Opening reception photos

  The MFA exhibition opened yesterday to rave reviews.  Attendance at the event was great, and the work of the fifteen UMass graduates looked fantastic.  If you have time, the exhibit is on display until May 12th at the Star Store - 715 Purchase St. New Bedford, MA.

My work; left to right; untitled; end of its rope; and turned on its head



paintings by Mellissa Morris





Hayley Perry, Anthony Miraglia, myself and Mellissa Morris





Fellow grad Hayley Perry and myself with our advisor, Tony Miraglia



Graduate Thesis Exhibition Opens Saturday

Left; Three; 25 x 25"; mixed media; 2010
Right; Orb; 25 x 25"; acrlyic; 2010

  The MFA Thesis Exhibition is installed!  UMass Dartmouth students have the entire week to get their pieces hung in the three University Galleries.  And some students have quite extensive installation procedures.  But for now, my paintings are arranged, hung, and awaiting labels.  And I am very pleased by how they look.

  Join us this Saturday, April 2nd for the opening reception from 3 - 5pm.  The show will be on display until May 12th.

  Here are some more photos from install.

Hayley Perry installs her 3-D collages

work by grad student, Mellissa Morris

Arlynn Nobel's stunning pots

A little blip on the radar

  I had never heard of the Stoughton Patch before tonight.  But I found they are running a listing of a group show I am in at Judith Klein Gallery in New Bedford.

Promo material

vote for number 1, if you like this one

vote for number 2, if you like this one

  It's time for the thesis exhibition and that means I will be having an exhibition card printed.  I already have piles of these laying around which were never handed out for past shows.  So this time I am trying to be smart about it - designing a multi-purpose card that I could use up at shows or open studios.  But it is late at night, and I can't decide which one I prefer.  Any suggestions?

Working from life

sketch; 23 x 18"; charcoal on paper

  I have let a little observational drawing and painting back into my life.  A few of us in graduate school have been discussing the feeling that we are "tapped out" in the wake of this high-volume, abstract, painting.  And constant production has a way of doing that to you.  I think abstract work especially puts a demand on the artist to plumb the depths and invent something from within.  It only makes sense then that after a while you will need to fill up on new images and ideas from which to paint.  Here is some of that attempt. 

  I am disappointed in the composition, but as this was a way to get into the studio and work in the face of pressure from the upcoming thesis exhibit, I am not going to be too hard on myself.  Suffice to say I needed a bigger piece of paper for this image.  But I do think I achieved a wonderful sense of space and expanded my vocabulary of mark-making.  Perhaps I'll let you in on more of these exercises in the coming weeks.

New work





Untitled, 25 x 25", mixed media on paper, 2011



Untitled, 25 x 25", mixed media on paper, 2011

  This work is fresh off the presses. I began both of these paintings in late January and early February. I was struck by the idea of the tear as an interruption or interloper and played around with incorporating it into the work. I was also able to transform the sail stitching on the first piece by using it to tie french knots. The size of the thread makes the resulting bundles look like tightly wound metal wire.

Closing Week: Nesting at the Narrows Center for the Arts

  This is the final week for the joint exhibition at the Narrows Center for the Arts.  If you intended to see the show, now is the time.  De install will happen next Sunday.

  In other news, I have a piece on view at Gallery X in New Bedford.  And I am framing work for inclusion in a silent auction at Montserrat College of Art in April and for a student exhibition opening at Judith Klein Gallery in two weeks. 

  It is a busy time of year.  And somehow I am squeezing it all in before the big hurrah! of the Thesis Exhibition.