Black Death

Somehow, I keep getting drawn back to disks. I think I'm almost finished with the series I'm calling The Black Death, made with oil-painted disks in loose grids. There are three strung up (ugh, what an image...) and four more waiting to be laced into grids. Each of the sections has at least one disk with the name of an unarmed victim of police shooting, written in black but rubbed almost to the point of erasure with white paint. There are also images of people in the community (these are not portraits of the dead), things happening in the community and its environment, including the sky, growing things, and other animals that live there. Here is a look at the three that are finished:

Eric Garner:

Michael Brown:

I blew up (again, an unfortunate phrase with multiple associations...) some of the paintings on disks (which are about 2.5 inches wide) to 9" wide, and made placards for a vigil that is happening in Barre every Wednesday from 12 noon - 1 PM. We used them for the first time last Wednesday, May 27. While I was standing there a guy came roaring by on a motorcycle and yelled "Yah, they're good for chopping cotton." Even in Vermont.

Closet Finished

Here's a look at The Closet, on exhibit now at The Front in Montpelier. I decided the figure needed something inside -- long silk underwear is how I think of it (though it's not actually silk, it does have that feel). Take it away for $950 (it will be great for the new gallery to have a sale!).

Open Studio Weekend

This Saturday, May 23, I'll be participating in the Open Studio weekend, along with many of the other studio artists at SPA, 201 North Main Street in Barre, Vermont, 10 AM - 5 PM.

I've done a few more of the paintings over old paintings from the late 1990's:

I decided, at Liz Nelson's recommendation, NOT to include the elephant in the first one. She suggested maybe to pair it with a line of my teapots...

Now I have turned my attention to working on a large series of loose-grid pieces that look at inner cities, the police killings of unarmed black men, and other experiences of urban areas. This is one of the first sketches. I now have MANY portraits of African-American people that I will use in this work. It's pretty exciting. I will be working on this project during Open Studios.

If you're in the area, I'd love to see you come visit the studio on Saturday!

The Front

I've become an exhibiting member of The Front, a gallery at 6 Barre Street in Montpelier run by Glen Coburn Hutcheson. May is the first month, and there are 13 members' work up in the inaugural show.

I'm showing my piece The Closet (somewhat modified -- you'll have to go there to see it, because I didn't take a pic of it before I delivered it to the gallery...).

I'll be gallery sitting there this Saturday, May 16, from 2-5 PM. Drop by if you can!