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Haven’t posted in a week or so… here’s an update on how all of the major projects I am working on are progressing.

First up is a portrait drawing: a multi-week pose from Dan Thompson’s Portrait Drawing class. I think I’ve got just under 6 hours into the drawing at this point and I’ll get another 2-4 hours of work time before the class is completed.

Next is the final plaster cast for the Sculpting the Head class with John Horn. I very much enjoyed sculpting in clay, though I have to say that the casting process is exceedingly traumatic. After the clay was finalized (9 weeks worth of work), we stuck thin shims of metal into the clay around the sides of the head, as well as the base of the neck. Then a thick coat of moulding plaster is applied to each side of the head up to the shim wall. Once that is dry, the plaster-encased clay is submerged in a bath of water for several hours to loosen up the seal. Then if everything is done just so, the two halves of the mould can be removed from the clay.

Unfortunately my mould broke… into about seven pieces. As careful as I was, it seems that my plaster was just a bit too thin. Fortunately, John helped me to piece the parts of the mould back together and I was still able to pour a positive. Removing the plaster ‘waste’ mould from the (also) plaster positive, however, is no less traumatic. One has to chip away the negative using—preferably—a dull screwdriver and a hammer.

Anyhow, after a long day’s work and recovering from the feeling of having lost 10 weeks’ worth of work, I finally ended up with a plaster version of the clay portrait. As you can see, there are still a few seams from where the parts of the negative were fit together, as well as a few gouges from where I was a bit too zealous in removing the negative. In my defense, I did spend a good three hours removing the negative, so it wasn’t as if I was rushing. I also lost a bit of the helix of the ear on the other side, though I still have the broken part. Apparently I can reattach the severed ear piece with a bit of good old fashioned Elmer’s glue. I can fill in the gouges with a bit of joint compound, and of course a bit of sanding will remove the ridges.

I’d still like to do another portrait sculpture or two, though next time I think I’d try to find a less emotionally draining method of finalizing the piece. There definitely is a high-level craft to casting. I can see why it was normally split into two job functions: the artist to make the sculpture, and the artisan to turn the clay into the final medium.

Lastly is the diploma project:

Since the last picture, I have finished the first chromatic layer over all of the flesh and reworked the background a bit. I’ve also gone back into some of the clothes. I’m hoping to finish up the clothes tomorrow (though I’ve got three crits lined up, so that may make it difficult to meet my goal). After that, I will be working to unify everything and vary the colors of the flesh a bit as well as putting in the hair and reworking the cast shadow. Once that is done… well, I should be pretty well done with the painting. Good thing too, as they are due on the 12th of May. Graduation is right around the corner.

- Jeremy

It’s been a little while since I’ve posted about my Diploma Project, though not because I have been idle, on the contrary, I have been very busy this past week. I’ve simply wanted to get to a point where enough of the painting has been covered with the new palette that I felt comfortable posting. Much more still to go, but I think this finaly starts to give one an impression of what the final piece will look like.

I welcome any feedback…

– Jeremy

I promised you an action shot of cream of asparagus soup… ta dah!

Ok, it’s subtle action, just my style. I was tickled by the visible steam rising from the bowl, even though it means my house is still really cold. (What in the world happened to spring this year? The weatherman keeps reminding us that two years ago we had sunshiney, 80-degree weather on Easter, and then informs us that this year it will be in the low 50’s and raining. Nice.)

The chilly spring weather, at any rate, makes this recipe perfect: nice and hot to warm me up, and full of tender spring asparagus. I based the recipe on one from Cooking Light, but I like my cream soups thick, so some adjustments were made in that direction; and I added leeks because I like them and had some on hand. I made roasted red-pepper and parmesan biscuits for a fashionable color contrast: They were tasty and made just the right amount for one person and leftovers, but the pepper flavor was really subtle, so I would probably just do plain Parmesan biscuits next time.

Cream of Asparagus Soup

This soup came out just to my taste, with the perfect thickness and a velvety texture, a subtle asparagus flavor complimented by the aromatic thyme, not to mention that gorgeous green color. If you want to be fancy, reserve some of the cooked asparagus pieces (or even fish out just the tips!) for garnish and a more complex mouth-feel. I usually like chunks in my soup, but this was lovely as a smooth puree, in my humble opinion.

