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THEY SAY THE BIRDS IS ON THE WING. AIN’T THAT ABSURD? I ALWAYS THOUGHT THE WING WAS ON THE BIRD. By Anonymous
Spring Jubilee
Silver Willows and Bubbling Waters
There are times when I really need to experiment with my painting approach. Sometimes it is successful, and sometimes not so successful. These paintings represent a study in a Japanese artist, Yasu Eguchi. When I held my weekly adult watercolor classes, we would take occasional trips to the Scottsdale art galleries. I felt exposing my adult students to many kinds of art would open their minds to art they might like to try. I would make the trip before the field trip to be sure what galleries were the best to see. The day I walked into The Leslie Levy Gallery and saw Yasu Eguchi’s work, was a mind-blowing experience for me. I spent several hours there going over his work trying to figure out his technique! I even briefly met him, as he came and went the gallery. The next day I took my class there, explaining to them why and how Eguchi was doing his watercolors. I spent the next several weeks experimenting with what I thought he was doing. I started with gluing down regular white rice paper to a piece of illustration board with a thin solution of white glue. After drying, I placed torn pieces of waxed paper in various shapes over the rice paper to form a masked area. I then took a small paint roller, the type for edging, rolled it in watercolor with opaque white, and applied it to the masked area. The frayed, irregular edges of the waxed paper worked great. I let the base areas dry before applying additional layers over them. That worked pretty well, until I discovered the original fiberglass watercolor paper, Aquarius. That paper worked perfectly, even though it was a bit itchy! After the base areas were applied and dried, I went back into them with a smaller brush and added various textures and lining with opaque white, watercolors, and silver powders. I had been practicing sumi-e painting for some time, so the textures of water and flowers were an easy exercise for me. I really enjoyed doing them, but the paper was discontinued as hazardous.
‘Spring Jubilee’ was only in one show, ‘The Arizona Artists’ Guild Spring Show,’ Valley Bank Center, Phoenix, AZ, April 2-6, 1984. ‘Silver Willows and Bubbling Waters,’ was only in one show, ‘Arizona State Fair Fine Arts, 1984,’ Phoenix, AZ, October 19-November 4, 1984.
Now comes the true meaning of this presentation, why weren’t the painting in more shows? I just goes to show, that when an artist deviates from the mainstream subject matter, they are at risk of having the painting rejected. This is what happened to both of the pieces. Neither piece was viewed a meaty painting, just a lightweight confection of no serious consequence. I decided to leave that work to Yasu Eguchi; his watercolors are thoughtful and difficult to paint.
http://lenseon.com/news/at-the-big-game/
Day 4, Gorilla Forest Camp
March 14, 2009, Saturday
By the time we spend several days in the same camp, a certain routine sets in. Many camps deliver tea or coffee to your room with the wake up call. Some camps deliver the call over the cordless phone, or in person. We have found that the coffee just has too much ‘hair’ and the tea isn’t what we like. We end up bringing our own tea and Splenda. I even bring my own salsa packets! It was pretty chilly to wake up in a cold, black tent in the morning, although they do give you a flannel coated hot water bottle to snuggle up with at night! I kept my socks on! Packing the carry bag and prepping the camera equipment the night before is the best idea. I always seem to forget something if I don’t. We went down to breakfast, and found a huge set up! I was a buffet of all kinds of breakfast things, plus eggs to order. (In Africa, eggs are eggs. You will eat a lot of them. You won’t want any after you return home for a long time!)
