2016-07-01 Portrait of the Artist as an Older Man Print

2016-07-01 Portrait of the Artist as an Older Man is from my series: INKS / Essences. This is a nod to the writing of James Joyce, Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, which I read as a young man. I read Joyce while taking studio drawing and glass blowing classes in college. His use of Free Indirect Speech influenced the view I have of myself and my relation to other people; dynamically living in the moment while observing oneself in a third person narrative. How do glass blowing and Joyce manifest into my images? A fair enough question, though I prefer to explain my work in the fashion of Joseph Beuys' - How to Explain Pictures to a Dead Hare. Blowing glass requires extreme attention and is not very forgiving. A lapse in focus on its temperature range, how it is reacting to gravity, and the implements that you use to manipulate - coax - massage it into a desired form/shape, will ruin the piece, not to mention its 2,000 degree temperature may do a fair amount of damage to a distracted handler. My art training was developed in this zen-like environment of molten glass, tempered with academic drawing and art history. My intellect was immersed in literature, philosophy, sociology and psycholinguists. These two being melded together in the sensual cornucopia of New Orleans. Moving away from the rigidity of graphite and charcoal; I became entranced with the fluidity on India Ink on Vellum. Like molten glass, ink flows, is unforgiving and demanding on how it is manipulated - there are no erasers and you cannot paint over a section if you "change your mind;" ink is permanent. When I sit in front of a blank sheet of paper, I have no preconceived notion of what to draw, I just move the ink, letting the images reveal themselves. My "Free Indirect Speech" conversing with my artistic nature about people, places, thoughts and feelings that make up my days. These "drawings," for a lack of a better label, are like diary entries in a journal of my travels throughout the southern United States, the Yucatan, California, many years in Manhattan, and now in Annapolis, Maryland. Where my son is about to head off to his college adventure. It has been a few years since I have worked in ink; my concentration has been in wooden sculptural vessels and photography. Time has a way of repeating itself. My son came home from school one day, intellect ablaze, asking me if I had ever read any James Joyce? "Yes." I replied. "Have you read Ulysses? My teacher says it is one of the hardest books to read." "No, I have not, but I'll give it a try." So, I dusted off my intellect and aided by a Kindle, I re-immersed myself in the eternal day of Joyce. Life is to be lived, but stories must be told. I hope you enjoy looking at my stories.

Print:Giclee on Fine Art Paper

Size:12 W x 9 H x 0.1 D in

Size with Frame:17.25 W x 14.25 H x 1.2 D in

Delivery Time:Typically 5-7 business days for domestic shipments, 10-14 business days for international shipments.