1 lb asparagus stalks, sliced into ½” pieces
1 C leeks, white and light green parts, sliced and rinsed
1 clove garlic, minced
4 T butter, divided
1¾ C chicken broth or stock
¼ tsp dried thyme (or ½ tsp fresh thyme)
1 bay leaf
2 T flour
1½ C 1% milk
Dash nutmeg
Lemon juice, salt and pepper to taste

Melt 2 T butter in small soup pot and sauté leeks and garlic until softened. Add broth, asparagus, thyme and bay leaf, and bring to a boil; reduce heat and simmer, covered, for 10 minutes. Ladle asparagus mixture into blender and puree until smooth. Melt remaining 2 T butter in pot and stir in flour; whisk in milk and nutmeg, and stir constantly until thickened. Stir in asparagus mixture and heat through; add lemon juice and adjust seasoning to taste. Serve with parmesan biscuits. Makes two generous servings or 3-4 as a first course.

As always, I have lots of sock knitting to report. But you’re in luck! I went on a bit of a forced sock knitting hiatus while waiting for pretty new yarn to arrive, and have made some progress on a few non-socky projects in the past week or so. Case in point:

Ok, fine…yes, those are socks. But see how tiny they are? Each baby sock used exactly one color pattern repeat of my leftover Opal Ladybug yarn; and I made a matching hat, so it wasn’t just socks. These were gifted to my co-worker who is expecting his first baby later this month, and I think they came out really cute. It’s good to know I can squeeze a pair of adult women’s socks, as well as a baby hat and pair of socks from one ball of Opal; the leftover bits of sock yarn are starting to accumulate…

In other non-sock news, the Curlicue coverlet continues to curl:

This photo was taken after I used up the second skein of yarn, and as you can see, I am partway through the 6th section of the pattern. So far, so good.

Had enough of non-sock content? Oh good! Your reward is a look at my new stash of Trekking and Lorna’s Laces beauty. First of all is the Trekking:

From left to right: Trekking 66, 90, 102, and 67

They are incredibly beautiful, much more so than the photo shows. I knew this would be the case, which was why I wanted to be able to see the options in person rather than ordering blindly off the Web, but Salem is an insufferable pit when it comes to pretty sock yarn. I think I chose well, despite this setback: The 90 and 102, being interesting yet neutral, are reserved for Jeremy, should he find them acceptable; the 67 will soon be socks for my Aunt Stacy, who requested light socks to go with her nursing uniform. I chose the 66 because I couldn’t really tell what it would look like; it arrived with wonderfully subtle navy and green and violet tones that of course didn’t make it into my photo, and I may well make a pair of socks for myself with that skein.

The fifth skein of Trekking I bought was color 115, described on one site as “grey owl”. It looks like black and white tweed in all the photos I found online, but in real life it has quite a bit of purple mixed in as well. I still like it, but decided it would not go in the stash of Jeremy-friendly sock yarn, so I am making a pair of socks for my aunt with it:

The pattern, which shows up fine in person but dreadfully in this photo, is Chutes-n-Ladders from the Six Sox Knitalong. I like how it looks, but am concerned about whether it is making the cuff too tight, even though I increased from #0 DPNs to #1s. I’m a little annoyed with it, truth to tell, so it has been marinating for a few days while I try to decide whether to rip back to the heel and try out another pattern or an increased number of stitches. Never fear, though, I already have another sock going, thanks to these superheroes:

Lorna’s Laces Shepherd Sock in Vera and Aslan

I bought my very first skeins of Lorna’s Laces (also sight unseen) along with the Trekking, and was very happy with the arrivals. I immediately wound up a skein of the Aslan colorway to begin a pair of socks for my grandpa:

These are the Spey Valley socks from Knitting on the Road. I increased the stitch count to 84 (it was 63 in the book) for a manly-sized sock, and then decreased by 6 sts after 4″ in a nod to leg shaping. You can probably tell right where the decrease happened because the yarn started pooling differently, but so far I am very happy with both the look and feel of the sock. This yarn is lovely, soft, and smooth, and I will be interested to find out how it handles washing. As you can see above, I got three skeins of each color, and am hoping to knit a pair of ankle socks for my small feet from the yarn remaining from this pair.

