HOAST

Last weekend, October 15 & 16, I had the pleasure of participating in the annual Harlem Open Artist Studio Tour!  The weekend long event, now in its sixth year, gives local artists the chance to show off their hard work; to welcome culture crawlers into the neighborhood and get to know one another.

 

Being that my exhibit was held at my personal place of residence, and further being that I hang my hat in that residence on a higher floor of a brownstone, I just reckoned it might be neighborly to bring my exhibit on down to the folks in the street.  

 

It occurred to me, I've always had a soft spot for a front porch.  It says, "come and sit a spell."  Unfortunately, In these parts, you won't find many porches.  So, I figured, let's just throw open these big 'ole brownstone doors and mount us an Art Farm exhibit right in the vestibule...sort of build ourselves our own front porch.  And I'll be a mule's fool...the folks just strolled right up and paid us a visit.  Why some even paid for paintings! 

I hung some of my personal favorites, landscapes and such.  But I also introduced some new, non-landscape, pieces. A handful of barnyard beauties like roosters & hens & cows. (Now, alright...cows ought not be in the barnyard.  But this is New York and space is limited!)

This porch could not have been open for business if it weren't for the very fine neighbors who also hang their hats here.  They were all so supportive and enthusiastic, it made this farmer feel mighty warm & welcome.  So great big Thanks go to Honorary Farmers Marc, Paul, Taylor, Kim, Carleton & Vin and Heidi.  And a special thanks to the Farm's Resident Shutterbug, Eric.

 

 

It Takes A Community

Make no mistake, the Art Farm is not limited to the briary brickwork of its Harlem homestaed.  We like to plant creative crops wherever the wind blows.

Two weeks ago we rode the rails to Oyster Bay, L.I. to the little artistic village of Sea Cliff.  A farm doesn't just build itself, no sir!  It takes a community.  Therefore, a great big Thank You goes out to Marilyn Pedalino who generously opened up her home, the former Harold Stevenson Academy.  The old painting classroom, sitting in quiet neglect, yearned to be useful once more.  And useful it was!  A healthy dose of creative care and enthusiasm brought it back to life!  We scrubbed, patched, painted, hung & lit a little Art Farm to be proud of.

Thank You to Honorary Farmers Marilyn, Marc and Marilee whose sturdy support made this event possible!

Exciting News! SEA CLIFF SALON

Exciting news for folks here on the eastern homestead! The Urban Art Farm is hitting the road, actually the rails, and heading to Long Island!

I’m packing my satchel with all new work for a two day pop-up Sea Cliff Salon.  Located in the charming village of Sea Cliff in the town of Oyster Bay, L.I. on the North Shore, the fall festivity is happening on Saturday & Sunday, Oct. 1st & 2nd from 9:00 am – 4:00 pm. at 361 Glen Ave. at the corner of Glen Ave & Park Pl.

My fellow friendly farmers & I will be serving up hot apple cider, nibbles and genuine, artisanal original art made right here in the USA!  All of this on a lovely autumn day in New York.

Bayberry Bush in the Dunes, 2011

C. The Bottle Project

      

This is a ripe opportunity to see recently harvested work…paintings, vessels from The Bottle Project and more!  Like it or not, the holidays are on the horizon and wouldn’t it be grand to get an early start?  Really folks…who likes to shop in desperation, snatching up pity presents at the last minute?  Not this farmer!

Questions? Just whistle. I can be reached at 917-710-5965   

Those Magnificent Marks

I can't speak for other farmers, but I can tell you this creative cropper, on occasion, spends hours, even days, searching for just the right mark; the task of making that perfect, authentic simple swipe of creamy color.

  Bold or not. It's a heap tougher than it looks.

 

Now, I'm a modern man with modern moods, but expressing those moods with strokes...well, it just doesn't come that easily.  One moment a farmer can feel tall and strong as a mighty oak, the next he can be as crabby as a crab apple.  It's a thorny adventure.  A prickly game of persistent work...and plumb luck.

When it comes right down to it, I can be mighty hardheaded, stubbornly pushing paint where it doesn't belong.  (And there's plenty of awful evidence of those pieces in the cellar!)  But then my softer side comes out and I give in and let the painting push back.  Gotta chuck the ego, I suppose.  In a peculiar way, you might say I leave myself.  Take a little road trip.

Central Park Pathway, 2010

But when we get along, the paint and me, the result is "Bingo!"  It's a golden moment.  And by golly, right there in those magnificent marks, those swirls of yummy brushwork, I catch a hint of myself.

The Essence of Land and Sea

Town Hall, Provincetown, 2011

Yes, this Yankee Farmer has deep Heartland roots, but it is the briny breezes of Cape Cod, where, at its very tip a sliver of land slips into the sea, that beckon me to join it.  Each year this tiny fishing village, rich in whaling lore and legend, seduces me away from my creative crops in the city.  

There is something inherently peculiar about a people that settle on a spit of land that is anything but settled.  Folks that make this pilgrimage shutter the clutter of modern society and realign their senses to what is truly a miraculous dialogue.  

Cape Cod, 2011

Twice a day, heaven & earthly elements commune and tidal marsh is the stuff of conversation between sea and salt and land and air and moon and stars.

Along its belching, bubbling banks, I scoop the frothy mix, collecting the essence of land and sea and for a moment, there between my mortal hands, oceans of time gather, swell and sink.  In that moment a wondrous journey drains between the lattice of my flesh and blood.  A journey traversed between the brightest solar highs and the blackest canyon depths.