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The first week behind me, almost…

By on September 9, 2011 in Uncategorized

I have had a wonderful time so far during this component of the Aegean Center.  Traveling with this small group through Florence and Pistoia has been an eye-opening experience.  It is one thing to conduct the readings, research and so forth on my own and take the trip solo or with another person, but to be guided around by a very knowledgeable mentor is another.  The day-trips are not so much tours as peripatetics, designed to make us all think about the times we are studying and the people who lived and worked during those times. I have been seeing enormous gaps in my own education filling in.

As I mentioned we have been to Florence once and Pistoia twice.  Today we take the train to Pisa for a longer day trip.  Tomorrow we go back to Florence and then on MOnday we take a three-day trip to Venice.  On the days we are not touring we have classes here at the villa.  There is singing in the music room as Orfeas guides his vocalists; watercolor classes and drawing classes in the gardens; photography classes in the gardens as well.  Art History lectures are conducted before dinner in the upstairs chapel, which we have converted in to a small lecture hall.  Throughout the day there are students, young and not as young, reading, writing, drawing and using their cameras all around me.  I am engaging in these activities as well.  I am enjoying the watercolor classes as, like the figure drawing last spring, it alters the way I perceive the world and relate to it as someone within its context.

The other students are, on the whole, very enthusiastic about this experience also.  There are grumblings from some quarters but I feel these are the necessary grumblings of growth, coming mostly from students who have preconceived notions of what ‘art school’ is, what it has been for them and how the Aegean Center program differs from the myriad programs in existence.  It is wonderful watching eyes and minds open, my own included.

JDCM

Pistoia, The Aegean Center, photography e studenti…

By on September 4, 2011 in Uncategorized

I am finally here at the Villa Rospigliosi in Pistoia, Italy for the fall term of the Aegean Center for the Fine Arts.  I have waited almost two years for this session, already having spent two spring sessions on Paros, the home of the Center.

Italy is lovely.  What can I say?  The villa is a 16th century affair with lovely wooden ceilings, old fountains (some in disuse) and stone staircases.  Lectures and classes are held in the rear garden, a deconsecrated chapel and in and around Tuscany in general.  We travel to Pisa, Venice, Rome and of course Florence.  The students are an energetic bunch with many questions and like I was at the beginning, not sure about where to go, what to do and who to speak to.  There are quite a few painters and writers and, in a few minutes we will see how many wish to practice the craft of photography.

Art History after this meeting, then dinner and then Dante…

More to come…

Film, cameras and back in the darkroom…

By on July 31, 2011 in Uncategorized

With the demise of Kodak Plus-X comes the understanding that I support those companies that make film and employ workers and not worry about the terrible errors made in Rochester.  To that end I have been shooting Foma 100 and 200 speed MF film and like the results:  crisp, wide tonal ranges and pushes nicely.  The odd thing is that the poly stock used for the film base is light blue which, although it does not effect the print in the darkroom, still looks funny and does not wash off.  The initial anti-halation dye washes off, but not the base coat.    I am also using Ilford Pan-F 50 which is a smokin’ bit of film.  Both are consistent, stable and very available.

My attempt to find a space for a solo show has yielded no joy.  The lines of inquiry tossed out on to the sea have come back empty or with demands both financially and artistically too heavy for me to carry.  I am still hanging a few pieces in the upcoming 14th Colony  group show on August 13th and I hope to have some rural scenes in a hanging at a local health center.  Also, I have been clued in to another co-op, the real thing this time, in nearby Hudson, NY.  I will check that out tomorrow. There is also an arts co-op in the nearby town of Tivoli which I am going to investigate.  All of these are paths for growth, change and community–three things I need, want and cherish.  I’ll try to set up as much as possible before I head out to Italy and Greece in less than month.  Yes, on August 29th I fly back to Europe for another 4 months of art, art history and travel.

I’ll be taking a friend’s RolleiCord MkVI this time.  It has better glass than the Mamiya c330 and is half the weight.  I’ll take only one lens for the Canon 5D MkII (50mm L series), one lens for the Voightlander (35mm Skopar) and my  G11 point-and-shoot.  This  frees up a fair amount of space and bulk in the camera bag, which allows me room for the MacBookPro…

Still no response from those I have emailed.  Why am I the only one who follows etiquette in regards to email?  Not true, obviously, but please, people, throw me a bone here!