Well, that’s all for the time being. Tune in tomorrow for an action shot of cream of asparagus soup, and a recipe too (fancy that!).

Our model time is up in the portrait sculpture class. Next week we will begin the casting process. I’m very excited, this has been a great experience. Though I don’t feel like I got a great likeness, I learned a great deal about the forms of the head and ended up with something I feel is aesthetic.

I’m looking forward to sculpting another head or two in the coming year…. maybe I can get Julie to sit for me.

– Jeremy

There is no doubt in my mind that a hundred years hence, Vincent Desiderio will still be counted among the greatest artists of this generation. It has been my good fortune to be able to interact with him on a number of occasions this semester. About a month ago I had the opportunity to visit his studio where he had a number of paintings in progress…

Tuesday last week he came to the Academy to give a clinic. The intended format was to have students bring in works which were pretty far along, but with problems that had no clear solution, and then watch how an artist like Vincent would solve those problems. As it turned out, he had quite a lot on his mind that day and spent a considerable amount of time discussing art in general. Although it is always useful to see another artist painting, I doubt we were any the poorer for the change. Over the course of the day, I took over a eighteen pages of notes, which is not to say that he lectured the whole time. Indeed, he showed us how he would begin a study for a larger painting as well as working on a couple of student paintings. In retrospect, it seems criminal to me that we students didn’t have the foresight to record him. Truly, I wish I could listen to his talk again and I’m sure there will be countless times in the future when I would have enjoyed hearing what he said that day.

Hopefully, this posting will help to pass on some of the benefit I received, as well as crystalizing the salient points for myself. What will be lost, I’m sure, is the personality of the speaker. Vincent has a generous and sincere disposition, and his excitement about painting is contagious; it is a joy to experience. I don’t pretend to have the skill necessary to convey his animated speaking personality in an abbreviated written format; on that account I must beg pardon. However, there were insights about art and painting relayed to me that are not for me alone. Given the state of the larger art world, this type of understanding needs to be disseminated.