We were going to see the other group of gorillas that was actually in the park. This time, we were walking straight into the forest. We went back down to the park headquarters to meet the new groups of tourists. The biggest group, thank heavens, was not going to be with us. Two English girls who were volunteer teachers came with us. Five in this group was just fine. The girls just had small compact cameras, so they likely wouldn’t stand in front of us! People can become outright hostile when trying to get their shot! We had two guides today, a man and a trainee woman in an army uniform. Of course, we had the gun carrying trackers and our three porters. We hiked down the gravel road just past the park gate to enter a path that went through a tea plantation. The pickers were there with their bags and glared at us. We came to a small river which a power plant was being constructed. It was an overcast day, and the cool shady area of the river was calming. We climbed around the construction aqueducts and mud to enter the extremely dense forest. Not much light got through the dense canopy. Our porters made sure we were literally pulled through the jungle, over stones, under vines, through a stream, and then up the sheer side of the heavy vegetation of the mountain. One slow step at a time could send us straight down into the oblivion below. We grabbed on to everything: vines that were attached to nothing, tree ferns that would rip right out of the ground, and rocks that would slip when you put a foot on them. The trees did stay put! The trackers had chased this group of gorillas down from the top of the mountains. Fortunately, the group was the largest and had been the first to be habituated. No one had seen them in five months and were hard to approach. We finally reached them, and grabbed our cameras and Lense On! Setting up, even in a situation of hanging off the side of a rain forest mountain, was easy. I grabbed by camera with lense attached and Lense On! in the other. Oops, no more hands to hold on! I turned Lense On! upside down and used it as a walking stick! Great show! We left our carry bags with the porters. The guides hacked the way through the jungle to find a black back, or young male, gorilla eating a huge fern. I was about 6 feet from him with my back braced against a tree.
He sat there eating limb after limb of this fern until nothing but stubs were left. We clicked and clicked. It was hard to get an in-focus photo of him as he was constantly moving and kept his hands in his mouth! He then finishes the fern and stands up, well sort of. His front arms are longer than his legs, so he walks on his giant hands. He wants to move to a different spot to eat. The guides tell his to stay dead still. He starts moving right for Steve!!
Nicole gets the shot from the other side! The gorilla moves right past Steve and just below him. A tracker was trying to get him to come back up, when the gorilla growled at him bearing his teeth. Man, let him go! We don’t need a photo that bad! The gorillas went down deeper into the jungle where we could no longer follow them. I hoped we got some decent photos.
As our group started traversing laterally down the mountain, the female guide and I were at the back. She was watching the others, as I was looking back at the loud gorilla noises and raging bushes. Suddenly, out from the dense jungle jumped the gorilla we had been following. He rushed up to the guide and I, standing full length tall, just inches from our faces. Being right behind her, I grabbed the guide’s two shoulders and pulled her back into me. I tightly squeezed my fingers into her arms to the breaking point. The gorilla stood there looking into our large, frightened eyes. We were like stones, unmoving except for unblinking, watering eyes and rapid heartbeats with scarcely a breath. Just as quickly as he had approached, he turned in a flash and was gone. Shaking and terrified, we practically raced down the mountain. What that gorilla wanted to see is a mystery to me, but he got a real close look!! Back down the mountain the way we came up. This time it was easier and faster. I was motivated!
Here’s my UTube Wild Gorilla Thriller!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QGaQTNZDB7I&lr=1
After Dr. and Mrs. Ben E. Klein were discharged from the Navy after WWII, they moved back to his home town, Sedalia, Missouri to establish his dental practice. Their first home was in his mother’s buildings, the front apartment of 614 1/2 South Ohio. They had several years of a blissful life, but I was on my way to Sedalia! My mother and father moved into a small, rental, two bedroom house on the southwest corner of 16th and Vermont. It was owned by a wonderful man, Mr. Bremer, Hank and Tony Monsees’s uncle. I arrived as a cymbal crash into the world! As I turned three, I eventually settled into a calmer disorder, exploring everywhere and meeting everyone. I knew no strangers to the dismay of my parents, walking right into their unlocked houses! When Mother was on watch, I had to stay in the yard and play. My favorite pastime was picking violets and lilies of the valley under the grape arbor which stood outside our back door. I would take my favorite doll, Raggedy Ann, with me for company. We were usually joined by a big yellow, tiger tomcat, owned by the Barton’s across the back alley. He was always out looking for the occasional mouse, or following me around waiting for a friendly pet or tummy scratch. I had a great growing up years there, and continued my visits with them until they were all gone.
