Artwork of the month: "Married Life"

Married life is a big deal to me, being a new husband and wanting my marriage to be successful, I tend to look at couples in happy marriages that have lasted a very long time and wonder.  Everyone has a different view on what makes a marriage a success.  For me, I want to be able to always improve the quality of our lives as a couple, and to simply maintain our happiness.  That said, I want to show you a work of art that I see as comedy, and brilliance.

The painting "Married Life" by Roger de la Fresnaye, depicts a man reading the paper and smoking a pipe with his naked wife around his arm.  That being how the artist views marriage is funny, seriously funny, and I am sure that artist laughed at it.  If you can't see the humor in that, I can not help you.  Oddly, this painting has had a profound impact on my compositional choices over the last 10 years.  I truly admire the composition, the placement and bend of the objects, and the line work on the figures.  it is a strong cubist work, and I'll bet the artist was proud of his little joke.  "Married Life" is hanging out at the Minneapolis Institute of Arts on permanent display.  I have been lucky enough to be able to spend a great amount of time studying this work.  

Roger de la Fresnaye

French, 1885-1925

"Married Life"

1912, oil on canvas

I am a husband...

...it is the best decision I have ever made.

Karma

While I have been going through my things in preparation for our move in August, I have found that I own more than I will ever need.

It all reminded me of this quote...


Karma

Take into account that great love and great achievements involve great risk.
When you lose, don’t lose the lesson.
Follow the three R’s:
- Respect for self,
- Respect for others, and
- Responsibility for all your actions.
Remember that not getting what you want is sometimes a wonderful stroke of luck.
Learn the rules so you know how to break them properly.
Don’t let a little dispute injure a great relationship.
When you realize you’ve made a mistake, take immediate steps to correct it.
Spend some time alone every day.
Open your arms to change, but don’t let go of your values.
Remember that silence is sometimes the best answer.
Live a good, honorable life. Then when you get older and
think back, you’ll be able to enjoy it a second time.
A loving atmosphere in your home is the foundation for your life.
In disagreements with loved ones, deal only with the current situation. Don’t bring up the past.
Share your knowledge. It is a way to achieve immortality.
Be gentle with the earth.
Once a year, go someplace you’ve never been before.
Remember that the best relationship is one in which your love for each other exceeds your need for each other.
Judge your success by what you had to give up in order to get it.
If you want others to be happy, practice compassion.
If you want to be happy, practice compassion.

-His Holiness The Dalai Lama

The toaster I once painted with

My wife and I have decided to move to another state, so we have to get rid of everything we don't need.

I have been holding on to this toaster for over ten years.  I used this toaster to paint some very large expressionist oil paintings back in 1997 and 1998.  

So enough said, I threw this in the trash today.   

Good by old tool...

...I have never really eaten toast anyway.

I am back

The wedding was great.

I am back from our honeymoon and in the studio working.  Be patient, I am working on new paintings, finishing ones I started before I left, and prepping my mind for the great changes to come.

Thank you for checking out my blog...

...we have a big secret to reveal to you all soon.

My grandfather's drafting table

My grandfather Greg was an engineer, a problem solver for Honeywell.  In his spare time he did fine woodworking.  Pop built clocks, most of the furniture in his house, tools to do things he needed, and he designed it all.

This drafting table is one of his designs and it has been mine for the last 15 years.  

I use it for everything.

Its height is adjustable from 36 inches and it can extend to 60 inches tall.  Making it comfortable to work on sitting in a chair, a tall stool, or standing.  I do most of my work on it these days standing.

The bottom of the legs are held by peg braces so it is easy to disassemble.

The adjustments are made by simple bolts and fly nuts.

                

The top can rotate its angle almost 180% and adjust to be flipped completely for working on complicated and tight compositions.  

His brother Rodney passed on a few years ago and I got his drafting tools.  This drafting arm is perfect for design and basic drafting.  I used it mainly for laying out tricky compositional elements when I wanted forms to coincide with one another.

I love this drafting table...

...I will use it until I die.