• The first mark on the final support should be done with forcefulness in working toward the completion of the painting. This beginning should only be begun after several oil studies. These oil studies are an opportunity for you to discover and solve as many of the problems of the painting as you can so that they won’t hamstring you on the final work.
• Devote a lot of time to the study. If you chance upon something nice, document it, perhaps set it aside, but by all means do another one.
• Use the study uncover every problem that you will have to solve over the course of the painting. Then use studies to try to find as many solutions as you can, so that you may select the best one. This doesn’t mean that the larger work will not surprise you, just that you will be armed with solutions to the most common problems that you will face in the work.
• You need to think about how your work will look hanging next to an Eric Fischl, or a Lucian Freud or a Jenny Saville; that is, whomever you feel are the best artists of the day. Your work must be able to stand up with theirs.
• You need to be driven by the illusion, the ravishment of the aesthetic. That doesn’t necessarily mean that you have to use linear perspective.
• A painting is finished when all of the component parts become autonomous and work by themselves. You’ll know when you are getting closer when the work starts to tell you what it needs. A finished work of art will have a life completely separate from the artist.
• Think of painting towards an enigma.
• Need to learn the difference between overworking and re-working. You need to gain the ability to reassert a lost ground (drag the original ground color over a passage and re-glaze).
• It is only the relative relationships that the eye sees. Think of thick opaque passages to make the other areas seem more transparent.
• You should try to have areas that are very transparent, where the light can seemingly penetrate the image a great distance and other areas where the paint is thick and stops the light at the surface of the painting. Oddly, this is exactly why black-velvet paintings are arresting.
• Studies are key. Pencil and perspective drawings are insufficient to successfully begin a large scale painting. Must learn to work in the medium of the oil sketch.
• Subject matter is important, but so is the technical narrative (meaning how the work is painted). Vermeer and Pieter de Hooch were ostensibly painting the same thing, but which one do you go to the museum to see?
• How the work is painted is every bit as important as what is painted. Both aspects must be addressed with intentionality.
• The best examples of the times are done by the legions of mediocrity. Think about the artists that you really admire: their work was almost always running counter or at least transverse to the work of the day.
• Design is the most abstract portion of the work. Invention is one of the most respected aspects of design. Think of a blank canvas as containing infinite possibilities. That said, newness is not the most important thing. Remember Delacroix, “what [men of genius] make is not new ideas, it is that the idea – possessing them – that what has been said has still not been said enough.”
• Try to keep your composition fresh. Artist do learn a great deal from copying the work of other artists, so having your work look like other (contemporary) artists isn’t the worst thing in the world. But it is not to be desired.
• Think of your heroes, not just in art, but also in music, literature and film. These great men are not outsider artists. They contribute quite a lot to contemporary culture and discourse.
• Byzantine art was about compartmentalization, even the way muscles were designed as separate discrete muscle groups. Renaissance Neo-Platonism is about interrelatedness as opposed to this compartmentalization; organic flow between forms, rather than discrete blocks of form. Linear perspective is an idealization of Neo-Platonic though concerning the inter-relatedness of all things with God. This is an allegorization of method.
• If you employ linear perspective (or you choose not to), you are embracing a specific world view. Either you see the world as ordered, logical, rational and interrelated, or you do not.
• The Mannerists reject this world view and therefore work counter to linear perspective. DeKooning is working with perspective issues the way the Mannerists did.
• You need to be aware of what your artistic choices mean philosophically and use the tools that reinforce your world-view (allegorization of methods).
• Shadows and half-tones are going to reflect the ambient color of the environment. Think of these areas as passive reflecting pools for color. If you want to observe this, hold you arm up to a light, then pass different chromatic objects underneath your arm and observe how much the color of the shadows is dictated by the color of the chromatic object.
• This also explains why a wipe-out looks so good: the shadows and the background are the same color, whereas the lights are clearly separated.
• Think of light as an aggressor that will drive away the ambient colors from wherever the form can support the light.
• Clearly this means that if you don’t include something of the nearest ambient colors in the shadow side of the forms, the forms will ‘fall out of the painting’; that is, they will not look like they are sitting in the environment you have constructed.
• Think of a clear, snowy day. What color are the shadows? If shadows are reflecting pools of color, where does that blue color come from?
• How do you organize a composition optically without a geometric backdrop? The Baroque artists used the incident of reflection (a.k.a. this highlight) where the light would ‘flash back’ at the viewer. All of the highlights off of reflective surfaces must favor the viewer. Think of how each person looking at the reflection of the moon on a still body of water will see the reflection in front of themselves. As you move along the water, the reflection follows you.
