Frame Maker

Sure, I often wait until the last minute to get things done, and I use the same excuse my students sometimes use; "I work well under pressure!" I put three frames together today for work that is going to the Art in the Heart area teachers show. I think I missed last year and I like the "Heart" group, they are all good people and dedicated teachers who create beautiful work. While I don't always see my things as "beautiful" they all do mean something and often come from my own "heart" as inspiration. The piece I've posted above here will be in that show at the Bangor Public Library. It's titled "Lunch", and for me it has a lot to do with separation from passion and with taking things for granted, a bad habit I find myself indulging in from time to time. I also plan to show a photograph, something I haven't done for years and years, but I have become more aware of my camera and what I can record with it in recent weeks. It's hard to believe that it was less than a week ago that we had the snowstorm that resulted in a number of nice photographs for me.

The Arts are Alive and Well (on iTunes)

Well, I'm sitting here at the computer after copying a 2 disk Heart album for Matt and realizing that Torrey had given me a $25 gift certificate for the iTunes store that I had never redeemed. Well, redeemed is the right word, but I had to recall my account name, password and all the rest of that stuff. Then I had to authorize my computer, which was another step (and, boy am I dyslexic tonight, I'm spelling everything backwards) involving the help menu and researching the "how to" of iTunes. But I'm downloading a movie I rented to watch on my iPod and we'll see how that goes. It's Ridley Scott's Body of Lies so I think from the trailers that I'll like the action of it. Film and art, that's what it's all about, right Torrey?


I also had a long conversation on the phone tonight with an art teacher from the College of the Atlantic and have a good list of names of contacts and such and am looking forward to making some connections with COA. She even mentioned that they are looking for someone to do some teaching of web design for them, and I would get a kick out of that as well. I hope we get some turnout for the RPC meeting in Ellsworth next week. I really would like to start a group that would do some of the same kinds of things that are going on with Art in the Heart in the Bangor area. I know we are smaller here in Hancock county, but we have some excellent resources and I think that banding together we could accomplish some great things in the arts!

Another Day of Art at MDI High School

The days start out quick this semester with three straight classes before having a chance to work with studio or AP or Sr. Exhibition students during the last block of the day in a more informal setting. I walked into Dan's room and thought I saw a re-enactment of a Jackson Pollock moment as a student began to drip blue paint on a large panel laid face up on the floor. After the three students in my room had asked permission to "toe paint" (their own version of fingerpainting) and prepared the paint and the floor while discussing strategies for their approach to the work I went back into Dan's room. There I saw the development of that piece to include a paint roller on a long handle to reach all areas and cover the "ground" surface with a smoothing texture (photo). What an ending to another good day! And the work is not finished, students will continue tomorrow.

George, whom I ride share with on our 35 minute commute to school, had a few icicles hanging on his house today, so I got a photo of those as well. Boy! They went from roof to ground. The lengths of them remind me of the winter that is already behind us and the length of the days increasing slowly but surely.

Wild Wednesday

Is there really a "d" in Wednesday? It looks kinda strange to me, but it seems right. What a "crazy" day! Meetings after school, missed meetings during the day, and things in general just being at odds with themselves. Students make it so worthwhile though, with great successes in Photography and some very nice work going on in my Digital Media I class. Go guys!

Jen is sick, diagnosed with strep throat, and feeling horrible. Unfortunately, I was distracted by work today, and although I did get the message to pick up her prescription on the way home, I was later arriving home so am in the doghouse. I must try to do better and not settle for being "better than nothing".



I am preparing student and my own work for the Bangor shows coming up in March as part of "Youth Art Month" across the nation. More successes for the arts in our wonderful country! I will post some of my images here, but I am going to show my first straight photograph, and I've picked out the shot of our apple tree above to print.

Tuesday That's Really a Monday

How frustrating is that? We start the week a day behind and the only thing that makes sense from it is that the week is 4 days long... however I didn't have interweb at home for 2 days and now none of the servers at school are working because the power went out at the end of the day and I suspect it has not returned as yet. The digital arts are so important to all we do, and when the hardware isn't working it really tests my pragmatism. The good news is that I can always draw, and so I dig out my journal and use the time I have in a way that is meaningful to me rather than devoting my home time to activities for my students. Not selfish, just practical!

Snow

I just came in from about an hour on snowshoes around the house and out on the bay. No school today was not surprising as I looked out and realized that there's no place else to push the snow. A couple more storms like this and we will have to climb in through a window.

Photographs of this beautiful and yet dangerous side of nature were not hard to come by and I probably shot 150 visions of snow, ice, and wind. I have always professed to be a believer in the "non-snowday" as I think it is much better to enjoy the State of Maine in June than in January, but being out there today and looking for the beauty in the fierceness of nature has swung me around. It is wet, wild, chilling and challenging to be on a pair of snowshoes out on Flander's Bay during a February snowstorm.

Here are a couple of the pictures I took.

First Post

Of course "The State of the Arts" may seem a pretentious title, but it really is only intended as a single person's point of view. My ramblings may include current content, the nature of things artistic, the  state of the arts in our culture, and of course how arts education is faring from around the State.

Points of view are points of view, and hopefully I can get some people who have something to say about the arts to participate in this blog. Ideas for development, promotion, and organization of arts communities in our state and specifically in Hancock County will also be important to the content and for the readers.

I really don't need another thing to do, but this could make a difference to someone, if only to myself as a resource to vent various frustrations I see around me.