January 27, 2012.

I’ve had a good morning working while I wait for various bits of paint to dry. Who says artist don’t have exciting lives.

#1010.

I’m exploring broken fragments of graphs. Irregular edges are another favorite that I keep working with.

Long Series #1009.

The grid is endless, and sometimes it can be broken, buried, or erased.

January 26, 2012.

I’ve not started work yet, and I wonder what kind of fun I’ll get up to. Anyway it is a sunny, cold, Canadian morning, and January is fast slipping away.

Detail.

On Monday I started my 4th weekly painting. I had asked people to finish the line Black And…

The answers that interested me led me to this result. I started working and after about an hour I discovered that I was pleased with the result, and I don’t think I’ll do much more work on this painting. But is it a painting? I tend to think of it as a drawing. What do you think?

January 25, 2012.

It’s a good morning for painting. I’ve been working on a 24×36 inch canvas, and some 12×12 inch Long Series paintings. I keep coming up with ideas as I work, and there will never be enough time to do it all. But I’ll try.

1. Stickers. We have 2 small kids, and it’s amazing what the promise of a sticker reward will get you. Potty training! Trips to the doctor! Pretty much anything that has to be done with a small kid and that can turn into a battle can be negotiated successfully with a sticker reward. Except eating any kind of vegetables. They haven’t invented a sticker for that yet.

2. Incandescent light bulbs. I’ve a strange belief that we should only use energy efficient bulbs during the summer months. Incandescent bulbs create heat, and in winter on Prince Edward Island we need all the heat we can get. I wonder if they’ve ever done a study to see if there might be a heating oil saving by using incandescent bulbs this way. I remember sitting near lamps with incandescent bulbs and feeling the heat from the bulb. Does anyone know if there are any advantages? Just asking.

3. Things that last. Nothing lasts forever, but it would be nice if some things lasted a little longer. I do have some items that have lasted a long time such as artists brushes, shirts, books, and other odds and sods. But I wonder why waistbands of underwear, cell phones, computers, and chocolate never last.

4. Pizza. I probably could live forever just eating pizza. Maybe forever wouldn’t be very long. But I can dream.

5. Living on an island. I like living on an island. I always know where I am. I know where the edges are. I know when I’m home. I know when I’ve gone too far.

6. Award Season. I like this time of year when awards for movies and television shows occur. I like doing pools to see how many I get right. I seem to always have a movie or actor that I hope wins an award. The thing is I rarely see the movies that get nominated, and in most cases I have no intention in seeing most movies that get nominated. But I do enjoy winning the family Oscar pool. Not that I’ve ever actually won. But some day I will. Even if it means watching some of those nominated movies.

7. January Thaws. Really the only good thing about January thaws is that they make room for the February snows. We had a January thaw this week and the town looks like hell. A thaw shows how much garbage and dog poo we’ll have to pick up in the spring. But at least I’ll have room for all the snow that is coming.

8. Being deaf in one ear. There are few things good about being deaf, and I’ve been deaf in my left ear since I was 2. But I do have one thing I like. When I’m having trouble sleeping I roll over and put my good ear against the pillow, and I can’t hear anything. Off to sleep I go.

9. Other Artists. I actually like other artists. They are interesting, fun, and colourful characters.  Sometimes they are very nice. Except when they don’t want to be.

10. Five-Dollar Bills. I’ve always wondered why bank machines only give out $20′s. The $5 is a much more useful bill. You rarely have to break a five, and a few of them can pay for many things.

January 24, 2012.

A warm day for January in Canada, dark, dreary, and nothing feels comfortable. I have managed to get some work done. That is good. I’m thinking of a grey painting.

Long Series #1008.

This is a mixed media painting/drawing/collage, on paper. It is #1008 in my Long Series of 12×12 inch works. I originally intended to do 1000 in the series, but I’ve enjoyed working on these paintings so much that I’ve decided to keep on going. I’ve set the bar high, and I intend to keep on going to 10,000. It should take 20 years. Give or take a decade.

January 23, 2012.

January seems to be flying by, and if February goes by as smoothly I won’t have anything to complain about. Darn it all!