Fuzzy Man

Calvin, our itinerant Cairn Terrier for these last 14.5 years, is "The Fuzzy Man" at our house. He's ever cheerful, a lover of life, a true companion. He never asks for much. Instead, he holds up his end of the bargain- companion, watchdog, friendly boy, kibble aficionado.

He is much older now. And, in passing, has had his share of health crises in the last year or so. Tonight was no exception. Rushed again to our ever-compassionate vet practice, at night, they set him right, to some degree. We continue to nurse him at home. So, as I lay with him on the kitchen floor (he, on a comfy bed, me on a smelly old carpet scrap next to him) I want to say, "Here's to you, Calvin. The Fuzzy Man. The Maitre d' of 147 Mansfield Road (houseguests, you know what I'm talkin' about))." God bless you.

Grad Crits, Midterm, Fall 2013

A subjective record of the conversations/interactions/trajectories of our MFA in Art crits. It's true:
1. There was no heat (brrrr)
2. There was coffee
3. There was art
4. Artists (faculty and students) really do work hard (crits are an all-day Saturday event)

Dr. Richard Shiff- Modernist

I enjoyed his lecture at the recent National Council of Arts Administrators conference in Richmond, VA (VCU, host). 9/24-9/28/13. So, he ended up in my sketchbook.

That's some serious art nerd awesomesauce, right there!

From the UT Austin website: "Richard Shiff is Effie Marie Cain Regents Chair in Art at The University of Texas at Austin, where he directs the Center for the Study of Modernism. His scholarly interests range broadly across the field of modern and contemporary art."

http://www.utexas.edu/finearts/aah/about/people/richard-shiff

Ghost Leaves

 I always love the ghost images that fallen leaves make this time of year on concrete walkways. These images are progressive- some taken during the day, some at night. Traveling between the Art Building and the William J. Benton Museum of Art on the University of Connecticut campus, pausing to take in these ephemeral moments is a nice "anti-venom" to the blah, blah, blah of time spent in depressing meetings (otherwise known as "time out of my life that I can't ever get back"). There is something about these "leaves/not leaves" that always interests me...

Snack Foods, Investigated

While out drawing on-site with my students the other day (trying to encourage the "sketchbook habit," don't you know), my own entry included the following. Maybe a good example for the students about challenging their notion of what proves to be appropriate or valuable subject matter? Or, maybe just the mundane, banal musings of an illustrator on the loose in a town with a Subway, and not much else. Enjoy?

Airport Ambience, Sketchbook Style

Who among us does not like to travel? The sights! The sounds! The overwhelming feeling of needing to be somewhere on time, or risk hundreds, perhaps thousands, of dollars, paid in advance, to travel by train, plane, boat, etc.! There, I've piqued your interest. My tale is not so interesting- went to a conference recently. But the airport cacophony was, indeed, something for my sketchbook, as was the condition of my seat-mate on the first leg of the journey. Yes, Purell® was involved...

Fun Fact: This is the spread I was working on in my sketchbook in the photos from the "Mid-Air Inking" post. Ok, maybe not so fun. Just click on the image if you'd like to see a larger version.

Mid-Air Inking...

So, often I find myself working in a sketchbook (or on professional work, of course... shhhh...) in random places (hotel rooms, trains, subway, the back yard, and so on). This is really not unusual for any professional illustrator or artist, but there are some interesting challenges. For example, in the "tray tables up" position, at night, you are relegated to holding your sketchbook in one hand, inking with the other, in piss-poor light, negotiating the lumps and bumps of turbulence, along with a seat-mate who won't stop talking.

Wikipedia (I know, a decidedly unreliable source, and, yet, so 21st century...) defines turbulence as "characterized by chaotic and suspectedly stochastic property changes." This is reflected in my inking. Fo' shizzle.

I recently had some fun decorating an air sickness bag, and then leaving it for the next (un) lucky traveler...