The Book Abbey, Woodcut, 8×10

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I made this print for the owners of The Book Abbey in downtown Adrian.  This weekend they are celebrating their 5th year in business.  The Book Abbey quickly became one of my favorite places downtown.  The owners and employees are so friendly and passionate about local art.  Their walls are plastered with artwork and their shelves are loaded with pottery.  

This is an 8×10 woodcut printed with Akua Color ink on Rives BFK paper.  This weekend they will get sleeved and taken to The Book Abbey for sale.  One of these prints will be raffled off.

Paeonia tenuifolia

  Happy Mothers Day!  This is for my mom, Rosa Maria Martinez Perez.  This Japanese variety Peony was a gift from a friend which I planted last fall.  It was the first flower to show up this spring and it’s making a huge impression on me.  I need plants like this in my yard.  I just finished mowing about an hour ago.  While mowing I noticed that my back yard is being taken over by the Garlic Mustard plant…an exotic herb from Europe.  It tends to take over and block out native wildflowers.  So, this week I’m spending a night pulling these things out.  Unfortunately, Garlic Mustard is just one of the many invasive plants taking over my yard.  It sometimes feels like war when it comes to landscaping.  Some battles I win and some battles I lose.  Most people who come to my yard would probably say I’m losing but that’s ok.  Thoreau says we tend to live in quiet desperation.  I try to fight the urge to become completely obsessed with the perfect yard.  If I was there would be no flyfishing, hiking, photography or making art.

Death, Rash, Hooters and Trout

This past week was filled with up’s and down’s.  We were in the process of packing for our Smoky Mountain spring break when on March 31st we found out my Uncle Raul had passed away.  Plans changed.  Life changed.  Uncle Raul was gone.  Family members started showing up from all over.  My parents drove up from Tennessee.  My brother and his wife spent the night with us.  I took some time off work and drove my parents to visitation.  Before the funeral my aunt got into a fender bender.  I picked her up from the accident drove her to Jackson to pick up some of her clothes and brought her back to Adrian.  Needless to say I didnt get much sleep.  I dont think many of our family members got much sleep the days before the funeral.  It was hard saying goodbye to Uncle Raul.  After the funeral we headed down to Tennessee.  We made reservations in Florence, KY to crash for the night.  When we got to the hotel they sold our rooms.  We found another hotel nearby.  The rooms were a little scary.  I said I was getting up early to get an early start.  After wolfing down a few complimentary bagels and watching a bare footed Indian man set off the smoke detector we split.  Back on the road, the traffic was light.  We made good time and got to my parents with the sun still high in the sky.  We went for a walk around the neighborhood.  I cracked open a few beers.  I started to itch.  Monday morning I woke up with hives.  After some swearing I drove to the nearest pharmacy.  I held in my hand a package of Benadryl and a package of Zyrtek.  I bought the Benadryl.  It didnt do a thing.  I went to a walk-in clinic and was turned away.  Swore some more.  Drove to Maryville Hospital.  BP was high so got in quick.  Dr. gave me steroids.  Tuesday morning woke up to snow on the ground.  Swore some more.  Went fishing anyway.  Caught three nice trout. Rash was gone, but heart was pounding out of my chest.  Called the pharmacist at the Hospital.  They told me to stop taking the steroids.  Wed morning rash was back and worse than before.  swore some more.  Called hospital and they told me to come back for to be re-evaluated.  Spent 5 hours in the hospital on a beautiful sunny day.  Swore some more.  The only good thing about it was the Hooters waitress sitting across from me in the waiting room.  I thought…There is a God.  Dr. gave me some Zrytek.  It worked.  Spent the evening driving through Cades Cove.  

Vacation started on Thursday.  Hiked to Ramsey Cascades.  Friday woke up to thunder and lightning…you gueessed it…swore some more.  Rain stopped.  Hiked to Grotto Falls.  Saw two bears.  Stopped by Happy Hiker store in Gatlinburg and bought a shirt “allergic to Cities”….how ironic is that?  Never did find the cause of my hives/rash.  I think it may have been the sheets at the nasty hotel?  I’m not sure.  Dr. said I may never know.  Well, I’m home now.  The rash is gone.  I told Kayleen I need a trip to the AuSable River.  Trout season starts soon.  Better take my Zyrtek.

