Today I am getting Married!

Today, February 29th, 2012 leap-day,

I am going to be Married to Athena A. Capen.  

(I pre-wrote this and had it scheduled to post today.)

My life is vastly different with Athena in it.  You may have heard this and just rolled your eyes, but I am twice the man now because of her.  In fact, I actually see myself as a man now.  I love Athena, she is beautiful, well educated, and completely herself.  

Athena is my best friend, we do everything together. 

Athena is completely loyal.

Athena is honest to me and to all the world. She has nothing to hide and no regrets about who she is.

Athena is absolutely beautiful beyond words.  

She is tough, don't mess with her or she'll kill you.

Athena supports my career as an artist, loves my work, and is not afraid to tell me when she doesn't like what I am working on.

She stands behind my decisions in life, as I do hers.

Together we have been through personal tragedy, hard financial times, and of course way more good times than bad.  I have more good memories of the last 4 years than I can post in a single blog.  Through everything we have seen, we always came out on top, our relationship always was strengthened, and our understanding of who we are and what we are capable of increased.  

I am probably standing in front of my family and friends right now putting a ring on Athena's finger.

This is Athena, the woman I am getting married to as you read this.

At times she is an intergalactic gangster.

...she makes a pretty bad-ass princess Leia...

Chris (my best man), Athena and Philip.

Athena is a dog trainer, and she is good at what she does.  Her love for dogs, giving them the best life possible, and getting them to do cool stuff astounds me every time our pups learn a new trick.  I have no idea how she does it.

Here she is on her last birthday, we went to her favorite restaurant, had her favorite drinks, and ate her favorite food.  I am not telling any of you where her favorite place is, it's silly American food and decor. 

Here we are at the State fair.  It's only fun when I go with her.

yep, you guessed it, the butterfly tent.

Athena is almost has the wingspan of an eagle... 

...or a trumpeter swan.

My vows to you:

I will do my very best to always make us happy...

...to always work to improve the quality of our life...

...as together we build a life based on our love and care for one another.

Getting married to you is the coolest decision I have made to date.

Right now as you read this I am getting married.

Then I am off to my honeymoon...  

...I will see you all in a few weeks.

Progress has been made on my new painting

I was able to get some serious work done this evening.  I started painting at 5:30 PM, and finished working around 3:30 AM.  Quite a productive night.  I expect my formal work on this piece to be complete by the end of March.  Albeit, there is a huge amount of work to do simply to establish the overall composition.

Minneapolis #? "Penitent Magdelene"

All of these new color-forms will have to be strengthened once they dry.

Here is my Subject-matter, an oil painting I have been observing for almost a year at the Minneapolis Institute of Arts.

"Penitent Magdelene"

Bartolome Esteban Mutillo    c. 1650-1665

Thanks for reading...

...More to come soon.

Artwork of the month: A recently restored masterwork

This sculpture is truly amazing now that it has been restored to its assumed original orientation.  We used to joke about how it looked as if he was swimming, or diving into water rather than praying.  Turns out the jokes had merit.

Francesco Mochi

Italian, 1580-1654

"St. Paul the Hermit"

, marble

Before restoration.

Andrea Bergondi

Italian, 1722-1789

"St. Paul the Hermit"

1772, marble

Recently restored, repositioned and reattributed.

The Minneapolis Institute of Arts purchased "St. Paul The Hermit" in the year I was born, 1973.
It was believed to be the work of Italian sculptor Francesco Mochi.

Eike Schmidt, Curator of Sculpture and Design at the Minneapolis Institute of arts, discovered that the sculpture was by Andrea Bergondi in 1775.  The Midwest Art Conservation Center, restored the sculpture, removing cement that was added in the 1960s to create a solid base, cleaned it, and reorientated the sculpture so St. Paul would appear to be praying instead of diving.  

St. Paul is the first hermit saint of the Christian church. He retreated to Egypt to live a solitary life dedicated to the worship of God.

Regardless of its story, this sculpture is on exhibit on the third floor of the Minneapolis Institute of Arts and is worthy of your time.  Go check it out, spend some time with this sculpture.  

New paint palette arrangement

I stated working with a new color palette tonight, and it is my hope that the discordant nature of my new palette can be effectively balanced out with complements.

In this palette I am working with; 

Titanium white

Portland grey light

Portland grey Medium

Portland grey deep

Cadmium red light

Cadmium red deep

Ruby lake

Sap green lake extra

Turquoise blue deep

Cobalt blue turquoise light

Kings blue light

Kings blue deep

Brilliant pink

Cadmium yellow light

Cadmium yellow deep

Thanks for checking out my blog...

...check back here soon.