Part of a Mural: Emmarose (My daughter) as miriam

Descension, Acrylic

Candles, Acrylic

Enoch and Miriam Mural (upper right is my portion, worked with 3 other artists)

 Enoch, Acrylic

I must decrease, Acrylic

Various artworks past three years.

July 16th, 2014

My students work from E Russell Hicks Middle School. 2013-2014 Art show at WCMFA, Hagerstown, MD.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FeDkUPWPPgY

July 16th, 2014
     Well, so far this year my painting over one painting plan hasn't occurred yet. I have lived with my yellow and "black" painting and enjoy it a lot in my living room each day. As per my initial entry, I have given into the temporal. Unfortunately, the primary reason for this was having too much to do to have time for.
      I have, however,  continued writing a short story that I started last Summer. The working title is "Cats and Dogs: Prelude to the Apocalypse"."

Other Art things going on this summer:

• A train mural for the one of the children's classrooms at church. 
• Finish this book
• Finish enough bird pictures as shown earlier to complete a dozen and look in to creating printed notecards
• Paint or draw a cover for the book, possibly some sketched for inside.
• Work on two songs with the church band that I started writing, I have lyrics and simple music, looking to collaborate with other band members. Our church band is planning on recording an album of our original worship songs.

With my time constraints, I would be happy to finish the book/story and a focal point section of the mural and get together a couple time regarding the music.

Non-art things going on:

• Working on helping my oldest son take next steps in what has become for him some hard times on many levels. I won't elaborate, those who know, will know.
• I am changing the plumbing in our shower from separate hot and cold to one single control and replacing some of those pipes. We are then re-tiling the shower, repainting the bathroom and redecorating the bathroom. Our hope is to sell our current home in the next two years.
• A visit to New York City to pick up my 15 year old from visiting his aunt for a week
• A visit to Albany, New York Area, to visit the rest of my family.
• About a week of planning for  teaching this year (6, 7, 8 grade.) We have what they call a one:one environment with Ipads now. I need to consider what ways it makes sense to integrate I pads into my studio art classroom as well as improving on or adding on to Core Curriculum matters.
• I am trying to continue losing  weight and going to the gym at least 3x a week, which in the past week, has been difficult with all the family home.

This is the first few pages:

    He wasn't so unlike any other giant black Malamute, not so unusual looking, really.  What seemed unusual, as he sat on the Town Hall steps that day were the odd look in his eye and the unusual colored drool in a substantial puddle on the concrete steps beneath him.  He had sat there every day for the past two weeks, though only on business days, as he waited for his master to come out. Under normal circumstances, most would say of any large black Malamute, especially one hanging around all day in such a place, “Damn, that is a big dog!” or “Look at the size of those freakin’ paws!” or “Why is that dog sitting out there on the stoop of Town Hall all day long!” Yes, he was a spectacle of awe and respect that most people feel when the encounter an oversize, lethally strong, mountain of hair, more like a bear than a dog, oddly friendly canine. A spectacle that left a  foreboding question of “is he really friendly?” lingering when encountered and  one takes a step back from the monster dog as he approaches to….lick you. The problem with this picture was that those eyes and dripping drool made the strange loyalty of this dog waiting all day for his master in the middle of downtown Claremont, New Hampshire, more ominous than this already peculiar scene was. In fact, there had been a lot of dogs hanging around Claremont following their owners to work, or the grocery store, or to the library, or to school, or the following on the cities approved bike lanes for miles; and not only dogs, but various other household pets doing strange and out of the ordinary things.

       Barnacle, or Barney as he was called for short, was the Mayors dog. For the past two weeks, despite Mayor Lou Parsons efforts to assure his doors were solidly locked, double and triple checked, especially after the 3^rd or 4^th day, Barney arrived on the steps just before Lou got to work and walked up the steps each morning. Two weeks, every day, always the same.  Barney sitting at the top step, looking over to acknowledge Lou with perked ears with a glance and then a satisfied wink and head turned back in an apparent blank stare into the distance with that strange look in his eyes. Lou tried everything to move the massive dark dog to no avail, even trying to pick him up or drag him to his car. Each effort met with a fierce warning growl that he’d never heard Barney use before, it unnerved him to the point of fear. With that unnerving fear and the accompanying bewilderment at what to do, Lou determine to go into work each day and leave him alone. Barney was fairly content to wait ‘till the end of each day and when Lou left, Barney somehow got home before him each night. That was it; the next day, same as the first.