Angling Art in Print

“Night Heron”, Linocut, 2008

 

“Four Pheasant Tail More”, Linocut, 2007

 

“Heron”, Linocut, 2007

 

“Prince Nymph”, Hand Painted Linocut, 2008

Angling Art Revisited

“Batik Fly”, Watercolor Batik, 2009

 

“Four Count Rhythm”, Watercolor, 2007

 

“Spanish Fly Box”, Acrylic, 2005

 

“Streamer Sketch”, Watercolor, 2005

 

“Flybox”, Acrylic, 2005

 

“Room With a View”, Watercolor, 2008

 

“Trinity”, Watercolor, 2006

 

“Crappie”, Mixed Media, 1991

 

“Sunny”, Mixed Media, 1991

 

“Carol’s Ludington”, Watercolor, 2007

 

“Hendrico”, Pottery Decoration collaboration with James Freeman, 2008

 

 

 

 

AIT Process sketch 5

A.I.T. Process 2

Sketch 2

 

Sketch 3

 

Sketch 4

A.I.T. Process-1

Concerning the Art in Transit project, I thought I would keep a journal of my thoughts and ideas.  After reading the prospectus for the project I spent a few days researching hispanic figures in the civil rights movement.  The Flint Arts Council provided me a list.  Of all the people on the list I like Dr. Hector Perez Garcia the best.  First of all I was drawn to his name…not that his surname was Perez, but that his name is Hector Garcia.  It is also the name of one of my favorite uncles who past away this past year from cancer.  Both Dr. Garcia and my uncle lived in Corpus Christi, TX.  After reading about Dr. Garcia I was 100% certain about my decision to portray him in stained glass.  That’s because Dr. Garcia’s parents and many hispanic families I know, including my own, believed education to be the key to success in the United States.  

My first sketch before I met with Pat Deere was a representation of Felix Longoria, the Mexican-American soldier who was killed in the Philippines and later denied burial in Three Rivers, Texas because “the whites wouldnt like it”.  Dr. Garcia petitioned then Senator, Lyndon B. Johnson to redress the issue.  Johnson secured Longoria’s burial in the Arlington National Cemetary and became the first Mexican American to be buried there.  This sketch only represents about 1/7th of the window and has been revised since it was created last week.

Art in Transit

I’m pleased to announce that I have been selected by the Flint Arts Council to design a stained glass window for the MTA Transfer Station in Flint, MI.  I am collaborating with the talented stained glass artist Patricia Deere from Tecumseh, MI.

Here is a short blurb about the project….

“Our theme for the MTA Downtown Transfer Station is the Civil Rights Movement. It is the intention of MTA to name the facility after Rosa Parks, who in 1955 refused to give up her seat on the bus at Montgomery, Alabama. All works of art must interpret, in the style of each artist, some facet of the Civil Rights Movement.

Funding for this project is made possible by the United States Department of Transportation “Art in Transit” program.”

I have decided to depict the civil rights efforts of Dr. Hector Perez Garcia, who lived in Corpus Christi, TX.  There were many hispanics who were involved in the civil rights movement, but I chose Dr. Garcia in memory of my Uncle Hector Garcia who recently past away from cancer.  

Smoky Mountain Dreaming

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I officially started dreaming of the Smoky Mountains today.  I started by rummaging through some photos from last year.  K took this one on top of Mt. LeConte.  Then, this afternoon I cross country skied the Hiker Trail at Hidden Lake Gardens and it was by far the BEST day of Winter so far.  It was 35 but it felt like 75.  There’s nothing like being in the woods on a warm winters day.  Another thing that reminded me of spring was that I heard a “cheeva, cheeva, cheeva” and a “Feee Beeee”.  You birders know what I’m talking about.  Birds stop singing in the winter.  Singing is used by birds in the spring and summer for breeding and marking territory.  But in the winter they stop singing and only use call notes.  BUT, today I heard the song of the Tufted Titmouse and the Black Capped Chickadee.  Apparently the warm weather was making them feel a little frisky too.