• Thus, you can organize a picture plane convincingly using only the light. Think of Rembrandt’s Night Watch: it is an impossible space made believable by the plausibility of the light organization.
• For the representation of form there are two models: the classical model favors the rational and logical. The romantic model favors the emotional and psychological. (see below)
• Delacroix spoke of the ‘grey day’ where the there was not direct light and everything was composed of half-tones which are reflecting pools of color. Note that, in this context, grey does not refer to a mixture of black and white, but rather a optical graying of chromatic colors by the broken mixture of their complements (e.g. ultramarine blue and burnt sienna will mix to give a beautiful chromatic grey).
• In Matisse’s Red Studio, the artist has no lights or shadow; the floor, walls and ceiling are all the same (chromatic) red color. This is an allegorization of Delacroix’s ‘grey day’.
• Delacriox believed that the emotion lay in the colors and that most of the color in the world lived in the turning of the form, the half-tones. This was the exotic realm of color.
• In Picasso’s Mademoiselle d’Avignon, the artist organizes the light in the center of the canvas with a flash of white off of the central characters. Thus, we find that the African Masks the women wear (the exotic element) occurs in the half-tones of the form. The painting can be read as an allegorization of Delacroix’ realm of the exotic.
• These ideas can be a touchstone that allow you to relate to other great artists and thinkers.
• This is what is meant by Allegorization of Method. Find a way to use the language of images to convey your philosophy. Always work in service to your philosophy.
• Art should be the vanguard of critical theory and culture. Be an intellectual: develop theories and critic them. Don’t illustrate other theories. This is theoreticsm; you need to participate in the dialog.
• It is advantageous to use changes in paint handling to denote changes in distance (textured objects tend to advance, smooth objects tend to recede) as well as surface (you can not paint burlap and silk with the same marks). Objects with different surfaces need to be painted differently.
• Continually rework the canvas over and over. Work from the most general to the most specific. Continue to glaze over and repaint.
• Start freely and then continually improve the painting.
• Always think of a grisaille as a mixture of two complimentary chromatic colors.
• Chalkiness and muddiness should be avoided. Chalkiness tends to come from having coolness in the lightmass as well as the in the shadows. Muddiness tends to come from having warmth in the light and shadow masses. The transitions from warm to cool are critical.
• Dont worry too much about values from the first marks; establish the masses first. Proportions are key.
• When transferring from the original sketch, use mechanical means only for rough placement. Then redraw on the final support to keep the composition and mark-making organic.
• Keep everything open as long as possible to allow for possibilities.
• Identify and describe the four areas of the form (light mass, half-tone, shadow mass and the incident of reflection).
• There will always be obstacles to overcome. You must persevere. Don’t assume that your work is exceptional; assume that you are mediocre and then find a way to overcome your limitations.
• The ‘technical narrative’ can be thought of as the resolution or compromise between dynamic opposites: Think of opacity versus transparency, dark versus light, ground versus overpainting, textured versus smooth, sharper versus softer edges and passage (open-form) versus silhouette (closed-form).
• You need to embrace the artifice. Construct everything exactly the way you want it to appear and then hide your tricks. Remember Picasso: art is the lie which allows us to learn the truth. You have to believe the lie. Think about the level of artifice in a Hitchcock movie, yet you are still able to suspend your disbelief.
• Your studio practice should not anticipate critical participation.
• The distance between the eye (the station point) and the picture plane is sometimes thought of as a ‘contemplative distance’. The greater the distance, the more rational and logical (e.g. David, Ingres, etc.). As this distance diminishes, time becomes compressed and you get artists working more emotionally (e.g. Van Gogh, Gauguin, etc.). Once the eye reaches the picture plane, you have Monet, who is painting not the objects, but the light of the moment. The eye then moves through the picture plane and you have artists who are painting psychological states and emotions rather than the perceptual (e.g. Kirchner, Munch, etc…).
• Cezanne understood what this trend meant and wanted to find a way back to logic, structure and reason. This is why linear artists build off of Cezanne.
• Picasso is a classicist; he wanted to find a way to construct logical, ordered paintings. His genius was in finding a way to do so that did not ignore the fractured reality of the 19th Century.
• The Deconstructionists looked for binary oppositions that were taken as a given and attacked the underlying tenets, e.g. Up-Down as having definite intrinsic connotations rather than just their denotive meanings. This led to an acceptance of anything, and ‘universal inclusion’.
• We are moving towards a post-critical, post-conceptual art. However, to get there, we need to construct a world view that includes the fractured reality of the last generation; the severe doubt of the previous model.
• Find the screen of complacency and tear at it. Be wary of laughing at the same old jokes.
• Find plastic heuristics; avoid subscribing to dogma.
• Being an artist means being part of Art History. You have a responsibility to be the very best.

