Autumn in the Piedmont
Author: coffeehousejunkie
Coat rack collection
A record of days
Reading at bookstore
An afternoon reading comic strips
Lost confessions
Some days all you need…
October quickly fades
I raise my cup to invite the bright moon
Haiku a morning in a thousand pixels
Gather ’round the radio
Legend
After the storm
15 year anniversary
Vision in motion, an exercise
Never waste money on purchasing a tube of black paint, I was told.
With three or four colors you can mix a pigment as dark as black. And a richer shade of pigment. Is black even a color?
These thoughts remind me of color theory and composition class at the university. My professor was a student of Josef Albers. At the time, that fact did not have a great impression on me. But I wonder about the lessons he must have learned. Not so much the academic rigor of craftsmanship and applied fine arts. That is important. But lessons of integrity and legacy. Was it Albers who taught him that quip about black paint? Or did that come from Willem de Kooning?
A couple days later, the middle child looks at this project. “What’s this about?”
I do not answer. It is an exercise. It is practice.
Vision in motion, paint big
This is practice. An exercise. Form and color.
Do you see a character? As in, a letter of the alphabet.
Or do you see a character in human form?
The daylight quickly fades for this January afternoon. I chose a larger brush to apply pigment. At the university, the art professor instructed, “If you can’t paint well, paint big.”
It was not criticism, but rather a modernist declaration. He provided an atmosphere that allowed guidance rather than dogma.
I load the larger brush with the muddy water from the tray and a touch of pigment found between two watercolor cakes. The transparent layer is applied to the dry paint. A technique called glazing.
This is not an art lesson. It is a conjuring up of an image.
Vision in motion, layer upon layer
This is an exercise. Form and color. Loading the brush with pigment and applying it to the paper. Quick strokes. Vision in motion.
Painting by the light of the apartment’s living room window. The sun light is best in the morning. But I have continued this project well past the noon hour.
“Why do you keep painting,” asks my child.
“It’s underpainting,” I say as I clean the brushes and prepare for an afternoon walk. “The lighter tones provide the base. When the paint dries I add more color layers.”
It is January. It is Winter. The outdoor temperature is above the freezing point. We walk to the library and return books. We continue to talk.
Vision in motion
Trying something new. Or, rather, returning to something old.
Here is a first draft for consideration.
Will provide details as updates are available. Let’s see how this turns out.
What is the story?
A picture is worth a thousand words. A common expression. Or common illusion. The story behind the image used in a post, “Meformer” (vs “informer”), does not tell the whole story. Not even part of the story. The post deflects the writer’s fears and anxiety. What do you see in the twenty minute sketch captured by an outdated iPhone photo?
![DSCN3428[sqr-tilt-dallas]](https://coffeehousejunkie.net/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/dscn3428sqr-tilt-dallas.jpg?w=560)
Another images portrays an artist’s workspace. An unfinished ink and watercolor painting. The related post reveals part of the story. Fear motivates. But there is a whole story arch of dreams and desires. Hopes and aspirations. And failure. If you were to write a thousand words about this photo, what story would you tell?
![DSCN6003[DSCN6002[sqr-basic-lomo-dusk-tilt]]](https://coffeehousejunkie.net/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/dscn6003dscn6002sqr-basic-lomo-dusk-tilt.jpg?w=560)
Notepads capture interesting details. To do lists. Contact information. Grocery lists. Project tasks. Appointments. Or this photo of an anatomy of print advertising. Why this list? What story does this relate?
The illusion of these photos is the framing. The information that is cropped out of the image is equally as important as what is framed within it.
Selective reading habits
Interlibrary loan system
The interlibrary loan system provides access to books. Books that are not available at the local rural public library. Books requested using the library system’s web site arrive as they are available. Sometimes the combinations of titles display a curious serendipity. Slow Productivity. And History of Graphic Design Volume 1 1890 – 1959.
The principles featured in Slow Productivity appear to contrast with the other book. At least at first glance.
Graphic design projects and tasks were once defined by art and drafting skills. Tactile skills of cutting an oval with an X-Acto knife for a Rubylith overlay sheet. Or drafting skills of using a T-square ruler and triangle to layout the ad copy for an advertisement. Or the skill of painting a headline with gouache paints or pigment inks. Or the photographic skills of loading, shooting, processing, and printing 35mm film. Graphic design work prior to the 1990s required more physical activity. Often, a design shop featured multiple creative talents. A photographer. An illustrator. A copywriter. A director and assistant. A typographer and designer. A videographer and film and audio editors. That is a team of ten creatives. Now graphic design projects and tasks encompass project management and problem solving. And a single designer needs to do the work of ten creatives.
Can graphic designers do their projects and tasks without burnout? That is the question. And, maybe, that is where the interlibrary loan library books compliment each other. Can the past inform the present? And future? And, more uregently, can I read these books before they are due back to the library?
Weekend sketch – Sarah and the king of the goblins
Another sketch from the weekend. Inspired by the film Labyrinth, I reimagined Jareth, the king of the goblins, and Sarah. The first time I saw the film was in art class. The high school art teacher thought it would be inspiring. It has captivated my imagination ever since.
Weekend sketch – Jareth, the Goblin King
Inspired by the 1986 film Labyrinth, I sketched a portrait of Jareth the Goblin King.
Jazz with Bob Parlocha on a rainy night
The children tucked in to their beds. Stories read. Prayers said. I walked to the kitchen and turned on the radio. A reward for getting the children to bed on schedule. If everything was on time, than I heard Bob Parlocha introduce his radio broadcast. Jazz with Bob Parlocha began at the top of the hour, eight o’clock, on the local public radio station. I washed the dishes, figured out bill payments, or some other domestic chore while listening to music.
That was a different time. And in a different place. The local public radio station signal received is full of static. Their evening programming does not include Jazz with Bob Parlocha. That is understandable. He died almost a decade ago.
The Sageza Group archives jazz radio broadcasts. On their web site, jazzstreams.org, they collect Bob Parlocha’s original broadcasts that were digitized. “Commercial jazz radio is just about gone from North America,” they write.
On evenings like tonight, when the radio reception is poor and the needle for the record player needs to be replaced, I find the Jazz with Bob Parlocha archives.[1] What was Bob broadcasting ten years ago on this date? Or eleven years ago? I select the date of a broadcast[2] and I am transported to a different time and a different place.
NOTES:
[1] The Sageza Group, Jazz with Bob Parlocha archives accessed April 16, 2024 http://jazzstreams.org/JwBP/JwBP-index.php
[2] Jazz with Bob Parlocha, April 16, 2013 broadcast accessed April 16, 2024 http://jazzstreams.ddns.net:8808/JwBP/Jazz-with-Bob-Parlocha-(2013-04-16).mp3
Coffeehouse Junkie 