Tag: Martha’s Vineyard

Chained to the easel…

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that’s where I’ve been for weeks now. It’s super crunch time as I see the deadline for the July show coming closer….and closer. Every waking minute needs to be spent with brush in hand in order to meet the ambitious goals I have for producing more and better work this year.

You will have noticed that writing blog entries, which can sometimes take hours, have been shelved along with dinner invitations and all other social interactions, except for PT which is keeping my knees and back from seizing up all together.

I do monitor the incoming channels via email, internet and facebook so the outside world does get in… in short controlled bursts.

This morning one of those playful but interesting FB threads came through from a friend…World Book Day. Grab the book closet to you right now. Open to page 56, and choose the 5th sentence. Publish it as your status and write these rules as a comment. Don’t choose. PICK UP the CLOSET book.

I am a book lover so… I reached behind my easel chair and grabbed the closest book…it turned out to be Mechanical Drawing for High Schools by French and Svensen, used by students at the George Washington High School in Manhattan, N.Y.City between 1936-39…interestingly enough one of the students who signed it out in ’37 was George O’Neill…almost a relative ?

I use this book as a prop and it has appeared in several paintings…here’s one called Book Mark…

and a recent one, By Design…currently available at the Granary Gallery

So I opened to page 56…

and the 5th sentence reads…”When a pictorial sketch is dimensioned, the only additional consideration is to use care to see that all extension lines are either in or perpendicular to the plane on which the distance is being given.”

Which was a much needed reminder that the muses are here…just over my shoulder as it were…helping me struggle through the long hours of trying to get those extension lines just right…

Here is a shot of what I was painting when that facebook comment came through on the iphone beside me…complete with T-square in place to make sure those carefully considered doors are perpendicular !

So what book is beside YOU ?

Hinging…

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Getting lost in the details can sometimes mean losing the details themselves.

It can take hours and many layers of paint to make a convincing shingle, or door. Especially when the wood is painted white. Every angle and corner reflects the light differently. And you can’t just mix up a “blue” for the shadows because they rely on what’s under them as much as what the sun is doing for their color. And all those parameters can change in a heartbeat on what you thought was a stable sunny summer day when a cloud passes over.

So I’ve been paying close attention to those shadow passages for a few days as I built up the layers on this vineyard doorway…

And, as is my practice, I sat back at the end of the day to review the progress and make notes on things to address in the morning and something about this stage bothered me. So I got up and turned the lights off and heat down and came back once more before heading home…and it jumped out at me.  Did you catch it too ?

There was only one hinge on that door.

I was concentrating on the depth of that blue and missed the tiny little detail of hardware without which that door would fly away in a stiff ocean breeze.

I’ve got it on there now, along with the next couple layers of light and some the rest of the hardware and my walking stick.

Now if I only had time to fix the door to Pat’s office in the log cabin that has fallen completely off it’s hinges. Must be the theme of the week.

American Art Collector Magazine Profile

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It’s been a couple of seasons since we had the pleasure of John O’Hern’s company in our little corner of the planet. As part of his east coast travels, he came to the studio to interview me for the American Art Collector Magazine. John is one of those rare humans who has a thriving curiosity, the intellect to follow where it leads, and a profound peace at the center of his core. The combination makes for stellar conversation and his rapier like wit always keeps me on my bog-Irish toes.

I’m so grateful to John for his continued support and to Joshua Rose, the editor of AAC for profiling my work in this issue. The magazine is my go to source for the latest from artists and galleries and I’ve found something new and important for my work in every issue.

The February issue will be out soon, if not already, but here’s a peek at the first page of John’s article…

Circus Kirk

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Circles within circles within…circuses.

When I decided to paint this wonderful old truck that now lives out it’s final days on the farm just over the hill I had no idea that it had one more curtain call in its life of serving show business.

The painting was on exhibit  for the show in York last  November and I was surprised when a line formed of people telling me that they knew the truck, knew of the circus, were IN the circus and each had a fountain of memories about the good old days in which that truck played such a big part.