As you can see, the breadth of topics broached was wide-ranging. Some of the ideas I had encountered before, but much of it I have never heard from anyone else. One particular point struck me and I couldn’t get it out my head for several days, the part about assuming that one is mediocre and striving to overcome the limitation. It is a well known phenomenon that the vast majority of people consider themselves to be above average at certain skills. By way of example, most people consider themselves to be above-average drivers.

Though I can not claim to have know many truly exceptional people, it seems to me that those I have come in contact with are never satisfied with their own output. They know that they have the capacity to produce something better than they have, and that knowledge burns them as much as it drives them. It seems to me that admitting something as sufficiently past the mean is a way of accepting a limitation. The distance between an above-average man and an exceptional one is infinitesimally small and yet it makes all the difference in the world. It seems to me that nowhere is the difference more obvious than in the selection of yard sticks they would use to measure themselves.

The burden weighs on me….

- Jeremy

Oh, I made figures as well to help illustrate the difference between the classical and the romantic light models. The temperature transitions in the classical model are key to turning the form. They can run warm, cool, hot, cold; or they can run cool, warm, cold, hot. Normally, the shadows are opposite the temperature of the light. That is to say, warm light (like sunshine) generally gives cool shadows where cool light (like most artificial light) gives warm shadows. Vincent suggested that the shadow mass should remain neutral rather than follow the logical progression of alternating temperatures, since it must reflect the ambient color of the environment, which is more likely than not to be neutral.

Remember that the classical model privileges the rational and the romantic model privileges the emotional…

Truly, there are some benefits to attending a school in New York City. The International House had its annual George C. Marshall Visitor Program today. Yes, that is the same General George C. Marshall, Nobel Peace Prize recipient, and architect of the so-called Marshall Plan to rebuild war-torn Europe after World War II.

Today another great American general, Colin L. Powell, came to speak. What a rare treat to hear someone who has recently held both the highest diplomatic post, Secretary of State, as well as the highest military position, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. It was easy to see why he would do well as a leader: he has that intangible quality that makes one able to trust that he has good understanding of the whole problem and will only work toward the optimal solution for the greatest good. It is something decidedly different from celebrity electricity or charisma.

He was quite sanguine about the future and excited about the way information now moves freely across the planet at light speeds. He seemed proud of his reputation as a ‘reluctant soldier’ and admitted that he was disappointed that the war in Iraq could not be avoided. However, he was even quicker to point out that once it was clear it could not be, he whole-heartedly agreed with George Bush, Tony Blair and John Howard that war was the only course of action.

A rare individual, and a great American.

I don’t mean to be unkind, but after speaking with several fellow New York students, it seems clear to me that when we arrived slightly less than two years ago there was still a significant wellspring of Post 9-11 mutual goodwill in New York City. The New York Attitude is a well known phenomenon, but it was not a part of my experience. When I arrived, I found New Yorkers were willing to offer simple courtesies and assistance whenever it would be welcome, often without needing to be asked.

It now seems that the well has run dry, or at least very nearly. During the last few months, I have noticed a subtle but perceptible change in the average denizen of The City. By way of example, it now seems that the overwhelming majority of pedestrians will assume that the other party should yield when space is insufficient for everyone to pass comfortably. If you’ve ever seen the average NYC sidewalk, you know that there are almost always more people than available space for walking.

This is just one of the more salient aspects of the appreciable change; there are others. It makes me sad, but I guess all things considered, five years is a significant amount of time for an unintended benefit to last. New York City is the epitome of what is best and, equally well, what is worst about our country. I return home May 27th. Though I do not think I shall ever want to call NYC my home, I also cannot imagine that I will not visit again.

- Jeremy

I was lucky last week to have my parents visiting me from Colorado, during their spring break. We had a great time, even though I was only able to take one day off (gotta conserve my vacation time for going to Jeremy’s graduation!): We drove to the coast last Sunday for a visit to Florence and the Sea Lion Caves, and dinner at the superb (and seemingly very popular) Tidal Raves in Depoe Bay. Monday we took Rocky for a bloodwork check-up to find out whether his medication was helping to improve his glucose levels; the vet seemed very pleased with the result, so he’ll be continuing his meds for now. We went to see Inside Man on Tuesday, and Thursday we went up to Oregon City for a lovely dinner at Flambe with my aunt Stacy’s family. The Harlequin socks were gifted:

The photo shows the finished socks modeled on my own feet; Aunt Stacy wears my (rather small) shoe size, so I knew they would fit her nicely. She liked them so well after putting them through the gauntlet of nursing rounds and a visit to the gym that she called me back the next day and asked me to make her some more. Glad to oblige; there is already yarn on the way to make a few more pairs of socks for her.

