Progress!

With the exception of a break around 12:30 p.m. for a beer and a bourbon while tried to figure out what to do with the disaster I created, I spent most of the day inside, re-doing the base coat, listening to the Velvet Underground and other tunes and painting. Thinking about the art I saw last night, the detail, the passion, I feel very much like a caveman (and if you are out there, my neanderthal friends, I mean no offense...you invented graffiti, and street art, so for that I am grateful) in my style and utter lack of detail.

But, baby steps!

Here's a status report: a pint glass full of the magic elixir chocolate egg cream, with white foth dripping over the side, an ashtray with a lit cigar,with smoke heading toward the egg cream glass, which splits the trail of smoke into two, a book (title to be determined). Can't say I am not pleased with the progress for a day.

And my muse, my redhead with glasses and poetry book...she was with me in my armchair all along!

Off to a post-Halloween party, where I am going as the painter and my fellow traveler is going as Picasso's Blue Period. Although, based on my recent epiphany about the depression I have been fighting, it could very well be McLain and His Blue Period! That's at 9ish.

Time now to step out for a quick beer.

The Philogynist

OK, so now we have our blue background...I even have a concept, which would almost represent the first image of the novel, "The Philogynist," inspired by this poem below:

when he looked at a women with whom he wanted to sleep,
he did not envision her naked underneath,
beside,
intertwined,
or on top of him.

instead, he envisioned her naked,
lying on her side, propped up on one elbow.
the other goreous hand reaching out
for the mug of
hot
strong coffee
he would proffer.

he envisioned the smile,
the quiet thank you,
the brown,
blue
or hazel eyes,
still half-closed,
and how her cheek would feel
as he stroked it after handing her the coffee.

This is what he envisioned first:
the morning or moment after.


The challenge is to capture that as a vision, with my limited and/or rusty talent.

....and Painter, Part II!

24" square canvas - $10.00

Brush and bundle value pack - $11.00

Series 1 black, blue and white acrylic - $18.00

Finding my old easel in the attic and setting it up in the Cloister with canvas, while playing the Velvet Underground and thinking of the girl with glasses sitting naked in my armchair - priceless!

Later on this evening...around 9:56, I put down the brush...the base coat is down on the canvas...a nice shade of blue. What a feeling after 9 years or so,to unroll the bundle of brushes,squirted out some cobalt blue, some white and some black on a paper plate, mix up the white and the blue...the black remains untouched, and to lay down the first stroke across the top of the canvas. I was uncertain at first what I would do, having not done this in a while, my hand started to ache a bit, an occasional sip of Mano a Mano temperanillo (from the La Mancha region, appropriately enough), a step back to make sure the color was still relatively consistent.

Every now and then I looked over to the armchair, expecting to see my muse sitting there, reading or just staring...earlier, I had seen in this neat little store on Lark Street a book of Playboy redheads from across the ages. I thought, what a neat book to have...especially for someone who considers the redhead crack cocaine. I did not buy the book, but you can be sure that the imaginary gal in the armchair, sitting curled up, reading "Antietam," or Yeats or even Baudelaire's Flowers of Evil, occasionally leaning forward to steal a sip of my wine, her glasses perched gently on her nose, was a redhead. And as the song played in the background, behind the glasses, one with pale blue eyes.

But back to the canvas. There is a little unevenness of color in the basecoat...next step is to envision the image, sketch it down a few times on paper and then pencil in the scheme.

Ahh but back to the redhead! Despite his troubles, Charlie Brown had it right...if you are going to have an unrequited, might as well make it a redhead!

The painter is back! And the poet and politician are now redeemed.

New Blog Discovery - New Friend Made

Usually, I do not plug other blogs, definitely not those that focus on sexuality (just in case my family reads this, but they won't really, because they would want to ask questions I won't answer), but for some reason, Sexegesis -- by a lovely transplanted Southern belle up north named Marcelle -- is going to be the exception.

Why do I do this? Well, two reasons: a) she has been kind enough to correspond with me and even left a very sweet and encouraging comment under my posting: "...And Painter!" and b) I think her blog is very good.

Sexegesis is good for a few reasons. For one, the title reminds me of the scholarly process that is done in analyzing scripture, and I enjoy a good pun. For another, the writing is wonderfully descriptive and humorous and honest and empowering...and yet vulnerable. Marcelle clearly expresses both the joys and the frustrations, the intimacy and isolation of being single and sexual in Manhattan. And of course, it is a very exciting sex journal.

So, if you are up to it, enjoy some good writing with both humor and a little pathos, and you don't mind visualizing her encounters (although I get a little jealous of her partner(s) at the moment), I encourage you to open up your heart and your mind and check out her blog.

And thanks, again, Marcelle, for the kind compliment in my comment section.

Twelve Years

It dawned on me today, as I walked down Madison Avenue, over to Hudson and then over the Dunn Bridge, that I moved to Albany twelve years ago today. I had a couple of suitcases, a briefcase, bookbag, bongos and box of books, and got all that stuff off the Amtrak, in a cab and over to my first Albany residence (185 Lancaster Street).

Somehow, I ended up at an event at the Governor's mansion and was "loaned" some blankets (I think I owe the State of NY for the blankets), and the next day I went to my job at the Council on Children and Families.

What a wild time. Twelves years. I've been married, had a child, run for office, made a lot of neat friends, met a lot of neat women, wrote and read poetry, drank way too much beer, met my soul mate, met my fellow traveler, had moments of pure elation, only to be followed by moments of deep sadness.

I have sworn that I would live wherever my daughter lived...and it looks like she'll be in Albany for quite a bit. In November 2015, when I recognize twenty years...I wonder how I will have changed...evolved.

...and Painter!

I may, after a ten-year break, pick up the brush and start painting again.

Many years ago, as I was turning 30, I realized how much I enjoyed painting, standing in front of the easel, holding my wine in my left hand, laying down strokes of the brush with the other, while "Venus in Furs" played on my CD player. Not that what I painted was any good, but it was fun and therapeutic.

Now I am on the verge of 40...and another life change. So I might go into the attic, find the easel...or get a new easel...lay down an old sheet on the floor and go to town with acrylics and brush again. Perhaps with it will help fight off the melancholia...perhaps the melancholia will inspire.

Perhaps I'll find myself a nice young muse to sit in my armchair, naked with book and eyeglasses while I paint either the book or the glasses; I would not want to do injustice to her body or any woman's for that matter, so I'll avoid nudes for a while...as far as painting is concerned.

At least I haven't lost my sense of humor...yet.

Boston Red Sox! World Series Champions!

Boston 4, Colorado 3...Boston sweeps in World Series.

I will try to get this blog more on course, but I just want to savor the victory. Been a Red Sox fan for almost 30 years, since the Yastrzemski years, so the second championship in four years is worth a moment of respite and of course, jubilation.

But mostly, I am at peace...with baseball, at least.

A Good Day

So, yesterday was a good day, albeit a slightly alcohol-soaked one. First, I went to Justin's to have a beer and a bourbon and hang out and talk to the bartender, who is a wonderful lady. Along the way, a couple guys came in, old buddies from the army. One was stationed at Ft. Hood (my birth town), the other is an engineer at GE. So, I talked with them, had some beers, a third person, a lady coming in for a funeral,was drawn in, (actally more with one guy) and she talked with us for a bit.

Then my fellow traveler's Cthulu 2008 Halloween party. I was the highly-paid political consultant. Had a nice time, met some good and interesting people. My friend throws a very good party and among her many talents, she is a wonderful and gracious host. The bourbon was Ridgemont 1792.

And the Red Sox won Game 3!