Drawing 4 April

When everyone was here for the wedding, April had left a number of drawings for me. and then weeks later i found a piece of paper that said "i like you..." I wasn't sure what the the three dots were. "i like you..... for now." Anyhow, I thought it would be good to return the favor.

So April this drawing is for you. And let it be said that if you draw something for me, I will draw something for you. Or my good friend the Handyman will.

Let's Talk Turkey (Groan)

Here are some photos from our visit to Turkey, where we ended up after fleeing the carbon monoxide cloud in Moscow. I don't understand how to get my text in line with the photos, so I'll make comments up here:

Photo 1: No, Anastasia did not shrink - this photo is of Olivia and April with Nika, the daughter of my English friend.

Photo 2: Anastasia keeping up with her journal as we cruise the Aegean. 'What do I need sightseeing for if I have an imagination?'

Photo 3: Alex is so crazy about cars that he insists on swimming with them.

Photo 4: For his birthday he received a cement truck and an ambulance. Lyena and I loved the taste of the döner in this restaurant.

Photo 5: Olivia, April and Nika making sand castles.

Photo 6-8: In the one of me my legs splayed I'm divebombing fish with a net from the deck of a ship. I resurfaced triumphantly to the cheers of my fellow passengers and held up my glorious catch for all to admire: a piece of bread we were using as bait.

Photo 9: The last photo is one of me teaching the girls how to kitesurf (much easier without a kite and board).

Best,
Matt

Time Lapse photos

I have a show coming up in September and just had a visit from the director and curator of the gallery. I've been wanting to do a sculpture of a giant signpost with forgotten and fictional lands from literature and scripture as the signs. The curators liked the idea of the sculpture so I have to get busy making them. What you see here is a time lapse of me painting the trim on one of the signs. The sign says Luilekkerland, which is Dutch for the land of Cockaigne. There is a famous Brueghel painting about it. the post will be from a large limb that fell down from one of our trees. It's in the shape of a giant question mark. Which is what I expect from most people seeing my work.

I recently started doing time lapse videos of me painting and working so i could chart the progress of each piece and show students the process. FYI-the creature walking back and forth is a taxidermy frog, playing the bongos, that dad had just sent me. (an alligator head came the next week) strangely enough I had been eyeing it on ebay about the same time Gene bought it for me.

If you can think of any mythical lands or lands from literature or films, post them in the comments and I'll make signs for them.

MOSCOW UNDER SMOKE. Can anyone spot the theater in the distance? This is the view from my balcony. I'll take another photo once the fires have died out and the smoke has blown away. We're hoping to leave for Turkey this Sunday, but I'm worried our flight will be grounded.

First Yankee Game After Steinbrenner's Passing

Friends of ours bought yankee tickets for us and it ended up being the first home game after George Steinbrenner passed away.


The Flag at Half Mast, All is quiet in the stadium

Mariano the Closer says goodbye to Steinbrenner

The 2010 Yanks show their respects.


This is the first time we got to see CC Sabathia pitch.




Posada Goes Deep.


Nick Swisher wins the game with a walk off single as the players run to celebrate with him.