drawing: cripple cove boats

drawing: 'cripple cove boats' 9x18"

copyright debbie clarke, gloucester ma 2008

egg tempera and metal gild on distressed linen

work in progress: drawing for 'her shape too'

drawing for 'her shape' 12x12"
copyright debbie clarke gloucester ma 2008
sanford sharpie and dale & rowney egg tempera on panel

Work in Progress: Her shape

"her shape" 30x30"
copyright debbie clarke gloucester ma 2008
m/m: oil, chalk, foil, egg glue on canvas to be applied to panel.

Little Mako in the foreground

what goes on inside the white tent on the dock? that is the dock, right? and the pier is fixed?

and what is the name of the cobalt blue boat that ties up just beyond the Grand Isle? it never stays in port long and when i finally had my camera for a pic, off it went. what does it fish?

Last night I said: Hey Look!

to which David said: Capt Joe isn't having a carnival. It's the reflection of the harbor lights on the truck!

The Trapper John, signed

It must be done; I signed it yesterday and put the painting in the stacks.
"The Trapper John" 30x32"
copyright debbie clarke 2008
egg tempera, chalk and metal leaf on canvas.

portfolio selection: drawing, 10x10"

towards the budder room

one of my high school friends had lived in Nepal, family attached to the embassy. one of the rooms in her home was dominated by a twenty foot budda. she always referred to it as the budd"ah" room. i thought she meant butter. we sat for long periods caught between the feet of the budd"ah" and the sands of the essex river bay.

June said: You gotta see this artist's house!

it is so inspiring!

i replied.

and i should have shown them that one.
and elizabeth said i should hang that one.

David said: Why didn't you show them this one?

...oh, he means the one on the right.

Progress Report: New Work, 1st and 2nd light

"Jahna's Chicken" 10x10"
egg tempera and silver leaf on panel
copyright debbie clarke 2008

"Elizabeth's Cardinal" 10x10"
egg tempera and silver leaf on panel
copyright debbie clarke 2008

Progress Report: The Trapper John and The Dog & I drawing

This drawing is done. needs to be sealed. then the final light will be applied. stay tuned.
"Trapper John and The Dog & I" 30x32" copyright debbie clarke 2008, gloucester ma. chalk, aluminum leaf, wax, sharpie on canvas.

oh,

and
I must send off thank you notes.
will do.

fitting all of the pieces together

i'm re-doing my portfolio, smaller images, more reference information such as:
where is the work now?
year, media
consistent titles on all portfolios
sending a copy to update my files at the museum and any galleries that used to show my work.
will send the up-dated version to new york

wow.
pats self on back.

art marketing 101

here are some descriptive words about painting that i found in the Gallery Guide inre:gestural abstraction

the older generation: 'angst ridden'
'crusty surfaces and tortured brushwork'

the young painter: 'thoroughly joyful'
'a spirit of improvisation and spontaneity.'

the shoes that flew to ny, er...took the trains

KAT and Eye on W25th Street

we took in a lot of work straight out of the marketing machine. the work looks pretty. lots of technical expertise with exuberance. painting after painting, show after show of artists doing the same painting over and over again. even when there was lots of color, the overall 'show' turned bland before my eyes. disappointed. i wanted 'more of it', but saw no it. i kept thinking: 'slick and big, but, are they having any fun?'

KAT and I had a lot of fun during the whirlind of my 24 hours in NY. we talked art constantly from media to marketing to the 'it'. you gotta have the 'it' to be the 'it' girl. but you gotta have a bit more than 'it', you gotta have some grit, some determination, some stick to purpose, some artistic fortitude and endurance to keep making art after the 'it' has lost some of its shine.

i walked alot in my orange nike slippers and i got no blisters this time.
the 7 1/2 train ride home was the most exhausting part of the trip. oh, and The Gallery was closed, but i didn't know it until after i rang the bell, but they invited me in for a preview of the emerging talents they are hanging for their season opener. i was very quiet and looked around, then left. oh, and i left my book.

i went to the Guggenheim and saw Louise B's work. got vertigo at the top. and i love the Rheinhardt Black painting just the way it was. they should never have tried to restore it. as in fabric such as silk, it is in art, the slubs and nubs are inherent to the material.

i think i'll put a note on the back of my work: keep your hands off it!

oh, and i took a 50' taxi ride to the Guggenheim. momentarily disoriented i jumped in a cab and asked him to take me. he didn't turn on the meter and drove 50' to the curb. it was right there hidden behind the tree i was walking by. 'here you are.' he said to me. i started laughing so hard, i said how much? he waved his hand. he was laughing. i said 'let me at least buy you a cup of coffee.' so i took some folded ones and handed them to him. the last i saw of the cabbie he waved and laughed then shook his head and said 'I love you!'. good-bye. i hope i gave him enough ones for a cup of joe.

keep thinking about LB's work with a warning shot: if you got any daddy issues, you better get over them, or you will still be dealing with them, working it out out when you are 97.

New York City bound

going to the city this week
taking my book
gonna have a look around
thought about the ferry
maybe not
not much time to knock around
re-visiting the holy ghosts
gonna take a look around
see some work
take a gander at the Dali
The Balthus
some Joan Mitchell
la vie en rose
the big pink
near the Diebenkorn
gonna take my book
size things up
place the
book
in some hands
for eyes to see
nyc,
maybe

a call
will
come
back
or
not
but gonna try.

Trapper John, work in progress, as of 9/01/2008