THE DAILY INDUSTRIAL LANDSCAPE #10 ELMER NJ

Elmer New Jersey is one of the many small farming communities scattered through the state's "deep south".  This village, which I always found difficult to take seriously because of its name, is 15 miles from my home town, and for years I drove through the town on my way to Wilmington, Philadelphia, or anywhere west of our farm.

It took 40 years for me to discover, to my utter amazement and delight, Elmer's incredible architectural gem, a worn out and fading grain elevator located only blocks from its small main street, and towering over everything else in the vicinity.  It did not take long before it showed up on my drawing table, not just once, but three times.

the first time - pastel and ink

second time - construction

third time - pastel

Working on the "less is more" theory

It is a very rare visitor to my gallery who knows what a clay mono type is. Despite the herculean efforts of Mitch Lyons who developed this unusual process, it remains an unknown art form to most people, including artists. I quickly learned that my attempts to describe the process failed miserably, and as a result I resorted to demonstrating the technique by creating 3 to 4 small abstract prints. After giving one to the each visitor I would toss the remaining demos in a box, thinking that someday I will find a use for them. Well that someday has arrived. For the past few days I've been selecting some of the demos to serve as support for a series of small pastel paintings. Today I have several more to share with you.

4x6

4x4

4x7