ME: Okay, guys. Listen up.
I need your attention.
STUDENT: OMG! Are you retiring?
Saturday Sounds:
Peggy Lee (1960) Suede (2010)
Henry Mancini (1959) Foals (2019)
SENTIMENTAL POST ALERT:
Before I was an adult artist, before I was an art teacher,
before I went to art school, before I went to high school,
I was a young artist taking Saturday and Summer classes
art ART•LAB in Staten Island. While there, my drawing and
painting teacher Jean gave me this box of Grumbacher
soft pastels. The box and some of its contents are older than
I am. Many of the pastels inside were replenished (some are
Rembrandt) over the years and I’ve had many other sets since,
but I haven’t touched this set in over 25 years... at least not
until very recently. At age 12 and 13, I would take this box to
the pond or pagoda on the ART•LAB grounds at Sailors Snug
Harbor and draw my surroundings for hours. It made me blissfully
happy. With pastel in hand and my eyes on nature and structures,
nothing could haunt me, disturb me or touch me except the errant
clouds of colorful dust that I kicked up as I worked. I’ve been
thinking that it’s time to revisit, reimagine and reinterpret some
of my landscape and cityscape photos in soft pastel. No overarching
concept or codified message... just colorful renderings of places
and spaces I’ve interacted with. There are a few other things I’m
working on now, but this dusty old box and the simplicity of
drawing for the sake of drawing has seduced me. Who knows?
Jean could be quietly nudging my hand from across the
space / time continuum. If so, Jean, thank you for the continued
guidance... and thanks for the set you gave me 35 years ago.
You were a beautiful influence on me in every way and
I hope I’ve made you proud. Love, CDM
Sketchbook:
Pastel portrait studies in layers
More in-progress sketches...
More layers...
I was today years old when a student informed me that
Ikea meatballs are made of people that got lost in the store.
Friends + Rainy Day + Matzoh Ball Soup = Perfection
ME: Do any of you guys
watch Downton Abbey?
STUDENT: No. We’re not 50.
ME: Come find me when you’re
almost 50 and we’ll see how you look.
STUDENT: Why? You’ll be dead then.
The Big Blue Marble • LP & Pinback (1974)
Long before The Science Channel, before NYC had cable
TV, before blogs, YouTube, Instagram, Facebook or Reddit,
this PBS show was how I learned about science.
The Big Blue Marble had demonstrations, filmed explorations,
animation and memorable songs that lit up my imagination
and taught me a great deal about our place in the universe.
If you were a kid in the 1970s, you might have enjoyed it
as well. Luckily for all of us, there are some nice pieces
of footage from this very cool show on YouTube. Luckily
for me, I recently scored this rare soundtrack LP and pinback
button on eBay. Remember: “Our differences, our problems
from out there there's not much trace. Our friendships they
can place while looking at the face of the Big Blue Marble in space.”
It's not on its way. It has arrived.
