New Sketchbook Stuff

I've been getting ready for the Studio Tour and going through my sketchbooks. I found a few I thought would be fun and 'bin-worthy'. Of course since I had my friend Joe visiting I asked him to pick his favorites and we couldn't agree. So a couple of these are ones I really love and then a couple he really loves. (I will of course not share which ones I don't like).............. Hope everyone is well. I have a bit of a cold this week and am keeping my couch company. (it likes a lot of attention sometimes).

East Coast Vacation Odds and Ends

Well here is a belated selection of odds and ends from our trip back east to visit my family. We were there for the heat wave. Managed to do some fun stuff anyhow. My sister Maureen was there with her two kids visiting from Colorado and we met our brother Mike in Nyack NY for lunch and to wander around this cute little town on the Hudson river (where we used to go to drink as teenagers because the drinking age was a year younger) I didn't go crazy with the camera this time so all the other siblings visits aren't covered but It really was nice to see everyone.

Here is a kooky little grocery bag sketch playing with my Dad's Conte' crayons and graphite.
The hottest day of all we went into the city (just worked out that way) to go to the Metropolitan Museum of Art. I made the incorrect assumption that there is no photography allowed and there actually is. I borrowed my sister's camera for a few shots of things I just really liked for one reason or another. The above couple really caught my eye. Jim and I are collaborating on a folding arched altar type piece now for a show at the Ventura County Museum of Art and I was on the lookout for inspiration.
This little girl just had such a funny lovable face. And I imagined she was just praying for someone to please finish this cross stitch for her.
Just liked this face......
Above a resaurant in Nyack. I liked this whole display of skellies having a party.
The bunch of us a sandwich shop/ bakery.

The sweets were much better looking than tasting.

Art and Thought Lab

For six weeks now my art brain and psyche has been under the direction of Maria Lucia Phillips. (although she may not agree to that description).

She calls her classes Art and Thought Lab. In her own words:

A life-transforming experience for people willing to go deep and experience the various facets of one’s own creative process as “the sculptor, the sculpture and the marble” at the same time.

It is sometimes great, and sometimes like being in therapy going through something you really would rather not, and not always sure of why the heck you signed on in the first place. The best part is just working with some mediums that I haven't played with in ages. It is a somewhat mysterious process you have to just decide to trust on some level. And I may not know exactly what I got out of it until quite some time after the classes are over.

And man is there a lot of homework. I'm posting some of it.- But some of it I hate so much I don't want to even photograph. The point is supposed to be the process never the result, but one of my THINGS is perfectionism so that makes it a bit tricky.





I like this little simple one above quite a bit.

More to come. Some I have not photographed. Some are so large I don't know how!- Some are unfinished ceramic works..........

MY BRAIN IS GONE....

Well I suppose you can guess from scrolling down that I'm so discombobulated that I am posting the same information twice. I suppose I could delete one of those posts but let's just leave it as a testament to my Working So Hard I'm Doing The Same Thing Twice.......So to make up for it here are a few thing that ARE new.
This guy is one of the sketch guys I liked and decided to make a painting of.
And this one is a small 6.5"x 6.5" that is probably my favorite. Hope everyone is well. CB

Recession Buster Series

So here is the whole "Recession Buster" series. Well almost all. I was lucky to sell two before the Open Studio Show and five more over the course of the weekend. The bird with gold leaf halo was bought by my friend Joe (aka Baby Joe), who usually helps out at shows but was on the east coast that weekend. The guy with the large nose is a new painting based on a sketch I was fond of.  Eventually I plan to list the remaining of these on the Etsy site when I get the chance.  Hope everyone is well -Chris