To complete the knitting update, I started work on my cousin’s Curlicue yesterday, and am making good progress. One skein of the Cotton Fleece came out to equal nearly 3 wedges of the blanket, so I should be safe as far as yardage. The pattern is an interesting one, but entirely managable with the line-by-line checklist I wrote out for keeping track of where I am in the pattern, and I’ve been having fun watching Netflix movies (The Constant Gardener and A History of Violence) while working on it.

In other news, my incredibly generous, wonderful parents made some major improvements in our kitchen, besides the other maintenance jobs that kept them busy while I was working during the week. They found me a perfectly sized wooden kitchen island (at Walmart, no less) to give me much-needed counter space next to the stove:

My dad put it together on Friday night and did a great job, even though it took rather longer than the 30 minutes claimed in the manual. Just ask my mom, who waited very patiently for us to be done:

If you have ever been in our kitchen before, you may have noticed another new addition to my kitchen family in the above photo, a beautiful shiny new Cuisinart. Jeremy, take a good look at it, because it is your graduation present. We tested it out on a batch of pate brisee dough in what must have been less than two minutes from start to finish, and made a gorgeous cherry crumb tart:

We also made a very tasty, but less than photogenic rhubarb meringue tart (let’s just say there were blind-baking issues), as well as a batch of asparagus-leek risotto with prosciutto and Dijon chicken stew (a Cooking Light recipe from January), both of which were fantastic and well worth repeating. The cherry tart was cobbled together from a variety of sources, and I’ll write up a recipe for it if I have a chance.

Things have been rather slow lately, a bit like watching the paint dry. Perhaps that is a bit of an exaggeration, but I have been waiting for the underpainting to be sufficiently dry to accept an isolating glaze. Here’s a picture after a glaze of terra vert with the lights wiped-out.

Now I need to give it a day or two to allow that layer to dry and then I will begin to repaint the entire work, but using a full chromatic palette. I’m really looking forward to that, as it has been a bit frustrating, waiting for the materials to be ready to work. I can see why it is advantageous to have several paintings in progress at once, though it doesn’t make a whole lot of sense for me to start something new at the moment: I’d just have to ship it back to Oregon in a couple of months.

I have been keeping busy with my free time of late. Been catching up on some reading: I just finished Gods and Legions by Michael Curtis Ford. It was good enough that I’ll have to seek out his better known work, The Ten Thousand. If anyone is interested in Greco-Roman historical fiction I’d also recommend Steven Pressfield’s work in general, and Gates of Fire in particular, which deals with the unforgettable Battle of Thermopylae.

I’m also nearly done with a history book about the ancient Greeks called Sailing the Wine Dark Sea by Thomas Cahill. Cahill’s work deals with the incalculable debt Western civilization owes the Greeks. It’s a interesting read, though I think I prefer Paul Cartledge’s treatment, particularly with regard to the representation of the Lacedaemonians (a.k.a. the Spartans). Cahill dismisses them as xenophobic warmongers, the ancient equivalent of modern-day North Korea. While not patently false and descriptively tangible to the modern reader, it is overly simplistic. Moreover, if it were not for the military prowess of the Spartans, the Persians would have destroyed the entire Greek civilization, and the Western world would look nothing like it does now. But I digress…

Being in the big city, I felt that it was my obligation to get out to some of the museums with my spare time as well. Of late I’ve made a couple trips to the Met, as well as the Cloisters. If I may offer some advice, if you ever find yourself in NYC and wanting to visit the Met, consider going on a Friday or Saturday evening. The museum is open late both nights and the crowds are significantly lessened. However, the best part of going at night is to view the spectacularly dramatic light used in the sculpture courtyards. Here’s a shot of one of the greatest sculptures of all time, Carpeaux’s Ugolino and His Children.

There are a couple of noteworthy events at the Academy as well. First, a salon show of faculty and few alumni works is currently showing there. There’s page on the Academy website with a few pictures as well. It’s really treat to see the work of our mentors. Speaking of mentors, Vincent Desiderio gave a clinic this past Thursday, but that deserves a post all it’s own…

- Jeremy