   
      A cool breeze blew up the stone steps of the old historical town hall across marble floors and caught the old oak door on Lou’s office, slamming it shut as Lou turned to pull the door shut himself. He stepped back quickly, but the door banged his hand before he could retract it as he saw the big door coming. “Ouch, ahhhh, grrmmmfffff, geeessff  that hurt!’ he grumbled under his breath trying  not to make a big deal about it and not to attract the attention of his secretary. He just wanted to get to his office and felt perturbed at the inconvenience and surprise of the pain. He had too much on his mind today and a sense of greater concern began to creep deeper into his gut about Barnacle. It became more and more uncomfortable each day trying to explain to everyone who asked, “So, how’s Barney today?” and respond to the half-witted questions like,” You goin’ out to lunch later with him, he seems to be anxious to go?” and other such uncomfortable comments covering up the bizarre situation that it was, as no one really knew what to make of it.

 “Good morning, Joanne, any calls yet this morning?..er .. How are you today?” he asked.

 “ No, Mayor, not just yet, but Mr. Senegal stopped by after you left last night just after you left and would like you to give him a call….and, yes I’m fine..I made some coffee for you, it’s on your desk …and my cat bit me this morning.”

”What? Your cat bit you…Bella? The one who sleeps around your head every night and runs away from mice?”

“Yes, Bella..I don’t understand it. She was sitting on table by the door as I left, I went to give her a little scratch on the head and she pawed me so fast and positively growled at me so loud, I jumped back, dropped my keys, and shouted. Bob ran out the kitchen to see what was wrong. We were so stunned. Bella just sat there, quietly like nothing has happened and looked at me.” She said excitedly.

“I’m sorry, Joanne…are you OK?”

“Yes, I’m fine..so strange…well…you had better call Mr. Senegal, it seemed important.” Joanne said with a feeling of not wanting to talk about the scratch and surprised that she had blurted out what happened. She was usually very formal at work and did not share personal information or feelings. Lou always called her “Joanne” letting her know she didn't have to call him Mr. Mayor. He preferred for his staff to see him more as a friend than a boss, it’s just the way he was. He was a strong Mayor, people listened to him, trusted his decisions and rarely was there any serious disagreements, unusual in a political position. That is why he held the position for so long. Twenty years.

     Mayor Lou Parson’s office was very telling about the man. It was very austere, simply furnished, no desk plate with his name on it, no inspirational pictures, just the things he needed: A file cabinet, a comfortable old wood and leather chair with brass covered wheel guards, the kind that hurt your toes if you ran them over, an old fashioned land line phone with a rotary dial, black, from the 70’s, bare hardwood floors. A grand old oak desk, with big drawers which didn't have much more than the basic supplies he needed. It made him feel prepared for the eventuality that he might need the space for an important project and all the files and papers to think about and put safely away. He liked the quality of products from days gone by and felt that many things didn't need the “upgrades” that have come so quickly over the years. He allowed himself a photo on his desk of his wife and two children from a family vacation to Kennebunkport, Maine. He was holding his daughter Isabel (Lizzy) on his lap, his older daughter Laura standing behind him and his wife with her hands on his shoulders and a giant fake 30lb lobster on a plate in front of them all, a novelty picture stage at a local Restaurant called the Lobster Trap. It always made him laugh inside because he thought if the lobster were that large he was likely the one who was trapped and to be eaten by the lobster and not the other way round. Somehow that thought didn’t seem funny today. Otherwise the office contained only  two leather chairs set off to the side and the brick red curtains that, when drawn, let no light into the room when the sun heated up his office in the late afternoon. No clutter, no distractions from the task at hand. Practical, tidy, ready for business.

     “Lou, I don’t know what to say, I don’t know what to tell you…but I’m getting concerned here.”

“I’m not sure what you’re saying, Senegal and Associates won’t we held liable? Who would hold you liable? You’re the most successful lawyers this side of New Hampshire?”

“Look , we have a dozen cases now, including Mrs. Peters Cocker Spaniel going missing, of animal abductions or deaths over the past half year. The public hasn't connected the dots between the cases yet, but if the media finds out it won’t be long. There seems to be some connection between the missing or dead animals  and the crime scenes of six seemingly isolated human deaths. Nothing links the deaths except animal hairs and some unidentified orange-ish ooze on the fingernails of the dead people. Some of the same ooze has been found in the homes of the missing animals, some of the folks missing their animals noticed it on or around their pet’s mouths the week before they went missing. We just had three of the cases ruled death by natural causes, one  a heart attack, one old age and organ failure , one a stroke. All of these cases had the ooze in the crime scene; in none of the cases were they able to identify what the hell it was. 6 deaths in New Hampshire in a half a year is going to attract attention if people think something is connecting them. Do you remember the Rest Stop Killer? People were terrified for years…too many loose ends took too long to connect. When we finally put it together 18 people died and a lot of people in my office lost their job. Remember that’s how the opening for the DA came about 15 years ago.”