More to come,

JDCM

Possible show and travel draws near…

By on July 7, 2011 in Paros, Uncategorized

I leave for Italy and the Aegean Center Italian session in a little over  month-and-a-half. To be honest I am not sure, beyond the art history context, what I will be doing.  I am nervous about the fall and what it will bring to me.  Obviously ‘change’ will be a constant.  With all the drama of last spring behind me I hope to make a fresh start with the Aegean Center and build some new bridges in the local community as well as the school dynamic.  What my role will be as a third semester intern is unknown, but I have written of this already.  I have only the ability to let the Universe decide these things for me and act accordingly.  I have been emailing the people I know and so far no response.  Perhaps this is my own impatience since I tend to write back to those who email me all but immediately.  Other people have their lives to live and I cannot expect them to jump onto their keyboards and drop me a line.  The urge to begin ‘test packing’ is filling me and I have new gear to bring, namely a new laptop which is something I have never traveled with before.  I’ll see how it packs in my carry-on bag today, perhaps, and test the weight.

I am in negotiations with the owner of a great space for a small solo show.  I hope to hang the event for an August opening  running through Labor day, but I may have to skip that weekend as it would make it difficult for the owner to sign a lease with anyone else beginning on the first of the month.  I will be flexible with this and take what I can get.  I will also have to pay rent, which is a cost I had not anticipated, but in the long run do-able and necessary if I want this show in such a short amount of time.  I will have have 12 figure studies and twelve ‘rural views’, all medium format and all sized in an intimate manner that draws the viewer into the image.  We shall see, we shall see…I am ‘acting as if’, however, and prepping my work for the show.  This means matting, framing and having it gallery ready.  I will not push away any other opportunities for other viewings.  Once again, the Universe is in charge.  I can only do the footwork and accept the results.  Some of the new images can be seen on my photo site, so I won’t post them here.

More to come…JDCM

Last views and conversations…

By on June 21, 2011 in Uncategorized

Today is my last day in Athens for a few months.  The next time I post from here will be, God-willing-and-the-river-don’t rise, in October when I return from Tuscany with the Aegean Center group.  This morning I am meeting with an old friend and shooting the breeze with her for a while, then off to have more coffee with others and then lunch with yet someone else.  I am blessed with the ability to meet and retain friendships across vast distances, friends who care about me and whom I care for deeply as well.

 

I have checked my flight info; been to the bank for traveling cash; sent some emails off to the US.  All I need to do is pack and be on my way tomorrow.  I should be home in Ancramdale by 8PM EST.  IT will be so quiet compared to Athens.  It seems like I am walking through some kind of Bladerunner-esque scenario of modern and ancient forms, new and old technology meeting and melding into something quite different.  Tourists mingle with locals, illegal immigrants with the police, junkies with the clean and sober.  It’s a melting pot of east and west, the happy and the tragically insane.

More to come…

JDCM

Amazing, simply amazing…et fini!

By on June 13, 2011 in Paros, Uncategorized

I’ll make this one short.  I sent three large boxes of stuff home to New York last week from Paros.  I have tracked them through the postal service and two of them have arrived  in Ancramdale as of today.  I mailed them on the 8th and they are there already.  That’s five days.  Amazing.  The third I mailed on Friday the 10th.  It is currently going through customs in New York.  Amazing, simply amazing. This means my portfolios, all my dark room notes, some odds and ends and all my sketchbooks have all arrived safe and secure in the USA.  I am thoroughly impressed with the Greek postal service, my hat is off to them and I will trust them to the ends of the earth.  Bravo!

I have shut down the dark room here at the Aegean Center until next fall when I return.  I had a flurry of printing to do last night, mostly snapshots for friends.  After I was done toning I realized I was absolutely finished.  I was spent, out of gas.  It felt like nervous energy burning off and suddenly I was free.  I left clean-up until this morning when I went in and dumped the chemistry, washed out the bottles and shut it all down.  Fini!  I feel complete.