The oil painting was on simple prepared cotton canvas which I stretched. It was painted the spring before my daughter was born in 1972, reflecting on my own childhood. The painting was never exhibited, and remains in my private collection.
There was a point in my life where I only had a Kodak Instamatic camera to use. I was thrilled, since it was my next camera after my Kodak Brownie, which was broken. I did not care if the prints were small, and somewhat out of focus. Nevertheless, I used those photos for future paintings. There was one trip Steve and I went on to see his family in Houston, Texas. I had never been there before and was interested in seeing everything I could. I really wanted to see Galveston Island and all the historic homes. We drove around, looking for that special home. I finally found it, and got out of the car for a better shot. I took several photos of the beautifully restored home, but we were on a schedule to get back to Houston. When we got back home, and the film was printed, I saw something very curious. There was a terra cotta flower pot dish left on the railing. It looked like it was the place where the owners might have brought their flowers out into the sun for a little fresh air and light. Or did the flower pot fall off into the bushes below, or maybe the plant died and had not been replaced. What a thought for a major painting; a little whimsy with architecture.
The image was painted twice. I was going to enter my first Watercolor West show, which is the premier national transparent watercolor exhibition. I painted the half sheet, 140 lb Arches paper lightly with the strong architectural design. I was fortunate that ‘Errant Dish’ was accepted into this show, April 26-June 7, 1985. ‘Errant Dish’ went on to be in the Arizona Artist Guild and Arizona Watercolor Association shows. I still own the painting. I followed up with a full sheet watercolor that was much more detailed and contrasted, ‘Errant Dish, Part II.’ I did use a t-square and triangle to help square up the look up of the skewed lense aberrations. I loved tightening up the values to make the white and black pop. ‘Errant Dish, Part II’ first show was ‘The Edmond, Oklahoma’s Art Association Juried Expo, ’85,’ Kresge Fine Art Center, Oklahoma Christian college, OKC, OK, June 27-July11, 1985. It went on to be shown at ‘The Kentucky Watercolor Society Aqueous, ’85,’ Bellarmine College, Louisville, Kentucky, September 14-October 25, 1985; ‘The Oklahoma Art Guild Juried Exhibition,’ Northpark Mall, OKC, OK, May 16-24, 1986; ‘The Contemporary Realism Exhibition,’ Leslie Levy Gallery, Scottsdale, Az., November 13-December 8, 1986; ‘The Arizona Artists Guild Winter Show,’ First Interstate Bank, Phoenix, AZ, January 19-30, 1987; ‘Glendale’s 26th Annual Festival of the Arts Juried Fine Arts Exhibition,’ Glendale, AZ, October 11-28, 1987. It received the Purchase Award from Valley National Bank. I found out the bank had an enormous collection of paintings in its vault downtown tower. The painting ended up hung over the water cooler at the University Avenue branch in Tempe, Arizona. When I saw it there in such a disrespectful location, I decided to be much more careful about selling my best work. The Valley National Bank is now owned by Chase Bank, and who knows where the painting is. If you see ‘Errant Dish’, let me know. I will buy it back! Be very careful about selling your art!
This painting is a study in duality. The demise of mom and pop businesses and the common man. This painting takes place in Kaiser’s Ice Cream Store in September of 1989. When we lived in Oklahoma City from 1985-1987 with Sonic Corporate, we took many rides around town to see the sights. This is a left over from my earlier childhood days of driving around town on the weekends in Sedalia, Missouri. One of our favorite places to visit was the old fashioned ice cream parlor in downtown Oklahoma City. I was especially taken by its vintage appeal of the black and white checked floor, bent wood chairs, and black velvet curtains on brass rings and railing. After several years of just looking at this great interior, I decided to photograph it with a short roll of twelve shots. The day I was there, a nice day counter man was working and asked to help me. I asked if he had the time to pose for me. I was impressed with his calmness and politeness. Since I was shooting film, I had no idea what was ‘in the can!’ I returned later to find that the business had closed and everyone was gone. I was probably the last one to photograph Kaiser’s and the short window into its history.
