On the Upper Porch of the Cotton House with Keith. GLORY. Click for LARGE.
Category Archives: Life
In Which Mrs Dudley – My High School Art Teacher – Visits
I got a surprise text from my wife last night – she’d received a call from my high school art teacher, Mrs Dudley, to let us know that she and her husband were in town and wanted to see us before they continued on down I-70 eastward. I’ve carried on old-school letter writing with Mrs Dudley ever since high school. She was the first outside encourager of my work. She got me into my first shows, taught me about framing and matting, and was the first to purchase my more developed work once I was a few years into undergraduate school.
Mrs Dudley and me.
Hanging out with Alison and Miranda
Chasing little Miranda Grace in the hotel lobby
The Dudleys getting ready to head back out on the road – set to visit the Arch today
Keep in contact with the people who helped you get started on whatever road you’re on. One of the best things I ever did was to never forget about Mrs Dudley, to keep her informed, and to respect the artful way in which she’s continued to live her life. If a teacher ever made a big difference to you, write to them now. It’ll make a huge impact.
The Iranian Lighter
One of my graduate students – from Iran – brought a lighter back from a recent trip back home. The lighter, crafted by a street vendor, is covered by a mosaic of individually placed pieces of gold leaf, wood, paper, and flakes of glass or stone. See the image below – I’ve shown a detail of the design and two different sides:
It’s a strange mix of “high” and “low” – the lighter itself is obviously mass produced, but the hand-made feeling of the design seems really considered. It is interesting to have this device that produces light and heat share designs that are related to those that animate great structures such as the Sheik Lotfallah Mosque, seen here:
Do a google search for this Mosque – it’s really astoundingly beautiful. Thanks for the lighter, Zeinab!
Exploring Possibility
Jill Hicks of the Columbia Daily Tribune wrote a piece titled “Exploring Possibility” that ran on Sunday, March 18, 2012. The article follows Allison Reinhart, a student who’s been a major presence in the Art Department here at Mizzou. She’s currently taking an independent study with me. We’ve worked together in the past – most notably on this film by the inimitable Keith Montgomery – and she’s one of my favorite people at MU.
Jill quoted quite a bit of my thoughts on working with Allison. It’s really nice to find that you’ve said something that really rings true and you have to work to live up to it. I feel that way about this particular passage: “…making accommodations for my students isn’t an area of ‘special’ or ‘additional’ effort — it’s the way it ought to be,” […] “All culture-making is about access. When we — as institutions or individuals — legitimize the denial of access to those who wish to participate, we’re functioning as gatekeepers and operating in illegitimate systems of refusal. As an educator and person who deeply believes in the value of university-level teaching, I don’t want to be a part of that.”
Thanks to Jill for the great article and to Allison (and Gina, and others!) for being thoughtful, dedicated students. No, I didn’t say inspirational… Allison wouldn’t like that. :)
The Huffington Post Includes my Work in a “Top 10 Best” List
I was gratified to learn that The Huffington Post included my recent essay on Richard Diebenkorn, written for neotericART, in a “Top 10 Best” listing! The piece, written by Brett Baker of Painters’ Table, cited my work immediately after Raphael Rubinstein’s “Provisional Painting, Part 2.” This was excited to me, as Rubinstein’s original text on provisional painting was a catalyst to my thinking in my piece. Here’s the takeaway quote:
“Artist Matthew Ballou’s piece “Diebenkorn: Provisional Action, Provisional Vision” finds surprising and convincing connections to this kind of provisional approach in Richard Diebenkorn’s Ocean Park paintings” – Brett Baker for The Huffington Post.
Thanks, Mr. Baker! Painters’ Table is awesome! Read my essay at neotericART here!
Chromatic Intensities
Glory in Color Drawing 2
Marcus, the Assistant, casts chroma
Null’s large drawing in anamorphic distortion
The array of shadows in Color Drawing 1
And another view…
The box, electric.
Did I mention that I love teaching Color Drawing? Epic, every semester. Stay tuned for good shots of current students’ works.
“Both Sides of the Brain” Mezzotint
I was invited to be a part of Aaron Coleman‘s traveling mezzotint exhibition. The show, scheduled to travel to at least 4 institutions, will begin its run in August of 2012 at Northern Illinois University. I’ll keep everyone posted as more information about these shows becomes available. Many thanks to Aaron for including my work! Here’s a peep at the finished piece, titled Agathokakological. Click the image to see it larger.
Mezzotint (Charbonnel ink on Zerkall paper), paper size 10.5 by 13.5 inches. 2012, edition of 21 (19 numbered and 2 artist’s proofs).
A Powerful Vision of What Love is
“Your love should never be offered…”
by Hafez
Love sometimes wants to do us a great favor: hold us upside down and shake all the nonsense out.
Your love
Should never be offered to the mouth of a stranger,
Only to someone who has the valor and daring
To cut pieces of their soul off with a knife
Then weave them into a blanket
To protect you.
Stay close to any sounds that make you glad you are alive.
Ever since happiness heard your name, it has been running through the streets trying to find you.
I wish I could show you when you are lonely or in the darkness, the astonishing light of your own being.
There are different wells within your heart.
Some fill with each good rain,
Others are far too deep for that
Fear is the cheapest room in the house. I would like to see you living in better conditions.
Even after all this time the sun never says to the Earth, “You owe me”
There is no pleasure without a tincture of bitterness.
***
Thanks go to Catherine Armbrust for bringing this to my attention, and Paulo Coelho for posting it here.
Pulling an Edition of Mezzotints
I am a part of an upcoming traveling mezzotint show, a brainchild of printmaker Aaron Coleman. Today and last Friday I worked with Derek Frankhouser to pull 21 mezzotints (an edition of 19 +two artist’s proofs). Derek is also in the show and is a budding master printmaker who held a residency an internship at the Robert Blackburn Printmaking Workshop in 2011. Below is a record of our efforts.
My hand, blackened by hand-wiping, in front of the pinned prints. I used Charbonnel ink.
Derek laying the paper…
…and carefully pulling it off the plate after a pass.
A beautiful pull (this was my first print of the process).
Pinning.
A shot of the whole edition set off to the side for drying.
I’m super thankful to Derek for his help and couldn’t have pulled the entire edition (without mistakes or needing to re-do) without him. This is the also the first time I’ve been able to edition beyond 10 or 12 prints; that’s a testament to Derek’s counsel and help.
What a Difference Four Years Makes
Four years ago this week I watched Eli Manning and the Giants devastate the New England Patriots in Superbowl 42. It was glorious. Be sure to watch David Tyree’s amazing catch here and Plax’s gaming winning TD catch here. This was my reaction:
Four years later I watched the Giants crush the Pats again, only this time it was with my daughter. What a wonderful difference four years makes. I’m looking forward to many more years of Superbowls with Miranda :)
eikonktizo 