Florence Bound
I have been accepted for admission to Angel Academy of Art beginning in January of 2017. I will be studying traditional drawing and painting using tradition studio methods. I will be gone from home 30 weeks a year from up to 3 years—depending on my progress. This will...
Support
It is a cliché to say that one's partner in life is a support—it runs very much deeper than that. As I announced on this blog recently, I have applied to an art school in Florence, Italy that could take as long as three years to finish the complete course. I have no...
Hot + Cold
"Heat, like an article of invisible clothing, makes us want to take it off." —The Book of Disquiet by Fernando Pessoa. It is difficult to explain my relationship with heat. As a child I lived in western Arkansas—a part of the south. I suffered from hay fever terribly....
The Decision
Today was a big day for me. I formally applied to become a full time student again. If accepted (not a given) I will be attending the Angel Academy of Art in Florence, Italy. I will live in Florence for 30 weeks the first year and will study classical painting using...
The Lamp
Since 1966, I have carried the lamp with me. It was the bench lamp at my father's garage. I took it to college for my architecture classes and then stored it while I was in Europe from 1971 until 1977. Since 1977 the lamp has been in storage—and has moved every time...
A room of my own
Every artist, I would guess, longs for his or her own space. I am no exception. Living in Merida, Yucatan, Mexico means that acquiring a "room of one's own" can be possible financially. Today I completed the final move into my new oil painting studio (pictured here)....
Knowing one without the other is nothing.
Walking around Paris, with no particular place to go, is one of my favorite pastimes (flaneur). It is a city that oozes beauty and surprises. Paying attention to the nuances that creep up on you like a ghost with no agenda, is crucial. There are revelations not just...
In Search of Blue and the Anxious One
Each new painting is an adventure for me since I am both an amateur and born explorer. I do not paint for others—but certainly do not mind if others enjoy my work. I chose the title of this paining "In Search of Blue and the Anxious One" to express the ambiguity of...
Muscles, Searching and Finding Blue
I am working on a new painting (2015.12.20.031). It is a picture of a man standing in front of a daylight window. The sun is quite bright and causes a strong back light. The figure is approaching a female apparition (or is it?). Over the course of thinking about the...
Saying goodbye and hello
Some of you know that I am a co-founder, along with Thomas Meyer and Garth Rockcastle, of Meyer, Scherer and Rockcastle, Ltd in Minneapolis, Minnesota—architects, interior designers and urban planners. While this is the official name, it is now simply called MSR...
Well Finished Death
These first few weeks in January have been filled with death--starting with the world wide sadness over the death of David Bowie. When a celebrity dies, the world mourns. When a child dies of dysentery or hunger in a far away land only the mother...
Postive::Negative::Postive
The following text was recently posted on my Facebook page recently by a former employee and architect: Jeff, I sincerely submit that ... The world is still a beautiful place... America is still a beautiful place... People and organizations still do amazing things......