In other developments, detente seems to be holding and my personal cold war seems to be thawing for the better.  We are talking and although I do not know her true feelings regarding what has ocurred I have come to a startling and sober decision: it is easier to be her friend, regardless of the circumstance, than to think of her in any other way.  We may never see each other again after she leaves in a few days, may never have any sort of contact at all over the rest of our lives.  She can hate me out loud.  She may even walk to the other side of the street to avoid me.  I will always refer to her as ‘my friend’.  It is easier on my soul to do that than to think otherwise.  If she were to call me out of the blue and ask for assistance, I would help her.   I ask for nothing in return.  No allegiance, no contact–not even friendship on her part.  There is too much conflict, hate and anger in the world as we speak.  I am not willing to add mine to the mix.  She has a friend in me.  There’s a song in there somewhere….

More to come…

JDCM

The ghost town…

By on June 10, 2011 in Paros, Uncategorized

It is quiet here.  Although there are small knots of tourists, mostly retirees, the nature of Paroikia has changed with the departure of many of my fellow Aegean Center students.  There’s no more back and forth from classes or the digital lab, the darkroom or painting studios.  The cafes are no longer host to small throngs of eager-eyed art students from abroad, at least from my perspective.  I am still working in the dark room, though, at night when the air is, conceivably, cooler.  This is really not true since the ambient temperature in the room itself is upwards of 70*F.  I have had to begin cooling down the developer with ice packs made from 500ml bottles and even then it takes a while for the soup to drop to 21C.  I am currently printing snapshots from my time here: landscapes, hikes and street scenes.  Mostly for memory’s sake than anything else.  Tonight I’ll enlarge a small landscape from a hike: olive groves, stone walls, rocky hills behind and puffy white clouds in an azure sky.  It should be a pretty little piece and if I get it down I’ll make three copies for gifts.

I am having my horoscope read today by a fellow student from Belgium and it will be interesting to see if the reading matches up with my current life changes and bio-rhythmic waves. I am packing boxes for storage and shipping having already shipped my portfolios and a box containing my 4×5 back to the US already.  The shipper said 3 to 5 days, which means a week at least.  I hope they reach Ancramdale in good shape.  The weather has been odd.  The scirocco that has been coming through the Cyclades as of late has brought with it dust, hot Saharan winds and a general laziness that speaks of even hotter climes than Paros.  Yesterday was hot and cloudy most of the morning and I lay on the beach enjoying the heat without the direct sunlight.  Back at my flat and after my siesta I awoke at 4:30 to find that the clouds had rolled away and the sun returned in all of its blistering glory.  ‘Hot’ is a relative term, but it was that alright.  By sundown it had cooled a bit but I slept with the air-con blowing so at least I was able to get a full night’s rest without sweating.

I have been given permission to update my photo site with some of the figure studies I have created.  I call this series ‘Opus’, which in Latin means ‘work’.  They will be in series and I will have to have the prints scanned when I get home.  It will take some time, but time I have.  Strange…Many years ago I was in a rock band called ‘Furnace’.  I wanted to create a larger, longer piece called ‘God-Family-Work’.  This idea was pooh-poohed by the other band members and I was eventually drummed out of the group for being too irresponsible and lazy.  Now I am creating a piece I call ‘Opus’.  Perhaps this is a philosophical thread that has always run through my life.  Today I search  family, or more precisely a community of fellows; I continue my seeking for guidance from a Power greater than myself and I labor for the results I wish to attain.  Am I living the design I hope to create?

More to come..

JDCM

Detente, maybe…

By on June 7, 2011 in Uncategorized

A wise man has reminded me that without the darkness we would know no light.  This may sound like a glib and cliche statement, but like most cliches it exists for a reason–it holds water.

More of the Aegean Center students left yesterday, one left this morning and the bulk leave tonight on the evening ferry to the mainland.  That leaves only 5 of us to stay on for a few days. Those that have left are going back to the US and some are traveling through Europe for a short time until they, too, depart for the States.  There are tears and more tears, typical for the shared experiences of young women while the men give each other manly hugs and handshakes, ‘good lucks’ and ‘safe travels’ instead.  Yes, we have shared this too, but on a different level than the women.  Neither is better or worse than the other, just different.

The conflict that has smoldered since the end of April seems to have reached a period of detente, or perhaps less.  The two of us sat at the same dinner table yesterday and, while we did not converse, there was little chilliness.  Afterwards at a local cafe, the chill was back in the cold war and the true fluctuating nature of detente was revealed.  At least it is not a shooting war.   The fear of any cold war, however, is that conflict will erupt and the barbs will let fly.   I’ll watch for that and dodge them if I can.  Avoidance of actual contact is crucial to this dynamic so the concept of staying away from each other is preferable to actually being in the same room or indeed the same town.  This too shall end.

