And Now For Something Completely Different... The Weather

This is a picture from that first brush with REAL winter weather.  Bob snow-blew up a storm (haha) on Saturday, clearing a swath wide enough for a HumVee to drive through. I think he may have mentioned it would be handy when this weather episode landed. And here it is! (No, those are not dog turds on the snow pile above. Just a few stray late blowing leaves).
Outside, it's what everyone is expecting and predicting: windy cold, snowy and just starting to accumulate. Perfect for staying indoors (if only Jules would let me- he loves this stuff.) and taking over exposed yellow pictures of the lovely blooming bulbs presented by friends.

Looks sort of Eastern European, doesn't it? We haven't gotten around to making a new curtain cover. Hell, I'm just trying to get back into my studio and make some more art. It's good to be working at a normal pace (whatever that is!) without attempting to finish pieces by a particular date or with a specific theme in mind. Although, I am still dwelling on images of financial calamity and fiscal doom. Plenty of room for exploration there! And I know the subject all too well. Hahahaha.
Bob and I went into Brooklyn yesterday, to meet up with a photographer and have my work documented. I also think it was important for me to see that my work is still hanging on the walls of Odetta Gallery and I didn't hallucinate the entire event. Yes, my work was still there and I even got to talk to some gallery goers and give them some insight into my process. (There are actually pockets of real people who go out and look at art. No kidding!) And despite what seemed like tremendous obstacles- yes, even in the controlled and rarefied environment of a gallery!- we got the pictures done. First it was the sunlight pouring into the gallery and creating incredibly uneven shadows, then it was one piece hung in a tight hallway, where it looks great, but was very difficult to get back far enough to shoot. But photographer Max Yawney did a splendid and meticulous job, adjusting and tweaking and spending all afternoon... He really did my work right. Here's a sample.

Even as a small image, it looks great! Of course, I can't share the squeaky toy sewn into the tip, but hey! At least you get the idea.

In Preparation

There I am, hard at work helping with a color check while my good friend (and fabulous photographer!) Carl Weese documents my equally fabulous piece, "Wage Slave". Some day I will relate the story of how my tour de force piece "Wage Slave" didn't make it into my show at Odetta Gallery; but that's for another day!
The show is up and looks... you guessed it- FABULOUS. I am, of course, in good company and the stars must have been lined up just right when Ellen Hackl Fagan, artist/curator/gallerist decided to show me and my showmates. Joe Amrhein, Rico Gatson William Powhida and I make quite the powerful statement. It's been an education thus far and the show hasn't even officially opened. Come on down on the 16th of January (from 6-8) and see for yourself.
I am also fabulously exhausted as Bob and I have been running around, dropping work off cursing the accursed snow gods (who deemed it necessary to drop several sloppy inches of that evil white stuff on us on Friday morning when we were due to be in NYC). Bob and I were delayed by several hours, but made it in to assist in set up. It was another of those million odd anxious moments that make up a life! But the show is up and looks... do I need to repeat myself?

But I did manage to steal enough time to create a "Mini Jules" on our bedroom carpet. Jules is a shedding kind of fellow and in our spare minutes, Bob and I can be seen performing an odd shuffle, raking stray gobs of Jules' discarded fur into furrows that we typically throw away. The other night, however, I saw fit to industriously fashion a shadow facsimile of Jules. Bob and I were entertained (and, yes, we are easily entertained) but I think Jules missed the point and failed to see the humor in it. Oh well! You have to have silliness in your life.