The Continuous Painting: Season of the Sunflower.

Creating the Continuous Painting:

When I decided to document the life-cycle of a sunflower, painting it daily and photographically recording all the changes to the painting, I never imagined how difficult the project would be. I effectively chained myself for five and a half months to a few square feet of our garden!

I didn’t keep a regular diary. But I did keep a few notes which I’ve included:

( To view the video and my exhibition proposal scroll to the end of this blog post.)

April

My master plan is to pull a few stages of the continuous painting out of the sequence and replace them by the next day with a reproduction on canvas.  I’ll continue my daily record on this new canvas without disrupting the evolution of the ‘continuous painting’.   I’ll aim to pull out eight or ten canvases. I am going to Don and Era Farnsworth at Magnolia Editions for the prints on canvas and also for feedback. All the paintings I pull from the sequence will be part of the ‘continuous painting’ which will also be recorded as a time lapse video to be shown along with the canvases. (see proposal at bottom of this blog)

I’m investing a lot of time and energy into this. What if the sunflower blows over? We have strong winds here in the summer and these big sunflowers do blow over from time to time.  I’ll plant a second seedling, behind – as insurance..

May

The scrub-jays are actively defending their turf, especially the garden and the pond, from all comers. They nest in an oak two houses away. This garden is their main source of food. They are welcome because they eat the  snails. They keep a close watch on Pilar, the cat who hunts in the garden . They loudly herald his every move,  blowing  his cover.  He wheezes and sputters while his body twitches in barely contained rage.

A scrub-jay landed on the fence today so I added it to the painting. I may  animate it.  The Jays are a major presence.

July

I’ve asked myself for some time now, “What happens if the plant grows faster than I can paint it ? “  I think that moment may have arrived.  Yesterday I stepped outside to discover that the plant had risen four inches. The leaves are growing at an incredible rate. I repaint any changes every day. I begin at the base of the plant and work my way up. I usually photograph three stages of this progress. After several hours I reach the top, by which time, the lower leaves of the sunflower have expanded considerably. It’s almost impossible to do this in the time I have available! I’m getting sick from the stress. I feel I’m becoming a slave to the plant.

Today, exhausted and sick, from trying to keep up,  I prepared to paint but my condition made it impossible to concentrate.  I returned to bed.

I’m recovering. The only way to deal with the plant’s excessive growth is to block in details more loosely. Some days I just manage to describe all the leaves in silhouette. No modeling, no veins. Sometimes not even light and shade. I wonder how this stage will look in the video.

August

Will this plant grow right out of the painting?  This is my new anxiety.  Fortunately it’s growth is slowing. But it’s perilously near the upper edge of the canvas

The plant grows in cyclic bursts.  A new junction of leaves halts its vertical thrust . It pours its energy into expanding the leaves. Once they are formed the stem shoots up again.  As Don Farnsworth, at Magnolia Editions, remarked “It has to unfold it’s solar panels.”

It’s like a green fountain that shoots spasmodically higher and higher.

“ The force that through the green fuse drives the flower

drives my green age. That blasts the roots of trees

is my destroyer.” -  Dylan Thomas

Even here in the city I’m surrounded by animals.  Legions of insects including aphids, ladybugs and dragonflies, larger creatures like scrub jays, mourning doves, occasionally raccoons and possums and a great blue heron.  I have a nest of gopher snakes and a small stream and pond with gold-fish and one frog. Every day the frog, still as a stone, returns my gaze. He’s my garden Buddha who watches my back while I paint.

September

I’m going to close the project . The plant is beautiful in a threadbare way. The leaves are shriveling, many are dead. They begin to die along the extremities and in areas farthest from the veins. These parts turn yellow, then reddish brown and finally black. Today I lowered my eyes from a dried leaf to mix a color on my palette. When I looked up the leaf had vanished. I examined the ground. There it was. An insubstantial parchment, so different from the pulsing green leaves of late June and early July that drove me crazy trying to keep up. ‘The force that through the green fuse’ drove the flower has ebbed,  leaving a parched substance as light and brittle as burned paper.

The Video (which must be viewed full screen):

Exhibition Proposal:

The eight canvases (36″ X 24″)  extracted from the continuous painting would be hung in a circular space with a diameter of about 15 feet.

A screen (outlined in black) would be hung between the first and last painting of the series.  It would intermittently play the video.

Viewers could step into a design in the middle of the space, painted to resemble an archeological dig (Mexico circa 2600 BC) and affect both the direction and speed of the video by moving their bodies.

Censored: Feds Force Closure of Global Warming Show in First ‘Green’ Federal Building

CENSORED !

How does a Federal agency censor art without appearing to?  They cite permit irregularities. This is what GSA Management did when the San Francisco Chronicle columnist, Leah Garchik inquired about the cancellation of the reception for my “San Francisco and Global Warming” exhibition in the new San Francisco Federal building, 90 7^th St., and its forced closure three weeks early.