Several years went by, not thinking about Kaiser’s or the Common Man, until I bought Aaron Copeland’s album, ‘The Copeland Collection.’ The first piece was, ‘Fanfare for the Common Man.’ The impressive gongs, brass, and elegant understatement of the music gave new meaning for me to paint, ‘In Defense of Common Man.’ Common Man is symbolic of all of us who are nameless, doing our best in a quiet, patiently driving reserve. Here’s to us and all who have gone before!
‘In Defense of the Common Man’ was finished on April 7, 1991. The first show it was accepted into was the ‘Arizona artists Guild Spring Membership Juried Exhibition’ at the Shemer Art Center, Phoenix, Arizona, May 28-June 22, 1991. The next exhibition was ‘The Arizona Watercolor Association 1991 Fall Membership Show’, Arizona Artists Alliance, November 2-16, 1991. It received the Award of Excellence. The next acceptances were: ‘Napa Valley Art Store’s First Annual Fine Art Competition,’ March Issue of the Art Catalogue, 1992. ‘The Knickerbocker Artists New York 42nd Annual National Open Juried Exhibition,’ Salmagundi Club, NYC, NY, September 21-October 2, 1992. ‘Natiional Watercolor Oklahoma,’ Kirkpatrick Center, OKC, OK, September 10-October 24, 1993. ‘The Midwest Watercolor Society 18th Annual National Exhibition of Transparent Watercolor,’ Neville Museum, Green Bay, Wisconsin, 1994. ‘The Salmagundi Club 18th Annual Non-Member Exhibition, NYC, NY, May 8-26, 1995. It is a stretched, full sheet of 140 Lb. Arches hot pressed paper painted with transparent Winsor-Newton watercolors.
See the slideshow and hear the music at: http://outrageousred.com/art_blog/in-defense-of-…eam-store-1989/
I recently watched the old black and white film noir movie, ‘The Third Man,’ set in 1949 Vienna, Austria, starring Joseph Cotton, Orson Wells, and Trevor Howard. If you can get through the dark lighting of the movie, you will enjoy the plot, and above all, the music by Anton Karas. As we are finishing up old 2011, I thought a recap of the paintings I have brought to you so far this year would be perfect set against the music from romantic Vienna. For Auld Lang Syne!
http://outrageousred.com/art_blog/the-third-man/
There are things I remember from my early childhood that have stayed with me all my life. One of these memories comes from an early Sunday Christmas morning in my hometown of Sedalia, Missouri in 1949. My Grandmother Klein lived alone in a huge upstairs five room apartment at 614 1/2 South Ohio. It had been snowing for sometime, but so lightly that the snow felt like goose down. I was three years old, and all wrapped up in my Christmas outfit and hat. Mother and Father were all bundled up as we drove down 16th Street to Ohio to go see Grandma before church. My position was standing on the broad back seat, holding onto the door strap. In the magical dimness of the early morning snow, everything looked like it had been coated with snow icing. I had never seen anything like it. As we drove toward downtown, I got more excited about getting into the snow. We arrived at the apartment and visited for a while. I spent the time looking out the front windows seeing a real winter wonder land. As we left, I asked Dad if we could walk in the snow. What was so striking to me was the weather was almost warm, with no wind. The snow was so softly falling in the early light that if felt like fairy dust dancing on my face. We walked to the center of snow covered Ohio Street, where not one car had traveled down. Dad and I walked straight down the middle of the street looking at all the snow draped street lights and Christmas decorations for several blacks, gliding through the perfect snow. Although the snow came to my knees, I felt like a princess in a magical kingdom. As we were ending our walk, the bells of Sacred Heart Church rang out their Christmas herald. We stopped to listen frozen in time and returned to meet Mother. This was truly a wonderful Christmas to remember.
Winters Milk
This painting was done the winter before my daughter, Nicole’s birth, in honor of that Christmas morning of long ago.
