Plastic.

Hey there Interwebs,
I just dropped off this painting today for the "self portrait" show at the Plastic Club here in Philly, opening reception on Sunday, September 12 from 2-5pm.

743, 2007, oil on canvas, 10"x10", by me.

Plastics.

Art and the City.

Once again reunited with our computer! Ahhh.

So we did indeed make it to NYC for the Otto Dix show, as hoped. Great stuff! I was a little disappointed that they didn't have some of his more well-known paintings, but no matter – what they had was worth it, well worth it. Especially intriguing was the "War" series of prints, created in the years following Dix's service in the German army in World War I. You should check out the show yourself – if you can't make it to New York, the show is moving to the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts next. Here's the only photo I was allowed to take in the museum:

I know I've posted a fair amount on this blog about how in love I am with Philadelphia – grimy and crusty as it is, this little city, it has wooed me nonetheless. But let us not forget about New York City and its considerable charms! I especially love the awkward and surprising ways in which nature butts up against the concrete jungle – or the fact that occasionally you can dip into a garden or park and almost lose yourself in the green. Here's some NYC love, including some love for Brooklyn, which I recently visited briefly for the first time:

Le parc central

DUMBOberries!

Brooklyn babies in distress

Jefferson Market Garden, Manhattan

Manhattan Bridge, from the Empire-Fulton Ferry State Park

DUMBO: NO ART.

Brooklyn Bridge and ze Big Apple beyond

Otto!

Still experiencing technical difficulties, in the form of no computer. Situation will be remedied soon. In the meantime, we're headed to NYC tomorrow to check out the Otto Dix exhibition at the Neue Galerie. Love his work - can't wait! More soon. Here's a sampling:

Dr. Heinrich Stadelmann, by Otto Dix, oil on canvas, 35.75" x 24", done in 1920.

Break. Broken.

Experiencing a brief blogging hiatus, due to a broken computer. Will be back shortly... sorry for the absence!

Oil sketch, in progress.

I recently received some great painting inspiration in the form of very lively and lovely houseguests - here's a recent sketch, hopefully to be worked on again at some point very soon:

sb, oil sketch in-progress, 9"x12" by me.

One more time: GROSS!

I neglected to mention earlier that Sadie and I made it to the Philadelphia Museum of Art a couple of weekends ago while she was in town to see the newly-restored, deliciously dark Eakins painting "The Gross Clinic". In the name of laziness, I will forward you on to this link for a greater and more in-depth story of the painting... but first, let me just say that I am proud of Philly for pulling the funds together to keep the painting in the city, instead of selling it off to some far-flung place... YAY. So, without further ado: Gross!

Eakins' painting The Gross Clinic, photo courtesy of the Philadelphia Museum of Art.

Shanking.

Last week I checked out a live portrait painting demonstration by Nelson Shanks at Studio Incamminati here in Philadelphia. Two fellow painters from North Carolina, Kiki Farish and Jill Eberle, had the good fortune of taking a full intensive two-week course at the school, and they were kind enough to save me a front-row seat for the demo. It was great! Much better than the one I went to a couple of months ago at the Union League here in Philadelphia, where we were in a HUGE room and people in the audience/standing around schmoozing on the periphery were super-chatty and distracting. This was a more intimate setting with serious students, and was a delightful and informative session. Here are some photos of Mr. Shanks' painting of his son Alexander, in progress through the evening:

The painting in-progress

This photo courtesy of Jill Eberle

Just beachy.

More posts to come soon, including one about the Nelson Shanks painting demo I went to last week. But I'm just coming off some time at the beach, so please give my brain some time to re-focus.