The Night Watchman's Garden

The Night Watchman's Garden
Graphite, Charcoal; 2 5/8" x 3 5/16"

The Navigator's Dream

The Navigator’s Dream
Charcoal, Graphite; 2 5/8” x 1 5/8”

Restless, the Navigator dreams:
A wider night, uncharted deeps:
No silent stars, but far faint bells:
Could he only learn to still himself enough,
and listen

At 2 5/8" x 1 5/8", this drawing is the smallest I've done in awhile. The jpeg should load at actual size at most browser settings. Both The Navigator's Dream and At Morning's Gates will be in Little Gems.

At Morning's Gates

At Morning’s Gates: Somers Observatory, 1925
Graphite; 4 5/8” x 2 3/8”

Little Gems

February 6 - March 13, 2009
Opening Reception: Friday, February 6, 5:00 - 7:30 PM.
West End Gallery, 12 West Market Street, Corning NY

Top: Edd Tokarz Harnas, Orbit of the Eye; Joanne Sonsire,
Summer Lace. Middle: Parnilla Carpenter, Autumn's Ornaments II;
Mark Reep, Lost Dream. Bottom: Bridget Bossart van Otterloo,
Chili Peppers; G.C. Myers, Light Beings.

For more, visit westendgallery.net

Treman Park

Treman Park, Ithaca, in early October.

Tanglewood In Autumn

Tanglewood Nature Center, Elmira, in early October.

Top Ten Reasons Why I Stipple

10. I can't draw a straight line to save my life

9. I was just trying to bang some life back into my pen, and this happened

8. It runs in the family. And not that many of us were ever institutionalized, at least for long, so it can't be that bad...

7. Chicks dig dots

6. I thought this was a drywalling class

5. It's so weird, somebody's gotta wanna buy it

4. If I screw up, the mistakes are so small nobody'll notice 'em anyway

3. It's wonderfully therapeutic and relaxing, I've become a much calmer, kinder person- Waddya mean I've still got a ways to go? HUH? WADDYA MEAN BY THAT??!!

2. Hey, I may be legally blind, but at least I qualify for disability now

1. Helen Hunt said it best, on Mad About You: I'm not nuts- I'm THOROUGH.

Aleta Wynn Yarrow

Aleta Wynn Yarrow, Guardians
Acrylic; 18" x 36"

This month, West End Gallery showcases Aleta Wynn Yarrow. At first glance, our work may not seem to have a lot in common- For starters, Aleta’s is often bold and colorful; mine, well, not so much. But our work shares, I think, some essential themes: An appreciation of nature’s beauty, of the value of quiet places, quiet times, and the importance of mysteries and dreams. Aleta’s work has always seemed to me to be both uncompromisingly personal and consistently positive, and I Dream of Ordinary Things continues to reflect these qualities, too. The show will be up through January 10. For more, visit Aleta’s website.

More on quiet places, time alone at G. C. Myers’ Redtree Times.

Lightfall

Lightfall
Charcoal, Graphite, Ink; 2008
8 1/2" x 5 1/4", 14" x 11" frame
$1200.00

This drawing will also be in the Sparkle of Christmas show at West End Gallery.

Tattoo 2

Tattoo 2
Ink; 1" x 3"
2004

Two short prose pieces, The Umbrella of the Future and Alder Run, are up at Ink Sweat and Tears.

Hawthorn

Hawthorn
Ink, Graphite, Charcoal; 5 5/16" x 2 5/16"
2004

Looking for unframed work for the show at WEG, I found a few other things I'd forgotten. Time and distance bring new perspective- Not always kind, but usually instructive. And sometimes, there are pleasant surprises, too.

Elsewhere, things are going swimmingly at Lara Pawson's new blog, Museum of Doubt. And yes, that's a Markie, and I'm honored.

New to the links list is G. C. Myers' blog Redtree Times. RT is very Gary: Thoughtful, engaging, encouraging, generous with reflection and insight into his approach to artmaking and the life of a working artist. Good stuff.

Good stuff too at Gloom Cupboard #69: New poems by Justin Hyde, Emily Smith, Alishya Almeida, Mignon Ariel King, and my drawing-and-text Lost Dream.

Inn of the Seven Graces

Inn of the Seven Graces
Charcoal, Graphite; 5" x 4"; 10" x 8" framed. $800.00

Enlarged for detail; the drawing's actual size is 5" x 4".

Parnilla Carpenter

Parnilla Carpenter, Autumn Lights
Colored Pencil, 6 1/2" x 4 1/2"

Two Weeks Gone

A Watkins Glen gorge trail, on a warm autumn afternoon two weeks gone; and last summer's first hot day: Saturday Morning, in Gloom Cupboard # 63.

Two poems by Read This editor Claire Askew: Christopher’s Wren, at Pomegranate, and Homecoming, at Claire’s poets’ community One Night Stanzas.

Playing: Dave Martone's Clean, with guests Jennifer Batten, Billy Sheehan.

Armageddon Monks

For us, the highlight of September’s Porchfest, an eclectic afternoon of music played on porches throughout Ithaca’s Fall Creek neighborhood, was an acoustic set by Armageddon Monks. First time we’d heard them play, but it won’t be the last. Their self-titled 2007 CD Armageddon Monks, a collection of new recordings of the band’s favorite tracks from earlier releases, is available on their website, at Amazon.com, and other online retailers; each track is also available as a 99¢ MP3 download.

Their website characterizes their sound as metal-influenced rock, blending oldschool metal influences with modern rock melodies and structures–Not always an easy mix, but these guys make it all work, and seamlessly.

Armageddon Monks is a kickass CD–Well-written songs, great performances and production, no filler here. Personal recommends if you’re previewing online: Lines, Long Way Down, Where We Lie, Get Your Fill, Come Inside, No Day Like Tomorrow. Check out the samples, and download City Limits, an EP of five demo tracks for an upcoming CD–It’s available as a free download here.

Links:
http://www.armageddonmonks.com
www.myspace.com/amonks
City Limits EP

Watkins Glen

Watkins Glen, NY. I'm always a little amazed, not only by the beauty of the gorge itself, but by the skill and scope of the stonework that allows the access most of us take for granted now. Regional landscape architect Herbert Blanche said in 1933 that “the best executed project is one that is least apparent in the landscape,” and after the disastrous flood of 1935 washed out most of the existing concrete stairs and metal railings, the gorge trail was reconstructed with native stone. Its striated, flowing walls are an artful extension of the gorge’s own; often, it’s hard to tell where nature’s work ends, masonry begins. I’ve great respect for the masons who built, who continue to maintain and improve the winding steps, bridges, miles of walkways throughout the Fingerlakes gorges and parks.

Walls of Stone

From the Gun Factory's abandoned waterway, overlooking Fall Creek Gorge.

Stations Lost

It’s not like I want to live in this house. I just want to sit on that porch awhile, watch the evening storms coming across the hills. Can’t you imagine us doing that? Kicking back with a couple cold beers, the Mets game fading in and out on a tinny transistor radio. You can’t put it down or the station’s lost, you have to keep working the tuner, waiting–What happened, did you catch that? Lindsey Nelson on the play-by-play, Ralph Kiner doing color: “Eleven strikeouts already for Seaver, and we’re only in the seventh.”

Table For Two

Eddy Dam Footbridge

Eddy Dam Footbridge, upper Cascadilla.