SEVEN -O

It has taken me a while,but I finally figured it out. This mental funk I've been in for the past few months can be traced back to my birthday in May.

I can look back on several birthdays that have had special import for me. Certainly my 17th, which allowed me to apply for a drivers license, a milestone for any teenage boy, and of course my 21st, which made it legal for me to drink and make a fool of myself. It would be 41 years before the next milestone arrived...my 65th birthday was accompanied by a Medicare card! My parents had Medicare cards for heaven's sake, and now I was looking at one with MY name on it. This might have caused problems for a lesser man than me, but possessed of a strong heart and mind - well, at least a strong heart - I dealt with it and got on with my life, knowing it would be 5 years before I would be facing another significant milestone. Sixty something is one thing, but SEVENTY, that’s clearly something else.

Imagine my surprise and dismay when now, 4 years later, after my 69th birthday, I find myself struggling to deal with the idea of being 70 years old. It doesn’t matter that I’m only 69. Sixty nine doesn’t really exist. It is only there to tell me that in a very short time “YOU WILL BE SEVENTY!” At this point I should explain that I am what the psychologist Carl Jung would call an intuitive, meaning I tend to always focus on the future, living ahead of myself; sometimes I feel like I’ve already lived 2 lifetimes. Although it is premature to deal with all of this now, by doing so my 70th birthday will be a breeze.

OK, so it is all relative, and it is mental, not physical. When I look in the mirror do I see someone who is SEVENTY years old? Of course not. Just because I can’t get up from kneeling without the help of holding on to something...well that doesn’t mean anything. And so I make a little noise when I get up from a chair, it’s just a little ooomph, and that doesn’t count. There are of course a few other problems, which are too delicate to discuss here, but they too are basically all mental......aren’t they.

So, what is my problem with 70? I guess it is the realization that all of the “some day”s that I have always counted on may no longer be there, and for a Jungian intuitive that can be rather threatening. But that is another story.

WORK IN PROGRESS III

It is taking time, far more time than I usually spend on a painting, but it has been gratifying to see the progress. I don't know where this new found patience comes from, but I'm doing my best to take advantage of it.



There are more details to complete, as well as work on the foreground. I think the next time I post this will be the last. In the meantime, a new canvas has just been hoisted onto the easel.

SAD REMAINS

Sad Remains acrylic 36x36 $2500

Completed to mixed reviews yesterday. Today, after I rearrange the gallery walls (changing the paintings on the wall, not the walls themselves.), I will try to finish the market scene that I've been avoiding for the past several days.

THE STREETS OF PADUCAH

the Texaco Station...now a Lowertown Arts District information center

I came up with these words over several days of walking dogs shortly after moving to Paducah. They are to be sung to the tune of “the Streets of Laredo”.

As I walked out in the streets of Paducah,
As I walked out in Paducah one day.
I spied an old artist all beaten and battered,
All beaten and battered and covered with clay.

I asked the man gently what had he befallen,
What had he befallen so covered with clay.
He turned to me slowly and softly he whispered,
I f____ed with the muses, and this is my pay.

Laden with sorrow at this artist’s sad story,
I asked the poor soul just what I could do.
He quickly replied with a smile and suggested,
buy one of my paintings, better yet, make it two.

He told me the story of his move to Paducah,
Uprooting his family, his home, and his wife,
In search of his dreams and affordable living,
All in the quest of the real artist life.

The folks he encountered were charming and friendly,
Especially the builders who quickly said sure.
We can rehab that sorry old place you’ve just purchased,
But hastened to add it will cost a bit more.

With others who followed they banded together,
Praising Mark, praising Tom, for all they would do.
Until the inspector said sorry to tell you,
One bathroom won’t make, you really need two.

The artists, their partners, their dogs, did not falter,
Together they worked, undeterred, so it seems.
For artists are special, determined, devoted,
In their unyielding quest to capture their dreams.

So when you walk out in the streets of Paducah,
Make you way into Lowertown, for there you will find,
A bevy of artists all working together,
Making music and art for your soul and your mind.

When I walk out in the streets of Paducah,
When I walk out in Paducah each day,
With my dogs on their leashes I whistle and wander,
And smile as I greet all my friends on the way.


the delightful home, studio, and gallery of Working Artists. (Ike and Charlotte)

WORK IN PROGRESS II

36x36 canvas

White artist tape can be seen on the right of the canvas. I frequently use tape to get the "hard" edges I like on architectural subjects. Eventually the remnants of this barn will be surrounded by leggy bare trees and vines. The foreground will be winter grass, brush, and leaves in autumn colors with patches of the dark under painting showing through.

WORKS IN PROGRESS

Ever so slowly...I have screwed up the courage to move forward and have begun adding the darkest values using acrylic washes of dioxazine purple, cadmium red, and hookers green. I mays till overpaint some of this with opaque darks. It all depends on how it looks to me after I work on some of the details.


This is a new 36x36 canvas I started yesterday. I don't know if you can see the faint outline of the falling down frame of an old barn. That will be the next step.

WORK IN PROGRESS

The progress is slow but steady. I have painted this market on several different occasions over the years, but always with watercolors; using acrylics requires a different approach and I find myself working with unaccustomed caution. The basic elements/shapes are in place and the next major step is to proceed with the darkest shadows which will dominate the middle area of the painting and allow all of the bright colors to "pop out".