Since then, many of the performers have been in touch. They have a Facebook page which archives the history of this small town summer circus which was started by Dr. Charlies W. “Doc” Boas who was a professor at York College, here in PA. (Some of their anecdotes are posted below)

The painting is now on exhibition at the Granary Gallery on Martha’s Vineyard, which you all know is where a good portion of my creative energy and inspiration comes from.

Recently, I’ve made a conscious decision to step outside of my Pennsylvania studio more often and paint what I see in my own backyard. The truck is something we pass daily as it rests in the iconic fields of corn and so the muses called.

So, with the synergy and symmetry that lights my way these days, it was no surprise to read from one of the circus alumnae that this very truck was on the ferry over 3 decades ago bringing the Circus Kirk family to the Vineyard. The first circus to play on the island. My friend Ted remembers the dancing ladies !

A great big thank you to all the members who have taken the time to write and share their stories with me…

here are just a few…

From Charlie Boas (son of the founder) –

It ran for ten years in the 60’s and 70’s.  It was the creation of my
father, Dr. Charles W. “Doc” Boas.  It was staffed with almost all
college and high school students and usually only played in the
summers.  It was based outside of East Berlin, PA in Adams County.  Most
of the youth who worked for the show mark it as a major event in their
lives, and my dad is sort of a revered cult figure.  Dad passed away in
Stewartstown about ten years ago.  The truck you depicted is sort of an
icon, toiling away in a field outside of York.
Your painting gives it a wistful quality which I find to be
bittersweet.  The circus was a big part of my life during my formative
years and sometimes I feel like that part of me is indeed out to pasture.
Incidentally, one of the big adventures we had on the show was the time
we loaded the whole show on the ferry and played a date on Martha’s
Vineyard.  What a great audience, and what fun to take all the trucks on
the ferry.  I recall it took two or three loads to get them all over.
We were the first circus ever to play there.

Thanks for making the painting, and thanks for letting me ramble.

From Jeffrey Gabel –

In 1971, I was fresh out of college and my first job in show business was with Circus Kirk, a student summer tented circus out of East Berlin, PA which is 15 miles northeast from Gettysburg in rural Adams County.  In addition to performing as a clown, I drove the stock truck in your elegiac painting “Out to Pasture.” I also painted the circus logo on the truck.  It’s amazing the truck has survived because it was already ancient in 1971 as was the entire fleet of Circus Kirk vehicles.  Everyday, I loaded the truck with five ponies, one obstinate palomino horse by the name of Golden Rocket, his arch enemy Bama the Lama, Munch the Wonder Goat, a the mongrel dog act, and Pork Chop the trained pig.  Talk about a menagerie!  And those poor animals had to suffer my jerky driving because I learned to drive a stick shift on that truck so my shifting was anything but smooth.  What stories I could tell you about the adventures in that truck, traveling the highways and byways of rural Pennsylvania and Ohio.  And the breakdowns!

On the bluff…

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I meant to post some pics from our time on the bluff as soon as we got home. Well now it’s been over two weeks and I’ve got a tiny little breathing room so without further ado…

We saw more almost every sunrise, and every single sunset…spent the first two weeks knitting and reading and finishing a sweater while watching dancing with the stars with Ted…dinners with friends…many walks on the beach  and around the meadows with Finnegan…spent the last week holding new grandbaby Zoe and teaching her to play Pinochle and boccie and what it feels like to have dog whiskers on her face and watching the reflection of her melt-your-heart smile in her mama and papa’s eyes.

I don’t know about you other artists but my creative channel seems to never sleep. The goal was to relax and enjoy the vineyard’s healing solace and shut down the side of the brain that takes everything in as a painting reference. All in all…I sorta did.

And here’s the proof…

Here on MV

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Another summer storm has moved over the island and the steamy air is warming up again…as we head over to Menemsha to pick up some lobsters for supper tonight we found a copy of this week’s MV Times. Front page photo of the Menemsha Basin painting which will be featured in tomorrow’s show at the Granary Gallery.

Here’s a look at the article they wrote … http://www.mvtimes.com/marthas-vineyard/article.php?id=1697

The excitement is building and we’re going to try and spend tomorrow staying cool in preparation for the evening opening.

You do likewise my friends, H

Updates and upgrades…

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Please excuse the mess…My apprentice and I are putting the finishing touches on some upgrades to the website. The big summer show is a good opportunity to refresh and reconnect with patrons and friends and the website is the focus for the launch of the new paintings….soooo it’s time for a mini makeover.