Imagine being invited by the management of the first green Federal Building in the country to show your work. You put together an unusual show highlighting the issue of climate change which is warmly received by the tenants of the building. Now imagine arriving to attend your reception and being ordered by a bureaucrat you’ve never met to take down your show immediately. This, in a nut shell, is what happened to me on Friday, May 7^th.

The San Francisco Global Warming Triptych on display in the Federal Building before its expulsion by GSA.

EVENTS OF MAY 7^th

When I asked this official, whom I will refer to as ‘Jones’, why my work had to come down he explained that the permit for the show had not been renewed in a timely fashion. Building management was obligated to clear ongoing events on a monthly basis with GSA management. I responded that the show was advertised as continuing until June 1. It was listed on my website, on the Britweek Website, and on cards which building management had made available to the public. He was unmoved. He indicated that the show was more than two weeks beyond its permit.

This is an abbreviated version of our conversation:

“If its more than two weeks in arrears, one more day won’t make any difference. You should at least allow me to have my reception. It’s been widely advertised.”

“I’m ordering you to take it down now.”

“I don’t take orders from you!”

“Don’t raise your voice with me.”

“You’re disrespecting me and my work so I will raise my voice. I will not take this work down.”

“Then we will.”

“If you value your job, you won’t touch my work.”

I turned and walked out of the building.

About an hour later, after a conversation with Kenneth Baker at the Chronicle, I returned and, through the windows, observed that my work was still on display. I entered the building but was detained by the head of security.

“Why am I being detained?”

“I ‘m contacting ‘Jones’ ”

“I’ve already spoken to him. I have nothing more to say.”

I left the building and went home where I received e-mails from people who had come to the show and were puzzled by my absence.

IMPLAUSIBLE PRETEXTS

I later received an e-mail from ‘Jones’ giving a new reason for disallowing the reception. “Your application request to greet 30 to 150 guests from noon to 5:00 pm and show them your artwork will interfere with access to the area in which it is displayed as well as disrupt government business…”

‘Jones’ had not mentioned this to me in our conversation.

It was an absurd reason. Friday is a furlough day so half the tenants are absent. Besides, I attended an Earth Day event in this same space on Thursday, April 15, where a dozen tables were set up and hundreds of people milled around without any problem.

HOLES IN THE OFFICIAL STORY

The GSA spokesperson led Leah Garchik, of the Chronicle, to believe that I’d been tardy in filing a permit and that the show had been slated to come down the end of April. In fact permitting was an internal affair. Building management passed all documents by me and then filed them as they were due. Upper management was aware that the show was going to be up until June 1^st 2010 and had verbally assured building management that I could receive the public on May 7^th as part of Britweek, an event sponsored by the British Consulate.

THE REAL STORY

All along there was some tension between upper management and building management. Building management was generous and friendly. I admired their determination to bring art into the building. GSA management had originally refused to let me show the Global Warming paintings until I wrote a letter explaining that these were works of the imagination not statements of fact. They later refused a request from building management for me to talk on Earth Day about the genesis of these paintings. They were monitoring every aspect of the show, including my website. On one occasion they asked building management to have me alter information on the website.

Given this level of scrutiny, GSA management must have been aware that permits were in arrears by almost three weeks. Maybe they didn’t care until it provided them with a pretext to take down the show.

Oakland Global Warming # 2 : Did this painting suddenly become too relevant after the oil spill in the Gulf?

A PLAUSIBLE MOTIVE

Clearly upper management was uncomfortable with the show. But why yank it? Several observers have suggested that my painting “Oakland Global Warming # 2”, with its depiction of oil burning on water, became uncomfortably relevant after the massive BP disaster in the Gulf. Maybe, in the minds of upper level bureaucrats, this painting had left the realm of fantasy and was pointing an accusing finger at the Federal Government.

QED

If GSA management truly liked my work, it would have allowed my reception to take place, stored my work for a few days , expedited the permits and rehung it until June 1st. These permits are in house, after all. Or if they felt, for legal reasons, the work had to come down immediately, they could have offered me a rescheduled reception date. Their behavior clearly indicates that my work, not permits, was the issue.

MISPLACED PRIORITIES

Apart from the fact that a federal agency should not be engaged in censorship, we all need to ask why GSA is attempting to stifle public awareness of climate change and environmental disaster precisely when these are the most urgent issues of our time.

Global Warming Paintings at the San Francisco Federal Building: March 18 – June 1, 2010

My two Global Warming Triptychs, set in San Francisco and in Oakland, will be on exhibition at the San Francisco Federal Building, 90 7th St (at Mission) from March 18 to June 1. The exhibition will occupy the ground level of the lobby.

To purchase prints of the paintings shown in this blog go to “Featured Works” in the Shop.

Across a Hundred Years, oil on canvas, 2007

This is an appropriate location to showcase the Series for two reasons.