Eddie’s Drive-In
This story really is not about the painting, but the wonderful legacy a family gave to Sedalia’s identity. Way back in the ‘Great Depression, ‘not unlike today’s ‘Modern Depression’ families have been working, struggling to survive. This unique story dovetails with my own family in the same time and people interaction. It also carries forward with my own family hamburger business, Sonic Drive-In.
In 1932, Jesse D. Garst died in Sedalia, at the age of 50. My Grandfather Benjamin Roy Klein died in 1939 at 614 S. Ohio at the age of 60. Times in Sedalia were very tough. Men with no jobs depended on their women and families to make money. These women were pioneer girls, learning how to cook, clean, and sew from an early age. Jesse Garst married Fannie Winstead, Benjamin Roy Klein married Mora Williams. Both women were self-sufficient, and most probably friends living only two blocks apart. Mora Klein owned and operated the ‘Klein Helpie Selfie Laundry’ out of the basement of 614 South Ohio.
After Jesse died, Fannie went to Illinois to help run her sisters’ root beer stand cooking and baking pies for the patrons. They served steak burgers, soft drinks, and malts to the delight of everyone. The drive-in service was unique and cutting edge for this hip age. Although the Winstead family had originally lived in Smithton, as did Benjamin Roy, Fannie wanted to return to Missouri. They decide to come Sedalia and purchase a prime block in Sedalia at the southwest corner of Broadway and Ohio Streets. In the summer of 1937, my father, Benjamin Eads Klein, aged 19, and his sister, Joyce, aged 16, applied for a job at the new drive-in just two blocks from their apartment. No doubt, Grandman Klein was very protective of where her children worked and watch over. She must have been reassured by Fannie’s leadership. I have no idea how long my father and aunt worked there, but they had a great time.
Fast forward, Fannie past away on 1947, so her daughters,son, and long time enployee decided to run the restaurant. Three families were supported by the drive-in that was open early and late with three shifts.
Eddie Boydel, bought the drive-in and ran it until his death in 1989. George Goetz, who worked there as a teenager, is the manager. He tried closing the place this last of September,citing low customers and retirement. That totally backfired, as everyone called and flocked to the drive-in in total remorse! How could you do this??!!
George has the drive-in open and flipping burgers! Go George.
Just a brief bio of the painting just in case your are interested. While I was taking photos of the family apartments, I took photos of Eddie’s Drive-in before they took out the old counter service and stools. I had lived during all my years in Sedalia at the drive-in, waiting in line in front of the grill waiting for the best made-to-order burger, before BS, before Sonic!, in the land to put onto my mouth, remembering my dad and aunt. I love the burger and experience. There is nothing like it anywhere, even today. Please do not close! Peace.
Update the shows later.
Seventh Avenue Streetscape Art Panels
This project almost didn’t get off the ground. I had received notice of the competition when it was announced, and even printed off all the rules. Vacation came and the ‘Art Panels’ shuffled to the bottom of the pile on my desk. Like so many good intentions, I almost failed to act on this challenge. If I tried and didn’t get the commission, well, so they didn’t appreciate my work. But, if I did win, I’d really have to produce something and be accountable. That prospect was even scarier. It took a while for me to get back to business, but I found the entry information. I thought I had as good of chance as anyone to win a city commission. Time for submission was getting short, but I dedicated four days to get everything prepared. The city had many requirements that took time to fulfill.
I actually had two proposals, but only one could be selected. I knew that the local gentry would be the people who would see and appreciate this project the most. The bus stop isn’t a big area, but it is a place where they could stop and think about the artwork for a short time. I felt a painting of a vintage interior would appeal to everyone, since this area had some of the older history of Phoenix. I’ve been painting vintage interiors for many years, and still find them compelling. The vintage quality evokes a quiet yearning of a time past and/or a person they had loved and miss. I knew there were older buildings in existence that the local residents would know. Several weeks passed, and I received an excited phone call from Sharon Southerland, the City of Phoenix Public Art Manager. She explained to me that the committee had selected my proposal to paint a vintage interior for the art panels. The moment of truth was facing me. I was their first selection!
