde Wiley and Marilyn Minter come to mind as two contemporary painters who use studio assistants to help finish their works. I'm not a purist about it because I know that photography, printmaking, sculpture, and installation work all have some sort of collaborative aspect built into the practice. I just feel that if I'm not going through every step of the process of making a painting myself, I'm missing something. The experience is that much less for me and I feel that there begins to be a disconnect between myself and the work. I'd have a difficult time with the kind of distance that comes with having others painting parts of or entire paintings for me.

I suppose that if I were given a commission that required a time limit and enough money, I'd have to hire someone to do some tasks that I might not be able to get done while painting, like stretching canvas and maybe mixing paints, but that's about it. I wouldn't be interested in letting someone else actually paint for me.

Man seeks Goddess, but first she must...

bassline@livejournal.com — Sat, 01 Aug 2009 14:35:05 GMT

Smart, Sexy, Spiritual Goddess Desired for Awesome Relationship with Extraordinary Man.

So begins one of the most extraordinarily detailed 'Man Seeks Wom...er, Goddess' ad I've ever seen. His list of 'Goddess' qualifications and what he brings to the table is extensive enough to warrant a full table of contents at the start. The list of qualifications that his prospective Goddess must exhibit is of epic proportions, to say the least. The woman that this guys wants probably does exist, in his own imagination, at least. At best, the qualities he seeks in one woman is non-existand, at worse, he's pathologically psychotic. Take a look and decide for yourself...