Most of the improvements are happening in the background, thanks to my webmaster Ross !  He’s making it more user friendly for me to load images and select options. It’s making my job so much easier in this season of deadlines. I’ve added a new look to the boring lines of type that provide links to and fro within the site, and we are including some video and revamping a new studio tour…coming soon !

Check it out !

This week it’s all about the show. As of yesterday afternoon all of the paintings are back here in the studio. Half of them are framed and half…not. There are painters notes to be written, files from the photographer to be cleaned up and sized for the website and the gallery’s use, art supplies and equipment to be packed…and oh yeah…the trailer vent which failed and had to be ripped out and sent back to the factory…ugh…has been replaced with a new one which arrived yesterday…in the pouring rain…so that has to be reinstalled before any of these babies get loaded.

But we’re on the positive side of this adventure and …all shall be well.

New paintings will be launched on the website on Saturday…I hope !

Stay tuned… and stay cool,

h

Sad day in Menemsha

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There was a major fire in the fishing village of Menemsha yesterday. The coast guard boathouse and several docks burned down to the waterline. It happened quickly and as of this morning there are no reports of major injuries. The other miracle of this story is that the wind was blowing out to sea. Within a few feet of the burning structure on the inland side are the historic fishing shacks that line the basin. They are bare wooden shacks, many of which are simply  standing wooden tinderboxes…and most of which are working boathouses for the few remaining commercial fishermen on the island. Had the wind turned, they all would have been gone and with them the history and charm of that tiny island village.

There are reports of bravery this morning of fisherman who towed flaming but untethered boats out of danger and away from the gas station on the other side of the harbor, and firefighters who managed to control and contain the blaze, and townspeople who set up watering and cooling stations and helped to clear the roads for emergency vehicles.

This is the Vineyard. They know how to take care of each other.

Shortly after the fire began there were reports filtering onto Facebook and via local TV stations. Pat got the news and came over to the studio to let me know. Earlier that  morning we had picked up the big paintings for this summer’s show from the photographer and I was in the process of framing this…

For most of the winter the shacks and boats and birds and scenery of Menemsha were my companions as I took care to faithfully render the rigging and shingles and horizon full of houses.

Like many generations of artists, I have been drawn to the historic charm and beauty of the fishing village. My own tastes tend to  run toward the somewhat grittier side of the working aspects of the place. The way the detritis of the commercial fishermen, their boats and gear and comings and goings, make for a constantly evolving composition. Lobster pots and long lines, bouys and traps, pulpits and netting all get tossed around by the wind, the tides and the human hands that haul them to bring in the catch of the day.

And if you hang around long enough, and show up when the tourists have left for the day…or the season… the light that is so strong and ever changing on that island will reveal hidden treasures of beauty. For the last couple years I have concentrated on trying to capture some of what I see there  and have used the challenge of the large canvas to find my way into the corners,  behind the boathouses, and between the shadows of Menemsha.

As I look back now, the focus has been pulling outward…

from the closeup of the swordfishing troller Strider’s Surrender…

to the larger view of the boats and shacks Out Back O’ The Galley…

and opening wide up to the basin as seen from the top of Crick Hill just after dawn on a late October morning…

And in all of those paintings the Coastguard Boathouse can be seen. At first just a hint of the end of the dock to the left of the Strider. Then a sliver of white with the famous red shingled roof at the end of the road to the left of the big shack Out back of the Galley.

And this year, sadly the final portrait… it is the first building to catch the full morning sun at the far right of the painting and, weighed down by the gaggle of seabirds, it serves as an anchor.

Sadly today there is a new horizon…

Vegetable…

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The second in the series of traveling summer shows is opening this sunday at the Granary Gallery. The theme continues with…Vegetable…

My entry is titled Heirlooms and features some heirlooms from our dear friend Polly Mienelt who graced this planet and the island of Martha’s Vineyard for 95 years. Her husband Ted gave me that photo of her making a daisy chain and a collection of her handkerchiefs. The rest are heirlooms of a different sort that have found their way into my keeping…and the tomato…was delicious !