My work here has been intense, lovely and defined by elegance, craft and artistry.  I have been told this by others, so I am not just patting myself on the back.  I attribute some of this to the pain and angst I was feeling (am still feeling) during this time.  I can point to my work and say, “This was good.  This I accomplished. This is beautiful.  I have excelled in this medium.”  Regardless of what others may think of me–whether I am the butt of their jokes, whether they call me names behind my back–I have kept up my end of the commitment and proved myself the more honorable man.

More to come…

JDCM

The session ends…

By on June 4, 2011 in Uncategorized

The Aegean Center hosted its student show last night.  It was a huge success with a large attendance and some excellent work to be shown.  I was grateful to have a couple of pieces on the wall and a hefty flip-file of matted work for the populace to look at.  Downstairs in the courtyard a slide show of the past three months ran on a computer screen.  It made me a little sad to watch.  Not because of any emotional tie to the school or friendships I may or may not have had during this time, but for the simple fact that, as a whole, I am not in it.  Sure, there are pictures of me on the hikes, grilling, and a couple during a dinner (I have not been invited to many, perhaps one or two…) but overall it seems that I have attended a much different school than the others.  Many of the images seem to be from nights in the bars and birthday celebration for one of the students I was not aware of and not invited to.  In short, I was working most of the time–which is, of course, what I came to do.  I already know how to stay out all night and drink with the locals.  It is not an appealing prospect for me.  Still, it would have been nice to have been invited to dinner once in a while.

I busted my ass this session and it shows.  I have 45 pieces of  finished work, most of which are all but gallery-ready.  They only need proper mattes.  For now the simple overlay matte works well for transport.  I’ll be mailing these home next week instead of trying to carry them on a plane with me.  Last night I received some lovely compliments from people whose opinion I respect: my teachers and also a couple of art experts. These are people older than I and more knowledgeable.  They are the ones I turn to for counsel and guidance in things both artistic and personal.  They have wisdom I do not.

I have learned important and unfortunately cynical lessons this session: do not offer assistance to anyone but if they ask for help, give it freely and walk away.  It is their choice to follow.  Also, do not give gifts to those who you feel are trusted friends.  They will betray you, turn on you like rabid dogs and poison your relationships with all the other people who you come into contact with.  Perhaps I am being dramatic, but this has been my recent experience.  This is the wisdom I offer.  Take it or leave it.  I will not apologize for saying these things.  My spirit has been crushed this session and has turned me into a darker version of myself.

More to come…

JDCM

In the Aegean Center digital lab…

By on May 30, 2011 in Paros, Uncategorized

This is an update from Greece, from the digital lab at the Aegean Center for the Fine Arts.  I feel like a ship at sea calling ship-to-shore on the shortwave.  An update from Greece, indeed.  It has been a tumultuous three months.  I have created some amazing work and I am grateful to have been here.  Personally and emotionally, however,  I have been put through the ringer.  I have been called a friend by some, ignored by many, ostracized by a few and even, I think, been thought of as a suspicious character by at least one or two people.  Throughout all of this I have made a couple of friends with some of the younger students and lost one as well, someone who I treated decently and cared for deeply.  Such is life.  I will never get used to that gut-sick feeling of grief and loss.   I am not ashamed or upset about how I have behaved:  I was honorable  and righteous in thought and deed.  But I digress…

We are all wrapping up the term: painters are painting their final strokes; digital printers are slipping out the final pieces of Hahnemuhle Photo Rag Matte, Pearl or Baryta.  In the darkroom my commitment to the four portfolios is finished but I still have to print some copies for the models I have worked with.  The Ensemble begins it’s short series of 4 performances this week.  Next week most of the students begin to leave, some directly back to the USA although some are loitering in Europe for a week or so, myself included.  I’ll stay on Paros until the 17th and then head to Athens for about  4 or 5 days in the relative comfort of a hotel in the Plaka area of town.  I’ll see some friends, watch some movies and catch some museum exhibits that I have seen before.  I will be coming back for a third semester in a few months:  more emotional stress, artistic expression and personal angst.  What am I thinking?

More to come…

JDCM