What would I paint? I contacted Sharon to ask the local merchants for suggested areas of interest. The merchants suggested several sites and their addresses. I took that under advisement, and set out on a very hot August 10, 2006 to find my scene. I started at 7th Avenue and McDowell to drive straight north surveying the territory. Chester’s Garage at 7th Avenue and Glenrosa was a highly recommended location. I hadn’t been in the area for a long time, so I was driving cautiously. I passed the garage, turned around, and parked in their front parking lot. It was really hot by 1:00 p.m. as I moved to the huge open bay garage doors, looking for a ‘front door.’ I maneuvered through the garage to the main door to find a man quietly cocked back in a white plastic chair by a dinette table sound asleep with his mouth slightly open. I knew this had to be Chester: the office was coolly air conditioned, and I arrived after lunch. The boss was taking a little Arizona snooze after lunch. I felt like joining him.
Not to scare him, I quietly said, ’Hello!’ He was just dozing and woke up quickly. I introduced myself, and explained what I was doing there. Chester became really excited. Mr. Bill Chester introduced me to his wife and bookkeeper, Gwen. Although I had other locations for the painting as possibilities, I knew this was my spot. Chester gave me the $100.00 tour! He showed me his car museum with vintage garage memorabilia, the cars he had restored, and a trip upstairs on a small winding staircase. The upstairs apartment overlooked the inside of the main garage with French doors opening into the garage! It had been a place for meeting or whatever, but it looked like a great grandkid hideout to me!
I really didn’t know where the bus stop panels were. I asked Chester their location, and he burst out laughing! ‘They are right outside!’ Sure enough, I was right on the Artscape corner. This was fortuitous.
As this was a research trip, I made a later date with Mr. Chester to take photos of the garage. I returned a week later on August 17th. It wasn’t any cooler. I arrived at 9:00am, but the set up took an hour. Chester was wonderful. We gathered items from his museum and placed it in the garage. We moved things around but left some things in their place. Wow, I had never painted the interior of a garage, but everything is the same on interiors, only the location changes. I took my last shot at around 11:30 am. I had no clue how I was going to do this painting.
Returning to my studio and downloading the photos to my computer, I decided on the right photo for the painting. The mounted watercolor paper on the board was ready for the drawing. I attached my computer to the digital projector, and started on the projected drawing. The tracing resembled a contour drawing. The final drawing needed a T-square and straight edges to correct the lines. I was on a timetable, as I was leaving the country before the deadline. I worked full time through the days and weekends to complete the painting. This is, however, not my preference. I like to slowly paint and view the work in progress. Being 12 inches from the paper and 12 feet from the drawing board are very different. Lighting is important too. Having the computer to zoom in on a detail was absolutely important. I could have never seen the detail in all the areas without the digital information.
The painting was completed and delivered. The work eventually ended up at Michael and Jennie Johnson’s Cloudwatcher’s Studio for scanning and color correction. They worked with Sharon Southerland to perfect the color for the printing company onto the Lexan plastic, and the lighting for the basic daytime and backlight nighttime viewing-two different types of viewing. Michael came up with the idea to print the front and back of the plastic in register to get the full color impact, reprograming their printer! The 7’ by 9’ panels were installed and remained on site for almost two years. I was paid $1,000 by the city and was given back my painting! What a deal. I wonder where those panels are today, but I still have the painting.
Ps. In the lower right corner is my signature in a rectangular block. It was the place of the price sticker for the watercolor paper that gooed up the surface. I did not realize this until the drawing was on the board! I had to do something with that spot, so the signature box seemed right!
If you have any technical or informational comments on this garage painting, let me know. Thanks.
I am the featured artist for the Western Colorado Watercolor Society. Check out this site and WCWS!
http://westerncoloradowcsociety.org/New%20Index.htm
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