The Story of Ceyx and Halcyone

I took a truck of older work down to a friend's for storage a few months back. Though I haven't seen this work in four years, some of them I still feel strongly about. I am still moved today just like I was when I first read the Greek myth. Since I am on a sort of painting hiatus........

"Morpheus Appearing as Ceyx to Halcyone"

In Greek mythology Morpheus was one of the gods of dreams, specifically responsible for the appearance of humans in dreams.

Ceyx was the King of Thessaly and his wife was Halcyone. On a sea voyage Ceyx drowned during a violent storm as his wife had feared beforehand. All the while Halcyone prayed to the Goddess Juno for the safe return of her husband not knowing that he had died. Juno feeling compassion for her sent a messenger to Somnus, the god of sleep, to command his son, Morpheus, to appear in a dream to Halcyone as Ceyx that she might know of her husband's tragic fate. So the dream comes to her in which her husband tearfully proclaims his passing. Inconsolable she rushes to the seashore where he departed. His body floats in from the open sea and upon seeing him she is so overcome with grief the gods have pity on her and turn her and Ceyx into Halcyon birds (kingfishers).
During the halcyon days when the sea is placid and navigable, the birds lay their eggs and raise their young. Seamen for ages have noted the activity of the birds to ascertain the behavior of the ocean.

Animal World USA and Washington D.C. Week for the Animals

Patricia Haddock of Animal World USA called me this morning to invite me to participate in Weeks For The Animals via my Artomatic exhibit.

Animal World USA is non-profit organization dedicated to making the the plight of our animals across the globe known to the world. By working with other organizations through education and information their goal is to help us see what a great treasure in and responsibility of stewardship we have toward our animal kingdom.

I am honored to be approached by Patricia and excited to be a part of D.C. Week for the Animals using my paintings as a means of furthering the intent of Animal World USA. The week of events will be May 30 - through June 7th. More to come as we work out the details. Until then, please visit the links above.

It has been so much fun picking cat hairs off of my paintings in these few days of varnishing (can you taste the sarcasm?) My cat Eli sheds an enormous amount of white hair. When I worked in Atlanta as a vet tech, someone dumped a box of kittens and mom at the front door one night. I took Eli because he was so much like a dog with lots of curiosity about everything. He is thirteen now. Also mentally unstable and unable to remember anything, he also goes by "Sussy" "Poop", "Poopy" and the combo "Sussy-Poo." He responds to them all.

Frames ready with security hangers mounted, just finishing up varnishing (and hair picking.)Tomorrow we prime, paint and test the lighting. Installation will be on the 16Th.

I have a sheet of painting ideas ready to go once Artomatic prep is complete. Until then I may not get to paint much, so I will paint vicariously through you guys.

Artomatic Update

Yesterday afternoon we headed down to Artomatic to putty my partition. Craig had to park 15 minutes down M Street at the Navy Yard. It is a well known fact that parking near Capitol Hill is a nightmare, not to mention that there was a Nationals game yesterday.

On Friday, we move on to priming and painting.

Crazy people going to the ballgame on a day like this. 180 degree turn from my site. The game ended getting called.

Yahhh! All done! (I must have been in a weird mood, because I work rather hard to appear more dignified than this normally.)

I am spending all day looking at my reference photo collection and going over any ideas with some solidity. I was offered an exhibit overlapping one already scheduled, so I am really feeling the crush! I have a lot to do but a well of great ideas, and this IS my day job, so I can swing it.

Oh, and then there is Artomatic which opens in a few weeks!

Documentary Art

Lenny Campello, whose special knowledge about anything art-related I am in awe of, has a post on his blog about Knoxville photographer David Habercom's latest collaborative work. It is a film about the homeless in Knoxville featuring Habercom's portraits along with audio of the people talking about their struggles in a homless life. The film is called "Adrift on American Streets" and you can see the website and a preview here.

Dream

I had a dream about an animal that I have never seen before. I am going to try to recreate it in a painting relying solely on the dream. There are animals in every dream I have, but this one is clearly not seen in waking life. I rely heavily on reference photos in my work, so this will be a departure from my normal way of working. It will either be impossible, crap or be wonderful....if I can step away from my left brain a bit..move to the right, it just might come together.
(And I will add that I feel like the animal has of something to do with Soju and Etha....)

Artomatic

Saturday we went down to M Street to pick a space for Artomatic. The raw building backs up to National's Park and is really close to Capitol Hill making it a great location for the event. After orientation we went up to the third floor where I chose a 12' x 8' wall that faces the park and has plenty of natural light during the day. We will need to putty, prime and paint over the next few weeks to prepare for hanging. The third floor also has the singer/songwriter stage and a lounge.
With eight floors of artwork, it may be inevitable that a few small works disappear without some sort of secure hanging. I heard a few artist's works walked out the door last year, so I found and bought a bunch of T-lock security hangers. This has been my main concern, so I feel better about having the work there with the hangers.

I will be posting photos with each transition of the space over the coming weeks and through the event.




Artomatic 2009 building.

My wall. Pretty raw, so I have plenty of work to do....I do have a ready made lighting beam.


Looking to th right of the wall.

180 degrees, facing ballpark.