     Lou gazed blankly at his family picture and paused to reply. It was hard to think about death or allow the terrible feelings of emptiness and loss that came with them. He spent three years trying to come to reconcile life without his wife who had passed away from a rare form of lung cancer five years ago. His propensity for simplicity became a way to cope with things. Keeping things simple and matter of fact, taking one task at a time, keeping his mind focused on work tasks, city problems, and working through them to resolution gave him a sense of moving forward and purpose, and helped him avoid feeling too deeply, just kept him moving which kept him from drowning. If he gave himself time to feel, he likely would not be here today. He knew his girls needed him and he would have to sacrifice the privilege of mourning fully so he could keep moving; moving for them. “Ok, Mr. Senegal. You won’t be on the hook for wrongful conviction suits. I’ll get Chief Stanton on it and get to the bottom of it. We just have to keep moving, we’ll make sure the town is safe and avoid a panic. It was a terrible time for people around here back then. That killer was insane, truly insane. They said it was a freak brain disease; an isolated tragedy. Everyone thought it was some conspiracy, like a Manson cult. I know it’s a problem. We won’t let it spin off into paranoia.”

     “Thanks Lou, by the way how’s Barney doing, still waiting for lunch?”

These are watercolor pencil and color pencil drawings. One or two may have a little brush, as well.  I did these in 2012. It was most of what I could do that year, not too much. I watched birds while sitting on the deck at my in laws lake house in Conquest, New York (Duck Lake.) I simply like birds. I have an affinity for Mourning Doves and Sparrows as they are so common and so many. I think of them as symbolically being like man kind. So many and so common. Our plights are shared our experience is similar and we face a shared experience on earth. I love that Sparrows are the Biblical bird of choice in a number of scriptures. The expression of god's concern for even the Sparrow. So, symbolically, the Sparrow represents our common plight and experience. I find Sparrow's and Mourning Doves beautiful in their ordinariness. Although, ordinary, they are amazing and complex and free in so many ways. So I think that is worthy of representing!

Painting 1 2014 January.

Here is the first months painting in the aforementioned year long project. I intend to put this and the other posted painting in the Washington count teachers art show tommorow. This painting is entitled "Where your treasure is, there is your heart: the calling of Mathew" pardon capitalization errors etc. it is really hard to get my iPad keyboard to work well.

I'd rather not over explain what I am doing here other than to sayi start with the inspiration of the title. I've been pondering the action moments of the call of Jesus disciples. These are pivotal spiritual moments that meet and demand an immediate earthly response. My paintings and thinking for the past 20 years have been meditations on these two ideas, spiritual existence within an earthly confines for the a finite time and the tensions experienced between the two. These two paintings are an expression of that pondering of those events. On the other hand, just as the lives of Nathaniel and Mathew unfolded, the life of a painting unfolds and it becomes what it becomes for me and anyone who views it. the inspiration is just the starting place for the life of the painting.

I intend to end the life of this painting after February and paint over it and start again.

Day 1 part 2

Below are a couple pictures of my Middle School students creating a leaf line across a park. Our intention was to use one art element and the material available in the park. Extending the line across the landscape seemed like an interesting way to explore the contour of the land and see it, experience it in a new way. Later, we will see what happened to our line. We just got about 8 inches of snow, so that will be interesting!
     The connection to the 12 month painting is the shortness of the life of the painting. We thouhght it would be an interesting, challenging, and maybe even a spiritual meditation of sorts to go through the process of ending the previous painting consciously and moving on to what lies ahead, a new inspiration. I anticipate that being a little difficult as I get attached to things I make. My students expressed some of that angst over making something that would' last.why do it?
I think about the process of making a mandala out of sand...something worth looking up. I will see if I can share a link to a video on that.

Day 1

I completed a painting yesterday. I was pleased with it. It was fairly spontaneous, but responsive to an idea floating in my head since September. I will upload that soon. My wife and I were chatting about it and a project I was working on with my Middle School students based on Andy Goldsworthy's artworks. Andy Goldsworthy creates artworks in nature wit only things he finds in nature, in the place he is working. The artworks have a lifespan dependent on the environment. I.e if a work is made out of ice, when it gets warm out, the artwork melts and is no more. Goldsworthy photographs the life of the artwork and may show this documentation as the representation.  So, we had this idea...

     What if I painted a painting each month, documented it, and, rather than buy a new canvas, just paint over it and start again. We discussed options or self imposed rules. Each new painting must maintain one part of the prior painting. The painting at the end of the year would serve as the final painting, and each underplayed painting would be documented with it.

    Our discussion continued and settled on the idea that blogging the process, writing notes and thoughts on each painting here, with video and pictures, would be a nice way to do this documentation. It could be shared easily with whoever is interested and would be fun to share with my students at school. Therein lies the explanation for this blog! I hope it is a success, and I hope you enjoy and follow along this year!

Thanks,
Philip Shaer