Walking with a Full Moon and J.M.W. Turner

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I stayed a night with my old friend Michael in Tupper Lake, NY.  I pulled in late and was greeted by a fire and a beer in the wood shop. Sitting in deep chairs we warmed up our feet and talked about what we always talk about. It never seems to get old.  More timeless talk I guess.  In the morning we drank coffee then took a walk with his dogs, Swix and Buddha on his ski trails.  The frost was strong, but the sun shown bright and melted what had covered most things.  We spoke of love, future plans, skiing, and his woods. We pointed out large black cherries to each other and discussed how beautiful they are.  Swix would bound ahead, but always find us for this girl know the woods well.  Buddha, with her slight limp, stayed closers, cooling off in slightly frozen over puddles when we crossed on.

Oh the Adirondacks. My heart sings. These mountains and people I’ve know so well. I’ve been there much of my life. I know I’ll travel its lands again, but for now, I leave, off to some new lands, and to have these mountains in my dreams.

I went back to St. Lawrence recently and painted the back annex hallway of the Outing Club house.  Having had a bit more purpose for my stay felt good, although it did not feel as awkward to be back as I expected.  There are always wonderful and dear people around.

This area of the house is called “The Swamp” , a shout out to the old show “MASH”.  Its not the most uplifting part of the house and I was happy to have the chance to change it from the old light sea foam/intitutional green.  In a way I thought, “it can’t get any worse.”

Upstairs in another room, my friend Alex Eaton painted the common room with some mountains and trees. The colors are very different, but I wanted to say in line with his… well line.   Craggy mountain lines were on my mind as friends like April Costa and Alex Comeau helped tape edges for the color boarders. In the end I had to do some quick black lines, mostly because it was super fun and also that it gives it a little more flare and looks a lot more swampy.

I was fun and freeing to have a large space to work on and not care about it too much.  I guess I can just hope that the painters union finds it more suitable then the previous nothingness.

On what should be call my last night in Burlington, we had a such a party that is to never be forgotten. Some good folks gathered and participated in painting over the wall that I used in the attic studio.  We just went wild on it, taping off sections at first to later create some structure.  Everyone got there hands involved and I don’t think there could have been a better way to leave that space and those people.  We continued the commotion up in attic to the wee hours of the morn, dancing our heads off, and reveling in the special occurrence that was taking place.  Smiles existed like the paint on our bodies, plastered and sweaty, then eventually drying up and landing on the floor.

Hop into the painting link to check out more from this series of work.