this weekend was all the opening festivities for the cool globe project.  here are some select photos:
nice crowd turned out at the field...

wendy abrams, founder of cool globes...

mayor daley....

and of course some globes....

my mom came into the city thursday night and stayed over so friday morning we could go to the art institute.  i have been dying to see the current special exhibit at the museum, ambroise vollard: patron of the avant guarde, and this past weekend was the last one it would be up!  it was great, so sad i didn't go sooner to see it so there could have been multiple viewings.  i got to see some van goghs that i had only ever seen in books.  i was particularly attracted to this one...

the green in the background was so vibrant...it made the purple and the pink in the rest of the painting just sing.
lots of cezannes...i was very intrigued by his portrait of vollard...

the image does not do the actually painting justice.  cezanne made vollard sit for a great many sessions and really long sessions (like 7am til 11pm)...he instructed vollard to sit very still like an apple...even after all this cezanne was never happy with the portrait except maybe the white shirt.  in person you can see areas around the arms and hands where the painting built up to a ridge...this is from all the times that cezanne changed the position of the arms...always just a little bit...i love seeing stuff like this...it makes the heroes of painting more real...that they obsessed about small things...felt that they couldn't get something quite right...it shows the struggle of painting...the strain of trying to truly see something.

i could go on for a very long time about the show but there was a particular work or rather a group of works that made a huge impression on me.  one of the nabi artists, maurice denis, did a series of color lithographs based on the theme of love...sounds cheesy right?  they took my breathe away and i was noticeably giddy to my mother.  they are soft, mysterious, other worldly and down right beautiful.  here are some images of a few...but they don't do the real things any justice...also i can't find an image of my favorite one (can you believe...they didn't allow sketching in the exhibit!!!)

the color was so much better in person...softer...lush and sensual.  i'm so in love with these prints...i want to see them again...i want to own them...or a book featuring them...grrrrr!  i found a used book on-line...but the text is out of print, in french and the only copy i could find was priced at $124...ouch.

the globe is finished. i completed the actual painting sunday night at midnight and put an isolation coat on it monday night.

right now my globe is slated to be in front of navy pier (but that could change)...which means tons of people will see it this summer and well that's kind of cool.  i worked really hard on this thing...there were a couple of times this past weekend that i just wanted to give up.  i was so exhausted...i was putting in ten and eleven hour days but it was all worth it.  this was a really great experience and i met some awesome people.  i hope this leads to some stronger art connections in chicago...since moving back three years ago i've found it difficult to meet other artists...and i'm hoping somewhere down the line i can meet some other figurative painters.

one exciting thing about being done with this project is now i get to put my focus back on my studio.  some ideas and notions have been floating around my head for the last couple of months.  i bought acrylic paint to complete the globe and i have a decent amount left.  i'm thinking of taking this paint and working up some painting/sketches on some heavy paper....pictures will follow as soon as possible.

not quite. still have to deal with the very top of the globe...and some detail stuff (nothing too crazy) on the money...and then i'm done. it is amazing how much of physical toll this project has taken on my body. 




i'm thinking about continuing the green all the way up the top...but i'm not sure...or more likely bring the blue down so i don't have so much green to deal with up at the top (less flowers in the distance to deal with)...

this is what the globe looks like right now...looks kind of done but it's not...tons of work to do this week.  there is a side that still doesn't have money.  the top needs a lot of work.  and still some flowers to add in akward spots.  yeah...i'm on total freak out this week...i've got til sunday...all the painting has to be done by then.

Save
the date!

“Cool Globes: Hot Ideas for a Cooler Planet” Grand Opening

Join us for the official grand opening of the cool Globes exhibit. A brief speaking program will include remarks from Honorary Co-Chairperson city of Chicago mayor Richard m. Daley, Cool Globes Founder and environmental activist Wendy Abrams, Field museum president John McCarter and Exelon Chairman, President and CEO John Rowe.

Friday, June 1, 2007

11:00 a.m.

Field museum campus

(North side of the museum)

Hope

to see

you there!

i started painting the money today in more detail...

i find it humorous to paint these tiny portraits of ben franklin.  he was kind of a funny looking fella.

that's all i have to say this evening.

april 22nd is oh so near...
this is the preferred deadline but the final hour is april 30th.
mentally i'm keeping the earlier date in my head even though i know there is no way i will be done by then.
i'm frustrated.  i can only get about five hours of good work in at a time...painting beyond that is kind of a waste.  today around hours six or seven i just started painting in circles...i will have to paint back over that work tomorrow.  grrrr.



i need to start some serious thinking about how i'm going to paint the money on the bottom part of the globe.  i need to figure out exactly how large i can paint each bill without it looking ridiculous...they need to be large so you can tell what they are from a distance and also...to make my job easier...cause i failed to do that with the flowers.  any suggestions?

the title i submitted for the globe is "green, invest, grow"...i don't love but what are you gonna do?

last painting session went well.  i spent sometime increasing the scale of some of the other flowers that are next to the largest poppy flowers.  i've been having fun including flowers that are favorites of people close to me...cone-flowers for my dad, daisies for my sister in law, poppies are my favorite...kind of corny i know...



this is the same side from a few weeks ago...lots done but so much more to go...


there has been a lot of figuring things as i go...which i guess is what painting is all about.  sometimes though it feels like such a huge struggle all the time.  in the last year i've found it very difficult to concentrate on work...to complete anything.  this time i have no choice.

the color i think works on the bottom larger flowers but i need to work on darkening and mellowing out the top flowers.

i need to give my globe a title...here's a little tib bit of what the globe is about...
Green Investing 
Businesses that are cleaning-up are greening-up!  From small shops to global corporations, the fact that good environmental practices are good for the bottom-line has brought the planet way up on management’s agenda.  Major financial institutions are not only investing in green technology, they are recommending that their clients do the same.  Investments in renewable energy hit a record $30 billion in 2006—that is 20-25% of the total investment in the energy industry worldwide.
 You don’t have to be a corporation to be a green investor. WITH A LITTLE RESEARCH, YOU CAN invest in companies that embrace green, sustainable business practives and in mutual funds who value socially responsible investing. By investing in companies offering environmentally-friendly products and sustainable practices, you will join the growing sector of green investors promoting the philosophy that a healthy planet is healthy business.
 Are your investments working for you AND the planet? 

my ideas so far... "Growth Investment" or "Green, Grow, Invest" or "Green, Invest, Grow" or "Invest in Beauty"...they are kind or cheesy.  It needs to be simple and straight forward.

i feel like i hit a stride today. i only worked about four hours so i didn't get too much done but what i did i feel good about...