I can now see an end to the year 2020. Introspection almost feels redundant, since the entirety of 2020 has been one of turning inward. What more is there to acknowledge, repent about, and commit to for the new year? But I have discovered that there is always more -- more to think about, more … Continue reading The Year of Becoming
Uncategorized
Covid and Turning 80 in 2020
I turned 80 in March. A helluva time to enter lockdown. I turned 80 in March. A helluva time to enter lockdown. Like most 80-year-olds I know, I don’t feel 80. Most of the time. Or maybe this is exactly what 80 feels like. Regardless, it is an impressive number, and it deserves a reckoning. … Continue reading Covid and Turning 80 in 2020
The Spaces Between
There are two kinds of people in this world. The kind who divide the world into two kinds of people and those who don't. -Ann Brashares, The Second Summer of the Sisterhood New Moons, 16"x20" mixed media on canvas I hate dichotomies. It started for me many years ago when a therapist challenged me to stop thinking “either-or” … Continue reading The Spaces Between
Upcoming Event
Art Show Opening Friday, July 26, 2019 at Read 'em and Weep. I'll speak briefly about my recent work and my wife and I will present our original performance poetry.
Unmoored but Unbound
Reality is revealed to us only in fragments. The more fragments we perceive and parse, the more lifelike the mosaic we make of them. But it is still a mosaic, a representation -- imperfect and incomplete, however beautiful it may be, and subject to unending transfiguration. -Maria Popova, Figuring Transitions, even positive ones, are hard. … Continue reading Unmoored but Unbound
Pursuing the Crack of Light
“There’s a crack in everything. That’s how the light gets in.” -Leonard Cohen, “Anthem” (1992) The last few years have been difficult for me. I have experienced family drama and estrangement, several difficult surgeries and a scary illness. All the while, I was preparing emotionally to transition from my identity as a university professor to … Continue reading Pursuing the Crack of Light
In-Studio Interview
“Better Angels” Diptych 20”x24” Left Panel Last week the leader of the Charles Houston Community Writers (CHC Writers) interviewed me in my studio at the Workhouse Arts Center in Lorton. Check out the resulting podcast here or on the CHC Facebook page.
The Revolutionary Gaze
Surveillance. It’s one of my obsessions. You can see it in my eyes: I draw them, I paint them, and I wear them embedded in necklaces and earrings. I convert into eyes objects in the world such as oval shaped boxes or discarded lamp globes. Sometimes my obsession takes the form of painting nude women … Continue reading The Revolutionary Gaze
In the Studio: Obsessions, Compulsions and Preoccupations
I am now settling into my own art studio in Building 5 at the Workhouse Arts Center in Lorton, Virginia. My building houses 15 artists, all working in different genres and media. I shared a small studio for a month with my friend and colleague, Rebecca Chase, for which I am thankful. But I knew … Continue reading In the Studio: Obsessions, Compulsions and Preoccupations
Studio, Here I Come (again)
For the last 10 or so years, I have made my art in an at-home studio. It seemed like a luxury, at first, to be able to be with my materials anytime of day or night and to see the works-in-progress every day. There's something miraculous about letting multiple works settle into my consciousness and working … Continue reading Studio, Here I Come (again)