1. This building, designed by Thom Mayne, is the first ‘green’ Federal Building in the country.

2. The idea for this series occurred to me while I was painting this building  from the corner of Mission and 7th St. That painting “Across a Hundred Years” is included in the exhibition.

The Global Warming Series is an invitation to you to actively imagine our future if global warming remains unchecked. These paintings are not  predictions. They are science fiction. There are too many variables for us to predict the future of our planet with any precision. Only by exercising our imagination can we begin to grasp the enormity of the effect our species is having on this planet, and, perhaps, take measures to lessen our impact.

Here are the central panels of the two Triptychs:

For San Francisco

San Francisco Global Warming Triptych # 2, oil on canvas, 2008

For Oakland

Oakland Global Warming Triptych # 2, oil on canvas, 2009

Also on exhibition will my recent painting of the Chronicle, and a ten foot wide painting of the Bay Bridge both created on location in San Francisco:

Storm Clouds over the Chronicle, oil on canvas, 2009

Bay Bridge Panorama, oil/canvas, 2007

The Federal Building is open to those who wish to view my exhibition. Please inform security at the front door of your interest.  If you intend to bring a large group contact Conference Center manager, Mike Ladd, in advance at 415.625-2756 , 415.948.8531 mladd@enovity.com

Augusta Lee Collins: a voice from the street

My good friend Augusta Lee Collins jazz drummer, songwriter and guitarist will be performing his own compositions at the Oakland  Convention Center, Kwanzaa Celebration, Sunday, December 13th at 3 PM. He has been signed by Sony and will be performing internationally over the next year.

We first met on the street in 1989. I was painting a view of the old Housewives Market in Oakland from Jefferson and 9th street with blue Mount Tamalpais floating in the distance. While I was working, Augusta paused on the corner across from me to play his guitar . His silhouette provided a perfect focal point in the wide angle view.

Blue Distances # 1, oil/canvas, 34" X 40", 1989

I crossed over and asked him if he  would hold his pose for a few minutes. He was clearly down on his luck but he was courteous, smart and a great model. The  addition of his figure made my painting.

Detail of Augusta playing in 'Blue Distances # 1"

We became good friends. I have painted him so many times since then (he even  appears in my City Center Triptych in the foyer of 250 Frank Ogawa Plaza, Oakland) that he claims my paintings have contributed notably to his breaking free from drugs and homelessness and putting his career back on track.

Go and hear him. Follow his rising star. He and I share a common interest in communicating reality from the street.

Painting in Mexico & Day of the Dead

Noche de los Muertos. Ihautzio, near Patzcuaro, Michoacan

Painting Expediton Jan 7 – 21, 2010

January 7th I will be leading a two week painting expedition to Guanajuato and Patzcuaro in the highlands of central Mexico. We paint the towns the landscapes and local models. We stay, much of the time, in a lovely guest house in an indigenous community near the shores of Lake Patzcuaro. For information about this expedition, and to view a short video,  go the the ‘Classes’ section of this website and scroll down to ‘ Outdoor Painting around Lake Patzcuaro, Michoacan’

Noche de los Muertos

With Halloween just passed and today being Dia de los Muertos, I am recalling the long nights spent with Arminda Flores and her family in the community graveyard in Ihuatzio, Michoacan on Noche de los Muertos, the evening before the Day of the Dead. This painting is based on sketches I made as dawn began to illuminate the mists rising from nearby Lake Patzcuaro. Over that night the entire community had gathered around their family grave sites. Each family brought baskets of pan dolce, (sweet bread), fruit, numerous beeswax candles and masses of marigolds, which are traditionally viewed as the flowers of the dead. It is believed that, on this night, the barrier between life and death is permeable, so we pass it in the company off all those who are on ‘the other side’. It’s not a particularly solemn occasion. It’s more like a quiet family picnic. Crackling fires fed by debris cleared from graves over the previous week reach bright fingers into the night sky. Family members  wrap rebozos (shawls) tightly against the cold, pull close around the flickering candles and trade recollections, share gossip or just keep company with their invisible antecedents who gather in the enveloping dark.

Around the time of this painting, we sip hot chocolate to fortify ourselves against the predawn chill. Neighbors come over with gifts of food from a deceased relative who was close to someone in our family. We reciprocate with a gift from our family member to theirs. Thus by daylight,  as we gather our baskets to depart, we are all taking home food that has been exchanged among the dead and which we will later eat on their behalf. One doesn’t have to be a strict believer to draw consolation from this beautiful ritual.

This religious event is one of many that the devout and traditional Purepecha practice throughout the year. We will probably witness some others during our trip in January.

If you are interested in joining us click on the ‘Classes’ section of this web page and scroll down to ‘ Outdoor Painting around Lake Patzcuaro, Michoacan, Mexico’

To view more of my writings about Mexico go to ‘Mexico en mi Corazon’ in this blog.